UTC debuted the UDI at DEMA 2 years ago. The UDI is also a dive computer.
I sent an email to the company over the weekend, and here's the reply I just got from the designer/head honcho, Barry Megdal.
Guy
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We appreciate your inquiry about Navimate. We will soon be putting a How it Works section on our website to give an overview of system operation.
I would like to clear up a couple of misconceptions that we have heard from show attendees. We never intended anyone to think that the units we showed at DEMA were production units, or were waterproof, etc. They were models that are being used as the first step in our production of units for retail sales. We have been developing algorithms and hardware with prototype units which have given excellent results, but are not pretty enough for a show.
The MSRP of the wrist unit will be $700, and $300 for the transponder that is hung from the boat or dive buoy. We will be giving the transponders to dive shops that purchase a minimum number of wrist units, as well as to dive boat operators. We are scheduled to get the first units for retail sale from the manufacturer in May or June of 2010.
We are still finalizing the list of what map formats we will accept for downloading, and at the DEMA show learned of some new ones that we will support. Any suggestions on that issue are welcomed, as we can still make software changes of that type, and in fact can do so even after product release, as the firmware will be field upgradeable.
Soon after the initial release of Navimate we will be offering a no display unit at reduced price (not yet set), which will be perfect for attaching to the tanks of students or on divers being led by a divemaster. The instructor or divemaster will be able to keep track of the location of the other divers in his or her group, but those divers will not have the distraction (or the cost) of a wrist-mounted unit.
The next product (now being designed) will answer the many requests to be able to keep track of diver locations from a dive boat. The Navimate units are broadcasting their GPS positions on a low-power acoustic beacon, allowing other us to map the locations of dive buddies within a range of about 100 meters. In order to be able to keep track of diver locations at the full 1-2 km operating range of Navimate, we will offer a more sensitive acoustic receiver that can be hung from a boat and connected to a laptop or other display.
Finally, the obvious follow-on product integrates a dive computer with Navimate. We have plans to build such a unit, but based on our conversations with several computer manufacturers at DEMA, this may well be done as a joint product development.
Please let us know if we can provide any more information.
Thank you again for your interest.
- Barry
Dr. Barry Megdal
Shb Instruments, Inc.
19215 Parthenia St., Suite A
Northridge, CA 91324
www.shbinstruments.com
(818) 773-2000 (818) 773-2005 fax
bmegdal@shbinstruments.com
Dept. of Electrical Engineering
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
bmegdal@caltech.edu (use either email)
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From: Guy Alcala
Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 4:43 PM
To:
navimate@shbinstruments.com
Subject: Specifications of Navimate, Beta testing?
Hi, I sent you an email yesterday asking for the price and projected availability of your Navimate. I'm interested in the unit as I do a fair amount of underwater mapping using a GPS. However, it's quite tedious to have to buoy each site and then have someone on the surface (in a kayak usually) paddle over and mark the coordinates. I do have some questions about accuracy, how the unit works (transponder & electronic compass?), whether it supports multiple coordinate systems (while Lat./Long. is fine for arriving on the site in a boat, I prefer UTM for mapping and while swimming underwater), up/download capability and memory (we have some excellent side-scan sonar bathymetric maps available from CSUMB), etc. It would be helpful if you could put up a spec sheet and/or a manual on your website.
BTW, if you need beta testers I'd be happy to be one. To show that I'd actually give it a workout, here's an example of a map I prepared showing an underwater navigation course at the Breakwater in Monterey:
http://tinyurl.com/yadjlvl
and here's the bearings and distances between the waypoints on the course:
http://tinyurl.com/yaarfvm
Thank you,
Guy Alcala
. Any idea how the wrist units "calculate" their position relative to the buoy, especially distance? Signal strength, measuring time via a sonar ping, or? Will it do other coordinates than Lat./Long. (I prefer UTM for mapping)? Will it store tracks? I take it the float holds the transmitter rigidly in reference to the compass, rather than just having it dangle on a wire?
