Re: Is it a habit we prefer mechnical instruments?


Peter Dohm wrote:
--------snip---------

Digital instruments are easy to program and don't take much computing
resources. Converting the display to a form fit for human consumption
take more computing and programming horsepower.

Exactly right. Plus two additional problems:
1) Most modern general purpose computers have voluminous operating
systems and take too much time to cold start (or boot up), even if ROM is
substituted for the disk drive. That means a lot more programming.

I think if you're about to take a trip, waiting the whole 17 seconds
for the OS to boot (Windows) won't hurt too much.

2) Presently, there is too little standardization, especially of the NAV
equipment. And integration of the NAV display(s) is a major reason for
considering electronic displays.

This is true. Also, I have looked at some of the gadgets that are
produced by Garmin (and Raymarine for you boat-lovers). I think it is
important to realize that, when a software engineer at one of these
companies sits down to make software for their gadgets, the complexity
presented to them is often more than that which is presented to someone
who programs a regular PC. This started changing a bit when Microsoft
started selling embedded versions of their OS's, and now, a
full-feature version of XP that is meant for embedded system. Yet
still, there are many devices that uses unconventional hardware, and
then hire programmers to work really hard to tweak it just right.

Compare that to going to a young programmer who knows how to make fancy
graphics on standard PC using C++, and you can see the difference.
S/he would probably be able to create almost anything you can imagine,
with much, much less cost than there would be with custom device. I
cannot emphasize enough that the young people who program and know
computer graphics can create graphical presentations that are far
beyond what Garmin is currently making. And everytime you get into a
simulator that is rendered by a digital display showing analog
controls, you are convincing yourself that it is "ok" that the analog
controls are rendered digitally.

But again, the real power comes from the possibility of letting the
computer open up more of your plane and your environment to you.

So it's not that we necessarily prefer mechanical instruments, but we
certainly have reason to demand that any replacement be at least as good in
all ways important to a pilot, such as:
1) Ease of comprehension.
2) Similarity of controls and displays in aircraft a pilot might fly.
3) Redundancy--at least as good as our old electrical plus vacuum.
4) Immunity from "wash out" in direct sunlight.

True about the redundancy. We can't have a bad transistor bringing
down the aircraft. But digital sensors are cheap, lightweight, and and
accurate. If it fails, the computer will know immediately. With
standard interfaces like USB, it would be a simple matter of finding
the faulty part, throwing it in trash (as opposed to repairing it), and
replacing it with a new one. The computer would tell you if the new
one is OK.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

.

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