A manual override is a procedure where an otherwise automatic system is taken under manual control, usually from computer control.
Examples of manual overrides in Fact
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- Most safes have manual overrides so instead of calling a locksmith to crack the safe (see safe-cracking), they can insert the manual override key and open it.
- On American Submarines armed with nuclear weapons it is rumoured that the captain has final choice on whether to 'go nuclear', as the access codes are stored in the Captain's Chest (but opening the chest triggers alarms and The Pentagon is informed) hence a manual, or human, intervention.[citation needed]
Examples of manual overrides in Fiction
As a plot device manual override is often used in Sci-Fi because of the usual prevelence of advanced technology. For example;
- In Star Trek many automatic systems, such as the automatic navigation, or the 'site-to-site transporter' can be overridden. A slightly different type of manual override is used in the film Star Trek: Insurrection, when acting Captain of the Starship Enterprise (E) William Riker asks the computer for the 'manual command column', in effect a joystick which gives him pilotage control of the ship.
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