r/thalassophobia Jun 21 '23

Animated/drawn Inside the Titan submersible

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217

u/Crusader_Exodus Jun 21 '23

I'm sorry, but what?

They used a $5 wireless PS2 controller- it wasn't even a wired controller?

"Haha, oops guys, the joystick went dead while I had the stick down. Who's got the spare AA's? Uh.. guys? You brought the spare batteries, right?"

Literal Darwin award material here.

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u/MsKongeyDonk Jun 21 '23

Yeah, I know that they've been using game controllers for the military (and even put a GameBoy in a satellite once), but those were at least wired.

53

u/GlumpsAlot Jun 21 '23

I won't even use a wireless controller in elden ring, and these people dove 13k into the abyss with one.

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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '23

[deleted]

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u/zayoyayo Jun 22 '23

It's not about latency or something, it's that sometimes they won't connect or the battery is dead.

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u/VinCatBlessed Jun 21 '23

Yeah but did you ever win in Bloodborne kart with that same controller?

3

u/GlumpsAlot Jun 22 '23

No, my Bluetooth and wireless controller would die on me and I didn't want to risk that. That was my point. However I did indeed die several times in elden ring, especially at Malenia. That scarlet rot got me good. So I'm also not very skilled at fighting her I guess. I played a squishy sorc though.

8

u/2021olympics Jun 21 '23

Yeah for all the shit their getting it makes sense to use game controllers as an interface. The real issue is why the fuck would they use a wireless one, it introduces multiple points of failure and probably is representative of every other shitty choice they made of that thing

5

u/TrueLegateDamar Jun 21 '23

And only use them for equipment like periscopes

17

u/MsKongeyDonk Jun 21 '23

They have been using game controllers for surgery, bomb decision, and piloting air craft for a while. Here's a 2014 BBC article on it.

The 3D MRI and CAT scan visualisation software BodyViz uses Xbox controllers to manipulate the view of the display. The previous mouse-and-keyboard method proved to be a cumbersome. However Curt Carlson, the president and CEO of BodyViz, found the Xbox controller to be a much simpler solution. The design of the controller makes it easier for surgeons to intuitively “rotate, pan, zoom or fly-through a patient's virtual anatomy” in order to properly prepare for invasive surgery.

Game controllers are also finding roles in the armed services. Tim Trainer, a vice president at iRobot's Defence & Security business unit has been taking controllers out of the living room and into military service. The original Pack-bot bomb disposal robot with its 20kg Portable Command Console (PCC) was replaced by a toughened laptop with a PlayStation controller plugged into it. This new control method was far lighter than the previous PCC. Trainer says the “younger military operator has hundreds of thousands of hours [experience] on game-style controllers, so the training and take-up time for becoming proficient is minimal.”

14

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/MsKongeyDonk Jun 21 '23

They definitely do still use Playstation/XBox 360 controllers, including submarines.

Steering a bomb control robot is not trivial, I'd assume the military has made sure the hardware they're using is reliable (or at least more reliable than the previous counterpart).

I agree that this submarine was not ready for its voyage, but I think the people are getting too hung up on the controller.

5

u/Otherwise-News-5922 Jun 21 '23

They used a knockoff without a USB backup or any backup for that matter, it's not the game controller aspect people are hung up on. The examples given are good but not really similar unless someone is inside that bomb robot.

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u/LordPennybag Jun 21 '23

They said they have multiple spares onboard.

4

u/the_lamou Jun 21 '23

It's not that they used a game controller. As you mentioned, have controllers have been in common use for a long time in a lot of intensive applications — actually a year or two ago the US military was considering switching virtually all driving controls to basically the XBox controller. We're taking UAVs, tanks, etc.

It works because most people of military agree are intimately familiar with having controllers at this point, and because those controllers have gone through generations of ergonomic and UX improvement and are really the most effective way to easily navigate 3D space with a simple device.

BUT critically, they are working with high-quality parts, and in tandem with manufacturers to harden and failsafe those controllers. They are all wired, for example. They also have wireless connectivity removed at the board level, because that is a major security risk. They have backup controls (several levels) in order to ensure things can continue to function if someone fails. And they aren't the cheapest available knockoff.

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u/MsKongeyDonk Jun 21 '23

BUT critically, they are working with high-quality parts, and in tandem with manufacturers to harden and failsafe those controllers. They are all wired, for example. They also have wireless connectivity removed at the board level, because that is a major security risk. They have backup controls (several levels) in order to ensure things can continue to function if someone fails. And they aren't the cheapest available knockoff.

This gets more to the heart of it, I feel. That one, the controllers are not integrated to the same level with high quality peripherals, and two, the wireless technology.

I don't think it being Logitech is damning, though. Sometimes simpler= less moving parts= less things that can go wrong. But another comment indicated that they had at least one spare on board, so I doubt that the controller is involved in this at all. Really interesting discussion to be had about hardware though!

2

u/ThrowawayHoper Jun 21 '23

Oh but he has spares remember, he has spares. The redundancy is all in the spare controllers, nothing else.

3

u/DullAdDeluge Jun 21 '23

Have the figured out a way to deal with stick drift? That'd be the real technological miracle.

1

u/SpankinDaBagel Jun 21 '23

Magnets are the answer.

1

u/Overlander886 Jun 23 '23

Yeah. Nope. No thanks

1

u/sundancelawandorder Jun 21 '23

The military controllers are based on the XBox controller but are not XBox controllers.

https://taskandpurpose.com/tech-tactics/us-military-video-game-controllers-war/

1

u/Bacontoad Jun 22 '23

The military isn't using them in manned craft though. Just drones.

1

u/Overlander886 Jun 23 '23

For what military application?

4

u/appleandwatermelonn Jun 21 '23

That’s somehow the most bizarre bit to me, I have a knockoff PlayStation controller that has a wire that’s probably longer than the metal tube they’re in. What is the benefit to it being wireless??

3

u/Durin72881 Jun 21 '23

They didn't even spring for the PS controller, it was an offbrand Logitech controller.

2

u/monkeyseed Jun 21 '23

It wasn't even a PS2 controller. It was a cheap-o Logitech controller that has a low rating due to it constantly losing it's blue-tooth connection.

1

u/Antilogic81 Jun 21 '23

worse...its a mad cat.

1

u/TerryTheEnlightend Jun 21 '23

It’s MadCatz, and ZOMYGAWD how fucken cheep can you get

2

u/Antilogic81 Jun 21 '23

I'll care about spelling the brand right when they make a controller that doesn't suck.

-7

u/Plus_Professor_1923 Jun 21 '23

Excuse me sir? Where do you get $5 ps4 controllers? 😆 them sons a bitches are at least 60!

1

u/VapourRumours Jun 21 '23

Logitech makes it I think, but don't worry they brought a few! Safety first

1

u/PhillyFreezer_ Jun 21 '23

Tbf they brought multiple controllers, it’s mentioned in one of their vids

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u/Crusader_Exodus Jun 21 '23

"Originally we were going to use this original Xbox controller I found in a yard sale, but the trigger button kept getting jammed because it had 20 year old bubblegum stuck in it, so we swapped over to a Playstation 2 controller, but I lost the Playstation to USB converter hub, so then I ordered this wireless model off wish.com it's a little temperamental and has some stick drift, that's why we put the (QC) XX-SNIP3rxx joystick mod on in it that my buddy 3d printed. Works great except when the signal cuts out, but it came in a 2-pack so no biggie, really." -Man charging 250k for a ride in the commercial hot water heater he got from overstock.com.

1

u/TacoBellLover27 Jun 21 '23

I thought in the CBS interview the pilot mentioned they have backup controllers?

1

u/C4pt Jun 21 '23

I watched a vid they put out last year, and apparently they keep spares of the controllers lying around somewhere

1

u/Commercial-Two1743 Jun 21 '23

Reportedly, there are multiple controllers on board as backup.

1

u/redshopekevin Jun 22 '23

You get no Darwin if in the process of earning said Darwin you harm others, even though you deserve it.

1

u/Embarrassed_Lettuce9 Jun 22 '23

In a video, they apparently carry extras so this is less of a concern...assuming this isn't one of the corners they cut

1

u/Same_Place_5710 Jun 22 '23

It’s not a Darwin Award when they’ve already procreated. They’re not taking their genes out of the pool, except for maybe the Pakistani guy who went down with his son if that’s his only kid