Newsgroups: comp.robotics
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From: ad302@freenet.buffalo.edu (Elizabeth M. Phillips)
Subject: Re: Real-time systems: Windows-NT or QNX
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Reply-To: ad302@freenet.buffalo.edu (Elizabeth M. Phillips)
Organization: State University of New York At Buffalo, NY (USA)
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Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1994 23:37:51 GMT
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In a previous article, SCHIEVEL@ix.netcom.com (Michael Schievelbein) says:

>In <oy08Tc2w165w@qnx.nacjack.gen.nz> bruce@qnx.nacjack.gen.nz (Bruce Simpson) writes: 
>
>
>>Disclaimer:
>>I write code for QNX, OS/2 and Windows NT.  I'm a horses for courses man.
>>
>If you were to write the control systems for a mobile robot based on the
>X86 platform, which of your 3 OSs would YOU use ?

	IMHO - [well it could be humble!] 
	Try examining Linux, a freeware Unix clone.  It does have the 
capability of a deivce driver polling a port in the 10000 times per second
range, and executes on a 386sx/16 [not fast though :)] you can interface
a terminal to it and plop a full blown GUI interface [X] on it aswell.
A striped down Linux box can run with 20megs of HD space and 4megs of
RAM that is EASILY attainable these days with an embeded PC board and
an PCMCIA hd.  Not cheap but it will give you a real time multitasking 
multiprocessing and multiprograming OS that can easily be developed.
Simply put the start up tasks in the /etc/rc or /etc/rc.local script
you are in business.  Since it support TCP/IP and sockets one could 
"network" things QUITE easily.  I believe with application files and
kernal and basic support files you could install the whole system in
< 20megs with room to spare.  Thus an 80meg IDE based PCMCIA card 
would be more than adequate in swap space etc.  With the abilty to
support a X [add ~5megs for a VERY striped down X and add 4 more megs
for adequate memory] you can comfortable run X on the machine [from
another] across a network.

Later 
-- 
