Ada Resource Association

Software engineers who specialize in mission-critical applications are gearing up for the release of an update to DO-178B safety-critical software certification standard in the form of DO-178C, which accommodates modern software engineering technologies such as formal methods and object-oriented programming.

AdaCore’s GNAT Ada development environment and Altran Praxis’ SPARK tools are being used at Vermont Technical College during the implementation of two NASA-sponsored programs: continued work on a CubeSat and development of an Arctic Sea Ice Buoy.

With the geometric growth in software size and complexity, avionics manufacturers are losing control of project schedules and budgets. Consequently, the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) hopes to address software development challenges through DO-178C – a new standard that embraces contemporary technologies and methodologies necessary to achieve these aims.

After five years, RTCA and EUROCAE, the U.S. and European avionics standards organizations, are nearing the finish line in updating DO-178B, the bible for developers of safety-critical software. A cast of 1,000-plus people have observed or participated in the process and about 100 people show up at every meeting, according to one member of RTCA Special Committee 205 (SC-205). The industry expects the final package — DO-178C — to be released in the first quarter of 2011 and be mandated six to nine months after ratification.