Challenges and Ways Forward for Avionics Platforms and their Development in 2019

Today's air vehicles depend on digital technology. It accounts for more than 30% of their development costs. The number of functions, the lines of code, the degree of autonomy, and the number of vehicles rise. This is why there is a need for cutting-edge technology and development methods. There is a gap between academia's methods and industrial applications due to multi-disciplinary challenges. We summarize the state-of-the-art in avionics, namely avionics platforms, requirements engineering, model-based development, automated verification, emerging technologies, and emerging demands. Experts review the most demanding challenges, research gaps, and promising solutions. They provide recommendations for the enhancement of the cooperation between industry and academia and suggest necessary research topics. This article is an introduction for those who are new to avionics. It is an up-to-date summary, for insiders looking for most promising solutions to their current problems; and it is a guide for those advancing avionics research.