Situational Awareness - The Future?

[ScubaScott]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Wait until you buy all your gear 2 or 3 times, and let me know if you have any extra cash for one of those transponder/locator/time warp thingies....

SS

 

[SparkySFD]

I actually used to navigate submarines in the U.S. Navy. Submarines have GPS but only use it on the surface or at periscope depth. GPS is a RADIO signal and is useless underwater. Civilian or Military makes no difference. The only difference between civilian and military GPS is the accuracy. The civilian signal is not as accurate on pupose. There is some talk of eventually doing away with the error.

Underwater locator beacons would be some form of active sonar. You sure wouldnt want to be near that. Ever been diving when a boat was overhead with a fish finder or depth sounder and was banging away? Ouch.

Never know what new stuff you scientists are gonna come up with though. I guess this is one way it starts. I would really like to see a reliable HUD in my mask. That idea would make a guy an EXTREMELY wealthy man.

 

[Ender]

That when all of this wonder gear shuts down on you (because of a bug caused by interaction of the multitude of systems, or water seeping though an o-ring somewhere), you'd still need all the training you get now to survive (and possibly more - like how to tell depth when your wonder gadged died and you need few stops at 12, 9, 6 and 3 meters)
CCR rebreathers are (compared to scuba) full of electronic - but even compared to your diving computer they are quite tame.
Still, they can kill you fairly quick w/o proper training (which is mostly ability to handle different failure modes and detecting them). And these are about as complex as I'm willing to have for my life support. YMMV, but you're putting your life on the line, not mine.
Electronic works great when it works, but it can kill you when it stops and you have no clue what to do.
Regards,
Vlad

 

[rusky4u]

good buddy skills is (the way i see it) the solution for all the situational awareness i need...

if you are about to start a dive education i`m sure your instructor will spend some time on this subject.
if not...consider changing instructor...

with some buddies i don`t really have to look to know exactly where s/he is, what is doing, how much air s/he has and if ok or not.

and if something happens i will b there before my buddy do the sign, as s/he will b there for me if i`m the one in trouble...

skills, diving, training, diving, drills, diving, thats what it takes...

short messages?

how about "scott beem us up!" at the end of the dive?

)))))))

cheers! rusky

 

[USMC Diver]

When I was instruction for the Marine Corps for Scuba Diving we had a remote sensor on all the tanks that trasmitted depth, Air pressure, and other information to a large hand held display that the dive master used. We could monitor the entire class (up to 10) on one display. It makes class room control/safety alot better. That would be nice if you could get a set up like tht for a buddy, but you and your buddy would have to have same systems in order to be compatable. There were some good idea's though.

 

[Rick Inman]

Maybe I don't want you to know where I am. Sometimes when I dive, I LIKE to feel seperated from the world. I sure don't want my buddy emailing me underwater.

 

[SpyderTek]

As far as the discussion about locators goes...according to this months issue of Outside magazine (possibly Backpackers Magazine)... A new system for diver location has just been developed using elector-magnetics.

They are using this new tec to accurately map all the cave systems under Florida. Interestly, it is in an effort to prove that ground run off polution directly connects up with water table purity level.

So tracking isnt an issue of technology at this point, only distribution and retail.

Spyder

 

[lragsac]

JohnVranesevich once bubbled...
...From someone just getting into diving, the idea of situational awareness is one that really seems lacking. Sure, there are cool dive computers now that let you look at your wrist to find out your depth, pressure, time, etc. But what about your buddy? To really know anything about him, you have to go face to face with him so that he can give you a couple of archaic hand gestures.

Total situational awareness. All of the technology current exists, and has existed for a long time, it just seems like there's nothing out there in the dive industry that has put it all together yet.

Am I the only one that thinks that situational awareness would be useful from both a fun and safety perspective while diving?

Hmmm, welcome to GUE and the Fundamentals of DIR. This approach to diving is all about situational awareness, which presupposes awareness not just of oneself, but of the *team*.
The cultivation of situational awarness, however, does not rely on high tech equipment. Rather, it relies on developing a set of practices and simple tools (using one's own brain) to tap into the big picture of the dive. I'm not suggesting that this is necessarily simple to do. It takes practice; it takes mental focus. But all the sophisticated gadetry in the world can't help you if it breaks down or your buddy swims off or you simply forget to pay attention to it.
Okay, I'll stand back now and the anti-DIR types can flame away...

 

[JohnVranesevich]

USMC Diver once bubbled...
When I was instruction for the Marine Corps for Scuba Diving we had a remote sensor on all the tanks that trasmitted depth, Air pressure, and other information to a large hand held display that the dive master used. We could monitor the entire class (up to 10) on one display. It makes class room control/safety alot better. That would be nice if you could get a set up like tht for a buddy, but you and your buddy would have to have same systems in order to be compatable. There were some good idea's though.

See you people thought I was being all crazy man. Haha. I wonder why in the heck they don't have this in the recreational dive market? Surely the technology couldn't be THAT expensive, and if it was, it would become cheaper if mass produced.

 

[MikeFerrara]

SpyderTek once bubbled...
As far as the discussion about locators goes...according to this months issue of Outside magazine (possibly Backpackers Magazine)... A new system for diver location has just been developed using elector-magnetics.

They are using this new tec to accurately map all the cave systems under Florida. Interestly, it is in an effort to prove that ground run off polution directly connects up with water table purity level.

So tracking isnt an issue of technology at this point, only distribution and retail.

Spyder

The equipment I think you're talking about was designed by Brian Pease. They barrowed it to radio map the Peacock system recently. I was in Kentucky a couple months ago when a freind who is exploring a system there had Brian come in with his equipment. For the most part it's just a radio transmitter and a receiver with a directional antena.

The diver takes the transmitter into the cave and the guy with the receiver follown on the surface.

He also designed the voice communications equipment that Wes Skiles is using.