Beginner swimmers often struggle when it comes time to tread water. Using a regular floatation device can give beginners a sense of what it is like, but having a conventional floating aid is very different from trying to float on your own. Our Adapty Floaty seeks to help people learn how to tread water by having a floaty that automatically inflates or deflates depending on how skilled the user is at treading.
To measure how well the user is swimming, we have a water pressure sensor that detects when the user’s neck is submerged in water. This sensor senses changes in depth.
To deflate the floaty, we have a solenoid with one end connected to the inside of the floaty and the other leading out to the water. When the solenoid is opened, air will be pushed out of the floaty.
To inflate the floaty, we have a motor connected to a compressed air can,
so when the motor is turned on it pushes the air can to add air to the floaty.
Get your Adapty Floaty!
Created using Rhino and Grasshopper
Adjustable Floaty Model
All actuators and servos attached
Weekly goals set and discussed with mentors
Solenoid wired and programmed to release air from a container
Connect and read raw data from the water sensor
Establish an airtight connection between the solenoid valve and floaty
Wire up and connect compressed air container to the floaty
Connect all sensors and actuators to one cohesive system that responds to water depth changes
Participants treaded water without training so that their proficiency could be measured. They then trained under the static setup, had their proficiency checked again, trained under the adaptive setup, and then had their proficiency checked one last time.
In the static setup, participants practiced treading water with a fully inflated floaty.
In the adaptive setup, participants practiced treading water with our Adaptive Floaty, which inflated or deflated depending on whether or not they were struggling.
After the test we had participants take a survey to see how they felt about our product and how much they think it helped them improve their treading abilities. Average ratings were as follows: