The Titanic director has made 33 dives to the shipwreck and visited ocean depths in a submersible he built himself. He compares OceanGate to the Titanic in that both ignored safety warnings.
feels like they probably knew that in their heart the moment they see the $30 Logitech controller…
Using a game controller is not that unusual.
but it was wireless, that is bad.
The thrusters on the outside. The goal was to minimize hull penetrations for cabling and things.
Yeah. It’s not unusual, for example:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a33457596/israeli-carmel-tank-video-games/
I’ve heard of this. Out of curiosity (because I don’t actually know), do you know if the controllers used in military applications are literally “off the shelf” or if they’re “Xbox-like”, which is what most descriptions about them say.
In other words, I suspect the military(s) using these type of controllers are not just ordering them off Amazon and using them as-is, whereas it sounds like that’s exactly what OceanGate did.
I know the controller seems corny, but it turns out that even the US Navy have used Xbox controllers.
The real red flags here were the carbon fiber hull and the fact that the Titan wasn’t even certified or properly tested to ensure it could survive the stress of repeated dives to such extreme depths.
It’s kinda insane that OceanGate got away with taking paying tourists down in that thing for as long as they did.
Cmdr. Reed Koepp told USA Today at the time the controllers were cost-effective and came with an added bonus — young sailors already knew how to handle them.
At least two major weapons systems that the US military is focusing on utilize Xbox-style controllers, Task and Purpose reported in March.
Girguis said making fun of the gaming controller in the submersible was appealing because it’s “an easy target” but that a lot of undersea vessels “use similar controllers.”
It’s a question of quality control. Military grade equipment is not the same as consumer grade equipment. That’s why we have grade in the first place.
“Military grade” is not a statement of high-quality… it’s a statement of specified minimum capabilities and characteristics to satisfy a contract. It’s quite common for off the shelf commercial equipment, even stuff targeted at home consumers, to meet or exceed MIL-STDs.
