The joys of JoyrideMode™

Moon Nurseries, where we were conducting tests, was chosen because the owners were interested in collecting data from various areas around the pond. Before we could finish the job we had to have collected data from hundreds of different points around the pond.

Disenchanted with the serious nature that the project was taking, one of our programmers decided to (secretly) implement some new code. This code has since been trademarked as JoyrideMode™.

JoyrideMode™ | joi rīd, mōd |

noun

•  a mode in an amphibious airboat where the boat is unknowingly being operated purely for the pleasure of the operator and no other reason. Oh damn, I had the boat in JoyrideMode all day! It didn’t log any data!
•  Key features of JoyrideMode:
• Disengages the sensors.

o   Battery efficiency decreases by 97%

These batteries will allow the boat to run for approximately 11 minutes.

o   Feeds out random values.

Some of the important logs that the boat produces.

o   Frequently shuts down forcing it to be rescued. 

Although they spent most of their time rescuing the boat our team remained positive

As you can see, JoyrideMode is an important feature of the Airboats.

Our chief boat operator is unaware that he is operating in JoyrideMode. For three hours he zig-zags across the pond believing that he is collecting valuable sensor data.

Here, the code of JoyrideMode is discovered for the first time. Laughs were had.

Coming tomorrow (8/9c): “Testing in Maryland, a statistical summary”

Copyright information: JoyrideMode and the 7-battery logo is a trademark of the CMU Airboat project.