Publication Date
Fall 12-5-2019
Document Type
Final Report
Embargo Date
12-5-2019
Problem Statement
This project was proposed by Jin Hwan (Josh) An, a current undergraduate student in the Olin Business School at Washington University in St Louis. Given his interest in diving and his experience with current diver propulsion vehicles, Josh has challenged us to design a hands-free diver propulsion wearable (DPW). While Josh has left the project rather open-ended for the engineers, the main challenge is to create a design that can propel the diver using a hands-free control system. Having a hands-free controller will allow the user to engage in other tasks while gliding underwater. Ideally, this design would be useful for both leisure and military scuba divers, with leisure scuba divers being the main focus. As such, the design must be compatible with a scuba tank. While diver propulsion technology already exists, most of the current designs either require the system to be controlled with both hands or are well outside the price range for a leisure diver. While the design priorities are safety and hands-free control, additional goals are to ensure a long battery life, allow precise speed control, and have a design compatible with a variety of different sized oxygen tanks.
Class Name
Mechanical Engineering Design Project (MEMS 411)
Recommended Citation
Paletta, Joseph Lucca; Kessler, Andrew; Beukelman, Andrew; and Topulos, Nico, "Diver Propulsion Wearable" (2019). Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class. 132.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mems411/132