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Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

arstechnica.com

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Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#31

Post by silisili »

mikestew wrote: post #12
silisili wrote: post #8

Stupid question, perhaps: was/it possible for this sub to have any kind of beaconing or communication system that works at depth? It seems like one of this first things I'd investigate before deciding to build a sub.

Summary: water attenuates radio signals, and a 4Km cable is going to be way heavy and subject to currents.

Seems you're right, I just was searching how the military does it and...it's not great. Came across https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_with_submarines .

So perhaps the best you could do here are something like emergency buoys that either one can record data on or perhaps automated recording some stats/location/whatever that can be released in an emergency and send a broadcast once topside?

Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#32

Post by silisili »

nradov wrote: post #28
silisili wrote: post #8

Stupid question, perhaps: was/it possible for this sub to have any kind of beaconing or communication system that works at depth? It seems like one of this first things I'd investigate before deciding to build a sub.

The sub had a limited acoustic telemetry system for transmitting to the host ship. That signal was lost, so presumably the sub has suffered some type of serious failure.

Thanks! I've read a few articles in passing, and none mentioned anything like that. Doesn't sound promising now...

Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#34

Post by starkparker »

Strom wrote: post #18
JDW1023 wrote: post #17

> According to the BBC, the entire sub is bolted shut from the outside, so even if the vessel surfaces, the occupants cannot escape without outside assistance and could suffocate within the capsule. Why is the submarine bolted shut from the outside?

I guess for the immense pressure you get at that depth. However an emergency release would still make sense.

Naval submarine hatches rely on the pressure to keep the hatch shut. The water pressure outside is greater than the air pressure inside. The hatch locks around a sealing o-ring. Escape trunks are sealed off from the rest of the ship and work like an airlock. Deepsea Challenger's outward-opening hatch/egress trunk worked the same way; indeed, its view window was on the hatch.

Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#35

Post by vlod »

silisili wrote: post #8

Stupid question, perhaps: was/it possible for this sub to have any kind of beaconing or communication system that works at depth? It seems like one of this first things I'd investigate before deciding to build a sub.

I was wondering how naval submarines work when they get in trouble.

I would expect to see some sort of emergency button (internally) that you could press, that would release some sort of buoy, that would float to the surface and start transmitting with gps etc. I think that would help narrow down the search.

The buoy would be in an external container (to prevent pressure problems), with explosive bolts or something to release.

Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#36

Post by srmarm »

tredre3 wrote: post #16
srmarm wrote: post #3

The US Navy uses an Xbox 360 controller in active service [0] Mass market has a lot of R&D to leverage so it makes sense. Nothing to say this is the cause of the fault and probably going to be more reliable than something hand rolled. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16333376/us-navy-military...

I personally believe using mass market makes sense. I don't understand the criticism I've seen on this website for using off the shelf controllers or camping lights (what do you expect, an LED strip magically engineered by a large aeronautics firm specifically for the sub? and what would that change?). That being said, the difference between a Microsoft controller and a third party is that Microsoft very certainly di…

Hey at least it's not a madcatz controller!

Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#37

Post by throw9away6 »

sschueller wrote: post #29

From what I read it is also the first carbon fiber deep water vessel. I find that scary as carbon fiber does not start to bend before falure, it fails catastrophically.

Not quite you get first ply failure before catastrophic

Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#38

Post by mustacheemperor »

srmarm wrote: post #3

The US Navy uses an Xbox 360 controller in active service [0] Mass market has a lot of R&D to leverage so it makes sense. Nothing to say this is the cause of the fault and probably going to be more reliable than something hand rolled. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16333376/us-navy-military...

Worth noting they use the controller to steer the periscope, not the sub. A component failure there has a significantly smaller risk to human life.

Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#39

Post by mustacheemperor »

Our_Benefactors wrote: post #4
deadballcretin wrote: post #2

On one hand, 'if it ain't broke' etc. On the other, 'wait, what?'. The entire operation manages to somehow feel both incredibly sophisticated (it's not easy to get a sub to that depth) and simultaneously incredibly stupid.

The part most surprising to me was that there is no way to see out of the craft besides the camera system. Why not watch the video on land after the fact? It seems so senseless to endanger yourself as a participant.

There's a porthole in the front of the sub, where the toilet is.

Funny enough, I've also seen "it doesn't even have a toilet" repeated around HN in the last couple days.

IIRC an earlier design or planned design used cameras only.

Edit: Wow, they were actually sued by a whistleblower over the pressure rating for the window on an earlier design! https://newrepublic.com/post/173802/missing-titanic-sub-face...

Re: Submarine missing near Titanic used a $30 Logitech gamepad for steering

#40

Post by leipert »

soared wrote: post #21
srmarm wrote: post #3

The US Navy uses an Xbox 360 controller in active service [0] Mass market has a lot of R&D to leverage so it makes sense. Nothing to say this is the cause of the fault and probably going to be more reliable than something hand rolled. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16333376/us-navy-military...

The issue most people on Reddit were discussing is that it’s a cheap off brand controller, rather than a higher quality name brand controller (from Sony or Microsoft)

How is Logitech “off brand”. They are well known for input devices.
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