Industry-Academia collaboration to advance underwater diver safety technology

Commercial diving for ship hull inspection and cleaning is a high‑risk activity, with accidents often occurring rapidly and with limited situational awareness from surface teams. Existing diver monitoring solutions are typically costly, complex to deploy, and unable to provide both real‑time physiological data and precise near‑field location tracking, limiting their effectiveness in emergency response.

To address this gap, RP School of Engineering (SEG) partnered with an AI and robotics company to develop a cost‑effective, integrated underwater health and safety monitoring system. The solution integrates near-field diver location tracking with physiological monitoring, enabling surface teams to monitor vital signs such as heart rate, oxygen levels, and body temperature while simultaneously tracking the diver’s position underwater. A customised graphical user interface (GUI) consolidates this information into a single dashboard, providing real-time alerts and improving emergency response capabilities.

Through this collaboration, RP and its industry partner successfully developed a cost-effective and scalable diver monitoring system that enhances workplace safety and operational efficiency in the maritime sector. The technology has been successfully commercialised to the industry partner, demonstrating the impact of applied research in addressing real-world industrial challenges.

Got a workplace safety challenge that needs an engineering solution? Partner with RP to co-develop practical, cost-effective technologies that protect your people and improve operational efficiency.