Defining the problem

The start of any project is working out what the problems are that need solving.

Currently, the main ones seem to be:

What is the limit on size? It has to be small to be carried about but it also has to be large enough to contain the features that make it useful.

The line! What is it made of? How is it visible? How much do we need? How fast does it need to deploy?

Finding People: If no one reports the MOB, no one will be looking. How do we alert the appropriate authorities? (Thinking AIS PLB)

How do you keep it charged? It's only useful if it's charged so how do you make sure it gets charged without making that a pain point for the user? Especially on a boat with limited power availability.

Hmmm...

Duncan Yatch Chandler's Visit

We hopped on the subway and had a mosey about in the shop. We got a good look at various styles of life jackets and some wet weather gear but in all honesty it was pretty much a wasted effort.

As hey are catering towards yatchs and the casual sailor type there wasn't much of use for our project. We asked a few questions but the guy couldn't answer most of them. We were hoping he would have a contact or two to chase up but that was a no go as well.

Worth a try!

Concept development

I've decided on concept three, the trailing line. I feel that is a product that would benefit more people, after all MOB's affect every boat whereas not every boat is putting down crab pots for buoys to attach to.

It also turns out that crab pots are put down over a huge area, having your nearest safety buoy 60 miles away is not going to help much.

My next step is to develop some models on excel of someone falling into water to gauge the windows of opportunity to act, how fast you might need to swim etc etc.

Carwyn and I are going to Duncan Yatch Chandler's on West St tomorrow morning to get a look at some marine specific clothing and hardware.

Aftermath: Tutorial 1

The tutorial today was a good opportunity to see everyone else's take on the project, some really creative ideas. I especially liked Rob's javelin floatation device - he took something clearly flawed and has put a really interesting spin on it.

This is my buddy feedback sheet from the tutorial. Concepts two and three were most popular although there was most interest in the trailing line concept which I think I will take forward.

I'm not 100% convinced it is the best concept for this project so I am going to develop both concurrently until I have made up my mind. It might be slightly more work/slower but it will put me in a better posiiton if i decide to change tack towards the end of next week.

Three Initial Concepts

These are my three concepts for presentation at the tutorial tomorrow. They are all based on research and insights that I think are reasonable. They all obviously need a lot of work but that is the design process, right?!

Currently, I am leaning towards concepts 2 & 3 though I'm not sure either are viable at present. I'll see what people think tomorrow.

Ideation

I've been digging through a lot of info that has generated a lot of hand written pages of notes and scribbles. Using the post it notes synthesis method that Brian taught has has been amazingly helpful in distilling this information down into core concepts, insights and objectives.

My most important insight is that many boats appear to have a lax safety culture in that they just don't care at all. Considering the fact that a fisherman could move between ships of various sizes, owners and saety records, how are they going to keep themselves safe?

The direction of my initial concept generation has been skewed towards protecting people once any existing systems have failed. I.e. they are in the water and possibly haven't been spotted going over.  No system is 100% perfect.

I am also attempting to think past the obvious ideas towards something a bit more obscure as I think there is going to be a fair bit of overlap between people's three concepts at the tutorial.

Research Update

I'm getting through a lot of websites and general reading online, the fishing industry is packed with jargon that is making it difficult to find/decipher the specifics of different boat types. I am starting to think that it probably isn't that relevant as they will all still be subject to the four core problems outlined by the brief.

I need to get my three concepts together soon so I'll be synthesising all of this data over the next four days and trying to generate some concepts from what comes out of that!

I've managed to find a few well written articles about extremely lucky people. The best (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/magazine/a-speck-in-the-sea.html) is the story of John Aldrigde fell off his three man boat during the night. He managed to survive through a few clever tricks that could possibly be adapted towards a survival product.

Analysis of the Brief

The brief specifies four common scenarios in which fishermen are most at risk which I can use to help direct my research. The main areas for further research seem to be:

- Culture of the fishing industry

- How boats differ between different types of fishing

- Conditions on board

- Existing safety related products

- Do these get used or even bought?

- How do people cope in water?

- What are the conditions in water?

- Are there any useful survival type first hand accounts available?

Fictional Inspiration - Churchill

Googling 'man overboard' seemed like the best way to start my research. I found this short story by Winston Churchill (no relation) that, though chilling, is surprisingly inspirational. 

Man Overboard

by

Winston Churchill

It was a little after half-past nine when the man fell overboard. The mail steamer was hurrying through the Red Sea in the hope of making up the time which the currents of the Indian Ocean had stolen. The night was clear, though the moon was hidden behind butts. The warm air was laden with moisture. The still surface of the waters was only broken by the movement of the great ship, from whose quarter the long, slanting undulations struck out like the feathers from an arrow shaft, and in whose wake the froth and air bubbles churned up by the propeller trailed in a narrowing line to the darkness of the horizon. There was a concert on board. All the passengers were glad to break the monotony of the voyage and gathered around the piano in the companion-house. The decks were deserted. The man had been listening to the music and joining in the songs, but the room was hot and he came out to smoke a cigarette and enjoy a breath of the wind which the speedy passage of the liner created. It was the only wind in the Red Sea that night. The accommodation-ladder had not been unshipped since leaving Aden and the man walked out on to the platform, as on to a balcony. He leaned his back against the rail and blew a puff of smoke into the air reflectively. The piano struck up a lively tune and a voice began to sing the first verse of "The Rowdy Dowdy Boys." The measured pulsations of the screw were a subdued but additional accompaniment. The man knew the song, it had been the rage at all the music halls when he had started for India seven years before. It reminded him of the brilliant and busy streets he had not seen for so long, but was soon to see again. He was just going to join in the chorus when the railing, which had been insecurely fastened, gave way suddenly with a snap and he fell backwards into the warm water of the sea amid a great splash. For a moment he was physically too much astonished to think. Then he realized he must shout. He began to do this even before he rose to the surface. He achieved a hoarse, inarticulate, half-choked scream. A startled brain suggested the word, "Help!" and he bawled this out lustily and with frantic effort six or seven times without stopping. Then he listened. "Hi! hi! clear the way For the Rowdy Dowdy Boys." The chorus floated back to him across the smooth water for the ship had already completely passed by. And as he heard the music, a long stab of terror drove through his heart. The possibility that he would not be picked up dawned for the first time on his consciousness. The chorus started again: "Then--I--say--boys, Who's for a jolly spree? Rum--tum--tiddley--um, Who'll have a drink with me?" "Help! Help! Help!" shrieked the man, now in desperate fear. "Fond of a glass now and then, Fond of a row or noise; Hi! hi! clear the way For the Rowdy Dowdy Boys!"

The last words drawled out fainter and fainter. The vessel was steaming fast. The beginning of the second verse was confused and broken by the ever-growing distance. The dark outline of the great hull was getting blurred. The stern light dwindled. Then he set out to swim after it with furious energy, pausing every dozen strokes to shout long wild shouts. The disturbed waters of the sea began to settle again to their rest and widening undulations became ripples. The aerated confusion of the screw fizzed itself upwards and out. The noise of motion and the sounds of life and music died away. The liner was but a single fading light on the blackness of the waters and a dark shadow against the paler sky. At length full realization came to the man and he stopped swimming. He was alone -- abandoned. With the understanding the brain reeled. He began again to swim, only now instead of shouting he prayed -- mad, incoherent prayers, the words stumbling into one another. Suddenly a distant light seemed to flicker and brighten. A surge of joy and hope rushed through his mind. They were going to stop -- to turn the ship and come back. And with the hope came gratitude. His prayer was answered. Broken words of thanksgiving rose to his lips. He stopped and stared after the light -- his soul in his eyes. As he watched it, it grew gradually but steadily smaller. Then the man knew that his fate was certain. Despair succeeded hope; gratitude gave place to curses. Beating the water with his arms, he raved impotently. Foul oaths burst from him, as broken as his prayers -- and as unheeded. The fit of passion passed, hurried by increasing fatigue. He became silent -- silent as was the sea, for even the ripples were subsiding into the glassy smoothness of the surface. He swam on mechanically along the track of the ship, sobbing quietly to himself in the misery of fear. And the stern light became a tiny speck, yellower but scarcely bigger than some of the stars, which here and there shone between my butts. Nearly twenty minutes passed and the man's fatigue began to change to exhaustion. The overpowering sense of the inevitable pressed upon him. With the weariness came a strange comfort -- he need not swim all the long way to Suez. There was another course. He would die. He would resign his existence since he was thus abandoned. He threw up his hands impulsively and sank. Down, down he went through the warm water. The physical death took hold of him and he began to drown. The pain of that savage grip recalled his anger. He fought with it furiously. Striking out with arms and legs he sought to get back to the air. It was a hard struggle, but he escaped victorious and gasping to the surface. Despair awaited him. Feebly splashing with his hands, he moaned in bitter misery: "I can't -- I must. O God! Let me die." The moon, then in her third quarter, pushed out from behind the concealing butts and shed a pale, soft glitter upon the sea. Upright in the water, fifty yards away, was a black triangular object. It was a fin. It approached him slowly. His last appeal had been heard.

Decision On The Brief

After some thought I have decided to develop a solution for the commercial fishing brief:

I sat down and did some more in research into the three and concluded that commercial fishing provided the most opportunity for novel design.

The Dakar brief seems too easily solved with GPS tracking and rule changes within the event (severe time penalties for violations).

Passive smoking does not appear to be as big a problem as it is made out to be and could be solved by better education of the risks and the time factor associated with these risks.

Commercial fishing is an industry that operates in the harshest conditions, often with little in the way of safety or insurance measures in place whilst perilously close to the limits of human endurance. This environment should be a challenge to design for considering the number of variables at work.

SCOTSMAN2 Project Introduction

H, I am currently a student at the Glasgow School of Art. One of the requirements for a current project is to blog progress on at least a weekly basis.

This is phase two of a project known as Scotsman in which we have researched and written design briefs. We are now to choose a brief and develop a solution to the problem.

There are eight to choose from and I am still undecided. My short list includes projects relating to;

- Preventing archaeological damage caused by the Dakar Rally
- Reducing the fatality rate associated with the commercial fishing industry
- Raising awareness of and preventing the damage caused by passive smoking

I'm leaning towards commercial fishing but I haven't ruled out the others so far.