The work of SCUBA diving computer expert Alan Lupsha took the world record dive of Allen “The Grouper” Sherrod live around the globe with his ingenious underwater camera system that transmitted the video from beneath the waves and beamed it through the air for a worldwide internet broadcast.
Alan Lupsha at his workstation
In September 2014 Allen Sherrod set the Guinness World Record for the longest open saltwater dive in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Florida by spending an amazing 51 hours, 4 minutes, and 38 seconds continuously submerged in the Atlantic Ocean waters. The Discovery Channel covered the record setting dive and it garnered worldwide media attention and publicity for the town and event sponsors. The event attracted tourists and volunteers to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida and helped make it known worldwide as a destination for SCUBA divers.
An integral part of the event was a live video stream broadcast from beneath the waves and over the internet around the world. After several innovative inventions regarding live underwater video streaming, Alan Lupsha, a self-proclaimed “Jack of All Trades,” had the knowledge and experience to build the video and computer equipment to successfully capture underwater video of the world record dive and broadcast it live over the internet. Lupsha’s brainchild, a raspberry pi camera housed in a PVC device with an Ethernet router is the first of its kind in the world.
Inventor Alan Lupsha studies an underwater cave map with photographer Gene Page
The inventor’s groundbreaking work is not just limited to sub aquatic cinematography. The Romanian-born Canadian citizen also developed a method and device to map underwater underwater caves. What previously took hundreds of hours on-site to map and costing over $100,000.00, Lupsha can now map from the comfort of his garage for around $1,000.00 using his own proprietary technology. Not only would divers benefit from his virtually instant and precise underwater cave maps, Lupsha’s invention is of major importance to the environment because it also charts water pollutants, a phenomenon documented by the documentary Water’s Journey: The Hidden Rivers of Florida. Since over half of the country’s citizens depend on groundwater to drink and because it is one of the most important sources for irrigation, the significance of Lupsha’s mapping invention cannot be overstated. Other related inventions include his development of mydivemap.com, a Wikipedia-style website that will enable divers to learn about diving conditions in real time.
This Renaissance man is currently employed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the largest such agency in the US, where Lupsha developed environmental web applications, and designed and constructed technical environments and streamlined the organization’s system for environmental violation fine enforcement.
Other industries have benefitted from Lupsha’s exceptional abilities as well. For example, his computerization saved the automotive industry millions by restoring the production line at a Michigan Chrysler manufacturing plant and improved the giant’s efficiency by optimizing their process flow.
SCUBA diving continues to be more hi-tech with new electronics, lighting, and camera systems entering the market regularly. The work of inventors like Alan Lupsha promises to make our sport safer, and more fun while contributing to the vital work of environmental protection.