No Diver Left Behind

[gr8jab]

But yes, there are lots of features that dive computers don't have yet but eventually will incorporate ... I would say 10 to 20 years from now

Ha! Yes. The dive computer industry is not conducive to high velocity innovation. Although it seems to be accelerating (just not at a Moore's Law rate) with people like you pushing things forward.

 

[DiveNav]

Does the sensor notify the app of battery charge remaining? .....

Yes. The sensor provides 2 levels of indication: Low battery and critical battery.
When in low battery the sensor should be able to operate for another month or so ....
When in critical battery the sensor should be able to operate for another week or so ....
Additionally you can use the Dive Boat Pal app (or any other app that supports bluebuddy) to check the actual battery level of a sensor (in Volts).

.....Are the batteries replaceable / rechargeable in the field?

The bluebuddy battery is not rechargeable.
Please define "in the field".
Replacing the battery requires the use of a screwdriver and soldering iron. We do provide a battery replacement kit and instructions (see this link). We also provide a Manufacturer Battery Service

 

[DiveNav]

No Diver Left Behind - System Overview


The Dive Boat Pal system reduces the risk of miscounting divers on dive charter boats by improving the reliability of the divers roll call process.

This system can also be used by dive team leaders that want to keep track, in real time, of the diving activities of their dive teams. Examples could be Public Safety Divers, Scientific Divers, Boy Scouts dive teams, High School dive teams.

The system is composed by 3 elements: the bluebuddy sensor/data logger, the Dive Boat Pal app and a mobile device (tablet or smartphone).

Each diver is equipped with a sensor. The sensor could be attached to the BCD or directly to the tank. For more information on the bluebuddy sensor please see this post.

The captain or the dive team leader or the dive master uses the mobile device equipped with the Dive Boat Pal app to track diving activities.

The Dive Boat Pal app has 2 main modes of operation: Captain and Dive Team Leader.

In Captain mode the app reports the status of each sensor/diver that could either be: present on the boat, present but wet (it could be at the surface near the boat) and not present (it could be either underwater or at the surface but far away from the boat).

In Dive Team Leader mode the app also tracks the dive time of each individual diver and shows 4 states for each sensor/diver: on the boat, diving, surfacing and overdue.

 

[DiveNav]

No Diver Left Behind - Captain mode

The Dive Boat Pal app has 2 main modes of operation: Captain and Dive Team Leader.

In Captain mode the app reports the status of each sensor/diver that could either be:

• sensor not assigned,
  sensor/diver present on the boat,
  sensor/diver present but wet (it could be at the surface near the boat, or on the boat but still in contact with a wet BCD / wetsuit),
  sensor/diver not present (it could be either underwater or at the surface but far away from the boat).

To set the app in Captain mode see the Set Operating Mode post.

Also, make sure you had already paired your sensors to the app and named them (this is something you need to do only once when you purchase the sensors). See this post on how to pair a sensor to the app.

To begin using the app in Captain mode you will first need to Plan a dive trip and make sure that you Set the Sensors Operating Period correctly.
Then you will need to Create the Manifest. Please note that you can create the manifest of a dive trip as soon as customers sign up for that trip.

Once the day of the dive trip has arrived, and customers start to show up on the boat, you will need to Check-in the divers and assign sensors.

After everybody is properly checked in and the boat has reached the dive site you can begin Monitoring a dive. Please note that during diving operation you can freely switch back and forth between the Dive Monitor screen and the Trip Overview screens.

Once the dive trip is completed, you should Save the dive trip.

Lastly, you can use the app to email to the divers a log of their dives during a dive trip.

 

[DiveNav]

Yesterday we tested Diver Sentinel during a real dive trip aboard the Asante with divers from Scuba Schools of America.

19 divers conducted 70 dives at The Crane dive site in Catalina
The system did work fine and we got very useful feedback.

Thank you again to Captain Gary, Rusty Berry and to all the SSA divers that participated in the test.

 

[drbill]

Alberto... you and your team never cease to innovate!

 

[BDSC]

and this sounds like a nifty idea. It also sonds like a complicated technological solution to problems that can--and have already. been--solved with a clipboard and some strictly followed procedures.

I agree. We frequent diving in Little Cayman and places like that. Typically we have 16 or so divers on the boat. The divers go in and the divers come back. Before they ever move the boat they do a roll call and typically not only listen for a response, but actually make visual contact as they are doing so. It's just not that complicated.

When divers are left behind, I don't think it's because the method used to track divers is faulty. It's because the captain/crew are careless and not attentive. And if that's the case, no new technology will solve that problem. They will still be careless. And is leaving divers behind a real problem for the industry? Sure, you read about it once in a great while but would the frequency of it happening even be 0.1%. I doubt it.

There may be a market for such a device as this but it's going to have to be dirt cheap for the majority of dive operations to want to start using them.