Archive : 20 August 2016 год

Green Hills Software has completed all of the RTCA/DO-178B Level A certification requirements for its Integrity-178 tuMP multicore real-time operating system (RTOS) for Esterline CMC’s next generation of integrated avionics computers and smart displays.

Esterline initial deployment of the Integrity-178 tuMP will be on its 3rd generation MFD-3068 Smart Display which uses an NXP P3041 multicore processor which is to be deployed with a number of airlines and with the German Armed Forces.

Commenting Jim Palmer, Vice President Products and Navigation Solutions at Esterline CMC said, “Today’s multicore technology offered us the increased computing capacity that we required for our advanced line of smart displays and mission computers, but also presented serious safety challenges with their integration and deployment in flight critical systems as compared to the previous generation of single core processors.”

Available for Intel, NXP PowerPC/QorIQ and ARM architectures, the Integrity-178 tuMP multicore operating system supports both 32-bit and 64-bit operation. It also offers support for both Linux and Windows GuestOS virtualization

“Integrity-178 was the world’s first commercial multi-safety level partitioned RTOS to successfully comply with the certification requirements of RTCA/DO-178B Level A back in 2002,” said Dan O’Dowd, founder and chief executive officer of Green Hills Software. “We introduced our multicore update, Integrity-178 tuMP, to the aerospace and defence industry five years ago, delivering the most functionally advanced and capable operating system for safety- and security-critical systems that rely on multicore processors.” He continued, “Many other operating system vendors provide meaningless PowerPoint charts on the SWaP benefits of multicore processors in airborne systems, Green Hills Software actually delivers the best multicore throughput and SWaP reduction in the industry with our proven Integrity-178 tuMP RTOS.”

The Integrity-178 tuMP multicore operating system is available for Intel, NXP PowerPC/QorIQ and ARM architectures, supporting both 32-bit and 64-bit operation and offers complete support for the ARINC-653 Part 1 standard as well as the Part 2 optional features such as Sampling Port Data Structures, Sampling Port Extensions, Memory Blocks, Multiple Module Schedules and File System.

There are a number of options such as a DO-178B Level A compliant network stack and file system, both based on a Client/Server architecture that features the ability of the Level A Server to communicate simultaneously with multiple Clients operating at different safety levels (DAL A – E), located on the same or different cores.

Author
Neil Tyler

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Researchers at the University of Warsaw have developed a natural-scale soft caterpillar robot with an opto-mechanical liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) monolithic design, using LCE technology developed in the LENS Institute in Florence.

LCEs are smart materials that can exhibit large shape change under illumination with visible light. It is possible to pattern these soft materials into arbitrary three dimensional forms with a pre-defined actuation performance. The light-induced deformation allows a monolithic LCE structure to perform complex actions without numerous discrete actuators.

The 15-millimeter robot harvests energy from green light and is controlled by spatially modulated laser beam. Its body is made of a light sensitive elastomer stripe with patterned molecular alignment. By controlling the travelling deformation pattern the robot mimics different gaits. It can walk up a slope, squeeze through a slit and push objects as heavy as ten times its own mass.

“Designing soft robots calls for a completely new paradigm in their mechanics, power supply and control. We are only beginning to learn from nature and shift our design approaches towards those that emerged through natural evolution,” said Piotr Wasylczyk, head of the Photonic Nanostructure Facility at the University of Warsaw.

Researchers believe the invention could lead to further developments in small-scale soft robotics.

Author
Peggy Lee

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk