<story><title>Can Repelling Magnets Replace the Spring in a Pogo Stick?</title><url>https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=pogo-stick-spring</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>weberc2</author><text>Pretty much every critical system in a vanilla Toyota is already software-controlled, not to mention the legion of critical systems involved in air travel, elevators, medical equipment (e.g., pacemakers), etc. Not sure that this should bring comfort, but at least you need not be &lt;i&gt;particularly&lt;/i&gt; frightened by your Tesla. :)</text></item><item><author>azhenley</author><text>About as scary as my Tesla on autopilot going around a curve at 75mph. Every time I ask myself, what if there is a bug or if it turns off...</text></item><item><author>umvi</author><text>Seems like electromagnets could help compensate for distance by drawing more current when far apart, and less when close together. A microcontroller could essentially make the force linear like a spring. Of course, then you need wires hooked up to your pogo, and that might be scary if the microcontroller has a bug (or somehow fails) since you are now essentially hopping onto a railgun.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Retric</author><text>Elevators use simple physical safety systems.&lt;p&gt;Which is why you see headlines like: &amp;quot;Skyscraper elevator plunges 84 floors — and everyone survives&amp;quot; &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cbc.ca&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;elevator-plunge-chicago-1.4913707&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cbc.ca&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;elevator-plunge-chicago-1.4913...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Can Repelling Magnets Replace the Spring in a Pogo Stick?</title><url>https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=pogo-stick-spring</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>weberc2</author><text>Pretty much every critical system in a vanilla Toyota is already software-controlled, not to mention the legion of critical systems involved in air travel, elevators, medical equipment (e.g., pacemakers), etc. Not sure that this should bring comfort, but at least you need not be &lt;i&gt;particularly&lt;/i&gt; frightened by your Tesla. :)</text></item><item><author>azhenley</author><text>About as scary as my Tesla on autopilot going around a curve at 75mph. Every time I ask myself, what if there is a bug or if it turns off...</text></item><item><author>umvi</author><text>Seems like electromagnets could help compensate for distance by drawing more current when far apart, and less when close together. A microcontroller could essentially make the force linear like a spring. Of course, then you need wires hooked up to your pogo, and that might be scary if the microcontroller has a bug (or somehow fails) since you are now essentially hopping onto a railgun.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mhh__</author><text>Driving a car on the road with other cars is - factoring in the age of the tech, lack of regulation, involvement of humans and the consequences if it goes wrong - more difficult that what&amp;#x27;s mentioned on your list.</text></comment>