With all industries comprising mechanical, technological, and software trades, there are technical guidelines, and research that assist new engineers and software development teams to ensure successful and innovative modification to the entire industry. In aviation, these components, such as software development, technological placement, and critical safety analysis come first in any instruction manual or training procedure.
Afuzion, a leading avionics training, certification, and gap analysis company has captured years of onboard experience, knowledge, and practical assessment to offer world-class certification and verification programs for new aviation engineers. One of the most vital fundamentals of aviation technology, software, and critical safety analysis is the importance of DO-178C training.
Below we’ll review the introduction to DO-178C Training.
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What is DO-178C?
In the aviation industry, DO-178C is simply known as 178 and is referred to as the Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification. DO-178C has become one of the most vital documents and guidelines for both novice and veteran aviation engineers, and carries the most important aspects of software development and safety-critical systems.
What does D-178C comprise of?
Before assessing anything else, one will need to have a firm grasp on the Development Assurance Level (DAL). With this in mind, there are three integral processes you will need to consider – planning, development, and correctness. These three phases will be carried over to your software and development, and ties in with the DAL, and will often be known as the “criticality level.”
The 5 DAL Levels
Within the DAL, there are five levels of assessment – starting at Level E as the most accurate to Level A that’s considered the most severe level. Dependent on the DAL Level the new software will be categorized, adjustments and better research and development will need to be conducted.
How is the DO-178C process designed?
From the top, planning will be the most crucial, as this will give a better understanding of the rest of the following. Afterward development of the software will take place, which will then spill into how correct or accurate the new software will be.
Are there any plans which can be followed to ensure successful DO-178C processing?
The guidelines given by both Afuzion and the DO-178C give a clear indication of several plans one needs to take beforehand. These plans include the Plan for Software Aspects of Certification, Software Quality Assurance Plan, Software Configuration Management Plan, Software Development Plan, Software Verification Plan.
How is new software tested with DO-178C?
Once the engineers and/or software development team have conducted rigorous adjustments to their new software, testing on these programs will be done in 4 different ways. These include functional tests (covers all requirements), normal range tests (sunny day), robustness test (rainy day), structural cover analysis (this will need to cover all the basics highlighted by all DALs and underlined processing requirements).
The final take on DO-178C is that this guideline has been established to ensure engineers, and certification authorities will have a clear understanding of how new software development and technology can be successfully processed and integrated into the modernization of avionics.
Learn more about the basics principles of airplanes and their improvement by technology on this website: www.techpreds.com