Dream Chaser Electric Braking System
Developed safety-critical bare-metal C firmware for NASA's Dream Chaser Space Shuttle, achieving 95% code coverage and DO-178C certification
Overview
Senior team member developing electric braking system firmware for NASA's Dream Chaser Space Shuttle program. Delivered safety-critical software with high reliability for space missions
Problem
NASA required DO-178C Level C certification for all flight software. The electric braking system was safety-critical and needed rigorous testing and documentation
Constraints
- DO-178C aerospace software standards
- 95% code coverage requirement
- TI ARM TMS570 safety microcontroller
- Zero defects tolerance for space missions
Approach
Developed bare-metal C firmware meeting DO-178C standards. Achieved 95% code coverage using VectorCAST unit testing framework. Created test firmware from ground up to validate hardware during development
Key Decisions
Use bare-metal C on TI TMS570
No RTOS overhead, deterministic timing critical for safety systems, proven in aerospace applications
- RTOS - Additional certification complexity
- Linux - Not suitable for safety-critical
VectorCAST for unit testing
Industry standard for DO-178C testing, automates code coverage analysis
Tech Stack
- C (bare-metal)
- TI ARM TMS570
- VectorCAST
- DO-178C
- MISRA C
- Git
Result & Impact
- 95%Code Coverage
- DO-178C Level CCertification Level
- Zero flight software defectsDefect Rate
- Dream Chaser Space ShuttleNASA Program
Delivered safety-critical flight software that passed NASA review on first submission. System now flying on Dream Chaser cargo missions
Learnings
- Bare-metal C provides deterministic timing for safety systems
- VectorCAST automates DO-178C compliance
- Early test firmware development speeds up hardware bring-up