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Underwater GPS Will Tell You Where Your Boat Is
from the July, 2024 issue of Undercurrent
We've come to rely on GPS in our cars and boats to find our way around, but not as divers, because GPS radio waves cannot pass through water Think how comforting it would be if we always knew where we were and how to get back to the boat And especially if the boat crew could track every diver too.
Well, a German company, EvoLogics, says it has gotten around the problem and has created a new diver's underwater navigation system using three components: a sonar-emitting buoy with a GPS receiver, a tracker unit, and a diver console.
The surface buoy employs a GPS receiver to identify its position and sends a continuous flow of sonar pings to a tracker unit mounted on a diver's tank The buoy deduces the unit's location relative to its own position and relays that information to the display on the diver's console Because the buoy has GPS access (via a GNSS module), an integrated microcomputer determines the diver's location on a map and sends it to the diver's console map It also sends it to the boat's onboard Wi-Fi transceiver, monitored by the boat crew, which can track the diver's location on a laptop or tablet.
The buoy can communicate with up to five diver-worn trackers at a time and can track divers as deep as 164 feet and nearly a mile away.
We contacted the manufacturer, who told us it will become available this all but has not yet set the purchase price https://evologics.com/diver-navigation
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