Today, humans are in control of the most advanced and sophisticated machinery ever built. From airplanes and Mars rovers to robotic surgical tools and nuclear power plants, control systems turn human input into machine behavior in a variety of mission critical applications.

Given that in many cases, human lives depend on the proper operation of automated machines, it is vital that the software used to control them be completely error and bug free. In many cases, it is costly or impractical to perform live tests of machine control systems under every environmental circumstance. Therefore, software is used to verify and validate that controllers meet every requirement set forth at the beginning of their design, and operate safely and reliably as intended.

Over the years, advances in computer programming languages have led to today’s object-oriented programming environments. These new, more efficient programming languages allow software developers to create more robust and more capable software controllers in a shorter amount of time. The down side is that without a means of verifying and validating these controllers to ensure that they work properly, these new, more efficient control systems cannot be used.

To address this issue, RIACS has been working closely with NASA to develop verification and validation software applications for the next generation of software control systems. By operating directly on programs written in languages such as Java and C++, these new verification and validation technologies can be applied to a broad range of control software, including neural-adaptive control systems.

RIACS’ research in verification and validation is not limited to developing software applications. Abstract verification and validation models are also being created to provide generic frameworks that can be broadly applied beyond the domain of control software.

Advancements in verification and validation technology will facilitate the development of ever more advanced applications, ensuring safety and reliability in mission critical situations.