Boeing Filled a Plane Cabin With Nine Tonnes of Potatoes to Test Wi-Fi
US aircraft maker Boeing used potatoes instead of passengers to test in-flight Wi-Fi, because they absorb radio waves much like the human body. The project helped improve wireless coverage on several aircraft models.
Engineers at the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, working to improve wireless internet (Wi-Fi) on passenger planes, placed roughly nine tonnes of potatoes in an aircraft cabin in place of passengers. According to the Polish website gry-online.pl, ordinary potatoes proved to be a good stand-in for the human body when testing signal behaviour. This allowed the team to pinpoint weaker areas in the cabin and choose better locations for antennas.
Why an experiment was needed
Wi-Fi propagation inside a cabin is affected by metal structures, human bodies and electronic devices, so the signal is not equally strong everywhere. Engineers had to check how the connection performs in different seats and whether any zones have especially poor reception.
A test with real people would have required hundreds of volunteers sitting as still as possible in a plane for several days, which would be costly and complicated.
Why potatoes
Potatoes absorb and reflect electromagnetic waves in a way similar to the human body, largely because of their high water content. The idea emerged after researchers read a study on the dielectric properties of various fruits and vegetables.
About 20,000 pounds, or roughly 9,000 kilograms, of potatoes were purchased. They were placed in sacks on the seats of a retired aircraft to imitate a full cabin. Unlike people, the potatoes stayed put throughout, giving stable and repeatable measurements.
Results
The tests helped identify where the signal was strongest and weakest, and where to install antennas and other equipment. Engineers also checked that Wi-Fi signals do not interfere with the aircraft's navigation and communication systems, which are critical to safety.
The project was named SPUDS, short for Synthetic Personnel Using Dielectric Substitution. The name is also a pun, as "spud" is a colloquial English word for potato. Boeing says the solutions improved wireless coverage on several models, including the Boeing 777, 747-8 and 787 Dreamliner.
