A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight • Hacker News Board

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#171

Post by krisoft » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 11:56 AM UTC

ncmncm wrote: post #102

krisoft wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You could vibratory signal a path in complete darkness, indicate obstacles and threats or directions to supply caches etc. What sensors would this vest use to figure out where you are and where the obstacles and threats around you are?

It could get regular situation updates from base, and rely on GPS and compass to relate local position and orientation to interesting points. Just knowing at all times, without need to look at anything, the directions to mission objective and back to base would be useful.

> Just knowing at all times, without need to look at anything, the directions to mission objective and back to base would be useful.

You are not going to get direction from GPS sadly. You could have it from differential GPS but I can’t imagine a way how to do mount a long fixed baseline comfortably on a vest.

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#172

Post by nix23 » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 12:20 PM UTC

baq wrote: post #168

nix23 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally, fighter jets kill peoples...not safe them. The "could"-safe-way is not proof-able, the killings are.

Yes. They kill people piloting bombers carrying bombs, potentially nuclear, again potentially aimed at cities... sometimes you have to pick the lesser evil.

Your stuck in the 60's.

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#173

Post by avnigo » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 12:54 PM UTC

This reminds me what the yaw string [0] in effect does for aircraft, but turns that visual cue into a tactile sensation, also because there's no wind drag in the cockpit.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaw_string

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#174

Post by camtarn » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 12:55 PM UTC

ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #87

teachrdan wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that really true? Anecdotally, I have no trouble keeping track of where my arm is when I have a coat and gloves on :) I wonder if there's a side effect of anesthesia that inhibits the body's kinesthetic sense. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception#Proprioception_...

A quick google search says muscles are the primary receptors in humans, before it was believed the joints played that role. From my experience with anesthesia I reckon it's a little bit of everything, with the sensation of different organs being weighed differently in the final estimation. Unless you're in a vacuum as suggested in another comment I don't think you could draw definitive conclusions on the role of the…

I think that linking skin sensations to proprioception is pretty dubious. Think about walking in a high gale. The air will be pressing your outer layers to your body in a way that adds extra 'weight', but there's not even the slightest sensation of phantom movement in your limbs. Maybe it's a very low-weighted input, but I very much doubt proprioception is 'heavily based' on it as you said earlier.

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#175

Post by bloopernova » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 1:03 PM UTC

kayodelycaon wrote: post #92

teachrdan wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that really true? Anecdotally, I have no trouble keeping track of where my arm is when I have a coat and gloves on :) I wonder if there's a side effect of anesthesia that inhibits the body's kinesthetic sense. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception#Proprioception_...

My antipsychotic causes this problem severely enough I have difficulty placing my feet correctly the first few hours after I take it. (Meaning I fall really easily.) I take additional medication (Benadryl, surprisingly) to counteract a lot of neurological side effects like this.

Do you know how Benadryl counteracts that effect? That's fascinating! (I hope you don't mind me asking, you're not a research subject and I respect that you may not want to discuss it)

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#176

Post by kayodelycaon » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 1:16 PM UTC

bloopernova wrote: post #175

kayodelycaon wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My antipsychotic causes this problem severely enough I have difficulty placing my feet correctly the first few hours after I take it. (Meaning I fall really easily.) I take additional medication (Benadryl, surprisingly) to counteract a lot of neurological side effects like this.

Do you know how Benadryl counteracts that effect? That's fascinating! (I hope you don't mind me asking, you're not a research subject and I respect that you may not want to discuss it)

Always happy to discuss it. From what my psychiatrist said, Seroquel messes with histamine channels in a way that Benadryl counteracts. From personal experience Allegra does not have this effect.

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#177

Post by 2143 » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 1:46 PM UTC

kcplate wrote: post #132

hedora wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why new planes are so complex. Computers make it technologically feasible to simplify things, but also to make them more complicated. Big organizations always inject as much complexity as possible into engineering projects.

Back about 20 years ago a buddy was showing me his new airplane. Damn avionics ran on Windows NT. I told him he’d never ever get me up on that thing.

> Damn avionics ran on Windows NT

OMG.

I thought for things where human lives are acutely at stake they audit every single line of code.

I mean, Windows has a known history of crashes and freezes and things like that.

I'd trust some kind of unix (BSD) a lot more than NT.

Tangential: For many non-consumer applications, I see plenty of situations where you'd think a Unix variant (or even bare metal electronics) would be an obvious choice, but no it's usually a software running on top of Windows.

Like, my local tyre shop has their wheel alignment software running on Windows XP. Before seeing that, I'd have thought it'd be some contraption with sensors attached to 7-segment LED display or something, which would also theoretically be able to run forever.

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#178

Post by throwaway894345 » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 2:09 PM UTC

iso1210 wrote: post #169

baq wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. They kill people piloting bombers carrying bombs, potentially nuclear, again potentially aimed at cities... sometimes you have to pick the lesser evil.

When was the last time an American fighter pilot shot down a bomber?

“Deterrence” is the word you’re looking for. Bombers don’t fly against the US because our fighters (and various other AA systems) would shoot them down.

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#179

Post by xen0 » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 2:14 PM UTC

autoexec wrote: post #140

xenadu02 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently dosing was enough of a difference at some point that this mechanism evolved (assuming the stated reason is accurate). Perhaps our distant ancestors also tended to eat a small bite first, then proceed with other foods, before consuming the remainder? For that matter the drug wouldn't be absorbed all at once. If it is toxic better to eject whatever hasn't been digested than continue absorbing it. There's a b…

> There's a bonus psychological side-effect: vomiting is not pleasant I never want to do it, but it nearly always makes me feel much better. You can even get a sort of sense of calm or euphoria from vomiting. I can't say that it's pleasant, but if it were less gross and smelly it wouldn't be so bad... although the muscle contractions would still be hell on my under-trained abs.

I believe that's just endorphins.

I'm familiar with the sensation; it's enough to make you feel better, possibly even sober (if it was a drinking related episode), but the effect is unfortunately very temporary.

Re: A naked skydive inspired a way to keep pilots oriented in flight

#180

Post by nix23 » Sat, Apr 09, 2022, 2:24 PM UTC

throwaway894345 wrote: post #178

iso1210 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When was the last time an American fighter pilot shot down a bomber?

“Deterrence” is the word you’re looking for. Bombers don’t fly against the US because our fighters (and various other AA systems) would shoot them down.

Sorry but not even north Korea would use bombers, however fighters are good for airspace policing...but shooting down bombers....that's 60's mindset.