An Integrated Tool Set For Developing Embedded Control System Software

Electronics content in off-highway vehicles and machinery is increasing and with it the total of the embedded control system software code. This paper focuses on the off-highway embedded software development process, and the need for a tool kit that will provide a surge in software productivity to meet market demands. Software productivity is measured by the cost to develop, time to market, the reliability and maintainability of the software. Current software design techniques are presented and critiqued. A new approach using an integrated tool set is presented. This set includes interoperable commercially available tools that allow engineers to develop control strategies, capture software requirements, automatically generate code, test the software, and validate the software on the production target. Documented improvements in software productivity using an integrated tool set are included in the closing.