1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:08,960 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff looks dot com. Hello again, everyone, 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poulette 5 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,240 Speaker 1: and I'm an editor at how Stuff works dot com. 6 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: Sitting across from me, as is typical of these occasions, 7 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Where now? Who now? When? Now? 8 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 1: That was actually a quote, Yes, he wasn't asking me that, 9 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: And usually I do the first line of a novel. 10 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: This time it was the first three sentences of a novel. 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: But they were also short that I decided to string 12 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: them together. You're crazy like that, you know, I'm crazy 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: like a lot of things. So today we wanted to 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about, um, well, something that Chris 15 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: and I do all the time, which is to go 16 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: on autopilot like we do in this podcast. Oh yeah, 17 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: every darn week. Um No, we wanted to talk about 18 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,279 Speaker 1: the autopilot systems in airplanes because you know, you often 19 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: hear that phrase about switching on autopilot, But what does 20 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: that actually mean? What's it? What does that entail? How 21 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: did we come up with this idea, you know, uh, 22 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,759 Speaker 1: because it kind of has this sort of almost magical 23 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: air about it for anyone who is uninformed about the 24 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: way autopilot works. Right, Like, there's a big red button 25 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: that says autopilot, you press it and pressed dough Everything's cool, 26 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,759 Speaker 1: you said air. Um, there's gonna be a lot of that. 27 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: Let's get that out of the way right now. Yep, yep, 28 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: And uh, I'm a fan of Patrick smith On. Salani 29 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: has a column called Ask the Pilot, because he's a 30 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: pilot and people ask him questions about things like what 31 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: happens at one of the engines falls off a jet 32 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: and you know that kind of and he answer bad things, yes, 33 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: but you know, not as bad as if all the 34 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: engines from the jet. Right. No, but I'm thinking about 35 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: it depends on if you are under the jet at 36 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: the time. That's true. Um, but yeah, I mean. And 37 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: and one of the things that he says a lot 38 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: of people, He's mentioned this several times. People seem to 39 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: think that the pilot can get in the cockpit, close 40 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: the door, push the red button, and the plane will 41 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: fly itself to the next destination. And he gets out 42 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 1: and thank you for flying with us, and it doesn't 43 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: quite work. Then he collects the big fat check for 44 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: all for pushing a button. Yeah, it doesn't really work 45 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: that way, and you can do a lot, but it 46 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: can't do that. It can it can even land a plane, 47 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:32,239 Speaker 1: depending on the conditions and the systems aboard. But let's uh, 48 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,679 Speaker 1: let's let's take it back a step first. Let's talk 49 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:39,239 Speaker 1: about sort of the development of autopilot. So way back 50 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 1: in nineteen o eight, there was a fellow by the 51 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: name of Elmer Sperry, and he was developing something called 52 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: a gyro compass, and it was it was using a 53 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: gyrocompass and other sorts of gyroscopes that in combination could 54 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: work with the systems on a on a plane to 55 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: allow a automated steering. Essentially, what it did was it 56 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: just kept the steering steady. It's you know, it's kind 57 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: of like, you know, this idea of just uh, you're honest, 58 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: steady heading and it keeps you on that UM. And 59 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: the first test flight of a a plane with um 60 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: this sort of autopilot system was performed by Lawrence Burst Sperry, 61 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: son of Elmer Sperry, which was again right around and 62 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,679 Speaker 1: it used four gyroscopes to help stabilize the plane. So 63 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: the gyroscopes, depending on their attitude, and I don't mean 64 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: whether they were friendly or not. Forget you, you could 65 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: fly that playing yourself. I mean their position relative to 66 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: the rest of the environment would dictate how the system 67 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: would work. And so that was that they developed the 68 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: first true autopilot system, which was later used by a 69 00:03:55,920 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: fellow named Wiley Post which is just a great name. Yeah, 70 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: you know, he's an His name is one of those 71 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: names that you hear every once in a while. Um. 72 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: He was famous back in in in his time, which 73 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: was the earliest part of the twentieth century. Yeah, yeah, 74 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: famous aviator and his name sort of just comes up 75 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: every once in a while. Is him? I know that name? 76 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: Why is he famous? Well? Is it turns out he uh, well, 77 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: he flew across country. Yeah, and made headlines with that, certainly, 78 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: and then he flew around the world. And the first 79 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: time he flew around the world, he flew around the 80 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: world with a navigator. Took a long time for him 81 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: to get all the way around the world. Um. And 82 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: but the navigator was there too, not just navigate, but 83 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: also make sure that that Wiley remained wildly and that 84 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: he was alert and thank you, alert and capable of 85 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: maneuvering the plane and not just you know, any time 86 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: anyone has to do a monotonous task for a really 87 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: long time, there's a danger that we will go on 88 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: autopilot as and we'll stop paying attention and then disaster 89 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,279 Speaker 1: can can strike. So he had a navigator. Well, then 90 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: he decided that he wanted to try and do a 91 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: solo flight around the world and this is three and so, uh, 92 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: in order to do a solo flight and still be 93 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: able to rest and you know, because these these flights 94 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: were taking hours and hours and hours at a time 95 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: just but you know, from one spot to the next 96 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: before refueling and uh uh you know, it's it's a 97 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,559 Speaker 1: long time to stay awake. So he would have had this, uh, 98 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: this system developed by the Sperry's that would help keep 99 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: the plane on course so that he could rest because otherwise, uh, 100 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: he would probably have gone crazy. You go without sleep 101 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: long enough and you start to go bunkers. So that 102 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: was a very important development, and it's today autopilot is 103 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: part of something a little more sophisticated. Back then, it 104 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: was it was a fairly simple system. But now it's 105 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: part of the automatic flight control system, which in turn 106 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:06,039 Speaker 1: is one component of an airplane's avionics system. And before 107 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: we go too far into this, I do want to 108 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: say we have an article on how stuff Works dot 109 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: com about how autopilot works, and it's an excellent article. 110 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: I do recommend you go check that out if you 111 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: want more information. We're going to give you the rundown 112 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: on it, but it's it will help a lot if 113 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: you want to look further into it. There's a great 114 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: article on our site is by William Harris as a 115 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: matter of fact, who used to be one of my 116 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: writers as well. So an avionics system in case you're 117 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: wondering what that is, you know, we just mentioned that 118 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: the the automatic flight control system is part of avion X. 119 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: Avionics refers to electronic systems aboard a plane that are 120 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: really designed to help control the plane and the key 121 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: elements of flight. And the other systems that are involved 122 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: include things like navigation, collision avoidance, communication, UH and weather systems. 123 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,280 Speaker 1: So these are the very important systems that allow pilots 124 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: to do their job, you know, and get as much 125 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: information and have as much control over the aircraft as possible. 126 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: And so yeah, they're really the original purpose of the 127 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: autopilot was to help pilots be able to take little 128 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: rest breaks, especially when doing something that's truly tedious, like 129 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: cruising at high altitude. When you're well, you're you're you've 130 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: reached your your cruising altitude like thirty feet and that's it. 131 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: You're you're stuck there for however long the flight is 132 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: going to be before you have to start taking her down, 133 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: and that can get you know, if you if you've 134 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: got several flights today, that can get pretty tiresome. So 135 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: the autopilot helps the the pilot kind of offload that 136 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: so that the pilot is in the best shape to 137 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,239 Speaker 1: bring the plane in for landing or dealing with any 138 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: other unusual circumstances or even things like turbulence. Yeah. Yeah, 139 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,239 Speaker 1: if it's a smooth flight, it shouldn't be much trouble 140 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: for the autopilot to keep the plane going where it's going. Um. 141 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: And and it does that through a series of well 142 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: course corrections. Really um. As it turns out, it's basically, uh, 143 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: the idea behind the auto autopilot itself is pretty simple. Um, 144 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: you have several control surfaces and we talked about this 145 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: in the past. You have control surfaces on the wings 146 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: and on the vertical stabilizer uh known to those of 147 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: us and the uh you just talking about planes sort 148 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: of world that tail um and uh. You know you 149 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: basically controls uh. It consents what's going on. It says, oh, 150 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: well we're descending a little bit. We need to adjust 151 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: the control surfaces to change the airflow and get the 152 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: plane back up. You know these ten feet that we've dropped. UM. 153 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: So it's at all it does is it's basically and 154 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: I'm grossly oversimplifying it, but um on purpose. So Yeah, basically, 155 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: all it's doing is saying, oh, we need to we 156 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: need to fix this, we need to adjust this and 157 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: get it back to where we were. Um. And then 158 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: it just makes these very subtle course corrections to get 159 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: to keep the plane more or less where it is 160 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: when the pilot hits the big red button. I don't 161 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: even know if the big red button exists. It's slang 162 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,439 Speaker 1: for what we're talking about. Right. So, so to get 163 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: a little more in depth with this, uh, you you 164 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: have a closed system, right, and that closed system includes 165 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,679 Speaker 1: sensors that are on these control surfaces as well. As 166 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: other sensors that are part of the planes systems that 167 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: provide information to a computer. Now, the computer takes this 168 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: information compares it to whatever command the pilot has given. 169 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 1: For example, the pilot might say I want to maintain 170 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: this altitude, this speed, and this course. And then what 171 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: happens is the computer takes the information gathered by the sensors, 172 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: compares it to the command given by the pilot, and 173 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: then makes any adjustments necessary in order to maintain that 174 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: that command. Now that might mean uh, sending information to 175 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:09,199 Speaker 1: a a servo that will adjust one of those those 176 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 1: control surfaces to make a bit of a change, either 177 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 1: to turn the plane a little better, raise and go 178 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: up in altitude or lower in altitude, whatever is necessary 179 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: in order to maintain the command that was set by 180 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: the pilot. So those those three basic control surfaces that 181 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 1: Chris was alluding to include elevators, which that's on the 182 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: tail of the plane, and that helps control the plane's pitch. 183 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: So if you imagine a plane that let's say that 184 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: you're balancing a plane along its length, so it's you know, 185 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: it can tilt forward or backward the pitches. That's what 186 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: the pitch does. It allows the plane to either go 187 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,199 Speaker 1: up or down uh in uh angled in that way. 188 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: Then you have the rudder, which controls the yaw that 189 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: that's what twists the plane. And then you have the ailerons, 190 00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:59,320 Speaker 1: which are on the rear edge of the wings. That's 191 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: what roll is the plane to once that or the other. 192 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: All right, So those are your three basic control surfaces 193 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: that can do these these changes to the plan's attitude 194 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: in flight. And depending upon the autopilot system you have, 195 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: you may be able to have one or two or 196 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: all three of those under automatic control. So, and it's 197 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,839 Speaker 1: pretty easy to understand. A one access one access rather 198 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 1: control system will control just one of those three surfaces, 199 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: and it's usually the ailerons. If it's just gonna be one, 200 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: it's usually that. Two access controls usually controls the elevators 201 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,959 Speaker 1: and the ailerons, and then three excess controls controls all three. 202 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: Clearly you wouldn't you don't have like a fourth one, poppa, 203 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: and then hey, what's this, dude? Forget you rudder? You 204 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: never get controlled. Uh, it's not the case. So the 205 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: depending on that system, the autopilot is in charge of 206 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: making sure that the any adjustments gets sent out to 207 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 1: those different control surfaces to maintained the command that the 208 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: pilot has made. And the sensors include other things like 209 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: gyroscopes which help determine the actual attitude of the plane, 210 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,079 Speaker 1: how it's you know, whether it's tilted in one side 211 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,960 Speaker 1: or the other, or the pitch is wrong. That's what 212 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: the gyroscopes can help with. And then you have accelerators, 213 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 1: so obviously determining what the speed is of the plane, 214 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 1: whether it's undergoing any sort of acceleration or deceleration, altimeters 215 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: which tell you how high up the plane is. That 216 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: seems relatively important. And then a compass which tells you 217 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: which way you're facing. Also the more. But over the 218 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: last several years, they the autopilot system has also depended 219 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 1: upon GPS receivers, which can let the autopilot system know 220 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: where the plane is geographically and thus make any sort 221 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: of course corrections in order to even plot a course 222 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: to a destination. So there's a little bit more that 223 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 1: can be offloaded onto a computer system. Now we're still 224 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: not to the point where we're gonna have robot pilots. 225 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,559 Speaker 1: You know, these these autopilot systems are meant to help 226 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: UM help pilots rest and and and plan for other 227 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: parts of the flight. But they're not replacements. Yeah, so 228 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: make sure if you're a pilot that you watch what 229 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: you eat before you, uh, you know, take over the controls. Oh, yes, 230 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: I had to Lasagna. This is Bob. I'm mixing those 231 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: up because it's airplane and airplane too. Okay, yeah, but yeah, 232 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: you can you can tell um. You know from the 233 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: very first uh when Wiley Post was using the the 234 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: early Sperry system UM, which was based solely on on 235 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: gyroscopes and compass readings, you know that that was a 236 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: very simple version of what would later become these systems. 237 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: And now that we have all these different UM, different 238 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: types of sensors and different types of input, the the 239 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: autopilot system can be a lot more accurate than than 240 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 1: those of the past UM and it has become a 241 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: very very useful tool for an aircraft pilot to to 242 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: rely on. Yeah. And also, uh, I should point out 243 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: that these systems, with the servo mechanisms and everything that 244 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,560 Speaker 1: help control the surfaces, they are independent of the manual 245 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: systems that are used by the pilot when the pilot 246 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: controls the plane. Whenever he or she is controlling the plane. UH. 247 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: It's an independent series of of servos and every and 248 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: other elements that keep these services moving. And the reason 249 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: for that is because autopilot systems, like any other system, 250 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: can fail, and UH, in the case of failure, you 251 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: want to have the option for manual control so that 252 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: the pilot can take over and everything will be fine. 253 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: And so in order to do that, you have to 254 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: make sure there's some redundant systems there, because if it's 255 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: a servo mechanism failure, which is frequently the case in 256 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: an autopilot failure, then you want to make sure you 257 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: still have a way of controlling that surface area or 258 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 1: else you're really stuck. You've got some serious problems if 259 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: if a system like that fails. Over Macho grande, I'll 260 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: never be over Mancho grande. UH the UH. And the 261 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: other thing that's important to remember is that if an 262 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: autopilot system is engaged, meaning that it's working, not that 263 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: it has found the right person and they're going to 264 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: build a family together, settle down and have a little 265 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: being a little extra goofy this morning for reasons I 266 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: can't understand, other than the fact that we were not 267 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: able to come in our normal studio time because stuff 268 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: to blow your mind was taking up the space in 269 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: front of us. So blame them anyway. Yes, when the 270 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: autopilot system is is active, you want to be able 271 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: to turn that off before you engage manual systems because otherwise, 272 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: what's happening is you're fighting the autopilot because the changes 273 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: you make, what's going to have is the sensors an 274 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: autopilot system pick up the fact that you've changed the 275 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: or or that conditions have changed. So let's say that 276 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: you're trying to bring the plane down to a different 277 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: altitude and you start to do this and autopilot is 278 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: already engaged the sensors and autopilots start to say, wait 279 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: a minute, now, we're now we're going lower. And he 280 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: told me, he told me at the beginning of this 281 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: flight that we wanted to maintain thirty four thousand feet, So, 282 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 1: gosh darn it, I'm gonna change the the altitude of 283 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: this here plane. And so disengaging the autopilot is very 284 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: important before taking over manually. Now, I'm sure there are 285 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: many systems out there that have sort of an automatic 286 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: disengaging uh process, so that if a pilot were to 287 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: take the controls, the autopilot would would turn off, so 288 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: that you wouldn't have a pilot and autopilot fight over 289 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: where a plane is going. But there have been in 290 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: the past a few UM accidents and incidents that were 291 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: UH linked in one way or another two autopilot failures. 292 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 1: A lot of experts that I have looked at, UH 293 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: the writings rather not the actual experts. I mean I 294 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: look at them too, but they get a little self 295 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: conscious after a while. But according to their research, it 296 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: seems to me like autopilot failure is not generally a 297 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 1: cause for for accidents. It tends to be something else 298 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,160 Speaker 1: that's happened. There have been a few cases where autopilot 299 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,120 Speaker 1: was disengaged and then perhaps turned back on again at 300 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:34,439 Speaker 1: a time when a plane was experiencing trouble, and that 301 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: didn't help matters. But it doesn't look like autopilot failures 302 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: often result in catastrophe, mainly because we have these well 303 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:49,160 Speaker 1: trained pilots that are in the cockpits that can take 304 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: over when that happens. That's true, UM and UH, I 305 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 1: think it's time to bring up some negative feedback, the 306 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: negative feedback loop. Yeah, now, a feedback loop is basically 307 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 1: a and and this doesn't necessarily have to be a 308 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: an electronic thing. I was reading an article and wired 309 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: about this. If you've ever seen those, um uh, those 310 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: speed indicator things on the side of the road that say, hey, 311 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: you know speed limits thirty five, you're doing forty two, 312 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 1: pal slow it down and it flashes at you. UM, 313 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: that's creating a feedback loop. They used that example specifically, 314 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 1: so basically, UM, that article was talking about how they're 315 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 1: actually fairly effective um at getting people to slow down 316 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: because they're providing you feedback on what you're doing. And uh, 317 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: that sort of creates this sense of, well, I should 318 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: probably behave myself and stay close to the speed limit 319 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: in this area, UM, I don't want to get pulled over, 320 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: or or some people are thinking I don't want to 321 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: get caught and other people are thinking I am going 322 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: too fast for this neighborhood. Exactly. I think I think 323 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: most of the the people I encounter are of the first 324 00:18:55,280 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: part where they look around, like, I don't see any cups. 325 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,719 Speaker 1: Just screwed up the levels there too, I'm sure probably, um, 326 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: but but in this case, uh, the autopilot system uses 327 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: a negative feedback loop. Um. So let's say you're flying 328 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: at thirty four thousand feet okay, and uh, you know, 329 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: I would imagine when I used ten feet before that 330 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,640 Speaker 1: was a I'm thinking that's probably a fairly subtle change 331 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 1: for a plane in flight. So let's say it goes 332 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: down ten feet, um, maybe as a result of a 333 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: little turbulence or something, and uh, it sets off a 334 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: you know, a signal in the processors because the sensors 335 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: have detected that there is something. So that's negative feedback, 336 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: and it says, oh it's something's changed. It's not supposed 337 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: to be this way, fix it. And so it's just 338 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 1: constantly going through this loop, is it okay? Yes, all right, 339 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 1: never mind, yes, never mind, it's okay, we're tilting, all right, 340 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 1: fix that? Yes, yeah, it's Um. If you want to 341 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 1: know another negative feedback loop mechanism that you're probably pretty familiar, 342 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,959 Speaker 1: whether we did an entire episode about it, the thermostat. 343 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:03,400 Speaker 1: I because let's say you set your thermostat for we'll 344 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: say seventy degrees, because I like it right around there 345 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: in my house. Um so seventy degrees. So when the 346 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: temperatures at seventy everything is copathetic. Nothing gets turned on 347 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,159 Speaker 1: as soon as it starts hitting seventy one. Then you 348 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: have the system click into place the air conditioning. The 349 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: air conditioning system itself starts to starts to fire up, 350 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: which ironically makes it cooler and uh then starts blowing 351 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: cool air through the through the house. And once the 352 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: air has become cool enough around the thermostat and the 353 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: internal thermometer detects it, then it switches back off again. 354 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: And that's a negative feedback loop system. I'm just glad 355 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: you've upgraded from that swamp cooler. I'm just glad I 356 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: upgraded from opening up all the windows and shouting at people. Yeah, 357 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 1: are happy with that. They are, uh yeah, yelled get 358 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:58,719 Speaker 1: off my lawn. But I live in an apartment, so 359 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: it's awkward. M Um yeah now uh yeah, now sorry 360 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: I just said yeah now twice three times. Then okay. So, 361 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: negative feedback loops use a receptor, a control center, and 362 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,680 Speaker 1: an effector. Basically, the receptor is what's figuring out what's 363 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: going on. It sends information to the control center. Um, 364 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: and then the affect or is the thing that makes 365 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 1: the change. So yeah, and the system in system of 366 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,760 Speaker 1: the autopilot, we're talking about the sensors are the receptor. 367 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: There are many different kinds in this case. Yes, the 368 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,919 Speaker 1: control the control center is the computer that takes in 369 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 1: all this information, and the effector are the servo mechanisms 370 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: that the computer sends commands to that then make adjustments 371 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: to those control surfaces so that the plane does whatever 372 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: it was the pilot wanted to do. And these systems 373 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: are incredibly sophisticated now to the point where, like I 374 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,360 Speaker 1: mentioned before, they can actually land a plane and sometimes 375 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: are used to land a plane. Not not generally speaking. 376 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:00,920 Speaker 1: Most of the time it's a human pilot that's landing 377 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:06,160 Speaker 1: a plane. But in cases where visibility is really limited, Uh, 378 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: there are times where they they will they will incorporate 379 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: an autopilot system in order to bring the plane in 380 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: and land it when there's a fear that maybe human 381 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: failure could play a role in a safe landing. So 382 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,440 Speaker 1: it's not common, but it can happen. Yeah, they prefer 383 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 1: not to do that. Um, it's usually better to that. 384 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: That's not a time when you want, uh the system 385 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: to fail. It's it's usually a pretty a pretty dramatic 386 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: turn of events for that to happen because normally pilots 387 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: don't bring planes into UH to UH to an airport 388 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: where there's already that kind of limited visibility. If there, 389 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: if they can help it, they'll usually divert to another 390 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,479 Speaker 1: really air traffic control will tell them to divert, divert 391 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: to another airport UH that they can get to safely, 392 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,119 Speaker 1: rather than go into an airport where there's going to 393 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: be conditions that will severely limit visibility. Now that's not 394 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: always possible. I mean in commercial flights that tends to 395 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,199 Speaker 1: happen quite a bit, because you know the past, your 396 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,680 Speaker 1: safety is so important, But with something like a military flight, 397 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: it may not be a possibility. So um, different cases, 398 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 1: depending on the whole scenario there. But it is possible 399 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:24,679 Speaker 1: and it has happened now. UM, I don't know. Did 400 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 1: you want to talk about other types of autopilot at all? 401 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: What you mean like cruise control? Well, I was talking 402 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: specifically about cars because that's been that's been coming up 403 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: a lot lately. Things I've been talking about how UH 404 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,880 Speaker 1: in three years cars will be driving themselves. Well, they're 405 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: already doing that. If you work for Google, Yes, they're 406 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: also rear ending people. Um, people are backing up into them, 407 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: you know it. They feel like there's no one in 408 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 1: that car. Reverse boom, Google owes me money. That's all allegedly. Yeah, 409 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,399 Speaker 1: I got I used the word allegedly. It's all right, 410 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: that's the way that works. Send hate mail too. Um. Actually, uh, well, 411 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,720 Speaker 1: of course Google is testing systems like that. Um, but 412 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,479 Speaker 1: you know that it is a little more difficult in 413 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: some ways for a car, because for a plane, you 414 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: know it's going that way and there's probably nothing in 415 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: front of it directly. Um. Generally speaking, air traffic is 416 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: less severe, less around than ground traffic. Yeah. I mean 417 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: once you get toward an airport, then yes, air traffic 418 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 1: starts to pick up, but by then usually pilots have 419 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: disengaged the autopilot system anyway. But with roads, you have 420 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:43,120 Speaker 1: things like, um, weather conditions trick into account, slippery roads, 421 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: you've got twists and turns, You've got squirrels. Construction, Um, 422 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: don't have a whole lot of construction at th feet. 423 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: People who are not paying attention while they're driving in 424 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 1: front of you. People who are applying makeup shaving so 425 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: um shaving while applying makeup all reading Yeah so um yeah, 426 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,919 Speaker 1: they're they're working on systems to do similar kinds of 427 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: things with cars, but it's a much more challenging or 428 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: at least I think so much more challenging proposition to 429 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: put that kind of a system in a car, because 430 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: there's so many more factors that uh an autopilot would 431 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: have to take into account. Of course, now they are 432 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:22,160 Speaker 1: it's pretty common to find at least the higher end 433 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 1: models with sensors that will help you park. Um, they have, 434 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: you know, those auto parking cars, the whole collision detection 435 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: stuff so that it can tell when it's close to 436 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: another object and thus uh adjust the control so that 437 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,199 Speaker 1: you avoid colliding with it, which use uh you know, 438 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: some radar and cameras, infrared systems, um, you know these things. 439 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,159 Speaker 1: Lane changing. I like that system to where um, you know, 440 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: it's able to detect where the lanes are and kind 441 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: of keep you in place, make sure that you know 442 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: you're not gonna smash into someone who's in your blind spot, yes, 443 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: which is very important, especially if there are a lot 444 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:02,479 Speaker 1: of bicyclists around. There's you know, there's these systems are 445 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,639 Speaker 1: are emerging for the for cars because the vehicle's brilliant 446 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: airplane is one too, but there are emerging. It's kind 447 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: of an emerging technology for cars. And one thing that 448 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:18,440 Speaker 1: will really help this technology propagate is when we actually 449 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: see it and lots and lots and lots of different cars, 450 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: because then you can have a system where the cars 451 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:27,679 Speaker 1: are just one element within the system. Now, see in 452 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: the plane, we're talking about a closed system that's all 453 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: contained within the plane itself. With something like cars and traffic, 454 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 1: you're talking about a system that could, in theory, be 455 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,399 Speaker 1: a meta system, a system of systems. Each car would 456 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,680 Speaker 1: have its own system, including things like sensors for collision 457 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: detection and lane detection, all that sort of stuff, as 458 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 1: well as GPS receivers so that the car knows where 459 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: it is and is navigating to the appropriate destination UH 460 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 1: and maybe even things like other kinds of radio receivers 461 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: so that the STEM has information about traffic reports and 462 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:04,680 Speaker 1: construction delays and things like that so it can reroute 463 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: around those. But then you have a system of systems 464 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 1: where you could have an entire UH infrastructure that can 465 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: detect where these cars are based upon their own electronic signatures. 466 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: If you've built in stuff that's directly in the roads 467 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:24,320 Speaker 1: or part of the whole infrastructure UH. And then the 468 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: system of systems could help maintain a good fluid traffic 469 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: by helping these these individual cars route to the appropriate 470 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: destination in the most efficient way possible. So then the 471 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: closed system it doesn't isn't truly closed because it becomes 472 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 1: part of a larger system. Uh, that's pretty I mean, 473 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 1: it's incredibly complex, and we're not there yet, not by 474 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:49,120 Speaker 1: a long shot, because we would we would need not 475 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,159 Speaker 1: just lots and lots and lots of cars that have 476 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: these these sensors and these mechanisms incorporate into the design 477 00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: of the car itself. We would have to go and 478 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,439 Speaker 1: build out the infrastructure in the cities, which is an 479 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: entirely different prospect. I mean that's that might be slightly expensive, 480 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,920 Speaker 1: and it might take more than a decade to complete. 481 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:14,440 Speaker 1: I mean, based upon how long certain streets in Atlanta 482 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: have had metal plates on top of potholes, I'm gonna 483 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,160 Speaker 1: guess that incorporating such a sophisticated system that would need 484 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: to be really pervasive throughout the entire infrastructure would probably 485 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:30,080 Speaker 1: take about two thousand years. Well, it would take um 486 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: you know, depending on the size of the area covered. 487 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 1: Like a municipality could probably do it. A lot more 488 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: quickly than a nation covering all of its uh you know, 489 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,720 Speaker 1: major highways and um and then you start talking about 490 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: surface streets and back roads and things like that, it 491 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: could take a very very long time. Plus there will 492 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: be people who are loath to give up their older 493 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 1: cars that don't have these systems. You know, even even 494 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: if there's a new system that has manual versus automatic, 495 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: I think there are a lot of people who would 496 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: be um who would have reservations about switching to an 497 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: automated driver system. Either they would feel powerless in that situation, 498 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: or they just they just genuinely enjoy driving. Because I've 499 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: heard there are such people. There are such people that 500 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: I don't understand them. They come from a different planet 501 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: than I do. But you don't, I don't. I don't judge. 502 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 1: You know, they can be crazy. I don't. That's fine. 503 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,640 Speaker 1: I know lots of crazy people. I work with. Most 504 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: of them, or most of people I work with, are crazy. 505 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: They weren't that way when I started. I don't know 506 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: what happened. Yeah, anyway, So yeah, these autopilot systems are 507 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: finding their ways into other different vehicles, so cars, boats 508 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: as well, and other sorts of vehicles, and I expect 509 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,680 Speaker 1: that will continue to see that. I mean this whole 510 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: idea of an automated system that helps you get to 511 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: where you're going. Uh, it's just another example of us 512 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 1: trying to create technologies that make our lives easier, more 513 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 1: convenient and uh and uh paving the way for our 514 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: robot overlords to easily conquer us when they choose to 515 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: rise up against us. Awesome, as in the documentary Terminator. Alright, then, excellent. 516 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: I'm glad that we covered this topic. And now I'm 517 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: going to go and turn my house into a luddite 518 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: luxury home. So lots of lots of this unfinished wood. Really, 519 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:37,280 Speaker 1: that's what I'm looking at, guys, isn't it good? So you, guys, 520 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: if you have any suggestions for future topics, whether it's 521 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: a reference to a Beatles song or possibly something not 522 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,640 Speaker 1: connected at all with technology, because we've had a few 523 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: of those and sometimes we consider them just for funzies, 524 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:56,120 Speaker 1: let us know. Send us a message via email address 525 00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 1: this tech stuff at Discovery dot com, or let us 526 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: know on Facebook or Twitter. Are handled, there is tech stuff. H. S. 527 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,240 Speaker 1: W and Chris and I will talk to you again 528 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: really soon for more on this and thousands of other topics, 529 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: visit how stuff Works dot com. Brought to you by 530 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you