From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Alejandro R. Mosteo" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Killing software and certification (was: Ada-Oriented GUI) Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2018 20:32:29 +0200 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Message-ID: References: <9ed9edb1-3342-4644-89e8-9bcf404970ee@googlegroups.com> <26a1fe54-750c-45d7-9006-b6fecaa41176@googlegroups.com> <656fb1d7-48a4-40fd-bc80-10ba9c4ad0a4@googlegroups.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2018 18:32:30 -0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: h2725194.stratoserver.net; posting-host="31e98aedf601001fedf5100c61aa4cc4"; logging-data="29868"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/XN07xm1oOuUaYhmwgfyIB" User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/52.6.0 In-Reply-To: Content-Language: en-US Cancel-Lock: sha1:WUcOnOtfxoDBa551QFHx4WyjNVo= Xref: reader02.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:51214 Date: 2018-03-27T20:32:29+02:00 List-Id: On 23/03/18 10:05, Jeffrey R. Carter wrote: > Autopilots have to be certified to DO178B/C. They'll continue to be > written in Ada and not kill us. > > Self-driving cars, though operating in a much more complex environment, > don't seem to need any certification, and will probably kill us all. I'd like to revisit this point in light of the recent Uber news, but also let's not forget for example this one which is simpler than fully autonomous cars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009–11_Toyota_vehicle_recalls I'm not in the industry, and I'd be surprised that unverified software were allowed to run in civilian environments where failures basically amount to a very dangerous situation. True, a human driver is still required to be ready, but let's not be disingenuous about how well that can work for several hours of testing/driving. After a bit of googling around I see that there are automotive standards for certification (the one I see more often mentioned is ISO 26262). About enforcement, I also read that regulation varies by US state. I haven't found anything definite about Europe. Also, it's not the same software for a drive-by-wire part than for an autonomous car. I'm under the impression that these autonomous car outfits are at the time closer to a research environment than to that of a well-established industry. I.e., code is produced faster, hence bugs are more likely. In the end I'm not sure where I want to go with this post. It's simply that I find the topic very interesting. If anyone with actual knowledge on the status of automotive software certification (or any informed ideas) would share some thoughts I'll be eager to read. Álex.