Amphibious Scuba Gear Transport Device with Retractable Wheels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Scuba divers face challenges in transporting heavy and bulky gear across various terrains to reach the water's edge, especially when traditional solutions are not amphibious or submersible, leaving gear vulnerable to theft and requiring excessive physical effort, which can lead to injuries and difficulties in navigating uneven terrain.
Innovation Solution
A portable, amphibious, and submersible device with a flexible sleeve for scuba tanks, removable wheels for land transport, and a strap system to secure gear, allowing seamless transition from land to water and back, minimizing drag and theft risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If scuba gear is transported by car to the water's edge, then the gear can be delivered to the diving location, but the gear is vulnerable to theft and requires multiple trips back and forth
Solution Approach 1:
The transport device transforms from a static wheeled cart on land to a dynamic amphibious vehicle that can swim underwater. The wheels are retractable or removable, allowing the device to adapt its configuration between rolling on land and swimming in water, eliminating the need to leave gear unattended on shore.
Solution Approach 2:
The device serves multiple functions: it acts as a wheeled cart for transporting gear across land terrain, transforms into an amphibious vehicle for water travel, and provides streamlined towing capability underwater. This multi-functionality allows a single device to complete the entire journey from car to dive site and back without leaving gear vulnerable on shore.
2Ease of operation
If scuba gear is carried manually across beach terrain, then the gear can be transported to the water, but excessive physical effort is required which can lead to injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The device provides mechanical assistance through wheels that reduce friction and enable rolling motion across sand and terrain. The wheeled mechanism counteracts the weight of the scuba gear, allowing a single diver to transport heavy equipment without excessive physical effort or risk of injury.
Solution Approach 2:
The transport device acts as an intermediary between the diver and the heavy scuba gear. Instead of the diver directly carrying the weight, the wheeled device mediates the transport process, reducing the physical burden on the diver while enabling easy maneuverability across various terrains.
3Adaptability or versatility
If traditional non-amphibious transport devices are used, then gear can be transported on land, but the gear must be left unattended on shore creating theft risk
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates dynamic characteristics by allowing transformation between wheeled land-transport mode and streamlined amphibious mode. The wheels can be removed or retracted, and the device structure adapts to provide optimal performance on both land and water, enabling the diver to take the device underwater rather than leaving gear on shore.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is segmented into functional components: a base structure, removable wheels, and attachment mechanisms for scuba gear. This segmentation allows the wheels to be detached for the water portion of the journey, transforming the device from a land cart to an amphibious towing device, thereby enabling continuous secure transport of gear.
4Reliability
If streamlined amphibious device is used underwater, then drag is minimized and safety is improved, but the device requires transformation from land-transport mode
Solution Approach 1:
The device features dynamic adaptability where the wheeled configuration for land transport transforms into a streamlined amphibious configuration for underwater use. This dynamic transformation allows the device to minimize drag underwater by removing or retracting wheels, while maintaining ease of land transport when wheels are attached, thereby improving diving safety without excessive complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A device used in beach-entry scuba dives that both assists the diver to transport scuba tanks and other diving gear to and across the shoreline, and then accompanies the diver and gear underwater. The device holds at least one scuba tank and associated gear such as a buoyancy compensator (BCD), and has a pair of wheels whose rolling position enables the loaded device to be easily transported over natural terrains. Upon reaching or while in the water the wheels may be shifted from the “rolling position” into a streamlined, free-swim position. The means attaching the scuba gear and the scuba tank are easily operated to let the user now don both scuba tank and gear and start their dive, taking the device along for the return cross-shore trip.