What do you see as the future of rebreathers?

[TEKDiveUSA]

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[Fibonacci]

Any news on the status of fully integrated, dual modular redundant (DMR) CO2 sensors?

 

[tbone1004]

sad to see Poseidon out of the loop. I am really hoping for their O2 sensors to be validated and start being incorporated into the other manufacturers units

 

[ofg-1]

The future of rebreathers? They will become obsolete as soon as our DNA scientists can insert Hagfish genes into humans to allow us to grow gills, and produce copious amounts of mucous.

 

[Fibonacci]

sad to see Poseidon out of the loop. I am really hoping for their O2 sensors to be validated and start being incorporated into the other manufacturers units

Yes, development of accurate CO2 sensors seem to be critical to decreasing the fatality rate in rebreathers which is currently running at 10x that of OC according to DAN.

There's at least one knowledgeable amateur giving it a red hot go... while we wait for Poseidon
Story
The system was developed for a personal need, I wanted to buy a rebreather but I did not trust the filter.
I am a Informatic Engineer, I have performed studies with large mathematical content, so I can not conceive the uncertainty of an independent variable such as CO2 which in this case could take values unknown to me for dozens of reasons, including: a filter badly compacted, an assembly error of the machine and the like.
Thus was born the system NotCO2. At first I tried so many different sensors, each had its own peculiarities and its flaws, but the intersection was common to all the moisture sensitivity.
One day, reading between the various forums, I noticed that Gian Ameri - a diver rebreatherista - had carried out tests with a sensor Dynament with amazing results, so I decided to buy one and start new experiments.
To date, no sensor gave results identical to the one used.

 

[tbone1004]

@Fibonacci i'm much more eager for the Poseidon O2 sensor than I am for CO2.
Problem with CO2 is where do you detect it and why? Inhale side doesn't tell you about CO2 retention which is what's likely going to cause hypercapnia but can tell you about one of the mushroom valves failing or the scrubber breaking thru.
CO2 on exhale side can't really have any warning bells because the amount you exhale is variable based on workload, but can indicate CO2 retention to some degree and tell you a failed exhale mushroom valve.
You can put both in, but where do you put them? The head is too far away to detect any sort of mushroom valve failure. If you put them on the exhale side, how do you set any sort of alarm because it's all based on workload so you have to be constantly monitoring it to see it rising when it isn't expected

 

[Fibonacci]

Hmm... good points, a complex performance issue indeed.
Seems the guy in the link above aimed to place the CO2 sensor just after the filter primarily to detect overpacked absorbant, channelling/breaththrough, water ingress or incorrect assembly?
Enclosures
Depending on the type of rebreather is installed in a specific location:
a. APD over the head after the filter
b. JJ above his head after the filter
c. Megalodon in the T-piece and so on ...

 

[kensuf]

The future of rebreathers? They will become obsolete as soon as our DNA scientists can insert Hagfish genes into humans to allow us to grow gills, and produce copious amounts of mucous.

Allergy season this year has proven I can produce copious amounts of mucous.

 

[hroark2112]

I’m no engineer, I’m just a dumb plumber...but I would think a functional CO2 sensor would be best installed with the O2 sensors on most units. If I’m getting a zero reading right after the scrubber, I’d be happy.

Would this be 100% foolproof? Probably not. However it would likely detect a bad mushroom valve and would almost positively identify an exhausted / broken through scrubber. On some units you could even add one between the 2 scrubber housings (thinking about the Kiss LTE personally) to tell when the first scrubber is depleted.

Honestly I don’t ever see rebreather diving becoming the norm. It’s just not cost effective for the average holiday diver and I know too many divers I wouldn’t trust on a rebreather!

 

[TONY CHANEY]

If I had to make a WAG then my vote that eCCRs with almost go to the wayside. IMHO mCCRs with a needle valve is the way to go. I also think more and more RBs will go to the back mounted CLs coupled with the scrubber. My Heat is way ahead of its time.