The cost of a bug [modified]
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One of the Mars landers had a fairly famous bug - one portion of the code in metric, the other portion in English units. Costs? Must have been in tens of millions. Another case of medical diagnostic machine that had buggy software (CAT scanner? or something similar?) The bug killed three people. "Cost" was in millions.
I think it was a medical device which could be used as both an EBT (Electron Beam Tomography) and as an XRAY device, they would drop a metal target in front of the electron beam to produce the XRAYs when XRAYs were desired (needed a stronger electron beam to produce the XRAYs than for EBT). It was software controlled, but if an error was made in selecting what was supposed to be used, and if the technician hit backup to correct the mistake, the machine would lift the target (in the process of backing up), but somehow forgot to drop it back down as it was forward spaced to continue the input specification. The resulting beam burned holes in people. Nasty painful death. I think it was a Thorac xxx, but can't seem to find any reference to it on Google (GE may have had a hand in suppressing that info). I do not remember where I read this (many tears ago), maybe Scientific American. Dave.
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Highly unlikely a software bug could cause a nuclear power plant failure. The design of the systems with both high availability and multiple redundancy and layers of independent protection, backed up by mechanical fail safe mechanisms, means it is highly unlikely it ever could occur.
Dave Find Me On: Web|Facebook|Twitter|LinkedIn
Folding Stats: Team CodeProject
Remember Chernobyl. No matter the quality of the design, it doesn't work if switched off.
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One of the Mars landers had a fairly famous bug - one portion of the code in metric, the other portion in English units. Costs? Must have been in tens of millions. Another case of medical diagnostic machine that had buggy software (CAT scanner? or something similar?) The bug killed three people. "Cost" was in millions.
Found it. Google "electron beam accidents" for more info. Around 1986/1987, the "Therac-25". Dave.
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I develop traffic surveillance software and it is in use in UK to monitor speed, illegal lane changes and so on. I found out that there is a bug in the software that incorrectly reports violation and has resulted in an incorrect fine of £30. Have you ever tried to quantify how much a bug in your software costs? The most expensive bug was obviously the $3 billion bug in the mars lander(rover?) software. [Edit] In case people have not observed, the first part is a joke [/Edit]
modified on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 9:10 AM
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Highly unlikely a software bug could cause a nuclear power plant failure. The design of the systems with both high availability and multiple redundancy and layers of independent protection, backed up by mechanical fail safe mechanisms, means it is highly unlikely it ever could occur.
Dave Find Me On: Web|Facebook|Twitter|LinkedIn
Folding Stats: Team CodeProject
I am a computer scientist. I do programming for 25 years now, so I saw a lot of code. I know that working computer programs save a lot of lives i.e. in airbags or emergency assistants. I accept programs which take over control in a moment when a human cannot react anymore. In this case the assistant is an additional chance. But I do not trust computer programs, so I prefer systems that cannot arrive in situations of uncontrollable risks.
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I would guess, Y2K bug standing at +-$308 billion
"Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence." << please vote!! >>