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Silicon Techtronics Case Study

1000 Words4 Pages

Case Summary Randy Samuels, ex-programmer at Silicon Techtronics, was charged for the manslaughter of Bart Matthews who was killed by Robbie CX30. It was manufactured at Silicon Techtronics and Randy obviously programmed the robot erroneously which caused the robot to kill Bart. The Prosecuting Attorney, Jane McMurdock, found evidence which shows that Randy improperly interpreted the physics formula. The programs specifications do reflect what Randy implemented in the robot. He interchanged and miscalculated the formulas that was handed to him. In essence, his mistake costs a person's life. Within the company, the Robotics Division was already having problems before the Matthew's incident. The Robbie CX30 was an important breakpoint for the …show more content…

There is no human life at stake in data processing. She stated that the Robbie CX30 involves a high degree of interaction between the operator and the robot's components. She explained the cons of the "waterfall" method to Reynolds but he fired her two weeks after the memo was written. In regards to Reynold's history with Silicon Techtronics, Martha explained that Reynolds was transferred to the Robotics Division as a project manager, not as a technical expert. Waterson felt that an internal source for the open position would be cheaper than searching for an outside, well-qualified project manager. When Reynolds was hired, he was hesitant to accept position because his "waterfall" method may not be applicable to the CX30 project. However, he reluctantly gave up his methodology. He felt that prototyping, formal specification, verification techniques, object-oriented design was just a fad. He basically rejected everything except for his "waterfall" method. All the new fads were just a waste of time for him. Also, he believed that the user interaction was not priority until towards the end of the project. A group of programmers called "Justice for Randy Samuels Committee" felt that Randy is

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