Creating a dive computer with Location and Communications

[dmaziuk]

Correct. It could read upto 9 transmitters, locate your buddy upto 100 yards? and located the boat if they'd lowered the boat transmitter. I looked in detail at the Lynx some time ago but it's special batteries, apparent fragility of battery case - put me off.

Well, if I wanted it to be smaller than petrel and have user-replaceable battery, I'd probably go CR123 too...

It didn't offer any ability for a dive op to track divers - which if the new product is to be a higher end device, I'd like to see (of course my expectations may be uneconomical)

I'm not sure how the ability to read up to 9 "other divers" transmitters translates to inability to track other divers... but anyway, evidently not enough customers wanted it to keep it going.

NaviMate' s popped up here a few times already. That one does gps, too.

 

[Aanderson81]

I am commenting as a rec diver.

1) The most important thing here is simplicity. I cant see an "iPhone" size unit being usable for anything other than precanned messages. How I am supposed to use it with gloves on? Does it have a touch screen or a physical keyboard. How long would it take me to input a message and would it even be useful in an emergency like you slated.

2) Cost. I am currently looking for a dive computer myself and honestly I am having a hard time justifying more than $500. I dont know if I would ever see myself spending $1,000+ on a computer. So you would likely be taking it out of the range of a huge portion of the market. (This may be unrealistic, but this is my personal view on the subject)

3) What good does a $1,000+ computer do to me if the person i am diving with doesnt have the same $1,000+ dive computer to communicate with? Seems like i bought a really expensive paperweight. What do i do when I am on vacation diving one of the resort boats? They arent going to likely have them nor will the other tourists.

Seems like 90% of what this product offers can be provided with a dive slate a signalling device and a SPG or dive computer. I am not saying that the idea is bad per se. But it has one hell of an uphill battle to be marketable. I dont see tec divers going for this as they have much more training and drilling on how to operate without this, and rec divers just wont see the value for the reasons I said above. Either this has to be an awesome dive computer for the tec divers that just happen to have these extra features to differentiate in the market as a value add, or you need to find a way to price this in the rec market which means offering it at 1/2 to a 1/3 the cost you are talking.

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

Anyone looken att Aqwary smart consol?

Aqwary
Consol AI computer with "buddy system"

Built in compass, map viewer, image viewer and possibility to add apps, (post on Facebook ).

You can have a list with a number of buddys, you can monitor eachothers tank pressure, alarms, deepth, direction and distans, send text massages and what not.

The man behind the product dived with children, 12-15 years, and liked to be abel to monitor them.

 

[Manjula Ellepola]

Hi Magnus thanks for the info re the Console. Interesting device but sadly the company is no longer in business. I read threads on SB that the diver location system didn't quite work

 

[NAM001]

As mentioned Project Ariadna has been discussed in the recent past and is a promising package. I am not for having a dive computer put in with the mess. make a nav unit just that a nav unit. The communicatins issue is a major factor. I can see pushing a button and a pulse goes out that is the unit ID and a lat long, however like the Project Ariadna that lat long is just a guess until you surface and get the final location to adjust the units calculated location. Even with Project Ariadna that appears to measures your thrust and motion with a leg unit I would think that the diver would have to be consistant with their kick method. I am thinking that switching from flutter to frog would drive the unit nuts and give unaccurate results. It may not be usable to the novice user.

 

[Manjula Ellepola]

Hi KWS, Yes I see Ariadna is totally depending on inertial navigation. This is a very difficult problem to solve due to integration errors over time or drift. However the maths guys there might be onto something. We are using a completely different way to solve the problem. We have been doing this in other areas of the UW market so are not new to it.Yes we might keep the dive computer side out of it. We will also be launching a crowd funding campaign soon...so watch this space

 

[NAM001]

Hi KWS, Yes I see Ariadna is totally depending on inertial navigation. This is a very difficult problem to solve due to integration errors over time or drift. However the maths guys there might be onto something. We are using a completely different way to solve the problem. We have been doing this in other areas of the UW market so are not new to it.Yes we might keep the dive computer side out of it. We will also be launching a crowd funding campaign soon...so watch this space

OF ALL THE METHODS I HAVE READ ABOUT I THINK THEIRS IS THE MOST PRACTICAL TO DATE.

 

[Manjula Ellepola]

I don't think so KWS. It is notoriously difficult to do inertial navigation without another reference such as GPS. The smallest errors in acceleration estimation can cause significant accumulated errors in position and there is no way to correct it without another reference. They are trying to model the way a diver swims. This is very complex in itself even if he were to swim in a straight line most of the time. The most practical systems for direction finding today are USBL systems used in DPS to position ships and rigs over station. The liquivision and Aqwary consol used this method where the time of arrival of the signal at each of the sensors is used to measure the angle of the target.

 

[NAM001]

I don't think so KWS. It is notoriously difficult to do inertial navigation without another reference such as GPS. The smallest errors in acceleration estimation can cause significant accumulated errors in position and there is no way to correct it without another reference. They are trying to model the way a diver swims. This is very complex in itself even if he were to swim in a straight line most of the time. The most practical systems for direction finding today are USBL systems used in DPS to position ships and rigs over station. The liquivision and Aqwary consol used this method where the time of arrival of the signal at each of the sensors is used to measure the angle of the target.

althought there are more accurate methods,,, there is still a financial aspect to maintain if there is to be a sport user market to target. I don't care for the leg unit my self. If it can be done with a auto gps and have it track properly with out t gps signal (while in a tunnel) it can be done with an underwater unit using a starting and ending reference gps points. throw enough money at a project and you cang et what ever you want except a market base.

what is needed is a reliable tracking device for under 1000 usd.....

 

[diver0008]

I like the idea.

I think that its utility may be primarily outside of recreational diving however.

If what I understand is correct, the idea revolves around the two ideas of navigation and communication.

For navigation, GPS, beacons, etc are very interesting. Knowing where other divers are, or where to go to reach a destination seem useful.

For communications, hand signals and a slate cover a lot of ground. Voice comm is the ideal. Something in between, like texting, seems to be more cumbersome that its utility would warrant. For technical diving, being able to transmit a photograph to the surface during an installation or maintenance might be useful.