Navy switches to Xbox gamepad to control sub periscopes

The U.S. Navy plans to use Xbox 360 controllers to operate periscopes aboard its newer submarines.

Instead of a traditional rotating periscope, the Navy’s Virginia-class subs are set to use high-resolution cameras and large monitors.

These can be can be controlled by a helicopter-style stick – but, they come with a $38,000 price tag.

The Navy has now revealed plans to integrate an Xbox controller into the system, to slash prices and reduce required training time.

The U.S. Navy plans to use Xbox 360 controllers to operate periscopes aboard its newer submarines. A controller typically costs less than $30 compared to the $38,000 cost of a photonic mast handgrip and imaging control panel. And, it’s more familiar to many

THE NAVY’S PLAN 

The Xbox controller will be included as part of the integrated imaging system for Virginia-class subs beginning with the future USS Colorado.

Instead of a traditional rotating periscope, the Navy’s Virginia-class subs will use high-resolution cameras and large monitors.

These can be can be controlled by a helicopter-style stick – but, they come at a $38,000 price tag.

To slash prices and reduce training time, the Navy plans to use Xbox 360 controllers to operate the periscopes. 

The Xbox controllers are more familiar to younger sailors and require less training, the Virginian-Pilot reports.

And, they’re significantly cheaper.

A controller typically costs less than $30 compared to the $38,000 cost of a photonic mast handgrip and imaging control panel.

‘That joystick is by no means cheap, and it is only designed to fit on a Virginia-class submarine,’ Senior Chief Mark Eichenlaub, the John Warner’s assistant navigator, told The Virginian-Pilot.

‘I can go to any video game store and procure an Xbox controller anywhere in the world, so it makes a very easy replacement.’

The Xbox controller will be included as part of the integrated imaging system for Virginia-class subs beginning with the future USS Colorado.

A controller typically costs less than $30 compared to the $38,000 cost of a photonic mast handgrip and imaging control panel

A controller typically costs less than $30 compared to the $38,000 cost of a photonic mast handgrip and imaging control panel

It is supposed to be commissioned by November.

The system has already been subjected to two years of extensive testing, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

The idea comes as part of the Navy’s joint research with Lockheed Martin at the aerospace firm’s ‘Area 51’ base, where secretive projects are tested.

‘If we have a good idea, we bring it in here and try it out,’ said Jacob Shultz at Lockheed Martin.

‘And because we try, we get the best, proven solutions to the fleet faster.

‘The point is we have an environment in which we can do more than talk about the art of the possible, in here we make it happen.’

In the classified research lab, they¿re also testing multi-touch tables that could allow operators to pull up command center data with a touch, or resize and rotate the display to support the discussion

In the classified research lab, they’re also testing multi-touch tables that could allow operators to pull up command center data with a touch, or resize and rotate the display to support the discussion

The idea comes as part of the Navy¿s joint research with Lockheed Martin at the aerospace firm¿s ¿Area 51¿ base, where secretive projects are tested

The idea comes as part of the Navy’s joint research with Lockheed Martin at the aerospace firm’s ‘Area 51’ base, where secretive projects are tested

The two are working to use off-the-shelf technology that taps into the skills the sailors have acquired over the course of their lives.

In the classified research lab, they’re also testing multi-touch tables that could allow operators to pull up command center data with a touch, or resize and rotate the display to support the discussion.

‘Ideally, what they want to see in 10 years down the road is, there’s basically a glass panel display with windows, and you can just pull a window of information, review that, push it off, bring in the next window,’ Eichenlaub told the Virginian-Pilot.

‘They want to bring in sailors with what they have at home on their personal laptop, their personal desktop, what they grew up with in a classroom.’

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