Industrial

Industrial robots, machine and process control, quality inspection, diagnosis and test, security and energy systems are mission-critical if a computer failure leads to costly downtimes or safety-critical if a failure results in damage or loss of life or damage of the environment. These applications require reliable computer components together with a safe computer architecture. A machine can be stopped when the control system fails, i.e. the "fail-safe" system is turned off and the machine is in a safe state. For a passively safe nuclear reactor that is not possible. Its "fail-operational" systems continue to operate when an error occurs.

In addition, environments are often harsh, and volume and weight can be a challenge, so that computers must be robust, compact and lightweight.

Mission-critical industrial applications typically require long-term availability of the computer systems which can be found in areas as diverse as machine control (printing, textile, milling, ceramic, enveloping…), nuclear plants, water or gas management, electric power monitoring and diagnosis, humanoid robots, traffic light and speed control or even movie cameras.