ELECTRONIC DATA GATHERING SYSTEM FOR SCIENTIFIC DIVERS

DIVER SCIENTIST COMMONLY RELY ON A VARIETY OF INSTRUMENTS TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR MISSION. USING MULTIPLE SPECIALIZED INSTRUMENTS HOWEVER NOT ONLY IS COSTLY, BUT ALSO LIMITS A DIVERS MOBILITY. STILL, MANY CAPABILITIES TAKEN FOR GRANTED BY "TOP-SIDE" FIELD RESEARCHERS, SUCH AS PRECISE NAVIGATION AND COMPUTERIZED RECORD TAKING, REMAIN UNSATISFIED OR ARE NOT ADEQUATELY ADDRESSED BY CONVENTIONAL MEANS. THIS PROPOSAL CALLS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE "ELECTRONIC DATA GATHERING SYSTEM FOR SCIENTIFIC DIVERS". THE SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE A VARIETY OF CAPABILITIES REQUIRED FOR THE DATA AND EFFICIENT EXECUTION OF SCIENTIFIC DIVE MISSIONS. AMONG THESE ARE DIGITAL SONAR BASED COMMUNICATION AND PRECISE 3D UNDER-WATER NAVIGATION, ELECTRONIC RECORD TAKING AND SITE SURVEY CAPABILITIES, CUSTOM DECOMPRESSION COMPUTING AND ADVANCED MISSION SUPERVISION CAPABILITIES. THE SYSTEM WILL CONSIST OF A SURFACE STATION, AND AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION/DATA COLLECTION STATION AND A NUMBER OF SMALL, RUGGED DIVER STATIONS. UNLIKE CONVENTIONAL DIVE INSTRUMENTS, IT WILL BE ENTIRELY USER PROGRAMMABLE AND IS EASILY ADAPTED TO SPECIALIZED REQUIREMENTS. THE SYSTEM HARDARE WILL BE BASED ON DIVETRACKER, DESERT STAR SYSTEMS COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE DIVE INSTRUMET. THUS, PHASE 1 CAN CONCENTRATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND TEST OF TOPIC SPECIFIC FUNCTIONALITY, RESULTING IN FAST PROGRESS AND THE CREATION OF A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR PHASE 2 EFFORTS.