Yes, among its countless utilizations the Windows operating system can also be used to balance sticks. While it might sound trivial, this is not the case. Stick balancing, the demonstration that comes from Beckhoff in the video embedded at the bottom of this article, is proof that Windows is a Hard Real-Time Embedded operating system. Beckhoff's proofing demo uses Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2, and Microsoft has not missed the opportunity to applaud the hard real-time or immediate real-time capabilities of its embedded platform. The Redmond company has also made sure to point to a real-time analysis of Windows Embedded CE 6.0 put together by Dedicated Systems Experts, offering proof that the operating system is indeed hard real-time.

“Here’s some comments from the evaluation summary. “RT-VALIDATED”, CE 6.0 R2 passed all tests without problems. All protection primitives use priority inheritance, which is a major plus for achieving real-time behavior! Interrupt latencies improved compared with CE 5.0. Good debugging tools: also for kernel/driver debugging. Very easy to install and to set-up a target (from templates). New memory model gives you the same flexibility like a 32-bit general purpose OS,” revealed Mike Hall, Microsoft software architect.

The concept of real-time is represented by systems that manage to strike an equilibrium between performing logically correct operations in the shortest amount of time possible. Real-time involves very stringent deadlines for actions to be completed, with any slip potentially leading to failure of mission critical systems. The inversed pendulum demonstration in the video is an excellent illustration of a hard real-time system built with an Intel Celeron, 256 MB DDR-RAM and Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2.

Below is “the classic “Reverse Pendulum” problem with a twist. The typical reverse pendulum problem has a “stick” running along a horizontal path. The stick doesn’t stand up on its own, so you need a real-time embedded operating system to monitor how the stick is falling and then move to keep the stick balanced. In this demo Beckhoff have built a reverse pendulum that runs on two axis. The stick can fall in any direction,” Hall added.


Video: Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Real-Time Beckhoff Demo