WEBVTT - TechStuff Goes on Autopilot 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.960 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:17.720 tech Stuff from how stuff looks dot com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.000 and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poulette 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.240 and I'm an editor at how Stuff works dot com. 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.960 Sitting across from me, as is typical of these occasions, 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:29.640 is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Where now? Who now? When? Now? 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:34.519 That was actually a quote, Yes, he wasn't asking me that, 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.320 And usually I do the first line of a novel. 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.720 This time it was the first three sentences of a novel. 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.479 But they were also short that I decided to string 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.280 them together. You're crazy like that, you know, I'm crazy 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:49.760 like a lot of things. So today we wanted to 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.120 talk a little bit about, um, well, something that Chris 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:54.920 and I do all the time, which is to go 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:59.840 on autopilot like we do in this podcast. Oh yeah, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.240 every darn week. Um No, we wanted to talk about 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:07.279 the autopilot systems in airplanes because you know, you often 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:11.240 hear that phrase about switching on autopilot, But what does 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:13.880 that actually mean? What's it? What does that entail? How 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:16.960 did we come up with this idea, you know, uh, 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.759 because it kind of has this sort of almost magical 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:23.480 air about it for anyone who is uninformed about the 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:26.000 way autopilot works. Right, Like, there's a big red button 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.240 that says autopilot, you press it and pressed dough Everything's cool, 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.759 you said air. Um, there's gonna be a lot of that. 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.440 Let's get that out of the way right now. Yep, yep, 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:39.080 And uh, I'm a fan of Patrick smith On. Salani 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:40.880 has a column called Ask the Pilot, because he's a 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:43.480 pilot and people ask him questions about things like what 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:45.360 happens at one of the engines falls off a jet 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:49.760 and you know that kind of and he answer bad things, yes, 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:51.880 but you know, not as bad as if all the 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:54.720 engines from the jet. Right. No, but I'm thinking about 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:57.200 it depends on if you are under the jet at 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:01.000 the time. That's true. Um, but yeah, I mean. And 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.040 and one of the things that he says a lot 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:05.800 of people, He's mentioned this several times. People seem to 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.520 think that the pilot can get in the cockpit, close 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:10.520 the door, push the red button, and the plane will 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:13.000 fly itself to the next destination. And he gets out 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.080 and thank you for flying with us, and it doesn't 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.040 quite work. Then he collects the big fat check for 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.520 all for pushing a button. Yeah, it doesn't really work 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:24.600 that way, and you can do a lot, but it 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.920 can't do that. It can it can even land a plane, 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:32.239 depending on the conditions and the systems aboard. But let's uh, 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:34.679 let's let's take it back a step first. Let's talk 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:39.239 about sort of the development of autopilot. So way back 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:42.359 in nineteen o eight, there was a fellow by the 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:47.640 name of Elmer Sperry, and he was developing something called 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.280 a gyro compass, and it was it was using a 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:56.960 gyrocompass and other sorts of gyroscopes that in combination could 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:59.840 work with the systems on a on a plane to 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:04.920 allow a automated steering. Essentially, what it did was it 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.840 just kept the steering steady. It's you know, it's kind 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:11.360 of like, you know, this idea of just uh, you're honest, 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.000 steady heading and it keeps you on that UM. And 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:20.480 the first test flight of a a plane with um 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:26.200 this sort of autopilot system was performed by Lawrence Burst Sperry, 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:31.080 son of Elmer Sperry, which was again right around and 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:33.679 it used four gyroscopes to help stabilize the plane. So 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:38.080 the gyroscopes, depending on their attitude, and I don't mean 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.280 whether they were friendly or not. Forget you, you could 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:44.720 fly that playing yourself. I mean their position relative to 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:48.440 the rest of the environment would dictate how the system 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.920 would work. And so that was that they developed the 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:55.880 first true autopilot system, which was later used by a 0:03:55.920 --> 0:04:00.520 fellow named Wiley Post which is just a great name. Yeah, 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:03.600 you know, he's an His name is one of those 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.600 names that you hear every once in a while. Um. 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.160 He was famous back in in in his time, which 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:13.840 was the earliest part of the twentieth century. Yeah, yeah, 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:17.120 famous aviator and his name sort of just comes up 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:19.440 every once in a while. Is him? I know that name? 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.440 Why is he famous? Well? Is it turns out he uh, well, 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.960 he flew across country. Yeah, and made headlines with that, certainly, 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.039 and then he flew around the world. And the first 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:29.600 time he flew around the world, he flew around the 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:33.000 world with a navigator. Took a long time for him 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:35.080 to get all the way around the world. Um. And 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:38.560 but the navigator was there too, not just navigate, but 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.480 also make sure that that Wiley remained wildly and that 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:46.960 he was alert and thank you, alert and capable of 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.479 maneuvering the plane and not just you know, any time 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.400 anyone has to do a monotonous task for a really 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.080 long time, there's a danger that we will go on 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.240 autopilot as and we'll stop paying attention and then disaster 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:03.279 can can strike. So he had a navigator. Well, then 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:05.760 he decided that he wanted to try and do a 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:10.960 solo flight around the world and this is three and so, uh, 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:13.120 in order to do a solo flight and still be 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.360 able to rest and you know, because these these flights 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.480 were taking hours and hours and hours at a time 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:22.000 just but you know, from one spot to the next 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:26.080 before refueling and uh uh you know, it's it's a 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:30.559 long time to stay awake. So he would have had this, uh, 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:33.840 this system developed by the Sperry's that would help keep 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:40.640 the plane on course so that he could rest because otherwise, uh, 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.880 he would probably have gone crazy. You go without sleep 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:48.000 long enough and you start to go bunkers. So that 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:52.080 was a very important development, and it's today autopilot is 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:54.359 part of something a little more sophisticated. Back then, it 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:57.039 was it was a fairly simple system. But now it's 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.719 part of the automatic flight control system, which in turn 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:06.039 is one component of an airplane's avionics system. And before 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:07.640 we go too far into this, I do want to 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:09.680 say we have an article on how stuff Works dot 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:13.080 com about how autopilot works, and it's an excellent article. 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:14.839 I do recommend you go check that out if you 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.400 want more information. We're going to give you the rundown 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.560 on it, but it's it will help a lot if 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.080 you want to look further into it. There's a great 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.560 article on our site is by William Harris as a 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.680 matter of fact, who used to be one of my 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:31.160 writers as well. So an avionics system in case you're 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.000 wondering what that is, you know, we just mentioned that 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.360 the the automatic flight control system is part of avion X. 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:40.360 Avionics refers to electronic systems aboard a plane that are 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.200 really designed to help control the plane and the key 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.520 elements of flight. And the other systems that are involved 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:53.920 include things like navigation, collision avoidance, communication, UH and weather systems. 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.280 So these are the very important systems that allow pilots 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:01.560 to do their job, you know, and get as much 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:05.120 information and have as much control over the aircraft as possible. 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:09.320 And so yeah, they're really the original purpose of the 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:12.720 autopilot was to help pilots be able to take little 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:16.640 rest breaks, especially when doing something that's truly tedious, like 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.720 cruising at high altitude. When you're well, you're you're you've 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.360 reached your your cruising altitude like thirty feet and that's it. 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.440 You're you're stuck there for however long the flight is 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:31.360 going to be before you have to start taking her down, 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.320 and that can get you know, if you if you've 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.400 got several flights today, that can get pretty tiresome. So 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:42.400 the autopilot helps the the pilot kind of offload that 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:46.080 so that the pilot is in the best shape to 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:49.239 bring the plane in for landing or dealing with any 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:55.080 other unusual circumstances or even things like turbulence. Yeah. Yeah, 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.239 if it's a smooth flight, it shouldn't be much trouble 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:02.920 for the autopilot to keep the plane going where it's going. Um. 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.800 And and it does that through a series of well 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:12.720 course corrections. Really um. As it turns out, it's basically, uh, 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:17.240 the idea behind the auto autopilot itself is pretty simple. Um, 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:19.920 you have several control surfaces and we talked about this 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.360 in the past. You have control surfaces on the wings 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:27.160 and on the vertical stabilizer uh known to those of 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:31.720 us and the uh you just talking about planes sort 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.600 of world that tail um and uh. You know you 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.800 basically controls uh. It consents what's going on. It says, oh, 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:43.040 well we're descending a little bit. We need to adjust 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.600 the control surfaces to change the airflow and get the 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:51.040 plane back up. You know these ten feet that we've dropped. UM. 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.600 So it's at all it does is it's basically and 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:59.240 I'm grossly oversimplifying it, but um on purpose. So Yeah, basically, 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:01.040 all it's doing is saying, oh, we need to we 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:02.679 need to fix this, we need to adjust this and 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.120 get it back to where we were. Um. And then 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.240 it just makes these very subtle course corrections to get 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.560 to keep the plane more or less where it is 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:13.080 when the pilot hits the big red button. I don't 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:16.040 even know if the big red button exists. It's slang 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:18.439 for what we're talking about. Right. So, so to get 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:21.920 a little more in depth with this, uh, you you 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:25.640 have a closed system, right, and that closed system includes 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:29.679 sensors that are on these control surfaces as well. As 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:33.600 other sensors that are part of the planes systems that 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:37.720 provide information to a computer. Now, the computer takes this 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:41.600 information compares it to whatever command the pilot has given. 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.440 For example, the pilot might say I want to maintain 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:48.640 this altitude, this speed, and this course. And then what 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.800 happens is the computer takes the information gathered by the sensors, 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.080 compares it to the command given by the pilot, and 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:59.040 then makes any adjustments necessary in order to maintain that 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:04.040 that command. Now that might mean uh, sending information to 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:09.199 a a servo that will adjust one of those those 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:13.280 control surfaces to make a bit of a change, either 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:15.960 to turn the plane a little better, raise and go 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.400 up in altitude or lower in altitude, whatever is necessary 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.720 in order to maintain the command that was set by 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:26.160 the pilot. So those those three basic control surfaces that 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:30.080 Chris was alluding to include elevators, which that's on the 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:32.320 tail of the plane, and that helps control the plane's pitch. 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.280 So if you imagine a plane that let's say that 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:39.080 you're balancing a plane along its length, so it's you know, 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.520 it can tilt forward or backward the pitches. That's what 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:43.840 the pitch does. It allows the plane to either go 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:48.199 up or down uh in uh angled in that way. 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:53.160 Then you have the rudder, which controls the yaw that 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.240 that's what twists the plane. And then you have the ailerons, 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.320 which are on the rear edge of the wings. That's 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:01.400 what roll is the plane to once that or the other. 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.400 All right, So those are your three basic control surfaces 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:10.200 that can do these these changes to the plan's attitude 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:14.920 in flight. And depending upon the autopilot system you have, 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:19.280 you may be able to have one or two or 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:23.440 all three of those under automatic control. So, and it's 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.839 pretty easy to understand. A one access one access rather 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.720 control system will control just one of those three surfaces, 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.480 and it's usually the ailerons. If it's just gonna be one, 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.720 it's usually that. Two access controls usually controls the elevators 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:40.959 and the ailerons, and then three excess controls controls all three. 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:44.080 Clearly you wouldn't you don't have like a fourth one, poppa, 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.520 and then hey, what's this, dude? Forget you rudder? You 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:51.720 never get controlled. Uh, it's not the case. So the 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:54.400 depending on that system, the autopilot is in charge of 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.400 making sure that the any adjustments gets sent out to 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:01.320 those different control surfaces to maintained the command that the 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:05.800 pilot has made. And the sensors include other things like 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:10.600 gyroscopes which help determine the actual attitude of the plane, 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.079 how it's you know, whether it's tilted in one side 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:15.960 or the other, or the pitch is wrong. That's what 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.000 the gyroscopes can help with. And then you have accelerators, 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.720 so obviously determining what the speed is of the plane, 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:28.640 whether it's undergoing any sort of acceleration or deceleration, altimeters 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:33.000 which tell you how high up the plane is. That 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.040 seems relatively important. And then a compass which tells you 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:40.640 which way you're facing. Also the more. But over the 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:45.040 last several years, they the autopilot system has also depended 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:50.240 upon GPS receivers, which can let the autopilot system know 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.720 where the plane is geographically and thus make any sort 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:58.280 of course corrections in order to even plot a course 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:02.200 to a destination. So there's a little bit more that 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.960 can be offloaded onto a computer system. Now we're still 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.600 not to the point where we're gonna have robot pilots. 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:13.559 You know, these these autopilot systems are meant to help 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:19.280 UM help pilots rest and and and plan for other 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.640 parts of the flight. But they're not replacements. Yeah, so 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.160 make sure if you're a pilot that you watch what 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.880 you eat before you, uh, you know, take over the controls. Oh, yes, 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:35.280 I had to Lasagna. This is Bob. I'm mixing those 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.960 up because it's airplane and airplane too. Okay, yeah, but yeah, 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:40.800 you can you can tell um. You know from the 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:45.160 very first uh when Wiley Post was using the the 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:48.920 early Sperry system UM, which was based solely on on 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:52.280 gyroscopes and compass readings, you know that that was a 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:57.000 very simple version of what would later become these systems. 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:00.720 And now that we have all these different UM, different 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.800 types of sensors and different types of input, the the 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.480 autopilot system can be a lot more accurate than than 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.560 those of the past UM and it has become a 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.360 very very useful tool for an aircraft pilot to to 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:17.560 rely on. Yeah. And also, uh, I should point out 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.920 that these systems, with the servo mechanisms and everything that 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.560 help control the surfaces, they are independent of the manual 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.360 systems that are used by the pilot when the pilot 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:32.080 controls the plane. Whenever he or she is controlling the plane. UH. 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:36.400 It's an independent series of of servos and every and 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.840 other elements that keep these services moving. And the reason 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:44.720 for that is because autopilot systems, like any other system, 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:48.240 can fail, and UH, in the case of failure, you 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.280 want to have the option for manual control so that 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.120 the pilot can take over and everything will be fine. 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:55.800 And so in order to do that, you have to 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:58.440 make sure there's some redundant systems there, because if it's 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.880 a servo mechanism failure, which is frequently the case in 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.840 an autopilot failure, then you want to make sure you 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.480 still have a way of controlling that surface area or 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:11.240 else you're really stuck. You've got some serious problems if 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.600 if a system like that fails. Over Macho grande, I'll 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:19.840 never be over Mancho grande. UH the UH. And the 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:22.600 other thing that's important to remember is that if an 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:26.200 autopilot system is engaged, meaning that it's working, not that 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.240 it has found the right person and they're going to 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:32.840 build a family together, settle down and have a little 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.320 being a little extra goofy this morning for reasons I 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.520 can't understand, other than the fact that we were not 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.120 able to come in our normal studio time because stuff 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.040 to blow your mind was taking up the space in 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:46.960 front of us. So blame them anyway. Yes, when the 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:50.280 autopilot system is is active, you want to be able 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:54.040 to turn that off before you engage manual systems because otherwise, 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:58.080 what's happening is you're fighting the autopilot because the changes 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:00.120 you make, what's going to have is the sensors an 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.560 autopilot system pick up the fact that you've changed the 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.080 or or that conditions have changed. So let's say that 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.280 you're trying to bring the plane down to a different 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:13.640 altitude and you start to do this and autopilot is 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.320 already engaged the sensors and autopilots start to say, wait 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:19.640 a minute, now, we're now we're going lower. And he 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.720 told me, he told me at the beginning of this 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:25.240 flight that we wanted to maintain thirty four thousand feet, So, 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:28.400 gosh darn it, I'm gonna change the the altitude of 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:32.520 this here plane. And so disengaging the autopilot is very 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:36.080 important before taking over manually. Now, I'm sure there are 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.800 many systems out there that have sort of an automatic 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:42.800 disengaging uh process, so that if a pilot were to 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.720 take the controls, the autopilot would would turn off, so 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:49.240 that you wouldn't have a pilot and autopilot fight over 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.280 where a plane is going. But there have been in 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:57.080 the past a few UM accidents and incidents that were 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:01.160 UH linked in one way or another two autopilot failures. 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.120 A lot of experts that I have looked at, UH 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.600 the writings rather not the actual experts. I mean I 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:09.240 look at them too, but they get a little self 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:13.119 conscious after a while. But according to their research, it 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:18.760 seems to me like autopilot failure is not generally a 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:23.600 cause for for accidents. It tends to be something else 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:27.160 that's happened. There have been a few cases where autopilot 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:31.120 was disengaged and then perhaps turned back on again at 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.439 a time when a plane was experiencing trouble, and that 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:40.560 didn't help matters. But it doesn't look like autopilot failures 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:45.760 often result in catastrophe, mainly because we have these well 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:49.160 trained pilots that are in the cockpits that can take 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:53.520 over when that happens. That's true, UM and UH, I 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.119 think it's time to bring up some negative feedback, the 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:00.680 negative feedback loop. Yeah, now, a feedback loop is basically 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:04.200 a and and this doesn't necessarily have to be a 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:06.760 an electronic thing. I was reading an article and wired 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:10.359 about this. If you've ever seen those, um uh, those 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:14.040 speed indicator things on the side of the road that say, hey, 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.359 you know speed limits thirty five, you're doing forty two, 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.200 pal slow it down and it flashes at you. UM, 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:23.639 that's creating a feedback loop. They used that example specifically, 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.879 so basically, UM, that article was talking about how they're 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:31.440 actually fairly effective um at getting people to slow down 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.800 because they're providing you feedback on what you're doing. And uh, 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:37.960 that sort of creates this sense of, well, I should 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:40.680 probably behave myself and stay close to the speed limit 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.560 in this area, UM, I don't want to get pulled over, 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:46.520 or or some people are thinking I don't want to 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.520 get caught and other people are thinking I am going 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:53.080 too fast for this neighborhood. Exactly. I think I think 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.240 most of the the people I encounter are of the first 0:18:55.280 --> 0:19:00.119 part where they look around, like, I don't see any cups. 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.719 Just screwed up the levels there too, I'm sure probably, um, 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:07.760 but but in this case, uh, the autopilot system uses 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:12.280 a negative feedback loop. Um. So let's say you're flying 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:15.320 at thirty four thousand feet okay, and uh, you know, 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.320 I would imagine when I used ten feet before that 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.640 was a I'm thinking that's probably a fairly subtle change 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.200 for a plane in flight. So let's say it goes 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:27.520 down ten feet, um, maybe as a result of a 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:30.600 little turbulence or something, and uh, it sets off a 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.600 you know, a signal in the processors because the sensors 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:38.080 have detected that there is something. So that's negative feedback, 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.720 and it says, oh it's something's changed. It's not supposed 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.040 to be this way, fix it. And so it's just 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:45.679 constantly going through this loop, is it okay? Yes, all right, 0:19:45.840 --> 0:19:49.879 never mind, yes, never mind, it's okay, we're tilting, all right, 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:52.440 fix that? Yes, yeah, it's Um. If you want to 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.919 know another negative feedback loop mechanism that you're probably pretty familiar, 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:58.959 whether we did an entire episode about it, the thermostat. 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:03.400 I because let's say you set your thermostat for we'll 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.840 say seventy degrees, because I like it right around there 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:10.000 in my house. Um so seventy degrees. So when the 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:13.760 temperatures at seventy everything is copathetic. Nothing gets turned on 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:17.159 as soon as it starts hitting seventy one. Then you 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:21.960 have the system click into place the air conditioning. The 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:26.560 air conditioning system itself starts to starts to fire up, 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:31.359 which ironically makes it cooler and uh then starts blowing 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:34.040 cool air through the through the house. And once the 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:37.720 air has become cool enough around the thermostat and the 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:41.760 internal thermometer detects it, then it switches back off again. 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:44.320 And that's a negative feedback loop system. I'm just glad 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.320 you've upgraded from that swamp cooler. I'm just glad I 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:52.080 upgraded from opening up all the windows and shouting at people. Yeah, 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:56.720 are happy with that. They are, uh yeah, yelled get 0:20:56.760 --> 0:20:58.719 off my lawn. But I live in an apartment, so 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:04.600 it's awkward. M Um yeah now uh yeah, now sorry 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:09.240 I just said yeah now twice three times. Then okay. So, 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:12.760 negative feedback loops use a receptor, a control center, and 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.680 an effector. Basically, the receptor is what's figuring out what's 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:20.040 going on. It sends information to the control center. Um, 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:21.760 and then the affect or is the thing that makes 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:23.840 the change. So yeah, and the system in system of 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:26.760 the autopilot, we're talking about the sensors are the receptor. 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:29.320 There are many different kinds in this case. Yes, the 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:32.919 control the control center is the computer that takes in 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.440 all this information, and the effector are the servo mechanisms 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:40.080 that the computer sends commands to that then make adjustments 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:44.119 to those control surfaces so that the plane does whatever 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:47.680 it was the pilot wanted to do. And these systems 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:51.840 are incredibly sophisticated now to the point where, like I 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:55.360 mentioned before, they can actually land a plane and sometimes 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:58.600 are used to land a plane. Not not generally speaking. 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:00.920 Most of the time it's a human pilot that's landing 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:06.160 a plane. But in cases where visibility is really limited, Uh, 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:09.840 there are times where they they will they will incorporate 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:12.399 an autopilot system in order to bring the plane in 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.879 and land it when there's a fear that maybe human 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:19.400 failure could play a role in a safe landing. So 0:22:19.440 --> 0:22:23.440 it's not common, but it can happen. Yeah, they prefer 0:22:23.560 --> 0:22:26.600 not to do that. Um, it's usually better to that. 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:29.520 That's not a time when you want, uh the system 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:33.040 to fail. It's it's usually a pretty a pretty dramatic 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:37.000 turn of events for that to happen because normally pilots 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:42.080 don't bring planes into UH to UH to an airport 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:44.680 where there's already that kind of limited visibility. If there, 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:47.080 if they can help it, they'll usually divert to another 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:50.479 really air traffic control will tell them to divert, divert 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:54.080 to another airport UH that they can get to safely, 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:57.119 rather than go into an airport where there's going to 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:00.399 be conditions that will severely limit visibility. Now that's not 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:04.480 always possible. I mean in commercial flights that tends to 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:07.199 happen quite a bit, because you know the past, your 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:11.680 safety is so important, But with something like a military flight, 0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:16.480 it may not be a possibility. So um, different cases, 0:23:16.480 --> 0:23:20.160 depending on the whole scenario there. But it is possible 0:23:20.240 --> 0:23:24.679 and it has happened now. UM, I don't know. Did 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:27.800 you want to talk about other types of autopilot at all? 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:31.080