June 28, 2017
QNX
I am investigating QNX for telescope control projects as an alternative to VxWorks.
I am a huge fan of VxWorks, but it sure is expensive.
Lingo
QNX consists of both development tools and the RTOS that runs on the target.
QNX can be self hosted (in contrast to VxWorks), or the development tools can run
on a Linux or Windows host.
The development tools are called the SDP (Software Development Platform) and include
what they like to call the "Momentics tool suite". The software that runs on the
target (the RTOS itself) is called "Neutrino".
Dig all those cool marketing names!!
Sources of information (and software for registered users)
At some point the Neutrino source code was made open source, but this later was rescinded.
QNX on the Beaglebone Black
QNX runs on a variety of ARM boards these days (including the TI AM335x (Beaglebone Black)).
QNX on the Raspberry Pi
I have a Raspberry Pi 2 (Model B, 1G) that has been sitting around gathering dust since the day I bought it.
This might be an opportunity to put it to use and start learning about QNX.
On the other hand, my QNX experience might be badly colored if I am working with something
other than a mainstream QNX target, so I should be careful.
Have any comments? Questions?
Drop me a line!
Adventures in Computing / tom@mmto.org