737-MAX software update still in progress, Collins Aerospace/UTC is involved

From recent reporting, the FAA is still several weeks away from approving the MCAS software changes relating to the Lionair and Ethopian Airlines crashes. In the industry media I read, I had not seen anything whether this was software created by Boeing or by one of its suppliers. This morning, I decided to do a search, and quickly found that it was my company (Collins Aerospace) involved in MCAS software development, and that Collins Aerospace supplies the computer that runs the software. Hoo boy!

  • Washington Post: Boeing’s 737 Max design contains fingerprints of hundreds of suppliers
  • The Gazette (Cedar Rapids IA, former headquarters location of Rockwell Collins/Collins Aerospace): United Technologies is parent company of sensor maker under scrutiny for Boeing 737 Max failure

How embedded software projects run into trouble

Jack Ganssle has written articles for his top ten list of how embedded software projects run into trouble. Most of this could apply to any software project! Here are the links:

  1. Unrealistic schedules
  2. Quality gets lip service
  3. Poor resource planning
  4. Writing optimistic code
  5. Weak managers or team leads
  6. Crummy analog/digital interfacing
  7. Bad science
  8. The undisciplined use of C and C++
  9. Jumping into coding too quickly
  10. Not enough resources allocated to a project