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

arstechnica.com

221–230 of 1001 posts

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

#221

Every time I have seen people calling this amateur hour, I wonder if they are right or if it is similar to NASA using the same chip that was used in the Sony Playstation in the early 90s as in the New Horizons probe which reach Pluto in 2015. https://www.itpro.com/hardware/368293/why-cutting-edge-space...

there is no problem in using off the shelf devices, problem is when you choose one that is not fit for intended purpose

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

#222
post #6

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.

There has to be a name for this kind of phenomenon. I am smart enough to know that I'm too dumb and ill-equipped to make a safe tourism business out of a homebrewed submarine. These people are smarter than me, but too stupid to know that they aren't smart enough to make a safe tourism business out of a homebrewed submarine.

Elon Musk effect.

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

#223
post #40
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Their game controllers are low quality. For example, home and professional desktop flight simulators prefer to use VKB or Virpil joysticks instead of Logitech or Thrustmaster.

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

#224
post #7

The fact that it's wireless is the scariest part to me. What if it runs out of battery? What if it desyncs?

They have multiple of them on board and can swap in a new one if there's an issue. The focus on the controller is misplaced to me. Game controllers are well made and better suited for the job than custom hardware. It's just the association with videogames that makes it seem odd. If they used $30 logitech keyboard as well, would anyone question that?

The controller indicates poor engineering & safety culture. It simply isn't fit for life critical purpose.

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

#225
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...

This is what happens when you take the move fast and break things culture to anything where people die when things break. Really just sad and so stupid.

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

#226
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.

> Logitech has orders of magnitude more experience in manufacturing peripherals than Microsoft.

You know that saying that anybody can build a bridge, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands? From what I've seen and heard, Logitech has used their experience to make peripherals that barely last longer than the warranty/return period.

FWIW my 22 year old optical intellimouse from Microsoft is still going strong.

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

#227
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…

How do you not test this at the bottom of a harbor rather than in prod.

To quote bill oreilly, “Fuck it! We’ll do it live!”

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

#228
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 German publication Der Spiegel has an interview up with a tourist who visited the Titanic on the same vessel.

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

#229
post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Wow, everything working should be the goal- not a mere nice to have.

Stop being such a nerd! There’s an old boat in the water that sank because of hubris, let’s go see what we can learn!

(Lesson learned the hard way)

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

#230
post #190
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were charging a quarter million per head. Budget should not have been a concern.

Also using close to $1m in fuel per trip (according to the CEO), not that it changes your point

Not doubting you, but how is that possible? (A quick, unverified Google throws back "A standard Panamax containership has operational costs of about $9 million per year")
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