Newbie, and dive propulsion vehicles

[JeffG]

Benchmark: http://www.gavinscooters.com/

cough...snort

 

[Andy_W]

speed and burn time.....

buluayam = chicken feather ?

 

[PaulChristenson]

Could I ask a few questions?

1) What sort of applications would a DPV be useful for - both recreational/technical/commercial?

2) Is the DPV an application where there is demand for? As far as I understand, it is a very niche application and the market size for such an application is small - even for commercial uses. However, I wondered whether this is because an application like a DPV isn't extremely useful, or is it because of the limitations of current designs (that I plan to address)?

3) Are there any DPV users here? Could you tell me more about what you think of existing DPVs, ie the pros and cons - and what features/characteristics would really 'get your blood boiling'?

I think I'll leave the questions to these three for the moment, thank you everyone in advance for your patience and replies!

The real market is the military...

 

[buluayam]

It seems interesting to me that the most common complaints are in the burn time and weight - both of which I intend to address with my design, hence where I see the advantages!

Jeff: I have heard of the Gavin Scooters before this too, and they come highly recommended - any particular reason for your sudden *cough*?

Andy: Yup - I'm originally from Malaysia, though in the UK at the moment.

Paul: That is a good idea, although access to them is somewhat more difficult - I'm doing more of an overall survey to see where the best opportunities and potentials lie. Even with technical divers it doesn't seem too bad an opportunity, however the general impression I get about DPVs isn't fantastic.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Here's a great article on DPV's:
http://www.divernet.com/equipment/0705scooterextra.shtml

 

[JeffG]

Jeff: I have heard of the Gavin Scooters before this too, and they come highly recommended - any particular reason for your sudden *cough*?

I owned one, after I tried an X-Scooter, it was sold. (To make way for the X)

 

[buluayam]

Kev: Thanks for the article, a really good read!

One point that I wondered, there were a few parameters that were used to evaluate DPVs such as burn time etc. One of them, manoeuvrability, does anyone have a good idea of what influences this?

The reason why I am asking this, is because the applications I normally deal with are for propulsion on ships - there is less concern about this factor as all control are dealt with by a motor/engine anyway, so I am not too sure how/what affects the manoeuvrability for a diver.

My first thoughts would be to do with the shape of the DPV, ie the hydrodynamics - how streamlined it is, how easy does it cut through the water, etc - is this right? Presumedly it is actually the same factor that is dealt with in the shape, ie drag on vehicle?

Thanks all for the feedback, once again :14:

 

[karstdvr]

Kev: Thanks for the article, a really good read!

One point that I wondered, there were a few parameters that were used to evaluate DPVs such as burn time etc. One of them, manoeuvrability, does anyone have a good idea of what influences this?

The reason why I am asking this, is because the applications I normally deal with are for propulsion on ships - there is less concern about this factor as all control are dealt with by a motor/engine anyway, so I am not too sure how/what affects the manoeuvrability for a diver.

My first thoughts would be to do with the shape of the DPV, ie the hydrodynamics - how streamlined it is, how easy does it cut through the water, etc - is this right? Presumedly it is actually the same factor that is dealt with in the shape, ie drag on vehicle?

Thanks all for the feedback, once again :14:

I find that length effects manuverability for me. My 26 Amp/hr tube on my silent submersion turns like a Typhoon class submarine doing a carzy Ivan as compared to my 18 amp/hr tube. I have used minizeps versus predators and find length is a factor too.

 

[buluayam]

Is this controllable by the diver, ie depending on how they manoeuvre their own bodies etc? Or is it safe to say that I should treat the diver + DPV unit like a whole vehicle, hence the effect of the manoeuvrability of the DPV?

Sorry for all these questions, diving is truly something new to me and I want to understand more about it all so as to be able to design the vehicle appropriately.

Oh, another question that popped into my head, what is a good speed for these vehicles to run at? I know this would vary from diver to diver; but the reason why I asked, is because if I'm not mistaken there is a maximum speed a diver should be wooshing along in the water (especially for technical diving) due to rebreather/mask limitations? Could someone enlighten me?