Student question about communication and navigation equipment

[katesimmons]

Hi everyone!

My name is Katie Simmons and I am in my fourth year of studying Industrial Design (product design) at Virginia Tech. I am working on a a concept for a device that is essentially a mash up of a handheld marine VHF radio and a nav. gps. I have some questions about regulations, current technologies you use, and about my current concept. The prompt for my project is to essentially design a connected product for future use, so technology and power capabilities don't have to be all here right now (I'm basically assuming technology will be smaller and batteries will be more powerful than they are now).

I know USSailing has a regulation that all nearshore vessels must have a watertight handheld VHF radio with gps capabilities. I was wondering if you knew if ocean-faring kayaks or any other small one-man vessels had to follow a similar rule? If so, what are you required to carry with you for communication/navigation?

What devices do you use for navigation and communication on the water? Do you have separate devices for both nav. and comm.? Roughly, how much did you invest in them/how much do you think it is reasonable to invest in these devices? If you've ever bought a "waterproof" radio or gps that turned out to be only water resistant, what was your experience with that? Have you ever had difficulty communicating with the other kayaks you're with or with other larger vessels while on the water?

What are your essential needs for communication and navigation on the water? What other kinds of devices do you take with you? Do they have screens, buttons, speakers? Are there any conditions that make these devices difficult to use?

Also does anyone have thoughts on the idea of a radio/navigational gps mash up? I know handheld vhf radios with gps capability already exist, but more than likely they only give you your coordinates. My concept has a pressure-sensitive screen with an interface that can toggle between the gps and radio controls with a physical talk button as well as volume buttons on the side of it. It slides into and is secured magnetically to a mount that you can fix to your boat in a variety of ways, so it can withstand breaking waves but you can also hit a release and easily grab it to use the radio. Otherwise it has all the functionality of a regular marine gps with MOB, waypoints, depth charts, as well as a function to see if other boats are tracking towards you at high speeds and to potentially receive/send proximity alerts/depth alerts. Is there any other functionality/notification you feel would be useful/necessary?

Thoughts?

Again, I'm a student and I'm not extremely familiar with ocean kayaking, and this is just a concept (I am building a wooden kayak for relaxing river/lake use, but that's about where my knowledge ends). I think my target user would be aimed at nearshore/coastal recreational/touring self-propelled vessels (kayaks, canoes, small sailboats). Potentially not professionals and not beginners but someone in the middle, who want to invest in a convenient device that serves multiple purposes rather than purchaseing three different devices.

I'm seeking answers to these questions, validation, comments, concerns, etc. Any responses would be a great help!

Thank you so much!