Airline
passengers often complain about being treated like sacks of potatoes on board flights,
well it turns out, some were replaced by sacks of potatoes.
In order
to improve the wireless Internet connection found on its planes, US aircraft
maker Boeing conducted experiments substituting passengers with potatoes.
“The team
determined that potatoes were ideal stand-ins for passengers, given their
similar physical interactions with electronic signal properties,” Boeing said
in a press release about the 20,000 pounds (9,071 kg) of potatoes that were
used in tests aimed at eliminating weak spots in in-flight wireless signals.
Many
airlines offer customers wireless Internet, but the signal strength can be
spotty for passengers while 35,000 feet (10,668 meters) up in the air.
Boeing
tried to remedy the problem through a series of tests that needed full planes
to get accurate signal testing results. The company couldn’t ask people to sit
completely still for days while it gathered data, and “that’s where potatoes
come into the picture,” Boeing spokesman Adam Tischler told the Associated
Press.
The company’s
engineers discovered that potatoes absorb and reflect radio wave signals
similar to how humans do, and through the project the company’s engineers were
able to “more efficiently measure how strong a signal is and how far it
spreads, ensuring safe yet powerful signal penetration throughout an airplane
cabin,” said Boeing.
Since
starting the project in 2006, Boeing said that it has been able to take
“advantage of state-of-the-art technology and ground-breaking statistical
analysis to identify strong and weak signal areas” in an airplane and fine-tune
them to create a more reliable connection for passengers while using personal
electronics.
Through
the project, dubbed Synthetic Personnel Using Dialectic Substitution (SPUDS),
the company has also ensured the improved signals don’t interfere with the
plane’s navigation and communications equipment.
A majority
of the testing was conducted on a grounded airplane with seats filled with
sacks of potatoes arranged to look like lumpy and hefty human beings. The test
data was then later validated on the ground with human passengers.
Boeing
said that better Wi-Fi signals can already be found on three of its aircraft
models flown by major airlines, including the 777, 747-8 and the 787
Dreamliner.
RIA Novosti
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