Automatic Buoyancy Compensator

[Dadrock33]

That's the ticket, it has to be better than doing it manually. And I'm a gadget guy, so I'm inclined to like tech devices, but they have to be an improvement to the current way of doing something.

yep . . . +1, . . I'm with Saudio on this one . . . there are always EXTENUATING circumstances . . . actually, in everything, now that I think about it . . . . . what works today might not work correctly tomorrow (or even later in the day!) . . . . and then there's always the $$$$

Dom had a real good point too . . . you sound like you're willing to accept criticism and to listen to questions and that's good, really good in my book . . . Lord knows, you'll get both of those here!!

[large_diver]

It's sort of like inventing a car that drives itself. There are many people that want and probably need this. Those that pay attention to refining their driving skills and enjoy driving can't imagine ever wanting such a thing. I am sure you will find plenty of customers from the former category if you are successful.

Good luck with your development efforts :-)

Chris

[MJJ]

To carry on with the transmission analogy, I drive a manual because I find it engaging, rather than insulating, from the process of driving. I am hardly an experienced diver, but I am going to propose that most active posters are (and most likely the ones chiming in on this thread) and these are the ones that want a "manual" buoyancy experience. I think it's possible that there is a large market of casual divers who would like to have an automatic BC. It brings to mind yet again a parallel between scuba diving and sky diving. When automatic activation devices for the reserve parachute were being introduced (opening the parachute in case it appeared the skydiver was neglecting to do so) experienced skydivers were skeptical. But they did save lives.

Good luck with your gizmo. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

[fugu]

I'd rather do it myself. Experienced divers wear less lead, put less air in smaller BCs and fine tune buoyancy by inhale/exhale, varying lung volume. Less is More.

Suggest look at freedivers' rescue vest , developed by Dr. Terry Mass, et al . Also being developed for military.
These are "automatic" for rescue,not automatic for buoyancy during a dive.
http://www.oceanicss.com/

[RayC2]

When I started diving we didn't use BC's or we used airline vest, one idiot had the idea to put his airline vest on his backplate with a longer inflate hose. Who would buy a BC that floated you face down!?

I wish you luck but I like controlling my buoyancy with my breath, I don't want to be upside down in a hole taking a picture and have some automatic device trying to keep me there.

[BillB2]

An automatic device that can fail and ruin my dive or cause injury/death, is not for me. I want to control my own buoyancy, always. Too many variables and mechanical maintenance. One guess who gets their ass sued off when some idiot wearing this contraption dies or worse, ends up as a vegetable. Like Fugu says, less is more.

[Charon]

Wow! An equipment malfunction in this could be a real killer. I don't like having my desktop computer automatically updated, and it's fully backed up and not life-critical. I can't imagine trusting some automated thingie to manage my buoyancy. Particularly since I worked so hard to get it down perfect. No customer here.

[diverchaz]

You already have an automatic spatial orientation device in the right side of your brain that tells you when to add or release air in your BC......

[JudyG]

Interesting thread. You are hearing from a lot of very experienced divers, and photographers (like myself), who could not imagine using an auto BC when we dive. But I think there may be a large market of recreational-level divers (read: holiday divers) who might benefit and enjoy such a device, assuming you can make it failsafe, and not requiring regular maintenance, because, let's face it, a lot of rental gear is loaned out in pretty rough shape, and there are a lot of divers who only drag their gear out of storage once a year for a dive trip. A malfunction on such a device could be catastrophic...

I see a lot of divers with really poor buoyancy control. If your device can keep them from whacking the reef, and doing constant elevator rides while underwater, that would be a good thing. But I still think it would be better to have divers in full control of their equipment, and working harder to get their weight requirements and self-buoyancy control spot on, so they are not diving like bozos and/or yo-yos.

Good luck with your project. Please keep us posted on how it is coming along.

J.