Indigo Industries is a new business debuting at DEMA Show 2016, and they are presenting several new products targeted at addressing diver mobility.
The Nautilus GLH and XP are tank-mounted diver propulsion systems powered by lithium ion batteries and open brushless DC electric motors. The electric motors and impellers are from Blue Robotics, using their B-200 thrusters designed for underwater ROVs. The GLH has dual thrusters, while the XP has a single thruster, and they can produce 12 pounds/5.4 kilos of auxiliary diver thrust per motor (24 pounds/11 kilos for twin thrusters). Run times are in the 30- to 40-minute range between charging.
Power control is via a handheld rocker switch with both forward and reverse positions. An innovative depth hold function uses an onboard depth sensor to maintain the diver’s depth at a given level for safety and decompression stops.
One interesting feature is that these DPVs utilize two battery packs packaged within two separate pressure vessels. While the DPV’s batteries are, in total, too large to be carried on a commercial airplane (as is the case with almost all Lithium Ion powered DPVs), separated and packed in two different bags, the company claims that this is a legal configuration, with each battery being below what is allowed by current FAA rules.
The GLH will retail at US$1999/1886 Euros and the XP will retail at $1299/1226 Euros. These units should be available in December 2016.
In the unpowered segment, Indigo has several new diving fins available. These fins have removable side rail springs that may be swapped out to change the stiffness of the fin blade. They have a “Defiant” model that is a paddle fin, and an “Apex” model that is a split-fin design. Both of these models retail for $199/188 Euros.
If you cannot decide which type of fin to get, they have a “Shift” model that actually has a mechanism to zip up the separation in the split fin to make it into a paddle fin so that you can switch back and forth. The “Shift” fin retails for $240/226 Euros.
For more information, check out the company’s website at indigo-industries.com, which is scheduled to launch on November 21, 2016.
