Re: Telling HAL what to do (instead of where to go)

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <3.0.3.16.19981122111227.2e8f8592@n-jcenter.com> Mike Arman writes:

> Quiet Sunday Ruminations:
>
> I've had the same cruise control actuating rod problem twice - I'm going to
> look at using a "bead chain" - like on a light fixture or key chain -
> little metal beads on wire links. The vacuum motor pulls on the rod,
> opening the throttle - the rod "works" in tension, never compression, so a
> bead chain should work just fine. When the cruise control is off, the chain
> would be slack. Might want to thread it into a length of plastic tubing to
> keep it from snagging on anything - same problem, different flavor!

My mind has also been ruminating since I discovered the cruise control
on the vehicle impounded by HM Fuzz that I inspected on Thursday.

The reason for the rigid link to the cruise control actuator is that
this is the only way to implement the function of "continue with
present speed".  I suspect that a flexible link system will inevitably
lift cruise speed when engaging.

> Now how about this for Vorsprung Durch Technic: Voice control for some of
> the most common functions in our cars!
>
> Need a switch (like a pilot's push-to-talk switch) to keep idle
> conversation from actuating the system, and a voice recognition system with
> a vocabulary of maybe 50 or so words. (Can this be done on a chip? or a
> Palm Pilot with Windows CE?)

The PalmPilot _CANNOT_ (thanks to all that is holy) run Windows CE.

Praise be to Allah and all his other manifestations.  Thrice over.

--
 Phil Payne
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 01536 723021
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