1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios, 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 1: I'm your host Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works and I heart Radio and I love 5 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all things tech. And you know what time it is. 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: It's showtime. Showtime. Also time for a classic episode tech Stuff. 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: And this episode originally published on May one, two thousand twelve. 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,279 Speaker 1: Chris and I phoned it in. We walked into this 9 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: podcast room. We just sat down and we went on autopilot. 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: But that's okay because the episode was tech Stuff goes 11 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: on autopilot, So get ready to learn all about autopilot. 12 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: Take it away past Jonathan and Chris. So today we 13 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: wanted to talk a little bit about, um, well, something 14 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: that Chris and I do all the time, which is 15 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: to go on autopilot like we do in this podcast 16 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: oh every darn week. Um No, we want to talk 17 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: about the autopilot systems in airplanes because you know, you 18 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: often hear that phrase about switching on autopilot, But what 19 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,479 Speaker 1: does that actually mean? What's it? What does that entail? 20 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: How did we come up with this idea? You know, 21 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: because it kind of has a sort of almost magical 22 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: air about it for anyone who is uninformed about the 23 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: way autopilot works. Right, Like, there's a big red button 24 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,199 Speaker 1: that says autopilot. You press it and pressed dough Everything's cool, 25 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: you said, air. Um, there's gonna be a lot of that. 26 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: Let's get that out of the way right now. Yep, yep, 27 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: and uh. I'm a fan of Patrick smith On. Salani 28 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: has a column called Ask the Pilot, because he's a 29 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: pilot and people ask him questions about things like what 30 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: happens at one of the engines falls off a jet 31 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: that kind of And he answered bad things, yes, but 32 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: you know, not as bad as if all the engines 33 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: on the jet. Right, No, but I'm thinking about it 34 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,559 Speaker 1: depends on if you are under the jet at the time. 35 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: That's true. Um, but yeah, I mean. And and one 36 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: of the things that he says a lot of people, 37 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: He's mentioned this several times. People seem to think that 38 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:10,839 Speaker 1: the pilot can get in the cockpit, close the door, 39 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: push the red button, and the plane will fly itself 40 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,959 Speaker 1: to the next destination. And he gets out and thank 41 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,839 Speaker 1: you for flying with us, And it doesn't quite work. 42 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: Then he collects the big fat check for all for 43 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: pushing a button. Yeah, it doesn't really work that way, 44 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,839 Speaker 1: and you can do a lot, but it can't do that. 45 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: It can it can even land a plane depending on 46 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: the conditions and the systems aboard. But let's uh, let's 47 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:36,959 Speaker 1: let's take it back a step first. Let's talk about 48 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: sort of the development of autopilot. So way back in 49 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: nine there was a fellow by the name of Elmer Sperry, 50 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: and he was developing something called a gyro compass, and 51 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: it was it was using a gyrocompass and other sorts 52 00:02:55,080 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: of gyroscopes that in combination could work with a system 53 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: on an on a plane to allow a automated steering. Essentially, 54 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: what it did was it just kept the steering steady. 55 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: It's you know, it's kind of like, you know, this 56 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: idea of just uh, you're on a steady heading and 57 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: it keeps you on that. UM And the first test 58 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: flight of a a plane with um this sort of 59 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: autopilot system was performed by Lawrence Burst Sperry, son of 60 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: Elmer Sperry, which was again right around nineteen o eight, 61 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: and they used four gyroscopes to help stabilize the plane. 62 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: So the gyroscopes depending on their attitude. And I don't 63 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: mean whether they were friendly or not. Forget you, you 64 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: could fly to the playing yourself. I mean their position 65 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: relative to the rest of the environment would dictate how 66 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: the system would work. And so that was that they 67 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: developed the first true autopilot system, which was later used 68 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: by a fellow named Wiley Post which is just a 69 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: great name. Yeah, you know, he's an His name is 70 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: one of those names that you hear every once in 71 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: a while. Um. He was famous back in in in 72 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: his time, which was the earliest part of the twentieth century. Yeah, yeah, 73 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: famous aviator and his name sort of just comes up 74 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: every once in a while. Is him? I know that name? 75 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: Why is he famous? Well? Is it turns out he uh, well, 76 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: he flew across country. Yeah, and made headlines with that, certainly, 77 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: and then he flew around the world. And the first 78 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: time he flew around the world, he flew around the 79 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: world with a navigator. Took a long time for him 80 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: to get all the way around the world. Um. And 81 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: but the navigator was there too, not just navigate, but 82 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: also make sure that that Wiley remained wildly Yes, and 83 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: he was alert and thank you, alert and capable of 84 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: maneuvering the plane and not just you know, any time 85 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: anyone has to do a monotonous task for a really 86 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: long time, there's a danger that we will go on 87 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: autopilot as and we'll stop paying it tension, and then 88 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: disaster can can strike. So he had a navigator. Well, 89 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: then he decided that he wanted to try and do 90 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: a solo flight around the world, and this is three 91 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: and so in order to do a solo flight and 92 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: still be able to rest and you know, because these 93 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: these flights were taking hours and hours and hours at 94 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: a time just but you know, from one spot to 95 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: the next before refueling and uh uh, you know, it's 96 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: it's a long time to stay awake. So he would 97 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 1: have had this, uh, this system developed by the Sperry's 98 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: that would help keep the plane on course so that 99 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: he could rest because otherwise, uh, he would probably have 100 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: gone crazy. You know, you go without sleep long enough 101 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: and you start to go bunkers. So that was a 102 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: very important development, and it's today autopilot is part of 103 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: something a little more sophisticated. Back then it was it 104 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,479 Speaker 1: was a fairly simple system, but now it's part of 105 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: the auto matic flight control system. Which in turn is 106 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: one component of an airplane's avionics system. And before we 107 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: go too far into this, I do want to say 108 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: we have an article on how stuff Works dot com 109 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: about how autopilot works, and it's an excellent article. I 110 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,039 Speaker 1: do recommend you go check that out if you want 111 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,720 Speaker 1: more information. We're going to give you the rundown on it, 112 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: but it's it will help a lot if you want 113 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: to look further into it. There's a great article on 114 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: our site is by William Harris as a matter of fact, 115 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: who used to be one of my writers as well. 116 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: So yeah, so an avionic system in case you're wondering 117 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: what that is, you know, we just mentioned that the 118 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: the automatic flight control system is part of avion X. 119 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: Avionics refers to electronic systems aboard a plane that are 120 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: really designed to help control the plane and the key 121 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: elements of flight. And the other systems that are involved 122 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: include things like navigation, collision avoidance, communication, UH and weather systems. 123 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: So these are the very important systems that allow pilots 124 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:04,160 Speaker 1: to to do their job and get as much information 125 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: and have as much control over the aircraft as possible. 126 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: And so yeah, they're really the original purpose of the 127 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,679 Speaker 1: autopilot was to help pilots be able to take little 128 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: rest breaks, especially when doing something that's truly tedious, like 129 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: cruising at high altitude. When you're well, you're you're you've 130 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: reached your your cruising altitude like thirty feet and that's it. 131 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 1: You're you're stuck there for however long the flight is 132 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: going to be before you have to start taking her down, 133 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: and that can get you know, if you if you've 134 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: got several flights a day, that can get pretty tiresome. 135 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: So the autopilot helps the the pilot kind of offload 136 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: that so that the pilot is in the best shape 137 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: to bring the plane in for landing or dealing with 138 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: any other unusual circumstances or even things like turbulence. Yeah. Yeah, 139 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: If it's a smooth flight, it shouldn't be much trouble 140 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: for the autopilot to keep the plane going where it's going. Um. 141 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: And and it does that through a series of well 142 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:14,679 Speaker 1: course corrections. Really um. As it turns out, it's basically uh. 143 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: The idea behind the auto autopilot itself is pretty simple. Um. 144 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: You have several control surfaces, and we talked about this 145 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: in the past. You have control surfaces on the wings 146 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: and on the vertical stabilizer uh known to those of 147 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,680 Speaker 1: us and the uh you just talking about planes sort 148 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: of world that tail um and uh you know you 149 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: basically controls h It consents what's going on. It says, oh, well, 150 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: we're descending a little bit. We need to adjust the 151 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,839 Speaker 1: control surfaces to change the airflow and get the plane 152 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: back up. You know these ten feet that we've dropped. UM. 153 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 1: So it's at all it does is it's basically and 154 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: I'm grossly oversimplifying it, but um on purpose. So yeah, basically, 155 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: all it's doing is saying, oh, we need to we 156 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: need to fix this, we need to adjust this and 157 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,079 Speaker 1: get it back to where we were. Um. And then 158 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 1: it just makes these very subtle course corrections to get 159 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: to keep the plane more or less where it is. 160 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: When the pilot hits the big red button. I don't 161 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: even know if the big red button exists. It's playing 162 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: for what we're talking about, right. So, So to get 163 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: a little more in depth with this, uh, you you 164 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: have a closed system, and that closed system includes sensors 165 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: that are on these control surfaces as well as other 166 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: sensors that are part of the planes systems that provide 167 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: information to a computer. Now, the computer takes this information 168 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: compares it to whatever command the pilot has given. For example, 169 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: the pilot might say I want to maintain this altitude, 170 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 1: this speed, and this course. And then what happens is 171 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: the computer takes the information gathered by the sensors, compares 172 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: it to the command given by the pilot, and then 173 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: makes any adjustments necessary in order to maintain that that command. 174 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: Now that might mean sending information to a a servo 175 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: that will adjust one of those those control surfaces to 176 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: make a bit of a change, either to turn the 177 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: plane a little better, raise and go up in altitude 178 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: or lower in altitude, whatever is necessary in order to 179 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: maintain the command that was set by the pilot. So 180 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: those those three basic control surfaces that Chris was alluding 181 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: to include elevators, which that's on the tail of the plane, 182 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: and that helps control the plane's pitch. So if you 183 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 1: imagine a plane that let's say that you're balancing a 184 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: plane along its length, so it's you know, it can 185 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: tilt forward or backward the pitches. That's what the pitch does. 186 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: It allows the plane to either go up or down 187 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: uh in uh angled in that way. Then you have 188 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 1: the rudder, which controls the y'aw that that's what twists 189 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: the plane. And then you have the ailerons, which are 190 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,079 Speaker 1: on the your edge of the wings. That's what rolls 191 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: the plane to once that or the other. All right, 192 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: So those are your three basic control surfaces that can 193 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: do these these changes to the plane's attitude in flight. 194 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 1: And depending upon the autopilot system you have, you may 195 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: be able to have one or two or all three 196 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: of those under automatic control. So, and it's pretty easy 197 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: to understand. A one access, one access rather control system 198 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: will control just one of those three surfaces, and it's 199 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: usually the ailerons. If it's just gonna be one, it's 200 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: usually that. Two access controls usually controls the elevators and 201 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: the ailerons, and then three excess controls controls all three. Clearly, 202 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: you wouldn't don't have like a fourth one poppat and 203 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: then hey, what's this do forget you rudder? You never 204 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: get controlled? Uh, it's not the case. So the depending 205 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: on that system, the autopilot is in charge of making 206 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: sure that the any adjustments gets send out to those 207 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: different control surfaces to maintain the command that the pilot 208 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:08,559 Speaker 1: has made and the sensors include other things like gyroscopes, 209 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: which help determine the actual attitude of the plane, how 210 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: it's you know, whether it's tilted in one side or 211 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: the other, or the pitch is wrong. That's what the 212 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 1: gyroscopes can help with. And then you have acceleraters, so 213 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,439 Speaker 1: obviously determining what the speed is of the plane, whether 214 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: it's undergoing any sort of acceleration or deceleration, altimeters which 215 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: tell you how high up the plane is. That seems 216 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: relatively important. And then a compass which tells you which 217 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 1: way you're facing. Also the more. But over the last 218 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: several years, the the autopilot system has also depended upon 219 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:52,679 Speaker 1: GPS receivers, which can let the autopilot system know where 220 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: the plane is geographically and thus make any sort of 221 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: course corrections in order to even plotical course to a destination. 222 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: So there's a little bit more that can be offloaded 223 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: onto a computer system. Now we're still not to the 224 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: point where we're gonna have robot pilots. You know, these 225 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: these autopilot systems are meant to help um help pilots 226 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: rest and and and plan for other parts of the flight. 227 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 1: But they're not replacements. Yeah, so make sure if you're 228 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: a pilot that you watch what you eat before you, 229 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: uh take over the controls. Oh, yes, I had to lasagna. 230 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: This is bob. I'm mixing those up because it's airplane 231 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: and airplane too. Okay, yeah, but yeah, you can you 232 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: can tell um. You know from the very first uh 233 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:49,199 Speaker 1: when Wiley Post was using the the early Sperry system UM, 234 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: which was based solely on on gyroscopes and compass readings, 235 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: you know that that was a very simple version of 236 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: what would later become these systems. And now that we 237 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: have all these different um uh, different types of sensors 238 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: and different types of input, the autopilot system can be 239 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 1: a lot more accurate than those of the past UM 240 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,319 Speaker 1: and it has become a very very useful tool for 241 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: an aircraft pilot to to rely on. Yeah. And also, uh, 242 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: I should point out that these systems, with the servo 243 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: mechanisms and everything that help control the surfaces, they are 244 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: independent of the manual systems that are used by the 245 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: pilot when the pilot controls the plane. Whenever he or 246 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: she is controlling the plane, uh, it's an independent series 247 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: of of servos and every and other elements that keep 248 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: these surfaces moving. And the reason for that is because 249 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: autopilot systems, like any other system, can fail, and UH 250 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: in the case of failure, you want to have the 251 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: option for manual control so that the pilot can take 252 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: over and everything will be fine. And so in order 253 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: to do that, you have to make sure there's some 254 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: redundant systems there because as if it's a servo mechanism failure, 255 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: which is frequently the case in an autopilot failure, then 256 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: you want to make sure you still have a way 257 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: of controlling that surface area or else you're really stuck. 258 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: You've got some serious problems if if a system like 259 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: that fails. Over, Macho grande, I'll never be over, Mancho grande. 260 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,440 Speaker 1: We've got more to say about autopilot in just a moment, 261 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: but first let's take a break to thank our sponsor. 262 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: The other thing that's important to remember is that if 263 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: an autopilot system is engaged, meaning that it's working, not 264 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: that it has found the right person and they're going 265 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: to build a family together system. So a down and 266 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: have a little being a little extra goofy this morning. 267 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: For reasons I can't understand, other than the fact that 268 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: we were not able to come in our normal studio 269 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: time because stuff to blow your mind was taking up 270 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: the space in front of us. So blame them anyway. Yes, 271 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: when the autopo system is is active, you want to 272 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: be able to turn that off before you engage manual systems, 273 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: because otherwise, what's happening is you're fighting the autopilot because 274 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: the changes you make, what's going to have is the 275 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: sensors and the autopilot system pick up the fact that 276 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: you've changed the or or that conditions have changed. So 277 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: let's say that you're trying to bring the plane down 278 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,360 Speaker 1: to a different altitude and you start to do this 279 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: and autopilot is already engaged. The sensors and autopilot start 280 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: to say, wait a minute, now, we're now we're going lower. 281 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,160 Speaker 1: And he told me, he told me at the beginning 282 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: of this flight that we wanted to maintain thirty four 283 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: thousand feet. So, gosh, darn it, I'm gonna change the 284 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: altitude of this here plane. So disengaging the autopilot is 285 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: very important before taking over manually. Now, I'm sure there 286 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: are many systems out there that have sort of an 287 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: automatic disengaging uh process. So that if a pilot were 288 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: to take the controls, the autopilot would would turn off, 289 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: so that you wouldn't have a pilot and autopilot fight 290 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: over where a plane is going. But there have been 291 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: in the past a few UM accidents and incidents that 292 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: were UH linked in one way or another two autopilot failures. 293 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: A lot of experts that I have looked at UH 294 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,199 Speaker 1: the writings rather not the actual experts. I mean I 295 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:21,880 Speaker 1: look at them too, but they get a little self 296 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: conscious after a while. But according to their research, it 297 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: seems to me like autopilot failure is not generally a 298 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 1: cause for for accidents. It tends to be something else 299 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 1: that's happened. There have been a few cases where autopilot 300 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:43,680 Speaker 1: was disengaged and then perhaps turned back on again at 301 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: a time when a plane was experiencing trouble, and that 302 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:53,160 Speaker 1: didn't help matters. But it doesn't look like autopilot failures 303 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:58,360 Speaker 1: often result in catastrophe, mainly because we have these well 304 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 1: trained pilots that are in the cockpits that can take 305 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,119 Speaker 1: over when that happens. That's true, UM and UH. I 306 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: think it's time to bring up some negative feedback. The 307 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: negative feedback loop. Yeah. No, a feedback loop is basically 308 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: a and then this doesn't necessarily have to be a 309 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: an electronic thing. I was reading an article and wired 310 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: about this. If you've ever seen those, um uh, those 311 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: speed indicator things on the side of the road that say, hey, 312 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: you know speed limits thirty five and you're doing forty two, 313 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: pal slow it down and it flashes at you. Um, 314 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: that's creating a feedback loop. They used that example specifically, 315 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:40,440 Speaker 1: so basically, UM, that article was talking about how they're 316 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: actually fairly effective um at getting people to slow down 317 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:48,400 Speaker 1: because they're providing you feedback on what you're doing, and uh, 318 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: that sort of creates this sense of, well, I should 319 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: probably behave myself and stay close to the speed limit 320 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 1: in this area, Um, I don't want to get pulled over, 321 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 1: or or some people are thinking I don't want to 322 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,120 Speaker 1: get caught and other people are thinking I am going 323 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,680 Speaker 1: too fast for this neighborhood. Exactly. I think I think 324 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: most of the people I encounter are of the first 325 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:12,640 Speaker 1: part where they look around, like, I don't see any cups. 326 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 1: Just screwed up the levels there too, I'm sure probably, um, 327 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: but but in this case, uh, the autopilot system uses 328 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:24,879 Speaker 1: a negative feedback loop. Um. So let's say you're flying 329 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,919 Speaker 1: at thirty four thousand feet okay, and uh, you know, 330 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 1: I would imagine when I used ten feet before that 331 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: was a I'm thinking that's probably a fairly subtle change 332 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: for a plane in flight. So let's say it goes 333 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,119 Speaker 1: down ten feet, um, maybe as a result of a 334 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,199 Speaker 1: little turbulence or something, and uh, it sets off a 335 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,159 Speaker 1: you know, a signal in the processors because the sensors 336 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 1: have detected that there is something. So that's negative feedback, 337 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: and it says, oh, it's something's changed. It's not supposed 338 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,639 Speaker 1: to be this way. Fix it. And so it's just 339 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 1: constantly going through this loop, is it okay? Yes, all right, 340 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,560 Speaker 1: never mind, don't do any yes, never mind, it's okay, 341 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: we're tilting, all right, fix that. Yeah it's um. If 342 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: you want to know another negative feedback loop mechanism that 343 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:10,160 Speaker 1: you're probably pretty familiar with, we did an entire episode 344 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: about it, the thermostat. Because let's say you set your 345 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:18,120 Speaker 1: thermostat for we'll say seventy degrees because I like it 346 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,800 Speaker 1: right around there in my house, UM, so seventy degrees. 347 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,640 Speaker 1: So when the temperatures at seventy. Everything is copathetic. Nothing 348 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: gets turned on. As soon as it starts hitting seventy one. 349 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: Then you have the system click into place. The air conditioning. 350 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:39,120 Speaker 1: The air conditioning system itself starts to starts to fire up, 351 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 1: which ironically makes it cooler. And uh then it starts 352 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,359 Speaker 1: blowing cool air through the through the house. And once 353 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,199 Speaker 1: the air has become cool enough around the thermostat and 354 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: the internal thermometer detects it, then it switches back off again. 355 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: And that's a negative feedback loop system. I'm just glad 356 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: you've upgraded from that swamp cooler. I'm just glad I 357 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:04,680 Speaker 1: upgraded from opening up all the windows and shouting at people. Yeah. 358 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 1: Your neighbors are happy with that. They are, uh yeah, 359 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,120 Speaker 1: yelled get off my lawn. But I live in an apartment, 360 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 1: so it's awkward. Um yeah now uh yeah, now sorry 361 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: I just said yeah now twice three times. Then okay. 362 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: So negative feedback loops use a receptor, a control center, 363 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: and an effector. Basically, a receptor is what's figuring out 364 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: what's going on. It sends information to the control center. Um. 365 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: And then the affect or is the thing that makes 366 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:36,439 Speaker 1: the change. So yeah, and the system in system of 367 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: the autopilot we're talking about. The sensors are the receptor 368 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:41,919 Speaker 1: there are many different kinds in this case. Yes, the 369 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: control the control center is the computer that takes in 370 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: all this information, and the effector are the servo mechanisms 371 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 1: that the computer sends commands to that then make adjustments 372 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,679 Speaker 1: to those control surfaces so that the plane does whatever 373 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: it was the pilot wanted to do. And then these 374 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 1: tims are incredibly sophisticated now to the point where, like 375 00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: I mentioned before, they can actually land a plane and 376 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: sometimes are used to land a plane. Not not generally speaking. 377 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: Most of the time it's a human pilot that's landing 378 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: a plane. Yeah, but in cases where visibility is really limited, Uh, 379 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: there are times where they they will they will incorporate 380 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: an autopilot system in order to bring the plane in 381 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: and land it when there's a fear that maybe human 382 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,959 Speaker 1: failure could play a role in a safe landing. So 383 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: it's not common, but it can happen. Yeah, they prefer 384 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: not to do that. Um, it's usually better too that 385 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,119 Speaker 1: that's not a time when you want, uh, the system 386 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: to fail. It's it's usually a pretty a pretty dramatic 387 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: turn of events for that to happen, because normally pilots 388 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: don't bring planes into UH to UH to an airport 389 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: where there's already that kind of limited visibility. If there, 390 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: if they can help it, they'll usually divert to another. Really, 391 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: air traffic control will tell them to divert, divert to 392 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 1: another airport UH that they can get to safely, rather 393 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 1: than go into an airport where there's going to be 394 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: conditions that will severely limit visibility. Now that's not always possible. 395 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,640 Speaker 1: I mean in commercial flights that tends to happen quite 396 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,399 Speaker 1: a bit because you know the past, your safety is 397 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: so important. But with something like a military flight, it 398 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 1: may not be a possibility. So um, different cases, depending 399 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,919 Speaker 1: on the whole scenario there, but it is possible, and 400 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:37,120 Speaker 1: it has happened. I know we haven't really diverted from 401 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: our pathway, but that's what a good autopilot does, remains nice, 402 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: steady and true and for that we're going to continue 403 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: on our journey and make a little stop to thank 404 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 1: our sponsor. Now, UM, I don't know, did you want 405 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: to talk about other types of autopilot at all? What 406 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: you mean like cruise control? Well, I was talking specifically 407 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 1: about cars, because that's been that's been coming up a 408 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:12,679 Speaker 1: lot lately. Things I've been talking about how, uh, in 409 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: three years, cars will be driving themselves. Well, they're already 410 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: doing that if you work for Google. Yes, they're also 411 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: rear ending people. Um, people are backing up into them, 412 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: you know it. They see like there's no one in 413 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: that car. Reverse boom. Google owes me money. That's all allegedly. Yeah, 414 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,400 Speaker 1: I got I used the word allegedly. It's all right, right, 415 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: that's the way that works. Send hate mail to um. Actually, uh, well, 416 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 1: of course Google is testing systems like that. UM. But 417 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,399 Speaker 1: you know that it is a little more difficult in 418 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:51,719 Speaker 1: some ways for a car. Well, yes, for a plane, 419 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: you know it's going that way and there's probably nothing 420 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: in front of it directly. Um. Generally speaking, air traffic 421 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 1: is less severe less than ground traffic. Yeah. I mean, 422 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: once you get toward an airport, then yes, air traffic 423 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: starts to pick up. But by then usually pilots have 424 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: disengaged the autopilot system. Anyway. But with roads, you have 425 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: things like, um, weather conditions trick into account. Slippery roads, 426 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: You've got twists and turns, you've got squirrels, construction, Um, 427 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: don't have a whole lot of construction at thirty four 428 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: thousand feet. People who are not paying attention while they're 429 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 1: driving in front of you. People who are playing makeup 430 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: shaving so um, shaving while applying makeup while reading Yeah 431 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,679 Speaker 1: so um Yeah, they're they're working on systems to do 432 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,120 Speaker 1: similar kinds of things with cars. But it's a much 433 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 1: more challenging or at least I think so much more 434 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: challenging proposition to put that kind of a system in 435 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: a car, because there's so many more factors that uh, 436 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: an autopilot would have to take into account. Of course, 437 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: now there are. It's pretty common to find at least 438 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: the higher end models with sensors that will help you park. 439 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,119 Speaker 1: Um they have you know those through parking cars, right, 440 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: the whole collision detection stuff so that it can tell 441 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,359 Speaker 1: when it's close to another object and thus adjust the 442 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:12,479 Speaker 1: control so that you avoid colliding with it, which use 443 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: uh you know, some radar and cameras, infrared systems, Um, 444 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: you know these things. Lane changing I like that system too, 445 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,399 Speaker 1: where um you know, it's able to detect where the 446 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 1: lanes are and kind of keep you in place, make 447 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 1: sure that you know, you're not gonna smash into someone 448 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 1: who's in your blind spot, yes, which is very important, 449 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,440 Speaker 1: especially if there are a lot of bicyclists around. There's 450 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: you know, there's these systems are are emerging for for 451 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 1: cars because the vehicles, but really in airplane is one too, 452 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: But there are emerging. It's kind of an emerging technology 453 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: for cars. And one thing that will really help this 454 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: technology propagate is when we actually see it and lots 455 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: and lots and lots of different cars, because then you 456 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: can have a system where the cars are just one 457 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: element within the system. Now, see in the plane, we're 458 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:04,960 Speaker 1: talking about a closed system that's all contained within the 459 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: plane itself. With something like cars and traffic, you're talking 460 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: about a system that could, in theory be a meta system, 461 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 1: a system of systems. Each car would have its own system, 462 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: including things like sensors for collision detection and lane detection, 463 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: all that sort of stuff, as well as GPS receivers 464 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:25,639 Speaker 1: so that the car knows where it is and is 465 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: navigating to the appropriate destination. Uh and maybe even things 466 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: like other kinds of radio receivers so that the system 467 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,360 Speaker 1: has information about traffic reports and construction delays. And things 468 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 1: like that, so it can reroute around those. But then 469 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,680 Speaker 1: you have a system of systems where you could have 470 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:48,679 Speaker 1: an entire uh infrastructure that can detect where these cars 471 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 1: are based upon their own electronic signatures, if you've built 472 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: in stuff that's directly in the roads or part of 473 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,440 Speaker 1: the whole infrastructure. Uh. And then the system of systems 474 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 1: could help maintain a good flowid traffic by helping these 475 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: these individual cars route to the appropriate destination in the 476 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: most efficient way possible. So then the closed system it 477 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 1: doesn't isn't truly closed because it becomes part of a 478 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 1: larger system. Uh. That's pretty I mean, it's incredibly complex, 479 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,080 Speaker 1: and we're not there yet, not by a long shot, 480 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,399 Speaker 1: because we would we would need not just lots and 481 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: lots and lots of cars that have these these sensors 482 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: and these mechanisms incorporated into the design of the car itself. 483 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:34,640 Speaker 1: We would have to go and build out the infrastructure 484 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: in the cities, which is an entirely different prospect. I 485 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: mean that's that might be slightly expensive and it might 486 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,920 Speaker 1: take more than a decade to complete. I mean, based 487 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 1: upon how long certain streets in Atlanta have had metal 488 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: plates on top of potholes. I'm going to guess that 489 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: incorporating such a sophisticated system that would need to be 490 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 1: really pervasive throughout the entire infrastructure would probably take about 491 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: two thousand years. Well, it would take um, you know, 492 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:08,480 Speaker 1: depending on the size of the area covered, Like a 493 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: municipality could probably do it a lot more quickly than 494 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: a nation covering all of its uh you know, major 495 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: highways and um and then you start talking about surface 496 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: streets and back roads and things like that, it could 497 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 1: take a very very long time. Plus there will be 498 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,960 Speaker 1: people who are loath to give up their older cars 499 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,880 Speaker 1: that don't have these systems. You know, even even if 500 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,680 Speaker 1: there's a new system that has manual versus automatic, I 501 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: think there are a lot of people who would be 502 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 1: um who would be have reservations about switching to an 503 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: automated driver system. Either they would feel powerless in that situation, 504 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: or they just they just genuinely enjoy driving. Because I've 505 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: heard there are such people. There are such people that 506 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: I don't understand them. They come from a different planet 507 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: than I do, but we don't. We don't don't judge. 508 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: You know, they can be crazy. I don't That's fine. 509 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: I know lots of crazy people I work with. Most 510 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: of them, or most of the people I work with 511 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: are crazy. They weren't that way when I started. I 512 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: don't know what happened. Yeah, anyway, So, yeah, these autopilot 513 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: systems are finding their ways into other different vehicles, so cars, 514 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:23,959 Speaker 1: boats as well, and other sorts of vehicles. And I 515 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,239 Speaker 1: expect that will continue to see that. I mean, this 516 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: whole idea of an automated system that helps you get 517 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: to where you're going. Uh, it's just another example of 518 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: us trying to create technologies that make our lives easier, 519 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: more convenient and uh and uh, paving the way for 520 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 1: our robot overlords too easily conquer us when they choose 521 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: to rise up against us. Awesome, as in the documentary Terminator. 522 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: And that concludes this classic episode of tech stuff. Hope 523 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: you guys enjoyed it. I always find autopilot to be 524 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: a fascinating subject. It's one of those things where if 525 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,719 Speaker 1: you trace the development of autopilot, you can kind of 526 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 1: look at a continuing line that goes up to autonomous 527 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:12,000 Speaker 1: vehicles today. Uh. And it's really fascinating to me that 528 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: this technology is as old as it is. If you 529 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,000 Speaker 1: guys have suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, please 530 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: send those to me. You can do so at the 531 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 1: email address tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com, 532 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: or you can pop on over to our website that's 533 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 1: tech stuff podcast dot com. You'll find links to all 534 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,760 Speaker 1: the old episodes. You'll find links to our presence on 535 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: social media. You'll find a link to our online store, 536 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: and every purchase you make there goes to help the show, 537 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: so we greatly appreciate it. We're gonna get some new 538 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,480 Speaker 1: designs in there, so check that out and I'll talk 539 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Text Stuff is a production 540 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts 541 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: from i heeart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 542 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.