Mission critical Arduino/Nanode applications have no future

Nanode  (or Arduino) hang is a real concern so I did some research. Having worked in the past in manned space flights and other defense projects, recovery from computer crash especially hw lockup was a common topic and appropriate solutions had to be implemented. The automotive industry today is using Voltage Regulator with Watchdog such as TLE 6363 from Infineon, NCV8508 from ON Semicondutor, EM615 from EM Electronics etc. These are great circuits to add in future implementation of Nanode to ensure continuous operation (e.g. Pachube, OpenEnergyMonitor, etc.). However, as my frustration with Nanode hang is getting stronger because ATmega328's watchdog cannot recover from hw lockup hang, I am trying to find a Voltage Regulator with Watchdog that would have a PowerOff then PowerOff cycle if the software reset has not been successful. This a very much like when you get a software hand on your PC, (a) you do a Ctrl-Alt-Del, then if recovery is unsuccessful (b) you press the reset button, and then if recovery is unsuccessful, you simply (c) PowerDown your PC then PowerOn again. Indeed that can be implement on Nanode or Arduino using a relay logic and timer to power down-then-up the board, or use a second ATmega to perform this function, but may be such a smart Voltage Regulator already exists. Anyone knows one such circuit? Ken, do you envisage such implementation? Otherwise mission critical Arduino / Nanode applications have no future.

glyn.hudson's picture

Re: Mission critical Arduino/Nanode applications have no future

I totally agree, thank for your input. Although energy monitoring is not 'mission critical' it does not mean we should not strive to acheive rock-solid stability. 

To constructively try and move forward, lets create a knowledge base of setups that are stable Vs. setups which are not. Hopefully this will help us to debug this issue and give us a framework in which to discuss problems.

http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/emonbase/stability 

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