211–220 of 1001 posts
My 11yo son asked me why they did not connect a buoy to the submarine with a string. Lol
But then surely you could just cut the rope and free the vessel.
I think your son is onto something!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly what's the issues, then?
buying wrong COTS components, ones that are not fit for intended purpose
What could possibly lead you to presume that? Do you feel in a better position to make that call than all the engineers who actually work on that task at a professional level?
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...
xbox 360 controllers last only 6 months to a couple years with various failures that don't matter when you're playing a video game with them but can actually get you killed if they fail when you're in deep ocean. These are not ok for controls in vehicles where failure can mean everyone onboard dies. The navy does not use these for critical system controls. They were never built or tested for that.
With all the talk about failure modes of carbon fiber, the scariest part of this article is the photo of the display and light held up by screws drilled into the side of the pressure vessel.
Might have been from the Byford Dolphin accident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin
"Hellevik, being exposed to the highest pressure gradient and in the process of moving to secure the inner door, was forced through the crescent-shaped opening measuring 60 centimetres (24 in) long created by the jammed interior trunk door. With the escaping air and pressure, it included bisection of his thoracoabdominal cavity, which resulted in fragmentation of his body, followed by expulsion of all of the internal organs of his chest and abdomen, except the trachea and a section of small intestine, and of the thoracic spine. These were projected some distance, one section being found 10 metres (30 ft) vertically above the exterior pressure door."
I wonder if anyone knows if this universally true? Would the inhabitants of this submarine have experienced a similar fate if one of those bolts failed or a hole in the hull developed?
I wondered why they can't install a GPS anyway on the sub so that when it eventually does get to the surface, at least they can be found then.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its practically impossible to do satellite to undersea communications. Being underwater does all kinds of hell to RF signals. Even just reliably doing undersea to surface communications is pretty tricky. Is your phone waterproof? Stick it a sink full of water. Watch it lose all network connectivity.
See my previous comment [0]: "that would release some sort of buoy, that would float to the surface and start transmitting with gps etc." That should work if it's floating I would think? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36409802
They already know about where the sub should be, somewhere around the Titanic wreck. If an untethered buoy pops up a few miles away, does it really do much to help clue you into where they are? And if its not much to put a tether on the buoy, why not just have the craft be tethered from the start?
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 is a "cheap third party"? I like MS hardware, but my goodness, calling Logitech that is clearly missing something in the accuracy department. Logitech is way more experienced at making and selling input devices than MS.
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 US Navy uses an Xbox 360 controller in active service To control periscopes (“photonics masts”), and some other equipment, not for primary control of manned vehicles, that I can find any indication of.