Tags: Boeing, Wi-Fi, Wireless Communications
Publication: SkyNews.com.au
Publication Date: 12/26/2012

In-flight Wi-Fi service is becoming increasingly common as demand rises. Image credit: Santi Díaz

Boeing is working on eliminating weak spots in in-flight wireless signals by using potatoes as stand-ins for passengers. The tests would require passengers to sit in the aircraft for days while the data is gathered, but using potatoes solve this problem. The tubers absorb and reflect radio wave signals similar to how the human body does

Dubbed “Synthetic Personnel Using Dialectic Substitution” (SPUDS), Boeing started working on it in 2006. The system uses 20,000lbs of potatoes to find ways to strengthen and improve the planes’ Wi-Fi service at more than 35,000 feet above Earth, for which demand continues to increase. The idea is to get strong signal to every seat of the plane without interfering with its sensitive navigation and communications equipment.

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