In spe the US Navy wants to give up touchscreens and return to the well-known controls.
The US Navy will again integrate conventional controls into its destroyer and remove the installed touch screens. The process should start from next year. The reason for this is the collision, which resulted in deaths. A destroyer rammed an oil tanker. The reason for the accident were apparently the touchpads.
The incident occurred off the coast in August 2017 Singapore, The destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Alnic MC. Trying to turn on the digital control lost control and rammed the tanker. There were 10 dead and 48 injured aboard the US ship.
Lack of training but also fatigue should be jointly responsible for the misfortune. But the digital ship control should also have contributed their part. The computerized help was disabled, which made the situation difficult. The control changed to the different drives. In short: the operation via the touch screen was too complicated.
The mechanical controls, however, are known and provide immediate feedback on the vessel behavior. A survey of the crew also revealed that mechanical operation was preferred. A report of the NTSB recommends, therefore, the return to the known and less complicated controls.
Furthermore, the report recommends better training of on-board personnel and ensuring that they are not overtired when in action.
About David Fluhr
I’ve been writing about Autonomous & Connected Driving since 2011 and I’m writing on other sites like the Smart Mobility Hub. I studied social sciences at the HU Berlin and since 2012 I am a freelance journalist. Contact: mail@autonomes-fahren.de