Flight Safety System Simulation

A real-time flight safety system simulation implemented in Ada for the SPARC/ERC32 architecture. This project demonstrates a safety-critical embedded system with concurrent tasks managing aircraft control, obstacle detection, and pilot interface.

Overview

This simulation implements a Flight Safety System (FSS) that manages multiple aspects of aircraft control including pitch, roll, speed, altitude, and obstacle detection. The system operates in both automatic and manual modes, with real-time task scheduling and priority-based resource management.

Team Members

• Leonardo Chen
• Pablo Gil
• Mario Lorenzo
• Zixin Zheng

Features

Implemented Tasks

The system consists of several concurrent tasks with different priorities:

1. Task_Control_Cabeceo_Altitud (Priority: 11)

   • Controls aircraft pitch and altitude
   • Highest priority for critical flight control

2. Task_Control_Alabeo (Priority: 10)

   • Manages aircraft roll control
   • Ensures stable lateral movement

3. Task_Control_Velocidad (Priority: 8)

   • Controls aircraft speed
   • Manages velocity adjustments

4. Task_Deteccion_Obstaculos (Priority: 13)

   • Detects obstacles in the flight path
   • Critical safety feature with highest priority

5. Task_Display (Priority: 5)

   • Manages display output
   • Shows system status and flight information

6. Task_Mode

   • Controls automatic/manual mode switching
   • Handles pilot input for mode selection

Protected Objects

The system uses several protected objects for safe concurrent data access:

• Pitch_Roll_Command: Synchronizes joystick data input
• Pitch: Manages aircraft pitch control
• Roll: Controls aircraft roll
• Speed: Manages current velocity
• Status_Record: Shared status information registry
• Selected_Mode: Handles automatic/manual mode selection
• Interruption_Handler: Manages button interrupt handling

System Architecture

Input Devices

• Obstacle Distance Sensor: Range 0-9000 units
• Daylight Intensity Sensor: Range 0-1023 units
• Joystick: Pilot control input

Aircraft Control

• Altitude: 0-15,000 meters
• Speed: 0-1,100 km/h (0-10,230 units)
• Pitch: -90° to +90°
• Roll: -90° to +90°

Workload

The system uses a synthetic computational workload based on the Whetstone benchmark (Small_Whetstone) to simulate real-world processing demands.

Building the Project

Requirements

• SPARC ORK Ada compiler (sparc-ork-gnatmake)
• SPARC ORK binutils (sparc-ork-size, sparc-ork-nm)
• TSIM ERC32 simulator
• GNAT Ada toolchain

Build Commands

# Build the project
make all

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

# Run the simulation
make run

Build Process

The Makefile configures the following:

• Simulator: TSIM-ERC32
• Main Program: main.adb
• Target: SPARC/Cypress architecture
• Compilation Flags: Debug mode (-g)
• Link Specs: ORK specifications with Cypress CPU support

Build outputs include:

• Executable binary
• Symbol table (.nm file)
• Memory map (.map file)
• Size information

Project Structure

flight-safety-system-simulation-main/
├── main.adb                           # Main entry point
├── fss.ads                            # FSS package specification
├── fss.adb                            # FSS package implementation
├── devicesfss_v1.ads                  # Device interface specifications
├── devicesfss_v1.adb                  # Device interface implementation
├── button_interrupt.ads               # Button interrupt handler spec
├── button_interrupt.adb               # Button interrupt handler impl
├── force_external_interrupt_2.adb     # External interrupt generator
├── tools.ads                          # Utility functions specification
├── tools.adb                          # Utility functions implementation
├── workload.ads                       # Whetstone workload specification
├── workload.adb                       # Whetstone workload implementation
├── testing_1.ads                      # Test configuration
├── testing_1_original.ads             # Original test configuration
├── gnat.adc                           # GNAT configuration
├── Makefile                           # Build configuration
├── VolcarTTY1.sh                      # TTY1 output script
└── VolcarTTY2.sh                      # TTY2 output script

Real-Time Scheduling

The system implements the Priority Ceiling Protocol for resource management:

• Protected objects have ceiling priorities matching the highest priority of accessing tasks
• Prevents priority inversion
• Ensures deterministic behavior in real-time operations

Safety Features

• Obstacle Detection: High-priority task for collision avoidance
• Concurrent Control: Multiple independent control tasks
• Protected Data Access: Thread-safe data structures
• Mode Switching: Safe transitions between automatic and manual modes
• Interrupt Handling: External interrupt support for button inputs

Running the Simulation

1. Build the project using make all
2. The compiled binary targets the SPARC/ERC32 architecture
3. Run using make run or directly with the TSIM simulator:

   tsim-erc32 main

Notes

• The button interrupt package should only be activated when properly programmed
• Debug mode is enabled by default; remove -g flag for optimization
• The system is designed for embedded real-time environments
• All timing is based on Ada.Real_Time for precise control

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Target Platform

Processor: SPARC ERC32
Simulator: TSIM-ERC32
Language: Ada (using GNAT)
Real-Time Profile: Ravenscar-compatible scheduling