i am a design student at staffordshire university, i am designing an individual underwater propulsion vehicle for recreational divers. i want the upv design to enhance a scuba divers experience and safety when venturing under the sea.
input from divers would help me immensely, i'd like to ask a few questions to gain your thoughts and opinions, it should only take 5 minutes of your time.
what safety issues are most frequent for recreational divers? e.g. ascending too quickly? Buoyancy control? And how do you think this can be avoided?
have you used an underwater scooter before? if so, was it a good experience? was it easy to use? Any problems?
When diving, do you need freedom of your hands? do you think a hands free UPV would be beneficial?
in what way could a divers experience be enhanced/improved?
thanks for your time, thoughts and opinions on this idea and the above questions, much appreciated.
Quick answers:
1. Both those are dangerous. The diver needs to be above average in bouyancy and trim before buying a scooter in the first place. Scooters can add significantly to task loading.
2. Yes. Yes. Not exactly. Takes some getting used to to develop precision skills.
3. Yes. Yes. This is why most of the high end scooters below have tow cords.
4. Design a scooter that is half the weight, equally rugged, yet lasts 4 times what current scooters have for burn times, and make them half the current size. You'll have a winner.
The below is only one guy's opinion. Take it for what its worth...
If you're planning on designing anything it is wise to understand the parameters both of the market in general, and within specific sub-sections of the overall market.
Everything is a trade-off, especially weight (for travel) versus time (battery limits).
You mention your product will be aimed at the recreational market, but there are gray areas in between pool-toys and technical/tech-reational (as opposed to commercial or military) and recreational consumer use, which can also involve flying to remote travel or live-aboard destinations and long trigger times.
Be aware that differences between market segments are not always clear cut.
That said, these are (IMHO) three of the highest quality manufacturers currently out there for a broad array of tech-reational diving needs:
Exploration, sea scooters. Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Submerge underwater scooters, your source for deep scuba DPV's underwater video mounts and underwater HMI lighting
Dive Xtras - Makers of the X-Scooter (underwater scuba scooter DPV) - info@dive-xtras.com - 425 493 9600 - Home
Here are others that are aimed at more specific sub-sets of the overall market:
Under a professional/military category (heavier and longer than the smaller models of the above scooter manufacturers) --
Farallon USA, Inc. Worlds Best Diver Propulsion Vehicles
Farallon USA - DPV FAQ
Under a general purpose category -- (Tusa SAV-7 EVO scooter also falls into this category)
Oceanic Mako Scooter 50.1000.07 with reviews at scuba.com
Image for Oceanic Mako Scooter Black/Red
Scuba Scooter
Under a light recreation/pool toys category --
SEA-DOO SEASCOOTER™ Series
If Placing an Order, PLEASE CALL 1-858-581-2800 or Visit WWW.UNREALFIND.COM
SCUBA DAWG, 2 SPEED 250 WATT UNDERWATER SEA SCOOTER - US Dive Mart, Inc.
The bottom line is that with scuba scooters, in terms of engineering, performance and price, you get what you pay for. Prices range from ~$500 to ~$5000 for the above scooters, and the reason why a diver wants a scooter to begin with should heavily influence which scooter the diver might be looking at.
These sites may give you some specifications, engineering parameters, and general application information that might be of help to you in clarifying your design.
Good luck,
Doc
