Case study IDEA – Integrated developer environment for aerospace
The aerospace industry requires efficient, integrated environments for the development of complex, safety-critical systems. In the IDEA project, fortiss defined methods for model-based systems engineering (MBSE) as well as modular toolkits specifically tailored to the requirements of the aerospace sector. This enables companies to optimise their development and certification processes, thereby ensuring the highest safety standards.
DEA was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and was a collaborative research project involving aerospace OEMs, suppliers, technology providers, service companies and research institutions. The aim was to define an integrated development environment that supports the entire lifecycle of cyber-physical systems in the aerospace sector.
Solution
Together with its partners, fortiss defined an integrated, consistent, modular and certifiable development environment covering the entire lifecycle of aerospace systems. This included the development of modular toolkits compatible with industrial workflows and certification standards such as DO-178C. fortiss also introduced advanced methods such as co-simulation-based fault injection frameworks based on the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) to validate safety mechanisms at an early stage under real-time conditions.
Furthermore, fortiss contributed to the Reusable Modular Component (RMC) Factory approach to increase software reusability whilst ensuring compliance with stringent avionics standards.
Result
- Definition of an integrated MBSE-based development environment for cyber-physical systems in aerospace.
- Development of modular toolkits to support fault-tolerant, safety-critical design and certification.
- Creation of co-simulation-based fault-injection frameworks for early-stage safety validation.
- Introduction of the RMC Factory approach to improve software reuse in avionics.
- Enabling faster, safer, and certifiable development processes across the industry.
Outcome
IDEA demonstrated that MBSE with modular, certifiable toolkits can significantly accelerate system development in aerospace. The innovative results achieved with fortiss’ involvement—including early fault-injection validation and the RMC Factory—improved safety, reuse, and integration, providing a future-ready blueprint for efficient aerospace development environments.
Project partner
