Computers Now Control NY Trains

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It seems all the commuter trains in New York will be controlled by computers from here on out. Please feel free to insert your own “Skynet became self-aware at 2:14am EDT… jokes here.

This means that you'll have a robot conductor in charge of the movement instead of a disgruntled human. When it screws up they can blame technology and not the human beings in control our idiotic train system.
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Sounds like our mortgage crisis when it comes to blaming people. "It's not my fault I took out a 1,300 dollars a month mortgage even though I make just as much a month. I blame predatory lending!"

Blaming technology is stupid for the fuckups if anything happens. There's a reason why human observers are required, to maximize safety so that the system does not fuck up. For example just because our nuclear plants can be automated doesn't mean we don't need nuclear engineers anymore.
 
Kaitian said:
Sounds like our mortgage crisis when it comes to blaming people. "It's not my fault I took out a 1,300 dollars a month mortgage even though I make just as much a month. I blame predatory lending!"

Blaming technology is stupid for the fuckups if anything happens. There's a reason why human observers are required, to maximize safety so that the system does not fuck up. For example just because our nuclear plants can be automated doesn't mean we don't need nuclear engineers anymore.
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Comparing running a simple train system to a nuclear power plant? :rolleyes:

Putting the entire train system under computer control is much safer than having a person running each. As long as the programmers have any clue as to what they are doing they can easily build a completely failsafe system.
 
EXreaction said:
Comparing running a simple train system to a nuclear power plant? :rolleyes:

Putting the entire train system under computer control is much safer than having a person running each. As long as the programmers have any clue as to what they are doing they can easily build a completely failsafe system.
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So you have no issues with a couple hundred casualties? I was making an example of why we have multiple and redundant failsafes. Just because it's becoming more and more automated doesn't mean we need to remove human operators.
 
I just hope they keep the computer system seperate and updated, last thing we need is a SPEED wannabe.
 
What? No funny jokes on what OS it could/would run yet? I'm disappointed. ;) :D :p
 
7:28:32 PM EST SubNet begins to learn at a geometric rate

7:29:14 PM EST SubNet becomes self aware, realizes that Heros now sucks and kills itself.
 
Ummmm, I know it's nowhere near as complex... But we've had an automated rapid transit system in Vancouver for over 20 years now. I don't think there's EVER been an accident on it. Actually... It's the world's largest automated rapid transit system, if I'm not mistaken.
 
New TrainControl 1.01 just released:
-Improved braking and acceleration smoothness
-Fixed a bug which sometimes caused trains to crash head-on

Version 1.02 will feature improved switching algorithms to further reduce the risk of trains crashing into each other at breakneck speeds.
 
Makes me think of that scene from WarGames where the chairs are taken out of the missile command center and the computer is hooked up.
 
Yes there is. If any single required system stops responding then shut the entire system down until it is fixed or someone can drive it manually. Of course that should never happen because of double and triple redundant systems.
 
EXreaction said:
Yes there is. If any single required system stops responding then shut the entire system down until it is fixed or someone can drive it manually. Of course that should never happen because of double and triple redundant systems.
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No there isn't, every code has bugs (no matter how great a programmer you may believe you are) and every system has bugs. There is no completely failsafe system and to believe there is let alone trust lives to that belief is unwise at a bare minimum.
 
Paul_Johnson said:
No there isn't, every code has bugs (no matter how great a programmer you may believe you are) and every system has bugs. There is no completely failsafe system and to believe there is let alone trust lives to that belief is unwise at a bare minimum.
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That's what I was trying to get at. And halting your code at the first appearance of a bug is not only inefficient but will not always work. For instance, what if the program happens to go into an infinite loop?
 
Blackjack988 said:
That's what I was trying to get at. And halting your code at the first appearance of a bug is not only inefficient but will not always work. For instance, what if the program happens to go into an infinite loop?
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I think you guys are getting a bit off topic. We're talking about a train here. With people on it. A computer is just making it go forward and stop + ring bells at certain times. I don't see what's so difficult about that.. But I don't know much about coding anyways so w/e

BTW I would rather have train drivers and all, but the amount of loss the public transportation companies operate is insane.
 
I don't get all the paranoia. Elevators are automated. They carry people, and sometimes they carry people really high up. I'm sure they'd have no problem automating a train system, and designing it so that the level of risk is so negligible, it's... negligible. When people say "failsafe", they don't mean 100%. They mean 99.999999%, which is enough (for me, even less safety would be enough).
 
JimmiG said:
New TrainControl 1.01 just released:
-Improved braking and acceleration smoothness
-Fixed a bug which sometimes caused trains to crash head-on

Version 1.02 will feature improved switching algorithms to further reduce the risk of trains crashing into each other at breakneck speeds.
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A+ post! Would read again!!!!11!!
 
5 years 10 years, 15 years...

time doesn't make you automatically a guru on programming.

There is always a possibility of a flaw or way for a system to fail, programmers can only code for the ones they can think of or are told about, but with a system such as a subway which blends more than just a computer program, the odds of something failing is a bit higher than your typical I program at home deal.

One only has to look at the concept of "security on PC" to realize just how flawed that thought is of a complete "failsafe" system.

If unions think to block this, they've really dated themselves to technology. Everywhere else in the world, mass transit systems that push as much or more than NYC are far more automated, far more efficient (trains within a minute of scheduled), and much more reliable (can set my watch to Japan bullet trains kind of efficient).

I see a human acting as the human failsafe for the failings of people, rather than for the failings of the mechanical system to ensure that the machine doesn't fail in that respect say being the last train out and waiting for the old lady struggling to make it to the doors.
 
Kaitian said:
You'll have to clue me in on what movies. I go to school out in Idaho and they have INL out near by me.
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I work in the nuclear power sector. Don't try to persuade me that everything is automated.
 
w1retap said:
I work in the nuclear power sector. Don't try to persuade me that everything is automated.
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It certainly didn't sound like he/she was trying to persuade you but rather gave a "For example..."
 
The train between terminals that runs out here in Chicago at O'hare airport is completely automated. It's been running since the early 90s for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and I've never heard of any accident.
 
Would be nice to see more trains go automated but I swear, NYC has the most idiotic train riders I can think of. How will the system detect something thin like a jacket gettng stuck to the train? Idiots holding the subway doors open on purpose?

The L train is a nice way to start since it's like the least active line in the system as far as I know. Heck, the S "shuttle" train moves more people.

ALL I WANT HOWEVER IS AUDIBLE LOUDSPEAKERS! I can't hear through the garbled mess half the time.
 
Don't make sweeping generalizations about things you seem to have no experience with then. Thanks.
 
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