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Self-Healing Computers For NASA Spacecraft

Posted by Soulskill on from the it-worked-for-the-borg dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "As you can guess, hardwired computer systems are much faster than general-purpose ones because they are designed to do a single task. But when they fail, they need to be totally reconfigured. This can be just a costly problem in a lab on Earth, but it can be vital in space. This is why a University of Arizona (UA) team is working with NASA to design self-healing computer systems for spacecraft. The UA engineers are working on hybrid hardware/software systems using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to develop these reconfigurable processing systems. As the lead researcher said, 'Our objective is to go beyond predicting a fault to using a self-healing system to fix the predicted fault before it occurs.'"

2 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. The 9000 Series has a perfect operational record by 1u3hr · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Just a moment....Just a moment.
    I've just picked up a fault in the AE-35 Unit.
    Its going to go 100 percent failure within 72 hours."

  2. Re:The 9000 Series has a perfect operational recor by limber · · Score: 5, Funny

    Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.