' The industrial version controls chemical processes or equipment shutdowns'
From: Bouldernews
Updated at 07:18:16 AM MST Thursday, January 29, 1998
'Back from the Future
Clayton Lewis, a computer science professor in the University of Colorado Engineering School, talked about this problem, something the computer folks are calling Y2K (year 2000):
Q. Let's talk about elevators, which are now computer-controlled. What's going to happen in the year 2000?
A. Elevators won't crash, they won't fall off their cables, but they could malfunction.
Elevators in big downtown office buildings are sensitive to the day of the week and the time of day. For example, on weekday mornings, empty elevators will idle, or wait, on the first floor. At midday, however, empty elevators will idle at the middle floors, waiting for people to leave their offices for lunch. Weekday schedules are different than weekends.
Q. So, for example, in the year 2000, Jan. 6 will be a Thursday. In 1900, however, Jan. 6 was a Saturday. If the computer in the elevator believes it is 1900, the elevator could follow a Saturday schedule rather than a weekday schedule?
A. Yes, any system that is dependent on the day of the week may malfunction. Another example is computerized security systems, which may unlock or lock doors on the wrong days. The industrial version controls chemical processes or equipment shutdowns.
These situations are not likely to have drastic consequences but they are potentially annoying. If these problems occurred separately, it wouldn't be so bad. But all of these minor problems may be occurring at once. ' |
