Jorj Baker wrote:

Paul,

This is great! The last time Rick and I spoke he said he had chopped down at
least two forests for FAA certification documentation. His email gives a
hint as to why. Rick is an attorney and can probably wade through the
certification doc with a good understanding. Sierra has bit the bullet and
is walking down a difficult road. I think Rick is doing a good job and
although I've never seen his system run, the demo certainly looks good and
the system has some excellent safety features.

On my end, I can build a pc system that will work but cannot take the first
step toward certification without massive funding, something Sierra Systems
has behind them. I am considering seeking venture capital or  investors. One
thing we have been able to do is make rapid progress in software development
because we are not seeking certification. Once we step on the road to
certification, the software design and hardware configurations are forever
locked-in until you get through certification. After that, I'm sure changes
are difficult, time consuming and expensive. It's part of playing the game.

I'm set aback that DO-178B requires you write to OS from the bottom up! That
sounds a bit looney tunes since there are a tremendous number of RTOSes out
there that have been used for years in mission critical situations. We may
be going through the same thing with Free Flight only on the mil-spec side
instead of the FAA, if we land some contracts we've bid on.

Thanks for sparking this debate. It's wonderful, with tremendous feedback.
It's certainly helped me.

Best,

Jorj

PS - would you mind if I put your first email about this up on the Free
Flight website, with you email address if you wish?

No. I would not mind. Not at all. Post away.

Paul Lamar
 
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