The future of cave diving safety

[quigonkick]

First, I know absolutely nothing about diving. You folks are all brave souls doing what you do, and I admire that beyond words.

I work in the mapping field and given the state of technology, I had an idea I thought I'd post here and see if it's already been done or perhaps someone here could get the ball rolling if not.

I've heard far too often of cave divers getting lost. This may not be the case anymore - again, I'm ignorant - but I was wondering if the technology of LiDAR or Sonar could be used to create a 3D model of caves for the purpose of navigation. To take it a step further, perhaps that model could be tied into a diver's onboard computer and when the air tank gets to the "time to leave" point, an augmented reality element could be projected to the inside of the diver's mask so they could navigate quickly to safety.

If anything needs further elaboration, please hit me up. I wanted to get this written before it left both of my brain cells. Hopefully something like this is already old news... this was just a passing thought and wanted to see what the possibilities are in the interest of keeping divers safe. I hope all is well with everyone here.

 

[frndrfoe]

This thread is recent and a bit on that topic
The Future of Cave Mapping - Video

I think the challenge is cost with the market being so small. Dive computers are mostly more expensive than they should be due to the market size. There is also the fact that it would remove part of the technical requirement which probably drives some cave divers to actually do it in the first place.

 

[tbone1004]

some caves have been mapped. In the late 90's, Stone Aerospace built a 3d cave mapper on a scooter and a prototype of a next gen went out last fall.

Getting the maps is easy, getting the computers to download the maps and note where you are in the cave? That's basically impossible.

That said, it wouldn't really help most of the accidents in the first place since very few of them occur due to navigation error. The air time to leave note is not something that is usually an issue either, it's people violating that rule intentionally that kills them

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

it wouldn't really help most of the accidents in the first place since very few of them occur due to navigation error.

Agreed totally...

 

[chrisch]

...
Getting the maps is easy, getting the computers to download the maps and note where you are in the cave? That's basically impossible.

I agree. However a sonar or similar technology would let you "see" in zero vis conditions. More something perhaps for crossing sumps than a safety feature for caves where the whole point is to see the environment you're in.


Oh and perhaps I should add that cave divers don't often get lost - it is divers in caves that have not had proper training that tend to get lost. Anything that such folk see as a short cut to get round the training would not be a very good idea IMHO.

 

[PfcAJ]

I agree. However a sonar or similar technology would let you "see" in zero vis conditions. More something perhaps for crossing sumps than a safety feature for caves where the whole point is to see the environment you're in.

We have that. Its the line.

Personally, I want something physical.

 

[chrisch]

We have that. Its the line.

Personally, I want something physical.

Sure - I mean for new explorations - you could "see" if it was passable or not, that kind of thing. Pretty specialist application though.

 

[PfcAJ]

Sure - I mean for new explorations - you could "see" if it was passable or not, that kind of thing. Pretty specialist application though.

I can see w/ my eyeballs

 

[kensuf]

I can see w/ my eyeballs

Try diving with Derek.

 

[hotelconucc93]

Internet cave divers will be thrilled.