5 ms·
I think the author was referring to processors handling UI displays rather than a computer system that has only the processing power to only handle a blinking L
by crimsonalucard 8y ago
I think the author was referring to processors handling UI displays rather than a computer system that has only the processing power to only handle a blinking LED.
For example if a UI display showed:
"Warning: MCAS overriding pitch up. Disable?"
Is better than a LED #234 and LED 412 are on. Consult manual for instructions.
I would imagine that a lot of the fly by wire or control systems nowadays are either analog systems or very very simple digital systems (with extreme redundancy).
- jamesdgb 8y agoI understood the author the same way you did
- theclaw 8y agoIt's a moot point anyway - the could not change the UI beyond converting physical dials to virtual ones, because that would have required retraining which they wanted to avoid. Even if they could have changed the UI they still needed to hide the existence of the MCAS system, again to avoid retraining, so it's doubtful such a clear an helpful error message would be allowable.
- ssully 8y agoIt isn't a moot point, it is literally the point of the article. The whole article is explaining the history of the 737 and explaining why they designed the max to avoid retraining. It mentions digital UIs, fly-by-wire, and other designs found in modern jets to paint the picture that the Max was successful in avoiding retraining, but that requirement restricted the engineers and led to a potentially compromised design.
- CivBase 8y agoYou might be right. However, the author didn't show any evidence that the UI was limited by the available processing power. 1990s computers were very capable of displaying advanced graphic interfaces.