The Titanic tourist sub that is now missing used "improvised" technology; it was steered by a game controller

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Originally published at: The Titanic tourist sub that is now missing used "improvised" technology; it was steered by a game controller | Boing Boing

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To be fair, the US Navy uses game controllers too.

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meh, i think way too much is being made of this. as pointed out elsewhere, the military uses them too.

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Did they change the batteries?

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At least it’s a brand name controller though, not a cheap knock-off they found at the dollar store, lmao

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True, but not for critical systems. Would you really want to rely on a USB connection as your only input into the steering system of the ship you rely on to keep you alive?

For me, it’s not so much the game controller itself, which is an ergonomic and proven way of designing an input device, it’s that there are no backup systems. No way to access things like fuses and valves that make it possible to improvise and repair in emergencies. No physical release lever for the emergency ballast.

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I use that gamepad. I have to replace them periodically because the contacts go flakey - it’s a <30 USD gamepad after all.

Wouldn’t be my choice to use in this application because of exposure to high humidity sea air and salt water.

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A USB connection would be an improvement over what they had. This was a wireless controller.

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I’m actually more hopeful of their survival after reading this. I was thinking that there might’ve been a hull breach, but if it’s just a matter of a failed communication system the grown-up submariners may find the Titan before it’s too late.

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At least use the Xbox Elite controller if you’re gonna put people’s lives at risk holy shit

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Here’s a rundown:

ETA: Critical system:

Yet the USS Colorado, which makes its debut Saturday, manages to merge next-generation attack capabilities with, well, an Xbox controller.

The controller operates two photonics masts. These are the successors to the periscopes you might be familiar with in old war movies. The masts house visible and infrared digital cameras on top of telescoping arms.

ETA 2: And missile systems

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The thing that bothers me the most is the fact that there is no homing beacon. It’s one thing if a sub is tethered, but to run it free without makes no sense at all. Hell, even if it was tethered, I’d want one in case something happened to break free.

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I’ll bet they have spares at hand when they need them, though.

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I mean, using COTS components is fine. Logitech makes a decent controller, and there is market pressure for them to do so.
There are many MANY other design flaws. The controller is a distraction from the rest of the shit show. .

ETA: The real tragedy is the waste of time and money looking for these ass-hats, when SAR operations on things like migrant ships is “meh” at best. I guess the needs of the many are outweighed by the needs of the few and the rich.

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For sure. The issue isn’t using Xbox controllers. It’s not having redundancies, like hardwiring instead of wireless, extras on hand, etc etc. There’s a lot of crappy design in this.

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yeah, this is a great point. i think i just object to everyone focusing on it because “it’s a game controller!”, and missing things like this, which are definitely more important in my mind.

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Even if they find the sub there are scant few craft on the planet with the ability to even attempt any kind of rescue operation, and it’s not clear if any of them are close enough to the site to get there before the air runs out.

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Homing beacons at that depth are just not something that’s feasible. Almost all of them involve some detachable part that rises to the surface or a certain level and then goes off.

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Thank you, yes. My sympathy is tempered by the fact that these dinguses chose to pay for this dangerous luxury tourism and are getting more resources devoted to their rescue than the hundreds of Pakistani migrants who’s boat went down off the coast of Greece.

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I would think some sort of acoustic beacon should work? The point is to locate the hull after all, so detaching isn’t necessary.

And for some reason the technology for detecting and ranging artificial sounds under water is very sophisticated and widely available to navies around the world

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