Thoughts on AI?

[Marie13]

Hey John. Thanks for the input! Although not in the immediate future, I do plan on doing both sidemount and cave diving; not necessarily in conjunction with one another but I will be practicing in both. So for this eventuality, would you say that it may be useful to fork a little extra now rather than later wishing I had the option in sidemount diving and regretting it?

As an additional question, does the AI merely make an addition to the Perdix? It does not impact any of the normal features and the computer will be 100% the same? I only ask because it is often the case with technological items that when too many features are crammed in, the overall performance slows down, so I am curious if this is at all the case with diving computers.

There doesn't seem to be any difference from the AI to non-AI Perdix. The only difference is that the AI feature will wear a battery down somewhat faster, but hey, it's got an easy to change battery!

This is what the Perdix AI screen looks like in Rec mode with both tank pressures showing.

 

[jgttrey]

My Shearwaters are non-AI and I think SPGs are no hassle and what I prefer in any configuration.

That said, you can buy AI version w/o transmitter and it's, what, 75 or 85 bucks more? If I needed another Perdix, I'd spend the extra just to be future proofed in case I changed my mind, wanted to sell it later, or had a family member who preferred an AI computer.

For example, I've never missed AI diving doubles or SM, but some folks use it on their rebreather bottles and eliminate a couples of hoses. While I'm not inclined to do that myself, it is a possible use I didn't have in mind before CCR. To me, the marginal extra money is well spent as insurance against changing your mind later.

Or, you could just get a Teric and not have to make a choice....

 

[stretchthepenn]

I dive sidemount almost exclusively, even for recreational diving, and very much like using my Perdix AI, much for the reasons that @boulderjohn lists, plus a few more.

My SM instructor was a crusty ol' cave guy who scorned AI and taught me to use lollipop gauges, but I found that the lollipops were less than optimal. They got in the way more than anything, I was forever pressing my light to a gauge face to charge its glow-in-the-dark display, and the gauge spools' o-rings were forever going bad and leaking. It all added up to a lot of fumbling and cussing.

Now that I've started technical training, though, I've gone to a Petrel 2 on one wrist, a Perdix AI on the other, and button gauges on my first stages. If either a transmitter or the Perdix craps out, I've got tank-pressure backups. Hard-to-see backups, true...but they're there, and they're nicely out of the way.

In the end, the only advantages I can discern for lollipop gauges are that they (a) don't need batteries, and (b) automatically signal when the system is pressurized (they stand up--cue *boiiiinnnggggg* sound effect). Otherwise? AI FTW.

 

[stretchthepenn]

But for some reason I mistakenly got really excited when I saw the title of this thread; I thought you meant AI as in artificial intelligence. AI made me think of robots and I’ve been thinking that I would like to have a robot dive buddy. If they can make sex-bots, why not dive bots? He would have to carry my tanks ;-)

My wife has a funny story about "AI."

We were both in grad school at a gigantic university located way, way out in the middle of nowhere, amidst cattle ranching/cotton farming country, and my wife was teaching a class as part of her grad student duties. One of the local farmboys was taking this particular class, and this fellow--an exemplar of the stoic Westerner type--wanted to do his class project on AI in ranching. My wife thought that was really cool, as she's kind of a techno-nerd, and she started quizzing the fellow about how artificial intelligence would relate to ranching.

The farmboy, however, got embarrassed and started to turn pink. "Nooo, ma'am. AI!"

"Yes, artificial intelligence, right?"

"Nooooo. Ma'am! A. I."

My wife just gave the farmboy a blank look as his face got redder and redder.

"Ma'am!"

"What are you talking about, then?"

The farmboy was practically writhing in agony. Finally, he shuffled his feet managed to grit out the dreaded words: "Ma'am...um...uh...artificial insemination. Ma'am."

 

[aquacat8]

Hahahaha

 

[Oz Chris]

I don’t see this as either or.

I have an AI computer (happens to be a Perdix) for the convenience (way easier having all my info in one place on my wrist), also because I’m a data nerd; but I’ve left my console in place (with an analog SPG) as a backup. Can’t see me changing that anytime soon.

 

[Caveman]

There doesn't seem to be any difference from the AI to non-AI Perdix. The only difference is that the AI feature will wear a battery down somewhat faster, but hey, it's got an easy to change battery!

This is what the Perdix AI screen looks like in Rec mode with both tank pressures showing.
View attachment 470223

Stunning display. Perhaps worth the extra spending then. At least it can be turned on and off at my leisure rather than always being there.

 

[Compressor]

I have both. I like redundancy. I love electronics so I went with the AI version. I also like simplicity. Therefore I love my spg as well. And my Perdix AI is simple. All it asks me on occasion is to give it more power with a new battery. So at the end, I love both of them.

I do like the discussion on bar versus psi. The same can be done with psi if one knows the concept of tank factors. But that is a diff discussion and I will leave it alone.

 

[Compressor]

I recall similar discussions when computers first came out. They are too complicated. Just use tables. They (tables) are easy to use and they never fail.

The above comments apply to rec diving.

 

[AJ]

With doubles I don't care. Have enough gas, just checking for unexpected loss every 5 to 10 minutes. With Sidemount it's a whole different ball game. AI is convenient with SM. Makes life easier. Don't care for GTR and such.