This project will develop a new method of creating system-software applications--the icon code environment (ICE). ICE will greatly benefit NASA's flight control software for space missions. Development of software from traditional flight-control diagrams has resulted in the identification of numerous difficulties with performance, maintenance, documentation, and integration testing. The problem of block-diagram changes, which result in dramatic changes to the structure of the code, has caused significant cost and schedule impacts for verifying and validating the flight control software. Compounding the problem is the need for software developers to build custom software development environments for each unique set of requirements.
Potential Commercial Applications: The icon code environment, which is independent of target processor, software languages, and software tool sets, can be used by commercial developers of any type control system.
