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+--- Thread: To: BPA - Road Policing Unit (/showthread.php?tid=160938)
To: BPA - Road Policing Unit - grayishjedi - 05-09-2018
From: Alan Dabbage (alan.dabbage@boggle.com)
To: BPA - Road Policing Unit (contactus@rpu.bpa.gov)
Greetings!
My name is Alan Dabbage, I am contacting you on behalf of the Cambridge Computer Lab. We are currently working on an autonomous flight prototype, installed on a standard "Stargazer" shuttle.
Our team is finally confident to begin field testing, but we figured we should run this by you first, as the law on fully autonomous flight is lacking.
Our vessel, call-sign UoC-James, is perfectly capable of normal flight, but has been fitted with advanced laser sensors as well as an advanced neural network that can take over, and of course relinquish, all aspects of flight control at the push of a button. We intend to begin with controlled testing around Cambridge Research Station, and gradually introduce our network to more demanding, high traffic routes.
The vessel automatically recognizes traffic, takes it into consideration during maneuvering and gives out automated warnings. When Automatic Mode is enabled, the ships transponder appends .AUTO at the end of the callsign.
What we request of you is input on whether project is actually adhering to the rules of space traffic, and what we can do in order to ensure civilian safety at all costs. In case you have any questions on the technical characteristics of our setup, I am at your disposal!
Yours faithfully,
Alan Dabbage
Cambridge Computer Lab
RE: To: BPA - Road Policing Unit - Bretonia Police Authority - 05-10-2018
Mr Dabbage
I'm afraid we are going to have to ask for more information regarding this project of yours. As far as we are aware, very few collisions happen within tradelanes as it is, and head-on collisions almost never happen. So we must ask, what is the purpose of your research? and has the Chancellor of the University been informed of your intentions?
RE: To: BPA - Road Policing Unit - grayishjedi - 05-10-2018
From: Alan Dabbage (alan.dabbage@boggle.com)
To: BPA - Road Policing Unit (contactus@rpu.bpa.gov)
Re:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Thanks for the rapid response! It'll be my pleasure to provide you with all the necessary information.
The Chancellor has not been personally briefed on the project, and this not out of the ordinary for such a small scale project still in its infancy. Of course, our doctoral program will be on the agenda during his next visit at the Cambridge Computer Lab.
This doctoral program has no explicit purpose for the time being, although purely autonomous flight would be revolutionary, by all accounts. Automated scouts for the BAF and BIS and automated mining vessels are but a few of the possibilities. I, however, cannot stress it enough, that our vessel's purpose will be purely scientific, and we are probably a long time away from any sort of military or commercial application.
Our first experiment will be to undock from planet Cambridge on Manual mode during nadir traffic hours, enter Autonomous mode and head towards the Research Base orbititng the planet. If all goes well, the next step is to head to the New London Jump Gate and back, landing in Manual Mode. We do not yet deem our vessel ready for jumping, so our practice routine will mostly consist of practicing free flight, docking with trade lanes and approaching (NOT landing) on stations and planets. We intend for James (the name of our experimental neural network, NOT an AI we should point out) to make near-daily excursions around Cambridge, eventually observing its behaviour during peak traffic hours. An experienced researcher will always sit at the helm of the ship, ready to take over. Dr. Tillman has also fitted James with a feature named Emergency Handoff, during which the vessel recognises a situation it can't handle, and alerts the pilot to take control.
When James has reached a point where it can use Jump Gates in simulations, our aim would be to try that in real life as well. Jump Holes are completely out of the scope of our doctoral program for the time being.
As always, I will be more than happy to answer any questions that might arise!
-Alan Dabbage
Doctoral Student, Cambridge Computer Lab, UoC
RE: To: BPA - Road Policing Unit - Bretonia Police Authority - 05-13-2018
Mr Dabbage
We appreciate you taking the time to explain things in detail to us, but before we allow you do conduct this test, we require a water tight guarantee that, in the event that the test fails, it will not cause loss of life and/or limb to anyone and that should it fail, the trade lanes will not affected. Can you provide that guarantee for us?
RE: To: BPA - Road Policing Unit - grayishjedi - 05-13-2018
From: Alan Dabbage (alan.dabbage@boggle.com)
To: BPA - Road Policing Unit (contactus@rpu.bpa.gov)
Re: Re:
Dear Sir/Madam,
The possibility of a catastrophic failure can be eliminated, within an extremely small margin of error. During the countless hours of simulations, the current iteration of our Autonomous neural network has not caused a single lethal accident or disrupted the flow of trade lane traffic, so our team here at CCL is confident enough to guarantee the safety of the public and the continued, unfettered flow of traffic in the general Cambridge area, during testing.
Yours faithfully,
Alan Dabbage
Cambridge Computer Lab