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Boeing Uses 20,000 Lbs. of Potatoes To Check Aircraft Wireless Network Signals
coondoggie writes "Boeing calls it Project SPUDS — or rather, Synthetic Personnel Using Dielectric Substitution — that is, using sacks of potatoes perched on aircraft seats to test the effectiveness of wireless signals in an airliner cabin. Boeing said it was researching an advanced way to test wireless signals in airplanes and needed a way to effectively simulate 200-300 people sitting in seats throughout the aircraft."
Couldn't resist...
So did they do this test in their labs, or at a Five Guys?
The fact that Boeing's customers treat their passengers as sacks of potatoes is purely coincidental.
I hope some of those potatoes were asked to pay for 2 seats.
In all seriousness, 80 pounds of potatoes has similar WIFI restricting capabilities as maybe 140 pounds of person? What other food analogs are used in place of people for tech experiments?
cause if they used the 75-ohm ones, their Starch Wave Ratio may be too high.
oh, and they have to be properly grounded. potatoes have experience in this area, so that's not usually a problem.
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
That's spudtacular!
All eyes will be on Boeing to make sure they don't make a hash of it.
then they would be called French flies.
For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave.
1st: glazed honey roasted Bus.: Boiled new potatoes Cattle: left-over corned-beef mash
"Boeing said it was researching an advanced way to test wireless signals in airplanes" With potatoes. LOL
When the plane is connecting to low bandwidth cellular networks for internet access, how much does it really matter if there is good wifi signal throughout the plane or not.
You're freaking out a bit early, don't you think? There's not a single Irish joke in the comments yet.
...and didn't have to pay
to
get
it
IN!"
(oldie but goodie?)
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Were TSA agents involved, and did they suffer from any inferiority related mental injuries?
Why couldn't they "effectively simulate 200-300 people sitting in seats throughout the aircraft" by actually having 200-300 people sitting in seats throughout the aircraft?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
So they were simply unable to run a test on an actual in flight trip with live people?
That might be enough potatoes to account for average sized people, but what about a plane load of fat Americans? They'd have to use 50,000 lb
I did not know that a Couch Potato would get off his / her tush and actually fly. What else is Boing doing to get them moving?
Where's it flying too, White Hart Lane?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Yes, fries are made from potatoes.
Not if you go to mcdonalds.
It was just after dark when the plane started down
The airspace that leads into Scranton, Pennsylvania
Carrying Twenty Thousand Pounds
Of potatoes.
Carrying twenty thousand pounds
(hit it Big John)
Oooooof Potatoooooes
...than couch potatoes!
...you know the wifi signal was too strong
I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
Sacks of potatoes can form a mostly human shape
Only if you ignore the legs...which would also explain how they estimate the legroom to provide in economy seats.
Do they not watch Mythbusters? If nothing else, Mythbusters has taught me that pigs are awesome human body analogues. ...at least better than sacks of potatoes. That being said, potatoes would be easier to strap into the seats than a bunch of living (or dead) pigs. better smelling too.
...just flying high in your taxi???
...at least back when Boeing had a presence in Wichita, KS in the 80's. They shot dead chickens out of a specially-built canon to simulate windshield strikes. My understanding is that jet engine manufacturers still use chicken canons to fire birds into running jet engines.
Potatoes? That isn't anything compared to the THIRTY thousand pounds of mashed bananas!
Anybody? Aaaaaanybody?
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So I guess it was Take Your Daughter To Work Day at Boeing? I wonder who won the science fair, or if there were any survivors?
Stop learning! Only you can prevent esoterrorism.
It's called Congress. Now methinks vegetables can do a better job.
We all knew this. Boeing just proved it for us.
if they were trying to test for a plane full of a bunch of down syndrome people...
I hope they donated all those potatoes to food banks when they were done playing with them.
I would much rather share a flight with spuds than travellers. For example, new potatoes are tasty, whereas babies are noisy and smelly.
If they're Irish, then they will call them chips, like all civilised people do.
Is this an inside industry joke? I work in I.T. for aviation and our system uses the word SCK [S(A)CK] to refer to passengers, uses for logistics and weight and balancing I think.
I am pumped.
Please continue using the network world icon for all further stories by them.
A tag would be great to so that I can filter search results.
As long as they don't just throw the potatoes away afterwards, I guess it kinda makes sense.
20,000lbs of potatoes could do a lot of good, in a lot of places. It isn't a large amount in the scale of things, but I just hate to see people wasting food.