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Watching more of the marketing videos, they show someone using a video game controller to engage targets. Why are they doing that? Why not just have computers d

Watching more of the marketing videos, they show someone using a video game controller to engage targets. Why are they doing that? Why not just have computers do the aiming and you just hit 'k' for kill on your keyboard?? Is there something related to 'human in the loop' in the geneva convention because it seems a lot like a waste of time and effort.

hiddencost 4y ago
Because this is how these systems are controlled. Because the operators grew up using XBox controllers. Because they're dirt cheap (by military procurement standards). And Just Work. https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16333376/us-navy-military-xbox-360-controller https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16333376/us-navy-military...
- blobbers 4y ago
  I can tell you from personal experience working on missile defense systems that they don't use xbox controllers. When a track is established, the phalanx will be controlled automatically to probabilistically aim for targets as they come over the horizon. This is a matter of seconds. Why would a drone swarm require humans to target? The computer would make the decision much faster. And as any gamer would know, you're much better with a mouse and keyboard than you are with an xbox controller.
chipsa 4y ago
The controller is because they aren't integrated into radar, or the target doesn't have enough of a signature, or it's not in an area the radar can see, and AI vision isn't good enough to pick them out of the image yet. Also, you want to be able to tell the system to hit target X, not target Y, because X is a bogey, while Y is a friendly. A Phalanx CIWS can do fully automatic against a missile, but there's other targets you might want it to take out, like small boats. So they have an electro optical sensor to see, and a controller to let them aim it manually. As to why a video game controller? Because they're cheap and people already mostly know how to use them. Mice might be more precise, until you're bouncing along a dirt road, or in sea state 5.

hiddencost 4y ago

Because this is how these systems are controlled. Because the operators grew up using XBox controllers. Because they're dirt cheap (by military procurement standards). And Just Work. https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16333376/us-navy-military-xbox-360-controller https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/19/16333376/us-navy-military...

blobbers 4y ago
I can tell you from personal experience working on missile defense systems that they don't use xbox controllers. When a track is established, the phalanx will be controlled automatically to probabilistically aim for targets as they come over the horizon. This is a matter of seconds. Why would a drone swarm require humans to target? The computer would make the decision much faster. And as any gamer would know, you're much better with a mouse and keyboard than you are with an xbox controller.

chipsa 4y ago

The controller is because they aren't integrated into radar, or the target doesn't have enough of a signature, or it's not in an area the radar can see, and AI vision isn't good enough to pick them out of the image yet. Also, you want to be able to tell the system to hit target X, not target Y, because X is a bogey, while Y is a friendly. A Phalanx CIWS can do fully automatic against a missile, but there's other targets you might want it to take out, like small boats. So they have an electro optical sensor to see, and a controller to let them aim it manually. As to why a video game controller? Because they're cheap and people already mostly know how to use them. Mice might be more precise, until you're bouncing along a dirt road, or in sea state 5.