water scooter design questions

[sal]

I am a design student at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. I am designing a product for divers, and input from real divers would help me immensely. Can I ask you a few questions? It should only take about 5 minutes.

Have you ever used a water scooter while diving?

How did you use it? How did you hold it while you were diving?

Did you get tired or strain while using it? if so, how did you cope with this?

Have you ever hired a diving guide to take you to a certain spot to dive?

What was good or bad about the guide you hired?

What is the best time of the day to dive if you want to see wildlife?

I am designing an underwater scooter for the Great Barrier Reef which is capable of following an underwater route via GPS. This route would take the diver on a tour of spots in the Great Barrier Reef. Regardless of the problem of GPS under water,what do you think about this idea in theory? Specifically along the lines of your own experiences, do you have any suggestions?

 

[moneysavr]

WILL IT A HAVE A GREAT WHITE PROTECTION?
Dive safe,
Sounds cool,
Good luck
Brad

 

[lowwall]

A few (scuba) diving basics might help you. Time at depth is quite limited in recreational diving. So you usually go on the surface to the place of interest, either by boat or by swimming if leaving from the land (called "shore diving"). Once you reach the area of interest, you do a fairly fast descent to the deepest part of your dive. Depending on the type of dive, you'll either stay at this depth until it is time to ascend or swim around to points of interest at gradually shallower depths. Finally there is a slow ascent to the surface, where you either climb on the boat or start your swim back to the shore. A sizeable percentage of dives, especially boat dives, are guided by people familiar with the area.

I see a couple of good uses for a self guided recreational DPV (diver propulsion vehicle). The simplest would be to take you to a specified dive site from the shore (or one GPS point to another, via waypoints if desired). Ideally it would have an on board air tank, so you could cruise in the calmer water just below the surface without depleting the tank(s) on your back. Another would be for complicated sites at depth, where it could follow a pre-programmed path and help you return to the boat.

Make sure it has a "Here Boy" function, so you can leave it hanging in place while you go take a look (or photograph) something and then have it come and pick you up. Also a "Heel" function, so the DPV will stay close when you are moving but need your hands free.

 

[sal]

thanks!