EU project aims to advance embedded system modelling
1 min read
A multi million Euro project aimed at improving the design of embedded software systems in automated railway signalling and smart energy distribution is being led by researchers at the University of Southampton.
The EU funded ADVANCE project will deliver methods and tools for formal modelling, verification and validation, which according to lead researcher Professor Michael Butler (pictured), will make it possible to produce precise models for embedded systems and help eliminate design errors before projects go into the manufacturing stage.
"Critical infrastructure, such as railways and energy distribution, rely on large complex software systems and software design errors are expensive to fix and can have a detrimental impact," noted Prof Butler. "We are producing formal modelling and verification tools so that system designs can be tested earlier and improvements made before any commitment is made to the final design."
The major aim of the ADVANCE methods and tools, Butler noted, will be to reduce the cost associated with formal modelling and verification while increasing the benefits obtained.
The consortium, which includes Alstom Transport, Critical Software Technologies, Systerel and Düsseldorf University, will use an open source software toolkit named RODIN, which was initially developed in the EU FP6 Rigorous Open Development Environment for Complex Systems (RODIN) project.
