The Open Source Automation Development Lab eG (OSADL) is a German organization intended to promote and coordinate the development of open source software for the machine,

machine tool A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, boring, grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping. All ...

, and

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

industry. , it has more than 40 member companies from around the world, including machine manufacturers, manufacturers of automation hardware and software,

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

companies, user associations and open source software service providers. Membership fees are used for the most part to fund development of the software. OSADL was founded on December 8, 2005. It was assigned the cooperative register number 440085 at the Stuttgart, Germany, District Court in August 2006. OSADL is a member of

OPC Foundation The OPC Foundation (Open Platform Communications, formerly Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control) is an industry consortium that creates and maintains standards for open connectivity of industrial automation devices and systems, such as ...

which governs the OPC UA industrial automation standard, in which the lab is also involved.

Preamble of the articles of incorporation of the cooperative

"The automation industry and its suppliers are profiting greatly from Open Source operating systems such as Linux since they guarantee long production cycles, rapid troubleshooting and the independence of individual software manufacturers. However, this branch requires specific expansions of the operating system such as real-time capabilities, the compatibility with these expansions must be certifiable, and standardized software interfaces must be available. The development of these requirements is the goal of the Open Source Automation Development Lab (OSADL)."

Working groups and projects

Over time a number of working groups has been established and projects participated in, this lists some of the more prominent: *

Ingo Molnár Ingo Molnár, employed by Red Hat as of May 2013, is a Hungarian Linux hacker. He is known for his contributions to the operating system in terms of security and performance. Life and career Molnár studied at Eötvös Loránd University. Wo ...

's and Thomas Gleixner's

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

Real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

Preempt Patches (aka PREEMPT_RT) *

Kernel-based Virtual Machine Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is a virtualization module in the Linux kernel that allows the kernel to function as a hypervisor. It was merged into the mainline Linux kernel in version 2.6.20, which was released on February 5, 2007. KV ...

and Real-time Preempt Patches * Critical Safety Linux * Universal industrial I/O framework * Upstream submission of kernel components to Mainline Linux * Conformance tests of board support packages * Tools and libraries to facilitate the

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

to Linux * Quality assurance of the Linux kernel and its real-time capabilities in a "QA Farm" * License Compliance Audit to help companies follow the obligations of Open Source licenses * Adding TSN and publish/subscribe capabilities to open62541 (implements OPC UA industrial automation)

Feedback

The relevance of the

operating system for

embedded system An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' ...

s and OSADL's role to foster its

real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

capabilities are recognized.Linux: The Operating System for Embedded Design, Sanjay Challa, RTC Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 12, Dec. 2014
/ref>

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

Article in "Boards & Solutions", 03/2007

Article in "Industrial Ethernet Book", 05/2009

Article in "Boards & Solutions", 06/2011
Free and open-source software organizations Organizations established in 2005