Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

blog.presentandcorrect.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 122 posts

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#21

Post by SoftTalker »

rumdonut wrote: post #15
wkat4242 wrote: post #12

I wonder why the operators are always wearing lab coats and butcher's hats. Are they afraid they'll get hair in the switches?

I’m not sure what these rooms control, but it’s possible the control room is simply part of a greater facility that has a mandate for this. Which makes sense, since there’s something to control here that may be more sensitive / dangerous than the control room itself.

A lot of them are nuclear plants. The ones with the big circular display panels on the wall are: that's the reactor core.

They require lab/clean room type of dress so that it's easier to tell if you have any foreign material on your clothes.

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#22

Post by bloomingeek »

I've operated in boiler room offices at large plants for almost 40 years, the mimic panel is a very valuable tool. With miles of piping carrying water and steam for various reasons, the panels help keep it all straight in your mind.

These panels are in hospitals, chemical plants, data centers, Navy ships and subs and many other places similar to where I work. I can't imagine what it feels like to work in a nuke facility. I do work with some men who worked on subs, their training was astounding.

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#23

Post by Wistar »

yamtaddle wrote: post #16

Can you even imagine how relaxing it would be to have the same interface to your systems, every day, with all the parts in one physical location and never moving? Learn it once, then nothing changes for years and years, or if it does it's usually adding on, not replacing or re-arranging existing stuff? Man, that would be nice.

I used to be an editor in an online digital video suite. All real time and all dedicated controls. GVG Kadenza, Abekas and Accom digital disk recorders, D1 and digi-beta, GVG 141 edit controller. Rarely even looked at the controls, could adjust two or more parameters simultaneously—super important, especially when the parameters affected each other as they were adjusted. Muscle memory ruled—like playing a piano. Plus the physical motion, flying through the settings, looked impressive to the clients and, at those rates which could reach several hundred dollars an hour, that performance, the show, was important.

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#24

Post by SoftTalker »

wkat4242 wrote: post #13
themanmaran wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's a graphical representation of the RBMK control rods [1]. It's also in the last two images. These are replaceable control rods that were laid out in a circular pattern in the RBMK class reactors. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RBMK

It's not nearly enough rods for an RBMK. Those were huge. And they had nothing outside the circle. Probably another type of nuclear facility. Maybe a medical isotope reactor? The second last photo looks like an RBMK or at least something that size.

They had channel-type reactors before the RBMK (essentially earlier generations of the design) that were smaller. Could be what these are.

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#25

Post by cmrdporcupine »

elzbardico wrote: post #18

The biggest problem with the Soviet Union was Brezhnev not being able to keep with his economic reforms after 1974. Seeing Russia nowadays it is sometimes hard to believe that once they were the second economy in the world, before being removed from this post by Japan. Had they enacted Chinese style reforms they could have avoided the whole disastrous 90s

Even with market reforms, I think they would have fallen victim to the addiction to energy revenues that's poisoned so many energy exporting economies. Breeds corruption, croneyism, and discourages investment in other industries.

Maybe Norway is the only exception.

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#27

Post by RedShift1 »

yamtaddle wrote: post #16

Can you even imagine how relaxing it would be to have the same interface to your systems, every day, with all the parts in one physical location and never moving? Learn it once, then nothing changes for years and years, or if it does it's usually adding on, not replacing or re-arranging existing stuff? Man, that would be nice.

Use boring software. Software that releases every few months instead of weeks or even days. Software that is well documented and has an active supportive community.

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#28

Post by kjellsbells »

Id love to know what Edward Tufte thinks of this sort of design. I get very strong small-multiples vibes from seeing all those needle-style meters, and I assume, given the stakes, that the Soviets applied some psychology and human information design principles to them. Or maybe they just hacked it together, who knows.

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#29

Post by turtledragonfly »

yamtaddle wrote: post #16

Can you even imagine how relaxing it would be to have the same interface to your systems, every day, with all the parts in one physical location and never moving? Learn it once, then nothing changes for years and years, or if it does it's usually adding on, not replacing or re-arranging existing stuff? Man, that would be nice.

Agreed. Typing this with Vim (:

Re: A collection of Soviet control rooms (2017)

#30

Post by rthnbgrredf »

yamtaddle wrote: post #16

Can you even imagine how relaxing it would be to have the same interface to your systems, every day, with all the parts in one physical location and never moving? Learn it once, then nothing changes for years and years, or if it does it's usually adding on, not replacing or re-arranging existing stuff? Man, that would be nice.

Learn vi/vim/nvim. Interface hasn't changed much since 1976 (first version of vi).
Post reply on HN