automation

A thread of 2 messages, 11 January 1991 to 13 January 1991, in the order they were sent.

#2068 automation

True Friends Change Your Life · 11 January 1991

Someone suggested that today's airplanes can pretty much fly themselves.  That
may be so, but can they land and take off by themselves?  And would you want to
fly on an automated plane?  Not me!

No, *some* crew must be aboard to take care of emergencies.  I expect traveller
starships will be very similiar.

The other question I've had for a long time is that there seems to be an
assumption in general that on traveller ships that there is always someone on
watch 24 hours a day on the bridge and engineering.  Yet the crew on board is
no where near anything what would be required?

Are 24 hour watches really required?  I'd have a hard time sleeping, knowing
that their is nobody at the wheel, though.  I figure that at the least,
*someone* of even the most minimal skill has to be on the bridge at all times,
and they summon someone if anything anything bad or unfamiliar happens.  On the
other hand, on scouts, perhaps they simply set all the computer alarms, and
take a snooze, and possibly get a hell of a wake up!

Jim Baranski

#2071 Re: (2068) automation

[unnamed sender] · 13 January 1991 · reply to #2068

>Someone suggested that today's airplanes can pretty much fly themselves.  That
>may be so, but can they take off and land by themselves?  And would you want to
>fly on an automated plane?  Not me!

I feel like I'm going a bit out on a limb here, but from what I understand,
in a routine situation some modern passenger jets _can_ land by themselves
at a properly equipped airport.  I vaguely recall seeing a show which
mentioned that the Boeing 757 had this capability.  As I recall, most pilots
prefer not to use this function of the airplane, because the idea makes
them feel a bit uneasy.  Of course, if the pilot was incapacitated, this
might be handy...but in a storm, using it would be, well, inadvisable
(and probably illegal).  Please check this out yourselves, since I know
very little about this sort of thing, and could be wrong!

>No, *some* crew must be aboard to take care of emergencies.  I expect traveller
>starships will be very similar.

If I was building a robot-piloted craft, I'd feel best about one which
was used outside of atmospheres and insystem only, avoiding the two most
hazardous ship operations -- atmospheric transfer and jump initiation.
I'd feel even better if it didn't have much thrust; just in case. Then if
something goes wrong, someone can send a boat out to catch it, especially
if it was aimed at something important -- like Regina High Port.  If it
was carrying something especially important, it would be nice to have a
sapient pilot and mechanic/engineer on board (and maybe a medic, if it's
a long trip and you don't trust robot doctors).

- - --Steve