Product category:
Embedded Software and Operating Systems
News Release from: Express Logic | Subject: ThreadX
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 29 July 2005
RTOS helps record comet impact
Software from Express Logic and Green Hills Software played key roles in NASA's recent successful Deep Impact spacecraft mission.
Software from Express Logic and Green Hills Software played key roles in NASA's recent successful Deep Impact spacecraft mission Deep Impact, the spacecraft pair designed and built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp, accomplished its remarkable goal of colliding with deep-space comet Tempel 1 and excavating material from the nucleus of the comet on 4th July 2005
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Mar 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Debugger looks into TCP/IP stack
Express Logic is claiming an industry first with the addition of TCP/IP stack and file system awareness to the ARM RealView debugger's already robust RTOS kernel awareness for ThreadX.
RTOS runs on Blackfin processors
The ThreadX real-time operating system is now available for Analog Devices' new network-enabled Blackfin processors.
Together, the Flyby spacecraft and the Impactor spacecraft featured some of the most sophisticated technology ever developed for deep space flight, including three advanced instruments for imaging the comet.
Deep Impact employed a medium resolution imager (MRI), a high resolution imager (HRI), and an impactor targeting sensor (ITS).
The HRI is the primary science instrument for the mission, composed of a telescope with a 300mm aperture, an infra-red (IR) spectrometer, and a multispectral CCD camera.
Further reading
RTOS puts PowerPC into embedded storage
AMCC and Express Logic have developed a combined solution using the PowerPC 440SPe with the ThreadX RTOS for intelligent embedded storage devices.
RTOS gains development support
Express Logic has integrated its ThreadX RTOS into the Wind River Workbench 2.3 integrated development environment. Wind River Workbench.
RTOS is ported to MIPS cores
The ThreadX RTOS is now available for the MIPS32 24K and 4KE processor core families.
Express Logic's ThreadX real-time operating system (RTOS) managed the operation of the CCD camera controllers in all three instruments used on the Deep Impact mission.
ThreadX controlled the high resolution imager (HRI), the medium resolution imager (MRI), and the impactor targeting sensor (ITS).
Each instrument guided the impactor onto a collision course with the comet and took the science data before, during and after impact with the comet.
In all three controllers, ThreadX managed the scheduling of application threads, performed interrupt servicing, and passed the messages needed to enable the cameras to perform their difficult mission.
ThreadX is a small-footprint, highly responsive RTOS, ideal for demanding applications in resource constrained systems like those aboard the Deep Impact spacecraft.
ThreadX is designed to be simple to learn and use, helping developers bring products to completion in a timely and cost-effective manner.
ThreadX is fully integrated with Green Hills Software's Multi IDE and includes kernel-aware debugging, preconfigured project building, source code browsing and EventAnalyzer execution logging for system and application event monitoring.
All software for the project was developed using Green Hills Software's Multi IDE.
Multi is a complete integrated development environment for embedded applications using C, C++, Embedded C++ and Fortran.
Multi runs on Windows, Linux or Unix hosts and supports remote debugging to a variety of target environments.
Multi provides a direct graphical interface with all Green Hills compilers, and supports multilanguage development and debugging.
MULTI contains all of the tools needed to complete a major programming project.
"We're extremely proud to have played such a key role in the success of the challenging Deep Impact mission", commented William E Lamie, President of Express Logic.
"We're particularly proud of the fact that our ThreadX RTOS met the challenges of Deep Impact, and that it performed flawlessly throughout the mission".
"Green Hills Software also is proud of our key role in enabling Deep Impact to be the tremendous success that it was", noted Dan O'Dowd, President of Green Hills Software.
"With all the system software developed using our Multi IDE, Ball Aerospace was able to meet the demanding project schedule and performance goals required for this incredibly complex mission".
"We're excited that our single, integrated solution enabled Ball and NASA to further our understanding of the origins of the universe". Request a free brochure from Express Logic ...
• Express Logic: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
