Using a watchdog in a multi-task (RTOS) environment

Clementine, a NASA satellite to test sensors and spacecraft components under extended exposure to the space environment, was launched on 25 January 1994. For the lack of a few lines of watchdog code, her mission was lost on 7 May 1994. Clementine had performed lunar mapping for approximately two consecutive months when she left lunar […]

Why you should benchmark your embedded system

There are plenty of potential reasons why an embedded system may not deliver the full CPU performance. This is not even that easy to detect, so here is a way to check if your system gives you the performance you expect. What can go wrong? Today’s embedded systems are complex computers. Microcontrollers are usually easiest […]