Diver Entry Keyboard

[cdubea]

Greetings guys, (and girls)

I need your worldly assistance. I have been asked by a potential customer to put together an underwater instrument for use by a diver. I have designed underwater equipment for years, but this is my first diver operated piece of equipment.

I've got everything fairly well nailed down with one major exception. The customer wants a entry keyboard for the diver to enter text in addition to the data he is accumulating with the instrument.

The $96 question is, does anyone know of a small keyboard that is waterproof to depths as much as 100 feet? I have searched around with little success. I would really rather buy this than build one from scratch.

Thanks in advance.

[Dee]

Never heard of a waterproof keyboard! Good luck with your search...

[Tom]

No, me either. I make a decent living selling new ones to people that just spill Pepsi on them. And I know for a fact they don't work after a trip through the dishwasher. (somebody actually tried that).

Thats an interesting idea though. For taking notes?
Let me know if you come up with anything.

Tom

[Mario S Caner]

First let me say welcome to the boards, it's nice to have you aboard!

The two people I can think of off of the top of my head that could answer that for you is Rainreg & DeepSea just message them and we'll all see!

[Warhammer]

I seem to recall some waterproof laptops, but I can't remember the name. I doubt seriously if they were depth proof, though. Best I can remember Bob3, regular poster on Rodale's forum, uses them. His email address is divers3@pacbell.net. If he's not the one, tell him I said I'z a sorry, but I know he can fix you up in Viking Drysuit. :) Anyway, he might could send you in the right direction.

[DameDykker]

I used to work offshore. Some service companies had extremely durable laptops wich were also waterproof although I don't know to what depth. Furthermore we have a water and dust proof keyboard for one of the PCs situated in the factory. Essenstially it's just a rubber sheet with eleveted places (=the keys). If the connection can be made water proof that might be it!

[JoelW]

Odds are that you are going to be looking for a custom unit for this type of application. The most likely candidate is probably a membrane keyboard. They are basically a couple of pieces of film bonded together with a layer in the middle for the keypad. They can be set up so that they are are completely sealed. The problem is going to be pressure sensitivity. Below is a link to a manufacturer:

http://www.huntercomponents.com/membrane.html

JoelW

[turnerjd]

Originally posted by JoelW
Odds are that you are going to be looking for a custom unit for this type of application. The most likely candidate is probably a membrane keyboard. They are basically a couple of pieces of film bonded together with a layer in the middle for the keypad. They can be set up so that they are are completely sealed. The problem is going to be pressure sensitivity. Below is a link to a manufacturer:

http://www.huntercomponents.com/membrane.html

JoelW

Surely, If you are taking a keyboard like this and sealing it, fill it with a non conducting oil before sealing it (excluding the air from there), IF possible. Then Poutside=Pin-oil. Provided when you press the keys, there is sufficient place for the oil to be displaced to then pressure shouldn't set off the keys.

play around and see if you can get it to work!

Jon T

[cdubea]

Thanks to everyone for the rapid response. I greatly appreciate it. It looks like I'm going to have to roll my own. I've built compensated oil filled electronics enclosures before, but never something which required operator input.

The next challenge is to find something small enough that won't be an obstruction to the diver's activities that can be fitted in a compensated enclosure. Challenges, challenges.

Thanks again for the responses and the warm welcome,

I've worked extensively with commercial (hard hat) divers in the past, it's good to see that scuba divers are cut from the same cloth. Thanks,

[Aegir]

It should be relatively easy to be able to make a water and pressure proof keypad. Some keypads already exist on some advanced DPV's. I am in a little bit of a rush right now , but i found this http://www.walz.com/diving.htm which uses a keypad. However it is used to measure plant photosynthesis and thus may not be usable at great depths.
Good luck though it certainly sounds like your on to something that will create a stir :)

[bio guy]

hmm..sounds like you need a keyboard just like the one used in the movie "The Abyss", for the deep dive. How about a military surplus keyboard out of a field laptop..the kind where the keyboard folds out when in use. I'm sure you could get one fairly inexpensively. The keyboard should already be waterproofed (not pressure-proofed) and built to take a beating. Might be a good prototype to tinker with to find out what works and what doesn't, before building the real thing. Like the movie, strapping it on the forearm may keep it out of the diver's way.

A small keyboard for data entry would really be handy.

[Aegir]

What about an LCD keyboard (not unlike a touchscreen computer) that could be used with a small pencil/pointer. I have no idea if this would be cost effective, its just more food for thought.