Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
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Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#2> Because the fault was triggered by specific streams of erroneous flight data, a new software patch can be devised that monitors the computer for that highly unusual condition and prevents movement of the stabilizer when it occurs, one of the people said.
Oh man. That sounds like a mess.
Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#3> Because the fault was triggered by specific streams of erroneous flight data, a new software patch can be devised that monitors the computer for that highly unusual condition and prevents movement of the stabilizer when it occurs, one of the people said. Oh man. That sounds like a mess.
Bandaid fix if I've ever heard of one.
Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#4> Because the fault was triggered by specific streams of erroneous flight data, a new software patch can be devised that monitors the computer for that highly unusual condition and prevents movement of the stabilizer when it occurs, one of the people said. Oh man. That sounds like a mess.
That sounds like adding a heuristic which works most of the time which is something I can see myself doing to cover some pathfinding issue in a game where it's sufficient if it works 99,9% of the time or when working on a simulation where I can look on the result data afterwards and can see if something looks highly unusual despite the heuristic and improve it iteratively - a luxury you don't get with air planes, at least not without casualties. Additionally given the very limited computing power of the hardware in the 737 adding even more software to it might create even more problems.
Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#5> Because the fault was triggered by specific streams of erroneous flight data, a new software patch can be devised that monitors the computer for that highly unusual condition and prevents movement of the stabilizer when it occurs, one of the people said. Oh man. That sounds like a mess.
Bandaid fix if I've ever heard of one.
My jaw literally dropped. It actually took me a moment to realize I was sitting gape-mouthed reading that. We're talking airplanes here, not some LAMP stack.
If this is what we can expect going forward, the Jet Age isn't going to last another 50 years. This kind of software ought to be developed using a tool like TLA+.
Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#6> Because the fault was triggered by specific streams of erroneous flight data, a new software patch can be devised that monitors the computer for that highly unusual condition and prevents movement of the stabilizer when it occurs, one of the people said. Oh man. That sounds like a mess.
It's one of those fixes where they add up the value of human life if something goes wrong and say 'OK we can handle that, ship it"
Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#7Imagine if your bugfix process was broadcast to the world, every new IN added to spirateam et al, every new crash condition found by test/QA, every time the software failed in test, it got printed by news organizations the world over.
This is world the 737MAX software people are living in, for this alone, they have my utmost respect.
Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bandaid fix if I've ever heard of one.
My jaw literally dropped. It actually took me a moment to realize I was sitting gape-mouthed reading that. We're talking airplanes here, not some LAMP stack. If this is what we can expect going forward, the Jet Age isn't going to last another 50 years. This kind of software ought to be developed using a tool like TLA+.
We effectively have a front row seat to the sausage making of software development, its not pleasant.
Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#9Imagine if your bugfix process was broadcast to the world, every new IN added to spirateam et al, every new crash condition found by test/QA, every time the software failed in test, it got printed by news organizations the world over. This is world the 737MAX software people are living in, for this alone, they have my utmost respect.
imagine if your bug has the potential to kill 300 people.
Re: Latest 737 Max Fault That Alarmed Test Pilots Rooted in Software
#10Imagine if your bugfix process was broadcast to the world, every new IN added to spirateam et al, every new crash condition found by test/QA, every time the software failed in test, it got printed by news organizations the world over. This is world the 737MAX software people are living in, for this alone, they have my utmost respect.
Imagine if your software had already killed a few hundred people.
Boeing developers have been put in an untenable position and should consider walking out until management does the right thing and kills the plane.