Diving is an activity in continuous development, firstly as an exciting and relaxing sport, secondly because of the increasing attention to the underwater environment requiring continuous and in-situ observation. In this contest, the underwater safety represents a vital requirement. Beside the regular maintenance of the equipment it would be expected that
single divers have a further security level represented by the possibility to communicate each others in case of danger. This project aims to develop a wireless system allowing such a possibility. Starting from the analyses of the state-ofthe-art of existing underwater communication solutions and brainstorming on innovative solution that could be put in act to solve current limitations, including conceptual and/or technological ones, two short-term key macro goals where identified to be applied to a first prototype: (i) modeling of underwater propagation to collect inputs for the design of a new antenna and (ii) researching on the possibility to design a new class of material able to protect the device, without
introducing artifact among the communication between users. In the first case, the analysis led to the definition of narrow working band for radio communication, under the right of Italian legislation. Moreover, simulations with commercial tools provided an insight into the propagation pathways and antenna design. Research on feasible material started from analyses of commercial solution and ended with the notable result of designing an innovative polymeric coating able to protect electronic devices without interfering with remote-host communication. Future prospective after proposed results would led then to the creation of a first prototype and assess its expected behavior both in simulated and real environments.
Principal academic tutors
Matekovits Ladislau, Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino
Academic tutors
Peter Ildiko, Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
Pirinoli Paola, Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino
Zich Riccardo, Energy, Politecnico di Milano
External institutions
ISMB – Istituto Superiore Mario, Boella
External tutors
Spirito Maurizio, ISMB – Istituto Superiore Mario Boella
Team members
Andrea Manzoni, Telecommunications Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Matteo Gregorio Modesto, Marascio, Biomedical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano [team controller and project communication coordinator]
Simone Merlo, Material Science and Engineering, Politecnico di Torino
Nicola Peserico, Telecommunications Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Francesco Silvestri, Electronic Engineering, Politecnico di Torino