I would be remiss if I failed to mention the biggest technology achievement of this year, the perfect landing and immediate operation of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. In this stunning achievement of application of modern technologies, I want to point out this fine example of an embedded system.
Spaceflight Now has an excellent article on how the computer system was selected and built to work in the harsh Martian environment. Engineers at BAE Systems chose redundant and radiation-hardened PowerPC electronics to survive the thin Martian atmosphere. With 20% the CPU power of a modern smartphone, this device needs to be able to autonomously roam the surface for extended periods and be capable of sophisticated scientific experimentation.
It is interesting to note that there was not enough memory to store the landing software and the navigation software in the computer's memory. For the trip from Earth to Mars it had one mission, a perfect landing. Once the rover successfully landed and performed basic diagnostics the program memory was wiped and is currently being updated with navigation-oriented software. The new software needs to work flawlessly for a 2-year mission. There will undoubtedly be more updates but not a complete change of function.
For those interested in following its journey, visit NASA's official Curiosity website.
-Gary
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