Adopting automotive software technology to aviation through a comparative analysis of software development standards

Increasing demand for electric aircraft and the need for mass production in the field of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) has created an opportunity for existing automotive manufacturers to enter the market. Automotive manufacturers have accumulated these technologies over hundred years and would like to utilize them for AAM. However, the aviation industry requires strict certification to ensure safety. In this paper, the applicability of software (SW) technologies accumulated in automobiles to aviation was investigated through a comparison between DO-178C, a software considerations in airborne systems and equipment certification, and ISO26262/A-SPICE, an international standard for functional safety of electrical and/or electronic system installed in road vehicles. Based on this, a guide to bridge the gap between automotive and aviation SW engineers was proposed. A comparative study of the two perspectives was conducted: a process perspective and a deliverable perspective. From a process perspective, the objectives and activities of DO-178C were analyzed and compared with ISO26262, and elements of consistency, similarity, and inconsistency were classified. For similarity and inconsistency activities, we derived guidelines to complement them. From a deliverable perspective, project deliverables developed according to ISO26262 were compared with those required by DO-178C. Outputs that can be replaced, partially supplemented, and newly prepared were identified. Throughout this process, a novel way to adopt SW technology developed in the automotive field to the aviation field was proposed.