Key Points
- Rescue efforts are underway to find a sub missing off the Canadian coast.
- The sub was exploring the Titanic wreckage when it went missing.
- Experts had previously warned of potentially “catastrophic” problems with the exploration company's approach.
The missing Titan submursible, which went missing with five people on board in the vicinity of the Titanic's wreck site, is being controlled by a generic version of a PlayStation controller.
Video of the OceanGate-branded sub from around six months ago shows the sub's steering was controlled by a Logitech G F710 Wireless Gamepad, which retails for as low as $40 in Australia.
“We run this whole thing off this game controller," OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush said in an interview with CBS journalist David Pogue.
Mr Rush then quipped that his invention “shouldn’t take a lot of skill” to reach the depth of the Titanic.
“We only have one button, that’s it ... it should be like an elevator," he said.
But Mr Rush insisted that the sub was safe.
“Everything else can fail. Your thrusters can go, your lights can go ... you’re still going to be safe,” he said.
The inside of the sub is about the size of a mini-van, Mr Pogue said.
After news of the OceanGate sub going missing broke this week, Mr Pogue tweeted that, during his visit six months ago, the sub also went missing for several hours.
While he was at the surface, the internet was shut off on the command ship, which could still send short texts to the sub but did not know where it was, he wrote.
He said installing a locator beam was discussed at the time.
Previous safety warnings about OceanGate sub
The company was issued a serious warning about safety problems with the Titanic voyage in 2018.
More than thirty people including industry leaders, deep-sea explorers and oceanographers said in a letter to Mr Rush that the company’s “experimental” approach and its decision to forgo a traditional assessment could lead to potentially “catastrophic” problems.
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Missing sub: 'Like finding a needle in a haystack'
07:15
The pilot couldn't actually find the Titanic on his voyage because they were lost.
"The compass was acting up," he told Reuters.
Credit: SBS News
"The phrase you keep hearing is they lost communications and it's possible they're just out of range, that they came back to the surface and they're just out of radio contact with someone.
"I find that very unlikely and I think they may be stuck at the bottom of the ocean," he said, adding he was "not very optimistic for their return."
OceanGate's Titan submarine was intending to visit the Titanic wreckage on the ocean floor. Source: AAP, Facebook / OceanGate Expeditions
Precedent for using basic controllers with high-tech machinery
While it may seem remarkable to steer a sub with a basic video controller, high-tech vessels and military vehicles have been known to use such devices.
The US Army has used Xbox controllers to drive bomb disposal robots, while the UK military has used the same controller for driverless all-terrain vehicles.
Israel Aerospace Industries engineers reportedly worked with teenage gamers on a joystick for a tank and ended up deciding to use an Xbox controller because it was easy and familiar to young recruits.
University of Sydney Professor Stefan Williams told SBS World News using this kind of technology doesn't present any problems in and of itself.
"You try to use commercial off-the-shelf components whenever you can.
"A computer game console hand controller is something people are familiar with.
He said they are used extensively in robotics.
"So adopting that would not have in any way compromised the ability of them to complete this particular mission."
