4 ms·

Beginning of production: 1974. Termination of production: still in production. Solid engineering, I guess.

madez 7y ago
This is not random. We live in the enlightened times with technology that allows us to build eternal machines, called programs. The ease and elegance we enjoy to build eternal things is something many old creators would envy us for. Many churn through closed, power-taking and -preserving junk software and The Web©®™, but the possibilities to do greater are here more than ever.
Etheryte 7y ago
> Total output of machines: 380. > During 25 years of operation no failures of the system were noted when working in control systems. By the production volume it is unrivalled among space computers. Not only still in production, but still in production with no failures reported. This is beyond amazing. Triple redundancy and hardware majorization will surely help you greatly, but no failures across those numbers is just mind-boggling.
- programmer_dude 7y ago
  What is hardware majorization? Never heard of it.
  - Etheryte 7y ago
    The system is essentially three identical computers wrapped in a control system. Hardware majorization means the computers have to agree on the computed result, that is, each computes the output from the given inputs independently and the results are then compared. This mitigates errors stemming from any kind of hardware faults, except for the control system itself.
- ahoka 7y ago
  This is the product of the Soviet Union, so take it with a grain of salt.
  - fit2rule 7y ago
    "Don't let the stats sway you - think of the propaganda!"
    - v_lisivka 7y ago
      "no failures noted" != "no failures".
      - fit2rule 7y ago
        .. unless of course the standard application for the device is in safety-critical/life-protection systems, in which case "no failures noted" better be honest.
        theamk 7y ago
        Why? They try to keep all information secret, especially the one that make USSR looks bad. For example, they denied existence of Level 6 nuclear accident for 30 years [0]. If the nuclear accident which had 10,000 people evacuated was suppressed and denied for 30 years, why would you trust them to publish any negative information about military computer? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayak#Kyshtym_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayak#Kyshtym_disaster
        fit2rule 7y ago
        I mean, these systems are flying on the ISS and protecting American lives. If its good enough for NASA, its good enough for me. Or are you suggesting that NASA also fell for the scam?
avmich 7y ago
Also from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_MS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_MS : The first launch was Soyuz MS-01 on July 7, 2016 aboard a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle towards the ISS. Soyuz MS Improvements The new computer (TsVM-101), weighs one-eighth that of its predecessor (8.3 kg vs. 70 kg) while also being much smaller than the previous Argon-16 computer. And from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz-TMA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz-TMA : The new modernized Soyuz TMA-M[citation needed] series was developed and built by RKK Energia as an upgrade of the baseline Soyuz-TMA. Thirty-six obsolete pieces of equipment have been replaced with 19 new-generation devices and the vehicle's total mass has been reduced by 70 kilograms (154 lbs).[3] In particular, the reliable but heavy (70 kg) Argon digital computer[4] and analogue systems, which had been used on Soyuz ships for more than 30 years, has been replaced with a new digital computer, the TsVM-101, and digital avionics. Two flight development flights were launched: Soyuz TMA-01M on Oct 7, 2010 and Soyuz TMA-02M on Jun 7, 2011.

This is not random. We live in the enlightened times with technology that allows us to build eternal machines, called programs. The ease and elegance we enjoy to build eternal things is something many old creators would envy us for. Many churn through closed, power-taking and -preserving junk software and The Web©®™, but the possibilities to do greater are here more than ever.

Etheryte 7y ago

> Total output of machines: 380. > During 25 years of operation no failures of the system were noted when working in control systems. By the production volume it is unrivalled among space computers. Not only still in production, but still in production with no failures reported. This is beyond amazing. Triple redundancy and hardware majorization will surely help you greatly, but no failures across those numbers is just mind-boggling.

programmer_dude 7y ago
What is hardware majorization? Never heard of it.
- Etheryte 7y ago
  The system is essentially three identical computers wrapped in a control system. Hardware majorization means the computers have to agree on the computed result, that is, each computes the output from the given inputs independently and the results are then compared. This mitigates errors stemming from any kind of hardware faults, except for the control system itself.
ahoka 7y ago
This is the product of the Soviet Union, so take it with a grain of salt.
- fit2rule 7y ago
  "Don't let the stats sway you - think of the propaganda!"
  - v_lisivka 7y ago
    "no failures noted" != "no failures".
    - fit2rule 7y ago
      .. unless of course the standard application for the device is in safety-critical/life-protection systems, in which case "no failures noted" better be honest.
      - theamk 7y ago
        Why? They try to keep all information secret, especially the one that make USSR looks bad. For example, they denied existence of Level 6 nuclear accident for 30 years [0]. If the nuclear accident which had 10,000 people evacuated was suppressed and denied for 30 years, why would you trust them to publish any negative information about military computer? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayak#Kyshtym_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayak#Kyshtym_disaster
        fit2rule 7y ago
        I mean, these systems are flying on the ISS and protecting American lives. If its good enough for NASA, its good enough for me. Or are you suggesting that NASA also fell for the scam?

avmich 7y ago

Also from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_MS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_MS : The first launch was Soyuz MS-01 on July 7, 2016 aboard a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle towards the ISS. Soyuz MS Improvements The new computer (TsVM-101), weighs one-eighth that of its predecessor (8.3 kg vs. 70 kg) while also being much smaller than the previous Argon-16 computer. And from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz-TMA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz-TMA : The new modernized Soyuz TMA-M[citation needed] series was developed and built by RKK Energia as an upgrade of the baseline Soyuz-TMA. Thirty-six obsolete pieces of equipment have been replaced with 19 new-generation devices and the vehicle's total mass has been reduced by 70 kilograms (154 lbs).[3] In particular, the reliable but heavy (70 kg) Argon digital computer[4] and analogue systems, which had been used on Soyuz ships for more than 30 years, has been replaced with a new digital computer, the TsVM-101, and digital avionics. Two flight development flights were launched: Soyuz TMA-01M on Oct 7, 2010 and Soyuz TMA-02M on Jun 7, 2011.