New Divemaster-diver Communication System

[philip damore]

Hi John

Well from the diving centers we have been talking to here in Copenhagen we have gotten the idea that, right now most of them bang steel rods against each other to indicate an emergency situation. Since this setup is 'all or nothing' and is rendered useless if many dive crew + boats are present in the same area they centers have expressed a need in having a more nuanced communication system to the submerged divers. Messages like "incoming traffic" "bad weather in one hour" etc. could be communicated to the divers giving a better understanding of the situation.

Is that anything you could relate to or have any thoughts on?

Furthermore the divers we have also expressed interest in having a cheap system which could help divers locate the boat both under and over water. Since the statistic seems to show that a high number of diver fatalities occur at the surface evt. after divers have gotten lost from the surface crew. We know that systems offering similar functionalities exist, but all have different price and performance.

Do you have any experience with such things?

 

[tech_diver]

I think it might be a mistake to approach this as a 'diver safety' project. You should approach this a 'diver communication technology'. While a new form of underwater communication could possibly make diving safer for some divers, it would have a much, much broader application for military and commercial purposes.

I don't particularly want to hear how this technology will make me safer, I want to hear about the technology. How does this work? How does it overcome the challenges of sending signals through water? Is it RF? Magnetic? acoustic? How is it powered? What is the housing made of and how are controls accessed underwater?

If you come up with a new, practical technology for underwater communication, we can definitely use it for a lot more than diver safety.

Best of luck!

 

[philip damore]

I think it might be a mistake to approach this as a 'diver safety' project. You should approach this a 'diver communication technology'. While a new form of underwater communication could possibly make diving safer for some divers, it would have a much, much broader application for military and commercial purposes.

I don't particularly want to hear how this technology will make me safer, I want to hear about the technology. How does this work? How does it overcome the challenges of sending signals through water? Is it RF? Magnetic? acoustic? How is it powered? What is the housing made of and how are controls accessed underwater?

If you come up with a new, practical technology for underwater communication, we can definitely use it for a lot more than diver safety.

Best of luck!

Well we are currently in contact with marine engineers talking about the applications within marine construction, repair and maintenance situations and have gotten a very positive feedback in terms of providing a simple and cheap diver communication system for these scenarios. However we wanted first of all focus on providing dive centers and dive masters with a simple but nuanced communication and location system.

The system is based on acoustic datatransmission, with a small hydrophone (underwater mic) placed on the diver unit which is a wrist mounted device no larger than a dive computer. The housing and controls are all to be developed.



Do you have any inputs in these regards?

 

[tech_diver]

I think the input would be the same as you see for any electronic scuba device.

Divers will want user replaceable batteries in a size that is readily available. Watertight battery compartments to protect the circuits if the battery hatch leaks. Easily operated buttons large enough for gloved hands.

All the characteristics of a good dive computer could apply to this device.

Of course, the ultimate goal, an affordable price.

 

[Reku]

I added a post re: needing silence underwater and then just saw the last post re: this only being for the DM and the surface crew...so ignore this please. Wish I could just delete it, but I can't. Sorry.

hahahhahha.