A Lean and Highly-automated Model-Based Software Development Process Based on DO-178C/DO-331

TL;DR

This paper introduces a streamlined, automated model-based development process tailored for safety-critical software in urban air mobility and UAVs, based on selected standards DO-178C/DO-331, aiming to improve quality and compliance.

Contribution

It proposes a custom, highly automated workflow derived from key standards to facilitate scalable, compliant development of safety-critical aerospace software for startups.

Findings

Enhanced software quality and maintainability demonstrated in case study

Workflow reduces development time and resource requirements

Potential for certification compliance in UAV and urban air mobility applications

Abstract

The emergence of a global market for urban air mobility and unmanned aerial systems has attracted many startups across the world. These organizations have little training or experience in the traditional processes used in civil aviation for the development of software and electronic hardware. They are also constrained in the resources they can allocate for dedicated teams of professionals to follow these standardized processes. To fill this gap, this paper presents a custom workflow based on a subset of objectives derived from the foundational standards for safety critical software DO-178C/DO-331. The selection of objectives from the standards is based on the importance, degree of automation, and reusability of specific objectives. This custom workflow is intended to establish a lean and highly automated development life cycle resulting in higher quality software with better maintainability characteristics for research and prototype aircraft. It can also be proposed as means of compliance for software of certain applications such as unmanned aircraft systems, urban air mobility and general aviation. By producing the essential set of development and verification artifacts, the custom workflow also provides a scalable basis for potential future certification in compliance with DO-178C/DO-331. The custom workflow is demonstrated in a case study of an Autopilot Manual Disconnection System.