 Therac-25 |
 Three Mile Island |
 Soyuz-11 |
 The Challenger Disaster |
Safety Critical Systems
Introduction
Safety critical systems combine the efficiency of computing with dangerous conditions to ensure human well-being. Safety critical systems prevent human error in complex calculations, thereby performing important tasks better. However, the complexities of computer programming causes tragedies in safety critical systems. Lack of human corruption and the loss of human life.
Failures in Safety Critical Systems can have catastrophic effects, and due to the nature of the system, often lives are at stake when a failure occurs. Sometimes, the results of the failure can be dealt with in time to avoid an accident, but sometimes, we are not so lucky. Several examples of failures of Safety Critical systems are the most famous:
Conclusion
Safety Critical Systems work together with designers and the public to increase safety and eliminate accidents. These accidents which occur cast doubt on the effectiveness of computer because it doesn’t work rationally like a person. Designing the best system possible is the ethical responsibility of the programmer. Safety critical designs evolve over time to better designs, making the public safer.
Last updated 98/11/17
Justin
Latimer/Brian
Maloney
Group #7, CS3604 Fall 1997