A new Spanish software development company has announced support for FSMLabs's real-time Linux operating system and other software components in Spain and Portugal. Valencia-based OS3 is already working on several real-time Linux projects and has extensive RTLinux experience, as its staff are core developers of the RTLinux GPL… version and are Ocera participants.

FSMLabs CEO Victor Yodaiken said, “Valencia has become a center of expertise for real-time, and OS3 developers really understand the field and our technology.” OS3 will offer sales, support, training, and engineering services as an authorized FSMLabs technology partner.

OS3 sees an opportunity to deploy RTLinux in industrial and technology markets in Spain. OS3 Director Alejandor Lucero, said, “We see an important set of potential clients in Spain, mainly in the industrial field and in engineering projects with real-time requirements.”

Pau Mendoza, OS3 chief engineer, elaborates, “The future in production control systems is full interconnection where embedded devices with real time features replace PLCs. New functionalities can be easily added with this approach. We think RTLinux meets the requirements needed in this kind of system, and we are going to offer this technology to industrial companies.”

Lucero notes that OS3 is already working with some of the most advanced technology companies in Spain. He lists OS3's current projects as:

• “A leading communications company has decided to migrate from LynxOS to the RTlinux/Linux combo. They have a critical system based on a data acquisition device which communicates via TCP/IP with a server running Linux/RTLinux. Server must validate the data and answer before a known deadline. So, only part of the system has real time requeriments. The main reason to migrate is that LynxOS has the same graphical interface development capabilities it did eight years ago (according to our client). With the RTLinux/Linux combo you can develop the graphical interface with the Linux tools and use RTLinux for the part with real time requirements. OS3 is consulting for the engineering company hired to do the migration, and developing a lighweight TCP/IP stack needed to communicate RTLinux and the data adquisition device.
• “Several industrial production companies need a control system for their production chains. Nowadays, commercial PLC's with limited functionality are used to control machines, and if remote control is needed they must buy aditional packages. Using RTLinux running on industrial motherboards resolves this and saves money. OS3 is working on several prototypes for Spanish factories as a first step to a full interconnected factories.
• “OS3 is using RTLinux for laser projector control. In factories that assemble large machines, workers need to consult complex plans frequently, reducing productivity. To solve this problem, [we will] integrate a laser projector in the factory plant. Workers will demand, via a remote control, the projection of different parts of the design. A fixed laser pointer and a set of mirrors compose the laser projector. The angular position of each mirror and the power of the laser pointer should be synchronized in real-time to remove the blinking effect. The solution architecture is composed of a Linux application and several RTLinux tasks. The Linux application reads the data and interacts with the user, while the real time tasks are used to synchronize the mirrors, detect changes in the environment, and calculate the angular position of each mirror.”

Lucero notes that, “The real time market in Spain has lacked a local company to introduce new real time technology. Old-fashioned real time systems are used. This is mainly due to ignorance of new approaches, such as RTLinux. We also have seen clients that were unwilling to [try new real-time approaches] without local support.”

FSMLabs describes RTLinuxPro as its RTCore POSIX PS51 robust “hard” real-time kernel plus a full embedded Linux development system. RTCore employs a patented dual kernel technique to run Linux or BSD Unix as applications. Hard real-time software is said to run at hardware speeds while the full power of an open-source UNIX is available to non-real-time components.

For more information about OS3, visit the company's Website.

 
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