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by im_down_w_otp
2239 days ago
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Sure, but there are plenty of technologies that are applicable to safety-critical systems or are safety-critical adjacent which are freely available. There are MCUs, application boards, RTOSs, programming languages, compiler toolchains, network stacks, parsers, etc. available which are the same-a or close-to those which would be commonly sourced and deployed in a safety-critical context. So, why not use those to build the "something is better than nothing" solution? |
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Just availability.
This was a quick and dirty hack to improve access to patient data done with what was on-hand, for a constrained deployment using specific known devices. They didn't have anyone with knowledge on using any of the tech you mentioned, some of which requires spending months setting up unless you have practical experience in delivering on the platforms. Just getting a more safety-minded setup for a MCU using free software can be a harrowing experience.
And they don't have the money to just contract it out or pay for the commercial grade stuff.
They did what they could with what they had, with explicit mention that it's not good on safety and security - but it brings some benefit now.
Here in Poland, a few weeks into lockdown, nobody asked for certifications on volunteer made PPE parts anymore. Because a shoddy PPE with no certification was still better than none.