I have been enjoying playing with QNX for a few days now. Other than a few
crashes while I set up and experimented with my shelf, and a couple more
here and there playing with various software, it’s been great.
I can see that it’s widely used for specialized applications like robotics
or antenna arrays or flying people to Jupiter, but I’m wondering if anyone’s
using it for more common applications like accounting systems and whatever
else people crash their windows machines trying to run. What type of
systems have you done (or seen done) and were the users happy working with
QNX and their productivity software (if any exists) under QNX?
I can see that it’s widely used for specialized applications like
robotics
or antenna arrays or flying people to Jupiter, but I’m wondering if
anyone’s
using it for more common applications like accounting systems and
whatever
else people crash their windows machines trying to run.
Well, I think your definition of “more common” could use some
refinement; embedded applications outnumber desktop applications by
several orders of magnitude (how many embedded controllers do you have
in your car, your TV, your telephone ?) Not to mention all of the
“common area” applications (traffic signals, aircraft flight control
systems, air traffic control systems, banking systems (ATMs), credit
card validation systems, postal mail sorters, routers, point-of-sale
systems, industrial control systems (DCS’s, cell controllers, industrial
robots), medical devices, etc, etc.
What type
of
systems have you done (or seen done) and were the users happy working
with
QNX and their productivity software (if any exists) under QNX?
Haven’t done anything with QNX6, but we have lots of companies
running our systems on QNX4. These are “accounting” sorts of
systems. By and large, the customers have no need to directly
interact with the OS. Reliability of the OS is not an issue.
DW wrote:
Hi All,
I have been enjoying playing with QNX for a few days now. Other than a few
crashes while I set up and experimented with my shelf, and a couple more
here and there playing with various software, it’s been great.
I can see that it’s widely used for specialized applications like robotics
or antenna arrays or flying people to Jupiter, but I’m wondering if anyone’s
using it for more common applications like accounting systems and whatever
else people crash their windows machines trying to run. What type of
systems have you done (or seen done) and were the users happy working with
QNX and their productivity software (if any exists) under QNX?
Furthermore, the gap is widening as new embedded/dedicated systems exceed
new desktop systems annually by about two orders of magnitude. One of my
current projects is controlling ATMs with QNX4 OS. This now moves beyond
just banking and includes Point-Of-Sale debit card processing which is
rapidly replacing check writing – not only a convenience for users but also
a productivity enhancer for banks/credit unions… In a previous project, a
QNX4 based system provides distributed, time-critical medical information
and related support to harvesting corneas for transplantation and matching
with waiting recipients. Another earlier project involves matching
applicant skills against park site needs for National Park Service hiring
seasonal rangers. In another project, QNX4 system was used for a special
pattern analysis/indexing tool useful to financial auditors. And in my
major current project, QNX4 is used for distributed realtime control of
vehicle simulations (trucks/police cars/F-15) with hardware-in-the-loop.
Rennie Allen wrote:
I can see that it’s widely used for specialized applications like
robotics
or antenna arrays or flying people to Jupiter, but I’m wondering if
anyone’s
using it for more common applications like accounting systems and
whatever
else people crash their windows machines trying to run.
Well, I think your definition of “more common” could use some
refinement; embedded applications outnumber desktop applications by
several orders of magnitude (how many embedded controllers do you have
in your car, your TV, your telephone ?) Not to mention all of the
“common area” applications (traffic signals, aircraft flight control
systems, air traffic control systems, banking systems (ATMs), credit
card validation systems, postal mail sorters, routers, point-of-sale
systems, industrial control systems (DCS’s, cell controllers, industrial
robots), medical devices, etc, etc.
What type
of
systems have you done (or seen done) and were the users happy working
with
QNX and their productivity software (if any exists) under QNX?