design student wants to make scuba safer!

[www.scubamazing.com]

Was just about to post the EXACT same thing! Great minds think alike.

Thanks, I definitely agree.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Lots of systems exist, but the best system is a simple roll call.

1. Everyone shuts the hell up and listens to the roll call.

2. Everyone answers for themself only.

3. Person conducting the roll call hears and sees each person as they answer.

4. Roll call is conducted at the dock before the boat goes out.

5. Roll is conducted after every dive.

If those simple rules are followed, no one is ever left behind.

This is the easiest and best system.No need for any electronic gizmos that can fail due to corrosion or lost tags or lost rings that can complicate things.I have to agree with Walter on this .

 

[plot]

I had an idea for putting a small transmitter on the boat, then giving the divers a device that will point to the location of the boat. I decided it'd be difficult without using gps (which can get expensive), and moreso, how well gps would actually work under water...

I'm sure the kinks could be worked out, but the cost might get a little out of control for such a simple little device.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

I'm for:
1. Small boats
2. Roll call

 

[ScottB]

I'm for 6 pack boats... Is every seat filled (check) Does anyone NOT know my name (check) (to make sure they are on the right 6 pack

 

[grassyknoll]

Just make all boats go out crewed by topless swimsuit models, everyone's back on noooo problem.
Acually and RFID/proximity fob system would be a fairly foolproof way to account. These systems can be designed as fairly complex inegrated software systems or rudimentary accounting type systems. It would be fairly easy to provide a Wiegand fob on a caribiner to each diver. They would be programmed as Diver 1, Diver 2 etc... Once the boat is under way a rechargeable battery-powered hendheld reader is quickly taken around and each diver presents the card to the reader creating a list of who is or isn't on board. In my line of work, we use these systems to account for the movements of over 5000 employees every day, in subzero environments, on both the interior and exterior of buildings. they are pretty impervious to the conditions. You could go one step further, FDA has just approved the first human implantable RFID tags (Yikes! very big brotherish). Divers being left behind is rare but does happen, in a perfect world a simple roll call should suffice.

 

[diverdown247]

Bar code bracelets w/ the scanner on the boat, uw transponders that can be checked in via computer once onboard, then there's the old fashioned (and proper) head count by name against a "buddy roster" slate.

 

[lowwall]

It would be fairly easy to provide a Wiegand fob on a caribiner to each diver. They would be programmed as Diver 1, Diver 2 etc... Once the boat is under way a rechargeable battery-powered hendheld reader is quickly taken around and each diver presents the card to the reader creating a list of who is or isn't on board.

Aeeiiiiiii, not the death 'biner. Seriously, they are entanglement hazards, use a bolt snap instead. And you might want to check everyone before getting under way

But the biggest objection... If you have to go around to every diver anyway, what are you gaining by not simply checking off the names on a roll sheet? Just to force the crewmember not to take shortcuts?

Alex

 

[Packhorse]

My boat will take 5 divers max. If anyone cant count to 5 they are not welcome on my boat. Simple yet effective.

 

[ChrisA]

I had an idea for putting a small transmitter on the boat, then giving the divers a device that will point to the location of the boat. I decided it'd be difficult without using gps (which can get expensive), and moreso, how well gps would actually work under water...

I'm sure the kinks could be worked out, but the cost might get a little out of control for such a simple little device.

How about a "magic pointer" that always point North and then you have this little marker that you can rotate that tells you how far from north the boat is. Oh wait I have one of those already.

GPS does not work under water. water completely blocks the signal.