Avanto – Infrared heated diving suit collection with wireless power transfer

Maintaining body heat when diving in cold conditions is crucial. Current heating systems for diving suits are afterthought. They require interfering cabling outside and inside the suit, consume a large amount of energy and thus require large cumbersome batteries while still retaining short battery life. Simplicity, fit and ease of use are key factors when choosing diving equipment.

The Avanto diving suit collection consists of three separate pieces of clothing and a wireless battery module that are designed to function together. The wireless battery module, acting as a dive weight, provides bi-directional wireless power from outside the suit to integrated far infrared radiation elements inside the mid-layer.

 

Avanto is a set of a diving dry suit, a mid-layer and a base-layer that utilizes both active and passive heating to make the diving experience safer and more comfortable in demanding environments. The active heating is done using special far infrared radiation panels that are flexible and integrated to the mid-layer.

The suit was designed so that the heating components and wiring will not interfere the user or affect the comfort of the suit. The power is transferred wirelessly through the suit from batteries that are located on the diver’s belt. The power transfer is achieved utilizing a new bi-directional component developed at Aalto University. The component enables a completely sealed battery package. Recharging is accomplished by simply placing the unit on top of a charger surface.

The whole collection has been designed with the demanding low temperature environment in mind. The materials have been specifically selected and placed on the suit to warm the body in the most crucial places while still allowing the diver to function and stay mobile and also providing the needed air venting capabilities.

Traditionally dry suits for cold water diving have been created mainly with functionality in mind, the visual outlook has not been a priority and it shows. In the Avanto diving suit collection both the functionality and the visual design has been equally important parts of the product.

The suit is modular so that it can be used with different configurations of heating panels and also without the active heating when diving in warmer conditions. The power of the heating can be controlled during the diving activity. The heating components are easily removed from the mid-layer for washing while the pre-wiring stays integrated to the suit.

The project is developed as a Master’s Thesis by a team consisting of an Industrial and Strategic Design student and a Fashion and Clothing design student. Expertise from both recreational and professional scuba divers, medical professionals from the center for diving medicine as well as scuba equipment manufacturers was utilized during the project.