Model-Based Design for Safety-Critical Aerospace Systems Workshop

Overview and Motivation

This repository contains a hands-on workshop for aerospace engineers who want to build robust verification and validation practices into their Model-Based Design workflow using Simulink® and Stateflow®. You'll learn how to check models against high-integrity standards, link tests to requirements, and measure structural coverage — practices that improve software quality whether or not you're pursuing formal certification. The workshop follows a DO-178C verification workflow using MathWorks® tools, so the skills you learn translate directly to certification readiness.

Who is this for?

• Teams pursuing DO-178C (or similar) certification who want a practical introduction to the MathWorks V&V toolchain. Note: The workflows described are not limited to DO-178C compliance and can be applied to similar standards.
• Teams adopting high-integrity practices who want to build rigorous V&V into their workflow now so they're ready if certification requirements come later

Workshop scenario: Your team is working on an autonomous quadcopter mission. As a lead software engineer, your current priority is to ensure that the mission mode logic is robust and fully verified, a key requirement for airborne software in commercial aerospace systems. Your project centers around building and certifying a system where the quadcopter tracks a moving ball and operates across different flight modes.

In this workshop, you will learn how to:

1. check your model for compliance with high-integrity standards
2. create test cases and link them to requirements
3. run a test suite and resolve missing model test coverage

Note: most standards (e.g., DO-178C) require independence between design and verification activities. In other words, "you should not test your own design." We recommend you follow that practice.

Prerequisites

• MATLAB R2025b or newer with all products listed below installed
• Familiarity with Simulink (no prior DO-178C experience required)

Getting Started

This workshop takes approximately 2 hours to complete.

1. Clone this repo
2. Open the MATLAB project: openProject("AeroVnV.prj");
3. Follow instructions in Instructions.mlx

OR

Products Used

1. MATLAB®
2. Simulink®
3. Stateflow™
4. Simulink Check™
5. Requirements Toolbox™
6. Simulink Test™
7. Simulink Coverage™
8. Simulink Design Verifier™

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Workshop Summary

Participants work through a complete DO-178C verification workflow using a quadcopter mode logic example. The workshop covers model compliance checking, requirements-based testing, coverage analysis, and traceability.

Copyright 2026, The MathWorks Inc.