Re:The Therac-25 Incident
by I_dream_of_Geni on Wednesday September 03, 2025 @04:36PM
(#45120124)
To be fair, reps don't really know anything deep about their product. They just parrot what they are told (or they wing it, which, i guess, can be lying). They are pushed to sell, and they will say anything to sell.
About a decade ago a rep from Videojet straight up lied to us about their 30W CO2 marking laser having a hardware interlock. We found out when - in true Therac-25 fashion - the laser kept triggering despite the external e-stop being active due to a bug in their HMI touch panel. No one noticed until it eventually burned through the lens cap. In reality the interlock was a separate kit, and they left it out to reduce the cost for their bid to the customer. That whole incident really soured my opinion of them and reminded me of just how bad software "safety" can get.