Navimate GPS

[RonR]

Look like they bit more than is good for them: I wonder how hard it would be to put a raspberry pi with an imu in a 60+m waterproof box and have it log your route. Could probably have that on the market in 6 months... and have subsurface plot your dive in 3d a few weeks later.

A diver’s motion is very complex (think about what your wrist does during a dive), so compared to something like an aircraft, drone, or ship, the processing and timing requirements would be pretty heavy duty. It would be very challenging to avoid too much accumulated error without reference to a known location being constantly updated- and that’s essentially what this device does. Triangulating the position requires very fast processing of acoustic signals, but it’s not too different from a sonar. That said, the capabilities of some of the new MEMS parts are pretty amazing.


The originators of this project (I have talked to them) are a CalTech professor and grad students, I think they know what they are doing from a technical standpoint, and the product has been around for several years in prototype form. I has not been rushed to market.


It seems to me that the big challenge with a product like this is how you convey the information to the diver in real time. There is a lot going on with the interface.

 

[dmaziuk]

A diver’s motion is very complex (think about what your wrist does during a dive), so compared to something like an aircraft, drone, or ship, the processing and timing requirements would be pretty heavy duty. It would be very challenging to avoid too much accumulated error without reference to a known location being constantly updated- and that’s essentially what this device does. Triangulating the position requires very fast processing of acoustic signals, but it’s not too different from a sonar. That said, the capabilities of some of the new MEMS parts are pretty amazing.

I don't doubt they know what they're doing and why. I was just thinking you could get a relatively inexpensive logger out and provide a website where users could upload the data and get their calculated trip coordinates back. You'd hopefully get a user base and more data to polish your dead reckoning algorithms on out of that. Then incrementally add bells and whistles. Otherwise by the time you have the finished product somebody's already written a "good enough" dead reckoning app for the cellphone's built-in accelerometers and everyone already has that underwater iphone case. So you're too late and too expensive.

On second thought I suspect even just the logger would end up costing more than an entry-level dive computer...

 

[DiveNav]

.... somebody's already written a "good enough" dead reckoning app for the cellphone's built-in accelerometers and everyone already has that underwater iphone case. ....

Working on that ..... plus UW geo-referenced maps

​

 

[Akimbo]

Dead reckoning really isn’t good enough for research, public safety, or serious object location which sounds like their target customers. Accelerometers can’t detect divers drifting in currents and surge drives them nuts. Same problem with remote controlled vehicles.

 

[JohnN]

Dead reckoning really isn’t good enough for research, public safety, or serious object location which sounds like their target customers. Accelerometers can’t detect divers drifting in currents and surge drives them nuts. Same problem with remote controlled vehicles.

So now you've taken a 1% market and shrunk it to .01%

Except scooter drivers, a surface reading of position should be good for the other 99%. Except for drift dives, I never get all that far from the drop point.

 

[Akimbo]

So now you've taken a 1% market and shrunk it to .01%....

From what Ron wrote, it doesn’t sound like Navimate’s target market is recreational divers or even scooter jockeys. Jumping off a boat that is on-station of GPS coordinates quite often isn’t close enough for rapid and reliable object re-location. The problem of doing accurate search patterns and surveys is even worse.

Every tool has its place. Two grand isn’t bad if the job you need to accomplish requires that level of accuracy, but is pretty steep for divers swimming around for fun.

 

[Kharon]

Doesn't seem overly pricey - lots of dive computers in use around that $1000 mark + the air transmitter ( 150-300 )

And AI computers do way, way the he11 more than this trinket. I'ts nominally a Garmin (or other brand gps) combined with sonar (fish finder). They should be able to come in at a much lower price point.

 

[dmaziuk]

So now you've taken a 1% market and shrunk it to .01%

Except scooter drivers, a surface reading of position should be good for the other 99%. Except for drift dives, I never get all that far from the drop point.

Stick in a gps receiver chip, take a fix at the start and the end, see how far off you are in your dead reckoning. Of course, gps itself is not that accurate either... but then again, taking a fix relative to the boat isn't gonna help if the boat drifts above you on the same current.

---------- Post added February 3rd, 2015 at 05:46 PM ----------

Working on that ..... plus UW geo-referenced maps

Damn, I was soo about to apply for a patent...

 

[bmegdal]

We have been so deluged with interest in Navimate that we don't get to look at Scubaboard very often, but I wanted to post an update.

As with many ground-breaking products, the Navimate development has taken us much longer than expected, but we have recently been granted the first of several patents we have applied for in the US and around the world, and will soon be doing in-water testing of the first beta units. The technology is sound and has attracted proposals for joint development with major corporations and various branches of the US military.

We appreciate the patience our future customers have shown, and are sure you will be happy when we have retail units available, planned for this year.

Feel free to contact us any time at sales@navimate.com, or visit our website at navimate.com.

- Barry

Dr. Barry Megdal
President
Shb Instruments, Inc.

It's been in development for years, at least 5. My guess is it is going nowhere.


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