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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues
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To: Bill Fischofer who wrote (98)8/5/1997 10:27:00 AM
From: Peach   of 9818
 
Real life example of embedded system problem!

I hope it was okay to copy these from the year2000 forum - I removed the names from the posts.
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To: year2000-discuss@year2000.com
RE: Infrastructure: what to test?
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 14:36:51 -0400

I disagree. In our work, we have encountered instances where devices that do not accept dates from the end-user, nevertheless have Y2K problems. Case in point: Fire Engines. Fire engines need to be periodically maintained. When this maintenance takes place, a counter that measures the interval between maintenance check-ups is reset.

Instead of counting elapsed time, this chip actually does a comparison between its internally maintained current date, and the date that the chip was last reset. We found that an error would occur after the turn of the century that would cause the Fire Engine to appear as though it was long overdue for its periodic maintenance.

The result: the ignition was disabled. That is a bad thing.

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Date: 30 Jul 97 13:32:00
Organization: Basin Electric Power Cooperative
To: year2000-discuss@year2000.com
Subject: Re: Infrastructure: what to test?

Some questions come to mind.
1. Make and model of the fire engine chassis?
2. Make and model of the motor used?
3. Make and model of the fire engine body?
4. Did the chip come with the chassis or the body?
5. Was there a manual workaround to start the engine?

My point here is actually that we need details on postings like this. For instance, if the problem is related to the chassis, what other vehicles sing that chassis should we be on the lookout for?

Thanks.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative
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