the Logitech F710 is a solid controller to get if you’re on a tight budget, but perhaps not exactly the type of equipment you want to stake your life on. […] Reviewers on sites like Amazon frequently mention issues with the wireless device’s connection.

The reporter, who followed an expedition of the Titan from the launch ship, wrote that “it seems like this submersible has elements of MacGyver jerry-riggedness.”

      • ArtieShaw@kbin.social
        18·
        2 years ago

        That’s a hard agree. I work in a highly regulated industry and literally every new dude who joins the company says some version of “I don’t see why we can’t just…” and proceeds to describe some moderately to highly illegal shit. Every single one.

        It’s wild. I think they honestly believe they’re the first person to think up these completely obvious and simple “solutions” to problems that require some degree of control and complexity.

      • blivet@kbin.social
        11·
        2 years ago

        At my old job the director of my department had a poster up that said “move fast and break things”, but he also demanded 99.9999% uptime.

      • remmon@kbin.social
        5·
        2 years ago

        Especially when the previous smaller version of the same design, with the same materials, had problems with it coming apart a few years back.

    • comicallycluttered@beehaw.org
      13·
      2 years ago

      innovation often falls outside of the existing industry paradigm.

      Lol, the fuck is this even supposed to mean? Just say regulations. You know, honesty, with a touch of bullshit at the end.

      Something like:

      "Regulations are too difficult to deal with when you’ve got a substandard machine which wouldn’t pass any of the requisite safety tests.

      If someone happens to die, we’ve determined this to be acceptable collateral.

      This is also known as innovation."

    • Thrashy@beehaw.org
      7·
      2 years ago

      The good news is, the hubris is already in a can. The bad news is, the can is several thousand feet under the North Atlantic.

  • underisk@lemmy.ml
    28·
    2 years ago

    Some journalists did a story on this thing a while ago and it got lost for about 5 hours. During this time one of the reporters asked if it had some kind of beacon or transponder to locate it in situations like this. Their reply was something along the lines of “oh yeah that’s probably a good idea.” They never added it.

    • Fauxreigner@beehaw.org
      20·
      2 years ago

      The lack of an emergency transponder is their biggest problem, followed shortly after by the inability to exit without outside help (which is literally what killed the Apollo 1 crew over 50 years ago). Next up, as pointed out in another thread, is that the sub is made of extremely brittle materials because that makes it lighter. Honestly, using off the shelf components for the controls doesn’t worry me nearly as much as those other issues.

      • TEKUMS@lemmy.ca
        9·
        2 years ago

        The more I hear about this the more I’m shocked that this death trap was allowed to operate at all! It seems on the level of that bear suit guy, super dyi energy but with no real use case.

        • Very_Bad_Janet@kbin.social
          8·
          2 years ago

          You want to be more shocked? The pilot was the CEO. He was willing to risk everyone’s lives and his own on this folly.

        • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
          6·
          2 years ago

          There was a video from some reporters that were given a ride I saw someone linked earlier, which included them having to sign a waiver that among other things stated that one acknowledges that the sub is an experimental vessel not certified by any regulatory body. So from the sound of it, there is nobody to regulate these things that would tell them no. I suppose given how rare civilian submarines are, let alone ones that take passengers, there probably hasn’t been much need

  • Thndrchld@beehaw.org
    26·
    2 years ago

    Man. That’s the control you give to your little brother because you don’t want him to get the good control all sticky.

  • omnilynx@lemm.ee
    20·
    2 years ago

    I was about to defend this (the US military uses XBox controllers for subs & drones), but then I saw that it was off-brand. No excuse for that.

    • Killer_Tree@beehaw.org
      12·
      2 years ago

      Same, we use XBox controllers to operate remote cameras for pipeline inspections and they usually survive far longer than is reasonable considering some of the abuse we put them through. That being said, I have no idea about the quality of Logitech, but at the very least they should have had a backup controller available as it would have a small footprint and be a huge failsafe.

  • BurningnnTree@lemmy.one
    18·
    2 years ago

    It seems like a really bad idea to use a wireless controller instead of a wired one. But I guess it shouldn’t matter as long as they have a backup wired controller in case the wireless one dies.

    • Gram@lemmy.one
      25·
      2 years ago

      I think there’s more to it than that.

      When working at industrial factories if I catch a glimpse of something run off a cheap consumer alternative to the standard industry equipment I immediately question everything. If they’re willing to skimp on that item, where else have they skimped?

      • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
        7·
        2 years ago

        Laugh now but when it comes out that the Logitech controller was the only thing to survive the implosion, you’ll look pretty foolish.

    • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
      2·
      2 years ago

      Hopefully they at least have some spare AA batteries to swap in when it dies in the middle of a match.

  • bob@lemmy.havocperil.uk
    18·
    2 years ago

    There’s nothing wrong with using a game controller to steer the thing, I think the issue is more the lack of backup or failsafes.

    Also, I’m very much a layperson in this field, but would it have not made sense to tether this thing to a ship on the surface? They could have kept in contact with the surface via the tether and had them reel the thing back in if there were problems with its propulsion or steering.

    I saw the video of its interior. As someone who has claustrophobia, it’s absolute nightmare fuel. It’s a cylinder about 15 feet long and maybe 6 feet wide that you can’t even stand up in. It’s going to be very unpleasant for 5 people.

    • jellyfish@beehaw.org
      8·
      2 years ago

      I agree completely with the controller, it doesn’t really matter what is used to steer the ship, just that it has fail-safes.

      I don’t think resurfacing is the most important part here. Bathyscaphes are normally designed to jettison iron or steel ballasts attached by electromagnet, which allows them to surface due to their natural buoyancy. It’s impossible to say for the Titan though, it was a specialty one-off design without much public detail about it’s design.

      This is a really interesting video to get a take from an experienced submariner that I found really informative - https://youtu.be/4dka29FSZac

    • Givesomefucks@reddthat.com
      7·
      2 years ago

      Also, there’s no way to open it from the inside, they’re bolted in.

      So even if they surfaced, they’ll still run out of air if they’re not found soon.

    • argv_minus_one@beehaw.org
      11·
      2 years ago

      They could afford to pay $250k for a vacation, and they voluntarily rode this deathtrap?!

      Proof positive that being rich doesn’t make you smart.

      • Double_A
        4·
        2 years ago

        Where they get to watch the Titanic oh a fricking TV! It could as well just have been a simulation with a small robot that actually goes and films the Titanic.

      • liminis@beehaw.org
        1·
        1 year ago

        What weirded me out was it was being cast as a joint exploration effort when one of the members was charging the others. Would seem like a total grift, given the cost-cutting steps, if not for the owner/‘designer’ putting their own life on the line too.

        Such deep sea submersibles are inherently a bit of an experimental industry, but even a cursory scan of opinions from others in that community seems to suggest it’s seen as extremely not-kosher to put others’ lives on the line with your experimental craft. Dude just seems to have been a bit nutty, and not altogether considerate enough of his own wellbeing or others’.

    • aleph@lemm.ee
      8·
      2 years ago

      Especially when you have to sign a waiver that literally reads:

      “This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death.” Source

  • grte@lemmy.ca
    14·
    2 years ago

    I saw a video of this submersible. The view was through a TV. Imagine going to the bottom of the damned ocean to look at the Titanic on a TV.

    • xffxe4@lemmy.oneEnglish
      15·
      2 years ago

      Personally I think the best case scenario is for it to have imploded and they all died instantly. Any other option seems like torture to me.

        • SelfAwareCoder@kbin.social
          12·
          2 years ago

          Well the sub can’t be opened from the inside, so if they’re floating on the surface they’ll still run out of air if not found. And people really underestimate how hard it is to find small craft in the ocean. You’re looking for a needle in a haystack, with the added twist that the ocean currents move stuff around so the search area grows

        • remmon@kbin.social
          8·
          2 years ago

          Floating on the surface is only barely better than stranded deep underwater, there’s no hatch for them to open so they’ll still be limited by oxygen and there’s no locator beacon that might help rescuers find them.

          • aegisgfx877@kbin.social
            15·
            2 years ago

            No locator beacon?? Like… why the hell not??? Was this whole thing an exercise in seeing how stupid they could be?

  • 🇺🇦 seirim @lemmy.pro
    12·
    2 years ago

    UK billionaire Hamish Harding, who holds three Guinness World Records and was both in space and in the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench, is one of the people currently on board the Titan.

    Yikes, that’ll be some big trouble for them

  • ArtieShaw@kbin.social
    10·
    2 years ago

    Holy shit. BBC has a short video that shows the interior of the sub and how it’s controlled. It’s a featureless tube with one button and the wireless controller. I wasn’t expecting the submersible from Life Aquatic, but I wasn’t expecting anything like what’s shown in the video.

    I think this is how you make a link? Like in wiki markup

    here’s plain text if that link doesn’t work.
    https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-65953941

  • Gork@beehaw.org
    10·
    2 years ago

    I’ve used the F710 so that our family can couch co-op in the living room. For a Logitech controller it’s pretty solidly built and is of the era where Logitech peripherals were of good quality (unlike now, rip new G503s). I noticed that the wireless range kinda sucked if it didn’t have direct LOS to the receiver, but it has good rumble feedback and I like the smooth matte black underside material (feels good to the touch).

    • Satiric_Weasel@beehaw.org
      9·
      2 years ago

      Bu would you stake your life, and the lives of others, on it performing well thousands of meters below the ocean?

      I used, and loved, a cheap little Logitech keyboard for years before it died on me. Wouldn’t Jerry-rig it into my car and use it as my steering apparatus though.

      • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
        7·
        2 years ago

        I wouldn’t even stake my Elden Ring playthrough to a cheap third party controller. I’ve been playing consoles since the early 1990s and there has never been a time where 3rd party performs better than 1st party.