Why Not Use PC To Make Glass Cockpit?

Luke Scharf wrote:
Le Chaud Lapin wrote:

USB. I think it would be highly appropriate for this type of
application.


It's way too easy to trip over the cord with USB -- or to have it
vibrate loose. My experience with USB indicates that it isn't reliable
enough for my servers at work, it's not good enough for any airplane I fly.

Maybe if you replaced the connectors or soldered everything well....
But, I'm reluctant to suggest USB to my users for anything more
permenant than a mouse.

There is already an adequate standard buss for interconnecting avionics
devices. I'm sure you can purchase a PC card to interface to that.

But you're on the right track. Non-stop, fault-tolerant computing is
the issue.

Stubby wrote in message ...
Luke Scharf wrote:
Le Chaud Lapin wrote:

USB. I think it would be highly appropriate for this type of
application.


It's way too easy to trip over the cord with USB -- or to have it
vibrate loose. My experience with USB indicates that it isn't reliable
enough for my servers at work, it's not good enough for any airplane I
fly.

Maybe if you replaced the connectors or soldered everything well....
But, I'm reluctant to suggest USB to my users for anything more
permenant than a mouse.

There is already an adequate standard buss for interconnecting avionics
devices. I'm sure you can purchase a PC card to interface to that.

But you're on the right track. Non-stop, fault-tolerant computing is
the issue.

The Space Station uses IBM 760xd laptops for their glass cockpit.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/...l/sts105-304-0
25.html

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss002e5478.h
tml

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss003e5552.h
tml

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=213

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk65...study09186a008
00b53b6.shtml

Well Ted, that's hardly a cockpit and I doubt the space station is going to
have to navigate in the clouds anytime soon or with anybody on board.



The Space Station uses IBM 760xd laptops for their glass cockpit.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/...l/sts105-304-0
25.html

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss002e5478.h
tml

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss003e5552.h
tml

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=213

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk65...study09186a008
00b53b6.shtml

Never the less, its a vehicle traveling at mach 25 and uses laptops as the
human interface to manage attitude, thrusters, environmental control and
life support, communications, electrical power and robotic systems.

Gig Giacona wrote in message ...
Well Ted, that's hardly a cockpit and I doubt the space station is going to
have to navigate in the clouds anytime soon or with anybody on board.



The Space Station uses IBM 760xd laptops for their glass cockpit.


http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/...l/sts105-304-0
25.html


http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss002e5478.h
tml


http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss003e5552.h
tml

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=213


http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk65...study09186a008
00b53b6.shtml

Ted wrote:
Never the less, its a vehicle traveling at mach 25 and uses laptops as the
human interface to manage attitude, thrusters, environmental control and
life support, communications, electrical power and robotic systems.

and gets bombed with tons of lots of radiation that destroys many
electrical components.

Gerald

I looked at several of the links.. I didn't see anywhere that said it was
using those thinkpads for manuvering.
"Ted" wrote in message
ink.net...
Never the less, its a vehicle traveling at mach 25 and uses laptops as the
human interface to manage attitude, thrusters, environmental control and
life support, communications, electrical power and robotic systems.

Gig Giacona wrote in message ...
Well Ted, that's hardly a cockpit and I doubt the space station is going
to
have to navigate in the clouds anytime soon or with anybody on board.



The Space Station uses IBM 760xd laptops for their glass cockpit.


http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/...l/sts105-304-0
25.html


http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss002e5478.h
tml


http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss003e5552.h
tml

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=213


http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk65...study09186a008
00b53b6.shtml

The IBM 760 laptops are used on the space station in three classes of
service: PCS, SSC and Payload Laptop.

There does seem to be a scarcity of information on the net about the PCS
function. This is all I could find.
http://www.hal-pc.org/~slcweb2/0Mont...Nasa/Space.rtf

When the IBM 760 is loaded with PCS software it can perform the command and
control interface to the Station itself. When the laptops are loaded with
SSC software and are connected to a ten base 2 coax network called the Ops
LAN they can perform typical office automation functions like email and
displaying procedure text files. They even have IP phone software on the
SSCs so the crew can make standard telephone calls from space as of they
were an extension on the Johnson Space Center phone system.

http://www.techbriefs.com/spinoff/sp...1/johnson.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk65...study09186a008
00b53b6.shtml



Gig Giacona wrote in message ...

I looked at several of the links.. I didn't see anywhere that said it was
using those thinkpads for manuvering.

"Ted" wrote in message

The Space Station uses IBM 760xd laptops for their glass cockpit.



http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/...l/sts105-304-0
25.html



http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss002e5478.h
tml



http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/.../iss003e5552.h
tml

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=213



http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk65...study09186a008
00b53b6.shtml

Ted wrote:

The Space Station uses IBM 760xd laptops for their glass cockpit.


http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/...5-304-025.html


The pictures show astronauts using what appears at first-glance to be a
conventional laptop[0] computer in the space station. The way the stuff
is arranged in the pictures would imply that they're using them for
"desktop" computing tasks -- instead of as a real-time life-critical device.

As a professional systems administrator, I fully endorse the use of
desktop/laptop computers for desktop/laptop computing tasks. In fact,
my ability to eat depends on other people finding such tools to be
valuable! :-)

-Luke

[0] According to the spaceref article, though, the hardware has been
redesigned a bit and thoroughly tested to make sure that it's be better
suited to space than a consumer laptop. The deep review of information
about the hardware (look at every chip on every board) & software
(review the source for obvious brain-deadness) and the testing is what
most folks probably wouldn't have the time (or motivation?) to do
properly in a homebrew device.