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

arstechnica.com

131–140 of 1001 posts

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

#131
post #19
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Logitech has orders of magnitude more experience in manufacturing peripherals than Microsoft. That said, Logitech does make products in a wide price range and the low end isn't competitive with their own high end.

The article mentions that this gamepad was released in 2010, but also it's just a slight iteration on Logitech's Wireless RumblePad 2, a wireless version of the RumblePad 2 released around 2004.

The newer models just add X-input, change the button faces from 1234 to ABXY, and made the wireless receiver smaller.

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

#133

This sounds bad when phrased like that, but if you change it to say “submarine uses standard USB-HID profile for steering control” then it seems like a reasonable design decision.

The are a lot of people who have spent considerably more on thier chosen USB-HID for flying a virtual spaceship (myself included).

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

#134
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?

Bit of a tangent maybe, but according to some expert I heard on the radio this morning, it's a submersible and not a submarine precisely because the vehicle is so totally dependant on the support ship. That includes everything from communication to getting in and out.

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

#135
I read "No Time on Our Side" by Roger Chapman a few months ago on the recommendation of HN commentor /u/z991 [1]. It recounts the 1973 rescue of a damaged submersible on the ocean floor from the perspective of the crew trapped inside [2]. Mainly their struggle with limited oxygen and rising CO2 levels. A fairly brief but gripping read which I also recommend.

Of note, I recall even though the sub in question had a working acoustic phone and beacon, the rescue vessels really struggled to pinpoint its precise location and maintain communications. The ocean is a big place!

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34360329 [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_of_Roger_Mallinson_an...

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

#136
post #47
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I've been using Logitech input devices since before Sony or Microsoft ever made one.

You had a P4 mouse in 1982?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Mouse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Logitech_products

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

#137
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one is proposing a literal "suicide door". But it makes sense to have it openable after surfacing, at least for emergencies.

"Surfacing" unassisted would mean floating with the top of the submarine at water level. You still won't be able to open the door.

That's possible. Then at least some form of ventilation usable after surfacing should have been included if you're locking people in.

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

#138
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...

> 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.

Consumer grade products aren't built to last, they are built to be cheap so they can sell them to actual consumers

We all know how the military ends up using these consumer grade products; lobbying, aka deep state corruption "if that happens in a foreign country"

Hololens didn't find commercial success, yet ended up with the military, soldiers weren't happy when it was time to use the actual consumer grade product ;)

> 'The devices would have gotten us killed.'

https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/13/23402195/microsoft-us-ar...

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

#139
post #46

There's a BBC documentary from last year which I just watched: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fpz9zw and honestly a lot of it seems quite amateur hour. One of the steering motors was fitted backwards. When they discovered this, at the bottom of the ocean and a few hundred feet from Titanic, the solution they used was to hold the gamepad at right angles to compensate. That time they proceeded with the tour and mad…

The founder/CEO has said that he hasn't been on a single trip where everything went to plan...
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