From: Michael O'Quinn <michael_at_oquinn.info>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 16:55:29 -0800 (PST)

Um, uh, ...

Well I'll be dammed! :-)

Michael


On Thu, 18 Dec 2003, Neon John wrote:

> Sure, why not. Surveillance procedures are not mission critical and are
> asynchronous to the plant operation. The worst thing that could happen would
> be the Archos goes Tango Uniform and loses the data, requiring a repeat of the
> procedure. The Telzons do that on occasion. For that matter, paper
> procedures get lost, folded, spindled and mutilated.
>
> All the archos would have to do would be to play a sound track, display some
> text and wait for key strokes - YES, NO, a value. Being able to bounds-check
> the input value would be nice but absolutely necessary.
>
> It's only been in oh, the last decade that we've grudgingly accepted any sort
> of computerized controls on safety-related Class 1A (our term for mission
> critical) systems. No chance of any sort of handheld computer getting
> anywhere near a Class 1A system. I have faith in 250 volt DC relay logic
> where I can see and verify all possible states. Everything else goes downhill
> from there :-)
>
> John
>
> On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 15:22:19 -0800 (PST), "Michael O'Quinn"
> <michael_at_oquinn.info> wrote:
>
> >Using Archos hardware for mission critical procedures in a Nuclear Power
> >Plant.
> >
> >Now THAT is a genuinely frightening thought!
> >
> >I realize that you are only presenting that as an example, and not
> >necessarily seriously proposing equipping any Nuclear Power Plants with
> >Archos' (I hope!)
> >
> >;-)
> >
> >Michael
> >
> >
> >
> >On Wed, 17 Dec 2003, Neon John wrote:
> >
> >> On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 16:00:27 +0100, "Henri" <hdavidlists_at_free.fr> wrote:
> >>
> >> >And how do you "WPS" a TXT file ?
> >> >How is the time lengh of firmware ?
> >> >
> >> >On top of all what would the use for this ?
> >>
> >> I can think of several uses for this. Let's suppose you're listening to an
> >> audio course such as are available from The Teaching Company and other
> >> sources. It would be extraordinarily nice to be able to display a screen of
> >> text or graphic displaying, say, an equation while the audio segment is
> >> playing.
> >>
> >> Another application might be to display an info page about a band before or
> >> during the music play.
> >>
> >> If Rockbox is extended a bit more to be able to detect and record responses
> >> (YES or NO, for instance), the application could be extended to the industrial
> >> arena. As a retired nuclear engineer, my experience is in the power plant
> >> setting. Any activity in the plant is governed by a written procedure that
> >> requires "verbatim compliance" and in many cases, second party verification.
> >> The procedures are very detailed such as "connect the plus lead to cabinet A,
> >> terminal strip B, terminal C". Some facilities still use paper procedures but
> >> many have gone paperless. Currently very expensive handheld computers such as
> >> the Telzon are used, all without audio.
> >>
> >> A "procedure execution extension" would display the pertinent info (plus lead
> >> to cabinet A, terminal strip B, terminal C) on the screen while the audio
> >> gives detailed instruction such as where to go, what precautions to take (call
> >> the control room, for instance), etc.
> >>
> >> We could have default behavior settings in the config. Say, scroll, noscroll,
> >> scrollspeed, page, nopage, pagedelay, persist, nopersist (to keep the text
> >> file on the screen while the next selection(s) play), etc. We could then
> >> enable a small set of metatags in the text file to change the default behavior
> >> on the fly.
> >>
> >> Rockbox has broken the "music player" paradigm with the audio book, text
> >> display and other extensions. Why not take it further outside the box to
> >> other mixed media applications such as self-instruction.
> >>
> >> Non-music extensions such as the "procedure execution extension" might just be
> >> the bludgeon needed to penetrate the skull of the decision-maker of one or
> >> more hardware makers, the idea dawning that many more sales could be made to
> >> the commercial/industrial market. A consumer box won't be as rugged as a
> >> Telzon but on the other hand, at >$2500 for a Telzon, many "throwaway" units
> >> can be purchased for each Telzon.
> >>
> >> Just something to think about.
> >> John
> >> ---
> >> John De Armond
> >> johngdDONTYOUDARE_at_bellsouth.net
> >> http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/o/johngd/
> >> Cleveland, Occupied TN
> >>
>
> ---
> John De Armond
> johngdDONTYOUDARE_at_bellsouth.net
> http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/o/johngd/
> Cleveland, Occupied TN
>
Received on 2003-12-19