All You Need To Know About Afuzion’s Vance Hilderman’s New Book

Vance Hilderman is a legend within the avionics industry and is the author of “Avionics Certification: A Complete Guide to DO-178c (Software), DO-254 (Hardware).” It is the world’s first book on DO-178c and it has remained immensely popular with more than 7,000 copies being sold all around the world in numerous languages. Although there are other books available on DO-178c, this one is the clearest and a result of 30 years experience in the aviation industry as owner of the globe’s biggest DO-178c and DO-254 avionics consulting and development business. 

 

However, his new book “The Avionics Development Ecosystem – Applying DO-178c and Related Guidelines” focuses on how DO-178c is used in the real-world and the significance of the certification. When it comes to avionics software development practices, everyone wants to minimize cost, schedule, risk, defects, re-use difficulty, and certification roadblocks. The good practices which are the most important include defect prevention, experienced developers, automated testing, and a reduced number of changes. 

Everything you need to know about Vance Hilderman and Afuzion

Afuzion is a global leader in avionics which provide large-scale training in both a private and public capacity. Afuzion has permeated most of the globe’s aircraft and system development through their optimization of engineering, efficiency, safety, and certification.

 

Their private training focuses on safety-critical system development, compliance, and certification which focuses on Aviation CNS/ATM, and Data; Aviation and Avionics safety; Avionics Software Development; Transportation and Automotive; Avionics Systems Development; and Avionics Hardware Development. Their public training has been hosted permanently by prominent conferences held worldwide including the Society of Aerospace Engineers (SAE), Aerospace Tech Week, Digital Avionics Systems Conference (IEEE DASC), and Electronics Valley. 

 

Vance Hilderman stands out as being the first to develop training in DO-178c and he has helped in the training of more than 8,000 engineers in 45 countries. His books have helped thousands in the implementation of best practices related to DO-178c and DO-254. 

What is DO-178c?

DO-178c (Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification) is commonly known as the Bible of Avionics Software Development, and it is the framework for the development of airborne software. In order to certify commercial software-based aerospace systems, DO-178c is used by certification agencies such as the EASA, Transport Canada, and the FAA. It is primarily useful to engineers and managers in the aviation industry. Even though the DO-178c document cannot give all of the answers, it remains the best standard at the present time. 

 

The notion of DO-178c first originated in the 80’s before there was any true software in safety-critical systems even though it had already been seen as the embodiment of those same systems. The standards outlined in the DO-178c have been used in military aviation, nuclear power, automotive industry, medical devices, and railroads. 

 

DO-178c is made up of a safety assessment process (ARP-4761), environmental and EMI testing (DO-160), avionics system development (ARP-4754A), and hardware design assurance (DO-254).