Five QNX videos more people ought to see

Looking for examples of how people use QNX? You've come to the right place. From outer space to the automotive space, these five videos demonstrate the sheer flexibility and dynamic range of QNX technology. Better yet, you get to hear five users describe, in their own words, why QNX is important to what they do.

QNX in space
First up is Iain Christie of Neptec, the company responsible for creating the SVS and LCS camera systems on the NASA space shuttle. Highlight: when Ian explains the importance of QNX to the shuttle program (1:46). For more on the QNX-based LCS system, see my previous post.



QNX in the clinic
Next up is Vladimir Derenchuk of the Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center, which uses proton beams to blast difficult-to-treat tumors. Highlight: it's all good, but listen to Vladimir explain why they chose QNX, and how it has helped with FDA approvals (1:34).



QNX in the HVAC
Next up is Hans Symanczik of Kieback & Peter, a German firm that has used QNX in building automation systems for more than 20 years. Highlight: when Hans explains the ultimate benefit of the QNX OS (2:07).



QNX on the air
Next up is Mikael Vest of NTP, a Danish company that supplies QNX-based audio routers to the global television and radio broadcasting industry. Highlight: Mikael himself, who gladly did this interview despite suffering from a flu to end all flus. A real trooper.



QNX on the road
Next up is Rick Kreifeldt of Harman International, a company known in the automotive industry for its ability to push the technology envelope. Highlight: the section where Rick's respect for the QNX team shines through (2:14).



QNX in flight
And last but not least is Thomas Allen from Mechtronix, a company that has developed an innovative, software-based approach to building flight simulators. Highlight: when Allen states that Mechtronix simulators effectively use the same software architecture as the QNX OS (0:45). Years, ago, someone explained to me how the QNX OS isn't simply a well-designed, modular OS; it also encourages well-designed, modular systems. In Mechtronix, we have an example.

Putting faces to names at the UOIT Faculty Summit for Mobile Computing

Jin Xu

A guest post from my colleague Jin Xu, Global Education Program Manager, QNX Software Systems

I always enjoy the experience of putting faces to names. And that’s exactly what happened to me on May 30 at the University of Ontario Technology Institute (UOIT) in Oshawa.

As manager of the QNX in Education program, I had spoken to many of institute’s professors over email or the phone, but never had the chance to meet them in person. So I was thrilled to greet and meet so many of them during a single event.

Fifty-five university faculties from 22 universities across Canada got together on May 30 in OUIT for a two-day mobile computing summit held in partnership with the BlackBerry Academic Program. The universities attending this event included:

      Albert Campbell C.I. — Toronto, ON
      Bucks County Community College— Newton, PA, US
      Centennial College — Toronto, ON
      Conestoga College — Guelph, ON
      Dalhousie University — Halifax, NS
      Georgian College — Barrie, ON
      McMaster University — Hamilton, ON
      Queens University — Kingston, ON
      Ryerson University — Toronto, ON
      Seneca College — Toronto, ON
      Sheridan College — Oakville, ON
      Simon Fraser University — Burnaby, BC
      University of Calgary — Calgary
      University of Guelph — Guelph, ON
      University of New Brunswick — NB
      University of Ottawa — Ottawa, ON
      University of Toronto — Toronto, ON
      University of Waterloo — Waterloo,ON
      UOIT — Oshawa, ON
      Western University — London, ON
      Youth Science Canada

Long story short, the event was very successful. As one professor commented, “I found the summit to be extremely valuable… the first day’s talks were very informative, especially having some of the professors share their experiences… it provided a great opportunity to get an overview of the BlackBerry platform, and the hands-on session demonstrated how quickly we can have students create a mobile application from scratch in BlackBerry 10.”

As you know, QNX has deep experience in the embedded market. That, together with a long history of supporting academic research, makes the QNX in Education program an ideal complement to the BlackBerry Academic Program, which provides free curriculum resources and mobile hardware to qualified professors and instructors.

During the first day of the summit, QNX delivered a presentation on the history of the QNX in Education Program and on the various offerings that QNX makes available to academics, and consequently, to students. A demonstration of QNX-based reference designs was very well received. On day 2 of the event, QNX provided a hands-on training session focused on the reference designs.

Another successful cooperation between the QNX in Education and BlackBerry Academic programs since the BlackBerry student competition in China last year!

Did you know…
… that the QNX in Education program has been active since the 1980s? And that Harvard University has been a program member for 23 years? Find out how in Harvard has been using QNX technology to investigate the ozone hole.

Find out more about the QNX in Education program and BlackBerry Academic Program.

What are the 5 all-time most popular QNX videos?

Geez, I thought you'd never ask. Seriously, the question came to mind earlier this week, so I decided to find out. A quick trip to the QNX YouTube channel provided the answer.

What that trip didn't tell me is why these videos are the most popular. I can think of several reasons, but the most obvious is that the videos all hint at a future in which driving is more connected, more convenient, more enjoyable — and also a little safer. But don't take my word for it. Check out the videos, if you haven't already, and judge for yourself.

Without further ado, here are the top five, along with my favorite scene from each one.

#1
First up, at more than 525,000 views, is Imagined: Your car in the not-so-distant future. Best part: the augmented reality-enhanced stop sign (1:10).



#2
Next, at more than 230,000 views, is QNX seamless connectivity. Best part: John Wall speaking on the real challenge of making a connected car (:50).



#3
Close behind #2, at more than 213,000 views, is The QNX secret to making hands-free noise-free. Best part: The marching band (1:21).



#4
Next, at more than 85,000 views, is QNX HTML5 series - Interview with Pandora's Tom Conrad. Best part: It's all good, but I love the bloopers (3:00).



#5
And last, at more than 34,000 views, is QNX technology concept car - Bentley Continental. Best part: the couches.



One that didn't make it...
And, finally, here's my current favorite. It's not one of the top five... yet. But I think it should be:

What, you haven't read the latest issue of the QNX Source newsletter?

It always pays to get your information straight from the source. I'm speaking, of course, about the Source newsletter, which QNX publishes 10 times a year.

If you want to keep track of the latest QNX videos, webinars, whitepapers, press releases, product updates, and board support packages, subscribing to the Source is the way to go. But if your inbox is already crammed with too many newsletters, meeting requests, and advertisements for fake Rolexes, there is an alternative: you can bookmark your browser to the Source newsletter archive.

Here, for example, is a screen cap of part of the June edition, which is available now on the archive.

Solar Impulse plane completes final leg of cross-America trek

It has the wingspan of a Boeing 777, but weighs only as much as a family car. It has four propellers, but doesn’t sip an ounce of fuel. It's called the Solar Impulse, and it is the first plane designed to fly round the clock using only solar power.

In early May, the Solar Impulse took off from Mountain View, California on the first leg of its journey across America. Last night, it completed the trek, landing at New York's JFK Airport. In between, the plane made stopovers at Phoenix, Dallas, St. Louis, and Washington DC, allowing the Solar Impulse team to meet the public, show off the plane, and promote their vision of renewal energy. (In New York next weekend? If so, you're in luck: you can see the plane in person at JFK.)

Along the way, the plane set a new distance record for solar-powered flight: 1541 kilometers. The previous record was 1116 kilometers, set by — you guessed it — the Solar Impulse team.

QNX Software Systems is the official realtime OS partner for the Solar Impulse project, which uses QNX technology for several of the plane's control and data management functions. For more on the project and the people behind it, see the Solar Impulse website.

But before you go, check out this video, which starts off with some inspiring clips of the Solar Impulse in flight — followed by a cameo appearance by Larry Page wearing Google Glass.

Solar Impulse plane launches cross-America trek — with QNX on board

It isn't always easy being green. But it can be really cool. Case in point: the Solar Impulse HB-SIA, a one-of-a-kind airplane powered only by the sun. Earlier this morning, the HB-SIA took off from an airfield in Mountain View, California, to start the first leg of its journey across America.

QNX is the official (and mighty proud) realtime OS partner for the Solar Impulse project. For more on the project and its goal of promoting green energy, see my previous posts and the Solar Impulse website.

Meanwhile, here is footage of this morning's take-off, courtesy of CNET:

Why does all the cool stuff happen while I'm away?

Now appearing in both 

Fortune and Daily Planet

Do you ever get the feeling that the party starts the minute you leave the room? Well, it just happened to me. I was on vacation only a few days last week, but while I was away, Fortune magazine and Daily Planet both did pieces on QNX. What's up with that?

But seriously, this is cool. The Fortune article covers several bases: the history of QNX in mission-critical embedded systems, the leadership that QNX enjoys in automotive, and the new QNX concept car that made its debut at 2013 CES. Meanwhile, the Daily Planet video puts you in the front seat of the concept car for a tour of its many features — from voice control and video conferencing to the virtual mechanic. (Is it just me, or do the coolest features all start with the letter 'v'?)

Read the Fortune article here (you'll need a subscription to access it). And view the Daily Planet video here.

All roads lead to QNX at embedded world 2013

Montreal, my home town, was once known as a city of churches. So much so that Mark Twain famously quipped, "this is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breaking a church window."

If Mr. Twain were alive today and able to visit embedded world 2013, he might make a similar comment about QNX. Because it seems that, wherever you turn at embedded world, someone is demonstrating a QNX-based system.

Multimedia and wireless demos
First stop is the QNX booth, where you'll find a natty new demo designed to showcase our support for wireless, video, and HMI technologies. Among other things, the demo shows how QNX lets you work with a mix of application and graphics environments, including Qt 5.0, OpenGL ES 2.0, and Crank Software’s Storyboard Suite.

Power up the demo, and you'll see several applications, including a medical monitor:



and a speedometer:



You'll also find games, a digital thermostat, a photo viewer, an audio meter, and several other demo apps. And did I mention? You can find two of these demo systems in the QNX booth, one based on a Freescale i.MX 6 SABRE Lite board and the other on a TI AM335 Starter Kit board.

PLC demos
If you're a hard-core industrial developer, be sure to catch the two programmable logic controller (PLC) platforms in the QNX booth. These platforms were a group effort: QNX provided the OS; companies like IsaGRAF, KW-Software, and koenig-pa provided the ladder logic and EtherCAT software; and Freescale and TI provided the hardware — one platform is based on a Freescale QorIQ TWR-P1025 Tower System Module, the other on a TI Sitara AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 processor.

The purpose of these platforms is simple: to reduce the time and cost of developing PLCs and other industrial systems. If you're interested, the eval software for the platform based on the Freescale module is now available for download from the QNX website.

QNX CAR platform demo
No, we didn't drive the new QNX concept car to embedded world. But we did bring a demo of the QNX CAR application platform, and from what I hear, it's driving lots of booth traffic (pun fully intended). Here's a snap of the demo, taken on the show floor:



Lotsa partner demos
Take a walk down the aisle, and you'll soon come across several other vendors showing QNX-based systems. Here are the ones we've identified so far:

Acontis is demonstrating its EC-Motion EtherCAT motion library running on the QNX Neutrino RTOS and a TI Sitara AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 processor. Hall 1/1-538.

Crank Software is demonstrating an automotive demo based on the QNX CAR application platform. Hall 4/4-330.

Digia is demonstrating “Qt 5 on the QNX platform – a Cinematic Experience,” which will show many new features in Qt 5 Qt Quick 2. Hall 4/4 – 520.

Freescale and koenig-pa are demonstrating a PLC reference platform that integrates koenig-pa EtherCAT protocol software, ISaGRAF PLC firmware, and the QNX Neutrino RTOS on a Freescale dual-core QorIQ P1025 processor. Hall 4A/4A-206 and Hall 5/5-425.

KDAB is showcasing an IP camera demo written in Qt5 and QML, and running on the QNX Neutrino RTOS and a Freescale i.MX 6 SABRE Lite ARM Cortex-A9 platform. Hall 4/4-622.

KW-Software is demonstrating a PLC development platform developed in collaboration with QNX Software Systems, TI, and koenig-pa. Hall 1/1-446.

MPC Data, a Bsquare Company, is showcasing a high-performance graphics demo based on OpenGL and the QNX Neutrino RTOS. Hall 4A/4A-108.

Xilinx is showcasing a high-precision, low-noise, multi-motor electrical drive demo running on the QNX Neutrino RTOS. Hall 1/1-205.

For more details on these demos, check out the press release that QNX issued this morning.

The joy of talking
Several QNX experts are presenting technical talks at embedded world:

• Clear SOUP and COTS Software for Safety-Critical Systems — Tues, Feb 26, 14:00 - 14:45, Session 03
• The Joy of Scheduling — Thurs, Feb 28, 10:00 - 10:30, Session 19
• Ten Truths about Building Safe Software — Thurs, Feb 28, 14:15 - 15:00, Session 21
• Issues in M2M Communication for Software and Firmware Updates — Thurs, Feb 28, 16:30 - 17:00, Session 24

So, if for some strange and inexplicable reason, you want to avoid all things QNX, don't go to embedded world this week. Because once you arrive, there will be no escape. :-)

Missed the latest QNX Source newsletter? No worries!

If you follow this blog, you may have noticed that I encourage everyone to sign up for the QNX Source newsletter. It is, in my humble opinion, the best way to keep tabs on the latest QNX videos, press releases, products, software updates, webinars, and whitepapers. (Mind you, I write the newsletter, so perhaps I'm not so humble after all. :)

Seriously, though, I encourage you to subscribe today. If you want to know what you're missing — or if you missed a recent edition — no problem. We're now archiving past issues on the QNX website.

Just click here to visit the newsletter archive, and you can catch up on a whole years' worth of news. (You'll notice that we didn't issue a newsletter in December — but believe me, January will be a doozy.)

Evaluation software for EtherCAT "PLC in a box" now available for download

In August, I introduced you to a brand new PLC reference platform created by Freescale, IsaGRAF, KPA, and QNX Software Systems. The purpose of the platform is simple: to provide a pre-integrated solution that can significantly reduce the time and cost of developing PLCs and other industrial systems.

Good news is, the software stack for the platform is now available for download. Here's what you get:

• ISaGRAF PLC firmware
• ISaGRAF 6 workbench for IEC 61499 and IEC 61131-3 standard PLC programming languages
• KPA EtherCAT master stack
• KPA EtherCAT Studio
• QNX Neutrino RTOS for the Freescale QorIQ P1025 tower module

To download the platform software, visit the QNX website — you'll need to set up a MyQNX account, if you haven't already. To run the platform software, you'll need a Freescale P1025 tower module, target slaves, and some software utilities. To learn how to obtain these components, visit the Freescale website.

Taking a long, hard look at the ozone hole

For more than 20 years, a Harvard research team has been taking QNX technology to stratospheric heights

The NASA ER-2 high-altitude
aircraft

Hey, do you remember when everyone was in a knot over the ozone hole? You know, the one over Antarctica? The one the size of Antarctica? Based on all the press it has received lately (read: not much), it is yesterday's problem. I, for one, haven’t worried about it — or even thought about it — for a good 10 years.

But here’s the thing. The ozone hole didn’t go away. And it’s not going away soon. Yes, evidence suggests that the hole will heal, but the process promises to take decades — by 2050, if we’re lucky. (Strictly speaking, the hole heals every Austral Spring, but only temporarily; it always returns the next Austral Winter. And it isn’t exactly a hole, since the ozone doesn’t disappear completely from the upper stratosphere. It does disappear from the lower stratosphere, however.)

Did I mention only one hole? Sorry to mislead you. There are, in fact, substantial ozone losses over the Arctic as well, with the loss during the winter of 2011 achieving ozone hole status.

Ozone depletion is serious stuff. It may contribute to an enormous list of problems, from crop failures to eye cataracts to skin cancer. So it’s important to do the hard science and measure its progress, along with any factors that can affect it. Otherwise, how do you argue for a cogent policy on controlling substances and industrial practices to prevent ozone depletion? And do you know whether the policies and practices you put in place are doing any good?

Problem is, measuring and analyzing ozone depletion is a long-term project that takes patience and commitment. Fortunately, the Anderson Research Group from Harvard University seems to have those qualities in spades.

Making the upgrade
The group has been operating continuously since 1979. (For context, that was the year that Philips demonstrated the first Compact Disc. Remember those?) For the first few years, the group used a balloon to carry their instruments high into the atmosphere, but with the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole in the mid-80s, they graduated to a NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft, which flies as high as 21 kilometers. (If the ER-2, depicted above, looks to you like a modded U-2, you’re right.)

The team’s first QNX-based instrument,
which measured OH in the lower
stratosphere, was deployed in an ER-2.

Lots of things have changed since 1979, but for the past two decades, one thing hasn’t: the group’s use of QNX technology. It all started in 1990, when the group decided to replace their homegrown OS kernel with the QNX RTOS v2. They then upgraded to the QNX RTOS v4 in 1992, which is also when they deployed their first QNX-based system, an instrument that measured OH (hydroxyl radical) in the lower stratosphere. More recently, they migrated to the latest generation of the QNX technology, the QNX Neutrino RTOS, aka v6.

Alphanumeric soup
To measure phenomena in the stratosphere, the team created a data acquisition architecture that takes advantage of core QNX strengths, including multitasking, message passing, realtime performance, and transparent distributed networking. Flexibility is a key characteristic of this architecture, since it must support a variety of instruments that measure an alphanumeric soup of airborne radicals and reactive intermediates. These include BrO, ClO, ClONO2, ClOOCl, NO2, OH, HO2, O3, CH4, N2O, CO, and CO2, as well as water vapor, water isotopes, and total water. (Why measure water? Because its presence in the stratosphere can contribute to ozone depletion. And because the increased frequency of heavy storms, such as Hurricane Sandy, may inject more water into the stratosphere.)

Here is the full configuration of the data acquisition architecture, which includes control and acquisition programs running on a flight computer as well as display and interactive commands running on a ground support computer:



According to Norton Allen, a software engineer for the Anderson group, “From the start, we needed an OS platform that would scale with our growing requirements, and that would satisfy our demands for high reliability — sending a plane into the lower stratosphere is a costly proposition, so there’s no room for software failures. At the same time, we needed a standards-based platform that would let us write portable applications. The QNX OS has been able to deliver on all counts."

Global scale
I’ve barely touched on the many research activities of the Anderson Research Group. To quote their website, the group “addresses global scale issues at the intersection of climate and energy using a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches drawn from the disciplines of chemistry, physics and applied mathematics.” So if you’ve got a minute, visit the site. Who knows, you may learn something — I did.

New webinar: PLCs made easy

PLC reference platform
from Freescale, QNX,
ISaGRAF, and KPA

Okay, I'll admit it, creating anything of value is never that easy. The details always get in the way. But every once in a while, a tool comes by that can make your job easier. Not to mention faster.

That's the idea behind the new Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) reference platform from Freescale, QNX Software Systems, ISaGRAF, and KPA. By pre-integrating EtherCAT software, PLC firmware, and a realtime OS on a dual-core processor, the platform allows design engineers to spend less less time on underlying plumbing — which means they can get to the application stage sooner. And who can argue with sooner?

If you'd like to know more about this new platform, check out the upcoming webinar hosted by Chris Ault, a product manager at QNX, and John Ralston, a system architect at Freescale. Here are the coordinates:

PLC Made Easy: A Day in the Life of Developing a Pre-Integrated EtherCAT Programmable Logic Controller

Tuesday, December 4; 11:00 am to 12:00 noon EDT

Registration: Open Systems Media

Now on YouTube: The incredible 1.44M QNX floppy demo!

You have got to watch this. But before you click Play, keep this in mind: The 1.44M QNX floppy demo dates from the late 1990s and its web browser was built for the 1999 Web, not the 2012 Web. So, as you'd expect, the browser in this demo displays some error messages when it's pointed at modern websites.

Other than that, prepared to be amazed. Everything you see here — OS, windowing system, web browser, TCP/IP stack, file manager, games, etc. — fit on a single, self-booting 1.44M floppy. No CD, no hard drive. And as you'll see, the demo could even download and launch new features (including a graphics driver), all on the fly. Cool, that.



Did you know? The ISO image for the 1.44M floppy demo was downloaded more than 1,000,000 times, making it the first truly successful marketing campaign for QNX Software Systems. The purpose of the demo was simple: to show developers how much performance and functionality QNX could squeeze into a resource-constrained device.

A big shout-out to ToastyTech for posting the video!

Want to see a pic of an even older QNX demo disk? Click here.

So where is QNX going in automotive?

Head unit from the QNX
reference vehicle

Want a short and sweet intro on what QNX is doing in the automotive industry? Then be sure to check out "A Look At The Near Future Of In-Car Technology," published this week in The Washington Post and in Motor Authority. (Same article in both cases, though Motor Authority has more pictures :-)

The article is based on an interview with my friend and colleague Andy Gryc, who is also my go-to person whenever I'm trying to understand anything about in-car infotainment. It covers the bases, from how QNX technology helps automakers project their brand identities to how it will enable a new generation of apps in the car.

Enough of my blather. Check out the article and let me know what you think.

A version of this post also appeared in the QNX auto blog.

How to keep track of QNX board support packages, without really trying

If you're an embedded developer using the QNX Neutrino OS, it pays to keep up to date on QNX support for the latest evaluation and reference boards. Doing so is easy: just subscribe to the QNX Source newsletter, which provides a monthly update on any new or updated board support packages (BSPs).

The newsletter also provides links to the latest webinars, whitepapers, videos, and press releases — you'll find it the easiest way to stay on top of all things QNX, without really trying.

For instance, here's a sneak peek of the BSP section in the upcoming issue:

BSP Update
Freescale i.MX6Q Nitrogen6x
Freescale i.MX6Q Sabre Board for Smart Devices
Freescale i.MX53 Quickstart
TI AM335x EVM
TI AM335 Beaglebone
TI AM335x starter kit
TI OMAP 3730 Beagleboard-xM

Wireless Drivers
Wireless drivers for LS Research Tiwi Modules are now available for the following reference boards:
TI AM335x starter kit
TI OMAP 3730 Beagleboard-xM

Subscribing to the newsletter is super easy. So what you are waiting for?

Green shift: QNX sponsors EcoCar 2 competition

This just in: QNX has officially announced that it is a bronze sponsor of the "EcoCar 2: Plugging in to the Future" competition. Established by GM and the U.S. Department of Energy, the competition challenges universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of a Chevrolet Malibu without compromising performance, safety, or consumer acceptability.

QNX Software Systems will provide teams with access to the QNX CAR 2 application platform, which serves as the foundation for the infotainment systems and digital instrument clusters being developed for the vehicle. This is the same QNX CAR platform featured in the QNX reference vehicle.

For more information on the competition and on QNX's involvement, check out this post on the QNX auto blog.
 

Qt Creator 2.6 introduces QNX support

This just in: The Qt developer blog has announced a new release of Qt Creator, the integrated development environment for creating applications and user interfaces based on the Qt application framework. (If you're unfamiliar with Qt, check out these previous posts.)

The new release, version 2.6, is now in beta and introduces two key features: support for the QNX OS and a concept called kits.

According to Eike Ziller of the Qt developer blog, a kit is a user-defined combination of compiler, debugger, Qt version, and target device. As a developer, you can freely choose each kit setting independent of all other settings. For instance, you can mix and match compilers and Qt versions. Qt Creator will warn you if it thinks you're choosing a dumb combination, but otherwise gives you free rein over the configuration.

Kits are new to 2.6 and they replace a concept called targets. Targets served a similar function, but were "hardwired". If you deviated from the default setting of a target, you had to manually change all build and run configurations. But now, with targets, the IDE makes these changes for you.

Qt Creator 2.6 supports both QNX and Android, but doesn't support Symbian. According to Ziller, Symbian support had to be dropped because of a lack of maintainers.

Here's a screen capture of the Kit Preferences dialog:



For details on Qt Creator 2.6, visit the Qt developer blog.
 

Video: QNX-powered system fires protons to kill cancer

The QNX-powered proton therapy 
system, or PTS

It zaps cancer cells to kingdom come. Better yet, it wipes them out while leaving healthy cells alone. It's called proton therapy, and it's one of the deadliest weapons in the arsenal against cancer.

Conventional radiotherapy may be potent, but it has a drawback. It can sometimes damage healthy tissue, and this damage can lead to secondary cancers later in life — a problem among children, who may live for many years after treatment and who are more likely to suffer from this side-effect.

There is, then, a real need to avoid radiating healthy tissue while maximizing the damage to the diseased tissue. And that's where proton therapy comes in.

Surgical strikes
Protons are relatively heavy, charged particles. They do minimal damage as they pass through tissue, but inflict significant damage where they stop. The challenge is to control the proton beams so that they stop exactly where you want them — the tumor.

Enter the QNX-powered proton therapy system (PTS) at the Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center. Using the PTS, a radiotherapist can limit damage mostly to where the tumor is located. The radiotherapist can even "mold" the proton beam into the same shape as the tumor. This accuracy makes proton therapy especially useful for treating tumors located near vital organs. It can also reduce long-term effects sometimes associated with conventional forms of radiotherapy. And it serves as an alternative for patients who have already received other forms of treatment and have incurred damage to healthy tissue as a result — proton therapy can minimize the possibility that more healthy tissue is affected.

Delivering the right dose
The PTS uses the QNX OS in its dose delivery system (DDS) — think of it as the business end of the PTS. The DDS controls devices on the system’s nozzle (the beam transport and detection hardware closest to the patient) and measures dose-related values. The DDS also implements an energy-stacking scheme to obtain uniform depth-dose distributions.

The QNX OS allows the DDS to achieve very fast response times. For instance, if beam delivery must stop for any reason, the OS helps ensure that it stops immediately — and in this application, immediately is the only viable option.



I'm feeling appreciative
Before I let you go, a word of thanks to the folks at the proton therapy center. A year ago, I approached them out of nowhere with a proposal to do a video. Their response was overwhelmingly positive. They willingly gave of their time to discuss the proposal, explain what they do, and, of course, work with us on the video itself. While I'm at it, I'd also like to thank my friend and colleague Nancy Young for her fantastic work on this and all the other QNX videos she has produced in the last couple of years. (Speaking of which, have you subscribed to the QNX YouTube channel yet?)