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Not too long ago I read a story about a couple of cave divers who were video-taping their adventure. It was clear from the clock on the tape that they were already dead and didn't know it (too far in to make it out in time). That's where the robot retriever comes in. Divers would set a timer on it
and leave it in the water behind them. The timer would be triggered when they were half through their air supply. At that time it would go after them, bringing fresh tanks. Finding them might be a little tricky. Don't know how well GPS would work underwater but a trail of RFID tags might do the trick. Not only would the tags let the remote rescue device find them they could also be used to find the way out (this trail would be useful even if there was no rescue device on the way - disorientation is a big danger when cave diving - the tags would be able to show them the way out.
Four Die In Utah Cave Diving
http://outside.away...ews/20070819_1.html
The many reports of this tragic incident three days ago, 8/18/05, would seem to be the catalyst behind the idea's formation. Nothing very funny about the event, and unfortunately all too common. [jurist, Aug 22 2005]
[link]
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Now I'll freely admit that cave diving isn't my forte, being more taken by cake diving myself, however to me the solution seems like a simple one. Half air supply gone: turn back. No? |
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If the robot was capable of swimming down to bring the divers more air, why not just have the little fella swimming alongside you the whole time? Then there's no need for electronic trail marking. |
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Oh, right, then I guess you'd still have to remember to turn around when half the air was gone though. The robot could be programme to start slapping you and displaying dictionary definitions of words like "dead" and "breathing" at the appropriate time. |
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Maybe it could perform a brief finger puppet show, with the underlying theme of breathing and its importance. Subplots could be of action and/or romance - something to keep the viewer interested. |
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Texticle - Good points. It would be more economical to keep the robot waiting until it was needed though (less fuel costs). The electronic trail marking is not only for the robot. A lot of time sediment stirred up by the divers reduces visibility to zero. An electronic path back to the cave entrance would take care of that. Also, many times it's inexperienced divers who don't pay attention to anything except their own clowning around that die. A puppet show suddenly appearing superimposed on the inside surface of their masks might get their attention though when their tanks were half empty, especially if the puppets were suffering a gruesome death by dying. The puppets could even have names under them - the names of the divers. |
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jurist - That event wasn't the catalyst. There's a cave on the Santa Fe river in Florida that has had so many people die in it that they've put a steel grate over the entrance. (People have still tried to pry off the grate to get in.) That's what inspired the idea. As you said though, this is not an unusual event. |
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The robot thing may be a little far fetched because of price etc now, but the RFID tag thing is a great idea. I am a caver (not a cave diver) and while all good cavers can find their way out without a string or whatever it is that spelunkers use, cave diving is different. This could also be used when exploring dangerious caves in order to allow a rescue team to quickly find you. The RFID tags could be hooked to a blinking LED in order to allow proper removal on the way out...
Again great idea |
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The price for the robot might not be as high as you'd expect - it would really just be a modified version of the roomba that people buy to vacuum their houses now. There'd have to be some re-designing of it of course (for one thing enough buoyancy would have to be added to make carrying the extra weight of a spare tank less of an issue) but it seems doable. |
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//Maybe it could perform a brief finger puppet show, with the underlying theme of breathing and its importance. Subplots could be of action and/or romance - something to keep the viewer interested.// |
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I would've thought that people would be interested to know that half their air supply is out. |
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The air tank should cut out for a minute when it is half empty. That should scare most divers into turning around and heading for the surface. |
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Bends lawsuits aside that is. |
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You'd think more cave divers would use rebreathers. |
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