Technologies

We interacted with hundreds of people from the diving community (scuba divers, free divers, underwater movie professionals, scientists…) in order to gather user feedback from experts and amateurs. Our motivation was simple: we absolutely needed to know what YOUR dream underwater camera would be. Because we believe that is the only way to deliver a great product.

We identified the fields of expertise required to make iBubble work, from hydrodynamics and energy management to signal processing and embedded software. We then developed a proof of concept (a real-life feasibility test to make sure our technical hypothesis was valid) on the most critical technological breakthrough: underwater positioning.

After validating this proof of concept, we now have finalized our final prototype – which you can see in this video – and full scale production will start soon!

tracking
technology

Given that high frequency radio transmission, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth don’t work underwater, we found a solution blending echolocation and computer-based tracking algorithms to ensure communication between the diver and the drone.

We’ve chosen to develop several prototypes and test our ideas in situ.

The yellow prototype is a design mock-up to give you an idea of how cool iBubble will look in the future. Its shape takes into account architectural constraints of iBubble’s features as well as its slick and hydrodynamic design.

the
remote

We have already developed its critical functionality: the positioning system transmitter. How does it work? The transmitter emits a low frequency signal that the drone uses to calculate its position relative to the diver. The antenna, battery, and electronics included in our Beluga prototype seemed bulky, but they were designed to meet a >1 km (~1 mile) range requirement.

Once they have been scaled back to iBubble’s 25 m/80 ft range, they now fit in a remote the size of dive computer. We’ve also worked on the remote’s design and user interface, as you can see in the picture below. It does also integrate a display to make it more ergonomic.

iBubble Tour
 iBubble Tour
scuba