Manual override

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

• Most safes have manual overrides so instead of calling a locksmith to crack the safe, they can insert the manual override key and open it.

• Ink cartridges can be overrided, as some printers refuse to print when they claim the ink is low . One Which? researcher who over-rode the system found that in one case he could print up to 38% more good quality pages, even though the chip stated that the cartridge was empty .

• On US 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.

Examples of manual overrides in Fiction

As a plot device manual override is often used in Sci-Fi because of the usual prevalence 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.

• In Casino Royale (2006), a villan overrides the emergency fire sprinklers at Miami airport and starts a distraction so that he can blow up a plane with a remote-controlled pipe bomb.