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Unless you're a pilot I'm not sure why anyone would expect that to be common knowledge. And it's insane such a system would ever be authorized IMO. That sounds

Unless you're a pilot I'm not sure why anyone would expect that to be common knowledge. And it's insane such a system would ever be authorized IMO. That sounds like a hack to fix a memory leak or similarly some bug they can't figure out

inamberclad 3y ago
I'm working on an aircraft program right now. We have a requirement to power cycle the plane every N days. It's in the manuals.
- josephg 3y ago
  Why?
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > Why? Radiation-induced bit flips and bad code.
  - inamberclad 3y ago
    Simple: we have timer counters in the code. This is easier than handling them rolling over.
mrguyorama 3y ago
>Unless you're a pilot I'm not sure why anyone would expect that to be common knowledge. It should sure as hell be common knowledge to the pilots of the plane. I would have expected something like this to be on a checklist somewhere though: "Step 74, check uptime in Flight Computer, pull breaker if too high" Why would it be insane for a computer controller of what is essentially industrial machinery be designed to be reset at least once every other day? They "reboot" the engines damn near once a flight! Most pilots have experience and training on shutting down a plane for say overnight and then starting it from cold and dark the next day. It's an odd idea to us software developers but the computer isn't the primary function of the plane, and doesn't need to serve customers 24/7. If the computer is 100% reliable only for 18 hours, and the plane cannot fly for longer than 12 hours in the first place, is that a problem?
- dotancohen 3y ago
  > If the computer is 100% reliable only for 18 hours, and the plane cannot fly for longer than 12 hours in the first place, is that a problem? It is a problem if it requires a human to remember to do the procedure, especially if it is not done on every flight. Putting it on the checklist, but making it optional per situation, is asking for someone to make a mistake. The reset should happen on every flight, if forgetting it on the wrong flight could potentially lead to an incident.

inamberclad 3y ago

I'm working on an aircraft program right now. We have a requirement to power cycle the plane every N days. It's in the manuals.

josephg 3y ago
Why?
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > Why? Radiation-induced bit flips and bad code.
- inamberclad 3y ago
  Simple: we have timer counters in the code. This is easier than handling them rolling over.

mrguyorama 3y ago

>Unless you're a pilot I'm not sure why anyone would expect that to be common knowledge. It should sure as hell be common knowledge to the pilots of the plane. I would have expected something like this to be on a checklist somewhere though: "Step 74, check uptime in Flight Computer, pull breaker if too high" Why would it be insane for a computer controller of what is essentially industrial machinery be designed to be reset at least once every other day? They "reboot" the engines damn near once a flight! Most pilots have experience and training on shutting down a plane for say overnight and then starting it from cold and dark the next day. It's an odd idea to us software developers but the computer isn't the primary function of the plane, and doesn't need to serve customers 24/7. If the computer is 100% reliable only for 18 hours, and the plane cannot fly for longer than 12 hours in the first place, is that a problem?

dotancohen 3y ago
> If the computer is 100% reliable only for 18 hours, and the plane cannot fly for longer than 12 hours in the first place, is that a problem? It is a problem if it requires a human to remember to do the procedure, especially if it is not done on every flight. Putting it on the checklist, but making it optional per situation, is asking for someone to make a mistake. The reset should happen on every flight, if forgetting it on the wrong flight could potentially lead to an incident.