In the last ELISA Project Workshop, hosted at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, from December 10 to 12, 2024, speaker Michael Starch, Flight Software Engineer at NASA, gave a presentation, “F Prime and Linux.”
Watch the video below or check out the presentation here.
The ELISA Workshop, which had than 30 in-person and 40 virtual attendees, brought together experts from various organizations, including ELISA Project member companies such as Red Hat, and Bosch, as well as representatives from NASA, Wind River, TelePIX, the Linux Foundation and more. This diverse group of professionals engaged in discussions and presentations on advancing Linux systems for space-grade applications.
Written by Gabriele Paoloni, ELISA Project Governing Board Chair, and Philipp Ahmann, ELISA Project TSC Chair
The ELISA community held its annual project updates virtually on February 12 – 13, 2025, bringing together members and newcomers. Working group leaders shared their 2024 accomplishments, challenges, and collaborative opportunities for 2025. All videos can be found on the ELISA Project Youtube Channel in the Annual Update Playlist.
2024: A Year of Significant Progress
There was substantial progress for ELISA including:
The Aerospace Working Group significantly advanced the adoption of Linux in safety-critical aerospace applications, presenting successful sessions at the Linux Plumbers Conference that led to the formation of the Space Grade Linux initiative at a NASA-hosted ELISA workshop.
Meanwhile, the System Working Group impressed at Embedded World with a demo of reproducible heterogeneous software composition.
The Medical Device Working Group completed its STPA analysis for the Open APS use case and is now searching for a new project.
The Tool Working Group released initial versions of several key tools (Basil, KS-Nav, llvm-cov, and DeltaKernel).
The Safety Architecture Working Group improved Linux Kernel documentation based on safety standards, presenting their findings at Linux Plumbers 2024 and subsequently developing a template for Linux Kernel Requirements.
The Linux Features for Safety-Critical Systems working group completed investigations about the minimal Linux Kernel configuration and focused on the minimal set Kernel features required to support a safety application (the main goal being to figure out the Kernel subsystems and drivers to prioritize for safety activities).
The Open Source Engineering Process Working Group focused on best practices for safety-critical FOSS contributions, analyzing the factors that could impact the safety strategy associated with the use of Linux and finally it defined an approach for publishing peer-review material developed by the different working groups.
2025: Collaborative Goals and Technical Advancements
The ELISA Project 2025 vision centers on coordinating working groups towards shared technical and community goals including:
The Automotive Working Group will define a use case and collaborate with the Eclipse SDV project.
The Aerospace Working Group will partner with the Architecture Working Group on Kernel requirements for a Cabin Lighting use case.
The Architecture Working Group will upstream initial requirements and a management framework to the Linux Kernel, establishing a community baseline before collaborating on further requirements definition.
The Linux Features for Safety-Critical Systems Working Group will define requirements and analyze key drivers and subsystems for safety applications.
The Open Source Engineering Process Working Group will continue defining best methodologies, including developing processes for documentation review and publishing, and a supply chain responsibilities model.
The Tool Working Group will experiment with its tools across software lifecycle phases.
The System Working Group will launch the “Good Practices in Open Source” specification/standard and extend its development platform to new ARM-based hardware. Collaboration with the Kernel-CI project will also allow for the evaluation of existing Kernel tests and their mapping to Kernel specifications and requirements.
Looking Ahead and Invitation to Participate
The achievements of 2024 provide a strong foundation for the ambitious goals set for 2025. We are excited about the collaborative opportunities ahead and the potential impact of the work on the safety and reliability of open-source systems in critical sectors. We encourage anyone interested in contributing to these efforts to join the ELISA community. Your expertise and dedication can significantly advance our progress toward a safer and more reliable open-source ecosystem. Visit https://elisa.tech/ to learn more and get involved.
Finally ELISA should also consider the evaluation of the currently available Kernel tests, in collaboration with the Kernel-CI project, and the respective mapping to the Kernel specifications and requirements.
To kickoff 2024, ELISA hosted an annual Working Group Update where all of the leads share a quick overview, milestones achieved and plans for the new year. The update meetings, which was hosted online for a few hours over two days, was open to the public. If you missed the meeting, the videos can be found on-demand on a new Working Group playlist on the ELISA Youtube Channel.
Each week, we’ll feature a new Working Group video and details for how to get involved in meetings and join the discussions. Today, we shine a spotlight on the Automotive Working Group led by Philipp Ahmann, Chair of the ELISA Project Technical Steering Committee and Technical Business Development Manager at Robert Bosch GmbH. Watch the video below or check out the PPT here.
ELISA is open to everyone. Anyone can develop and contribute code, get elected to the Technical Steering Committee, or help steer the project forward in any number of ways.
To kickoff 2024, ELISA hosted an annual Working Group Update where all of the leads shared a quick overview, milestones achieved and plans for the new year. The update meetings, which was hosted online for a few hours over two days, was open to the public. If you missed the meeting, the videos can be found on-demand on a new Working Group playlist on the ELISA Youtube Channel.
Each week, we’ll feature a new Working Group video and details for how to get involved in meetings and join the discussions. Today, we shine a spotlight on the Medial Devices Working Group, led Kate Stewart, Chair of the Medical Devices Working Group and Vice President of Dependable Embedded Systems at the Linux Foundation, and Milan Lakhani, Vice-chair of the Medical Devices Working Group and Software Engineer at Codethink. Watch the video below or check out the PPT here.
ELISA is open to everyone. Anyone can develop and contribute code, get elected to the Technical Steering Committee, or help steer the project forward in any number of ways.
To kickoff 2024, ELISA hosted an annual Working Group Update where all of the leads shared a quick overview, milestones achieved and plans for the new year. The update meetings, which was hosted online for a few hours over two days, was open to the public. If you missed the meeting, the videos can be found on-demand on a new Working Group playlist on the ELISA Youtube Channel.
Each week, we’ll feature a new Working Group video and details for how to get involved in meetings and join the discussions. Today, we shine a spotlight on the Aerospace Working Group, led by Steven H. VanderLeest, Chair of the ELISA Aerospace Working Group and Chief Technologist at Boeing. Watch the video below or check out the PPT here.
Engage with the Aerospace Working Group:
Attend a meeting:
The Aerospace WG meets on the 1st Wednesday and 3rd Thursday each month.
ELISA is open to everyone. Anyone can develop and contribute code, get elected to the Technical Steering Committee, or help steer the project forward in any number of ways.
Written by Igor Stoppa, Senior Software Architect at NVIDIA and ELISA Project contributor
The ELISA Project’s Open-Source Engineering Process (OSEP) Working Group examines how software engineering processes can be used to facilitate the certification of safety-critical systems incorporating Linux and other FOSS. They aim to consider the roles that a Linux-based OS might have in such systems, and identify how FOSS developers, system integrators and product creators can specify these, and provide evidence to support associated safety arguments.
These documents below, which were contributed to the ELISA PROJECT OSEP WG are intended to help functional safety professionals, linux kernel developers, assessors and oems find a common ground:
Although they are not written in the formal language typical of Functional Safety, they cover important technical aspects that might not be obvious to those who are not familiar with Linux.
They can also help with introducing FuSa concepts to Linux engineers and can be a supporting tool to anyone trying to reach safety goals on a system based on Linux.
Ideally, they can help both assessors and OEMs who are either transitioning or considering the transition to a Linux based system, in evaluating the offerings and FuSa solutions that they have available.
Check out the contributions and learn more about the OSEP WG here.
To kickoff 2024, ELISA hosted an annual Working Group Update where all of the leads shared a quick overview, milestones achieved and plans for the new year. The update meetings, which was hosted online for a few hours over two days, was open to the public. If you missed the meeting, the videos can be found on-demand on a new Working Group playlist on the ELISA Youtube Channel.
Each week, we’ll feature a new Working Group video and details for how to get involved in meetings and join the discussions. Today, we shine a spotlight on the Safety Architecture Working Group, led by Gabriele Paoloni, Chair of the ELISA Project Governing Board and Open Source Community Technical Leader at Red Hat. Watch the video below or check out the PPT here.
Engage with the Safety Architecture Working Group:
ELISA is open to everyone. Anyone can develop and contribute code, get elected to the Technical Steering Committee, or help steer the project forward in any number of ways.
To kickoff 2024, ELISA hosted an annual Working Group Update where all of the leads shared a quick overview, milestones achieved and plans for the new year. The update meetings, which was hosted online for a few hours over two days, was open to the public. If you missed the meeting, the videos can be found on-demand on a new Working Group playlist on the ELISA Youtube Channel.
Each week, we’ll feature a new Working Group video and details for how to get involved in meetings and join the discussions. Today, we’ll feature the Open Source Engineering Process Working Group update by Paul Albertella, Consultant at Codethink. Watch the video below or check out the PPT here.
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Engage with the Open Source Engineering Process Working Group:
ELISA is open to everyone. Anyone can develop and contribute code, get elected to the Technical Steering Committee, or help steer the project forward in any number of ways.
To kickoff 2024, ELISA hosted an annual Working Group Update where all of the leads share a quick overview, milestones achieved and plans for the new year. The update meetings, which was hosted online for a few hours over two days, was open to the public. If you missed the meeting, the videos can be found on-demand on a new Working Group playlist on the ELISA Youtube Channel.
Each week, we’ll feature a new Working Group video and details for how to get involved in meetings and join the discussions. Today, we’ll feature the Tools Working Group update by Matt Kelly, Software Team Lead at The Boeing Company. Watch the video below or check out the PPT here.
Engage with the Tools Working Group:
Attend a meeting:
2nd Tuesday of the month @ 9:30 AM EST / 2:30 PM UTC
4th Thursday of the month @ 11:00 AM EST / 4:00 PM UTC
ELISA is open to everyone. Anyone can develop and contribute code, get elected to the Technical Steering Committee, or help steer the project forward in any number of ways.
Linux is used in all major industries because it can enable faster time to market for new features and take advantage of the quality of the code development processes. Launched in February 2019, the Enabling Linux In Safety Application (ELISA) Project works with Linux kernel and safety communities to agree on what should be considered when Linux is used in safety-critical systems. The project has several dedicated working groups that focus on providing resources for system integrators to apply and use to analyze qualitatively and quantitatively on their systems.
The Working Groups have two main focuses – the horizontal Working Groups include Safety Architecture, Linux Features, Tool Investigation, Open Source Engineering Process, and Systems as well as vertical use case based Working Groups in Aerospace, Automotive, and Medical Devices domains.These Working Groups collaborate to produce an exemplary reference system. Linux Features, Architecture and Code Improvements should be integrated into the reference system directly. Tools and Engineering Process should serve the reproducible product creation. Medical, Automotive, Aerospace and additional future WG use cases should be able to strip down the reference system to their use case demands.The Project’s Technical Steering Committee (TSC) oversees the Working Group activities and coordinates cross Working Group collaboration to drive the technical direction of the Project. You can interact with the TSC by subscribing to its public forum and attend its biweekly meeting that’s open to the public by default.
To kickoff 2024, ELISA hosted an annual Working Group Update where all of the leads share a quick overview, milestones achieved and plans for the new year. The update meetings, which was hosted online for a few hours over two days, was open to the public. If you missed the meeting, the videos can be found on-demand on a new Working Group playlist on the ELISA Youtube Channel.
Each week, we’ll feature a new Working Group video and details for how to get involved in meetings and join the discussions. Today, we’ll kick off the blog series with a 10-minute project overview by Philipp Ahmann, Chair of the ELISA Project Technical Steering Committee and Technical Business Development Manager at Robert Bosch GmbH.
ELISA is open to everyone. Anyone can develop and contribute code, get elected to the Technical Steering Committee, or help steer the project forward in any number of ways.
