I mean there is something to be said for KISS (keep it simple stupid) principles. Especially in an environment that is very unforgiving. In fact in SCUBA there is even a rebreather named as such [1].
And something like an xbox controller is both well engineered and quite intuitive. That said…you are going to want redundancy.
For example I believe SpaceX Dragon uses largely off the shelf computers running linux [2], and not the older rad hardened versions many other space programs require. That said…they also setup them as a to work in triplicate to ensure quorum on the data validity and then have a backup set fo computer in case they cant get quorum out of the primary.
It’s even funnier than that. Appearently, for drones they made drone pilots design their optimal input device, and the result was basically a replica of a commonly used Xbox controller. The legal department was dumbfounded because there’s obviously protections for an Xbox controller and they just resorted back to the original.
I read that military used Xbox controller because it was more intuitive than traditional method.
But I do hope that they update / change their gamepad regularly, because thumbstick drift is a thing.
I mean there is something to be said for KISS (keep it simple stupid) principles. Especially in an environment that is very unforgiving. In fact in SCUBA there is even a rebreather named as such [1].
And something like an xbox controller is both well engineered and quite intuitive. That said…you are going to want redundancy.
For example I believe SpaceX Dragon uses largely off the shelf computers running linux [2], and not the older rad hardened versions many other space programs require. That said…they also setup them as a to work in triplicate to ensure quorum on the data validity and then have a backup set fo computer in case they cant get quorum out of the primary.
[1] https://www.kissrebreathers.com/
[2] https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/9243/what-computer-and-software-is-used-by-the-falcon-9
It’s even funnier than that. Appearently, for drones they made drone pilots design their optimal input device, and the result was basically a replica of a commonly used Xbox controller. The legal department was dumbfounded because there’s obviously protections for an Xbox controller and they just resorted back to the original.
Isn’t the Xbox controller only used for the periscope?
There’s various photos online of US and UK militaries using xbox controllers to pilot UAV’s.
That sounds like a perfect use for them!