Follow
Underwater obstacles or hazards are considered to be quite dangerous. If, by chance, you are living in a country which has seen it’s shares of floods, then a device which is capable of seeing underwater is a must-have. Japanese duo developed a portable sonar, which is capable of detecting objects up to two feet away, even in murky waters.
The two Ph.D. candidates who have assembled this device are from the Tsukuba University. It just so happens that the University is situated at a short distance from the Kinugama River. Last year, the river caused a massive flood which literally buried the city of Joso under tons of metric cubes of murky waters.
Aisen Carolina Chacin along with his colleague Takeshi Ozu had a couple of things in mind before they went on to create this object. First of all, the rising risk of floods. The duo thought that a device is needed in order for its used to be capable of navigating underwater. Second, this device will surely benefit the search-and-rescue parties, which work around the clock in order to save people from drowning.
Thus, the IrukaTack was created, a glove-like device which incorporates a sonar and a highly-sophisticated sensor grid. The name of this device contains the Japanese words for glove and dolphin because the gadget does resemble the nose of the dolphin.
Apparently, the device is nothing but a collection of plastic tubes, but beneath its surface, there is more going on. The IrukaTact is equipped with high-power water jets and Arduino Pro Mini tactile interface, which can be used in order to see what goes on underwater. Also, the device comes equipped with the MB7066 sonar sensor.
So, how does this device work? According to its makers, the sonar sends a pulse in the immediate area. If the sonar detects a solid object far away from the user’s hand, the jets incorporated in the glove will send a small pulse to the fingers. Moreover, if a solid object is in the vicinity of the user, the jet will send a stronger pulse.
Let’s say we understand how the device works. But the next question is: what can we use it for? For example, we can use the sonar glove in order to search our surrounding for certain objects. The glove would sure come in handy if we lost something in the low-visibility water.
Also, rescue team could use such a device in order to search for people underwater.
According to the duo, they are planning on making available the plans for the device. This means that anyone could be capable of building its own sonar glove.
Photo credits:www.wikimedia.org
