An interdisciplinary academic project for spatial critical embedded system agile development

This paper describes an academic project using Interdisciplinary Problem Based Learning (IPBL). Its main objective was to simulate the launching of a remote sensing microsatellite system based on the DO178C standard. The project was named the Brazilian Academic Microsatellite Launching Integrated System (Sistema Integrado de LANcamento de microSatelite Academico Brasileiro SI-LANSAB). On this project, students had to conceptualize, model, and develop a spatial realtime embedded system within 17 weeks, using the Scrum agile method and its best practices. The SI-LANSAB development project was divided into 5 groups or Scrum Teams (ST) to develop high cohesion and low coupling embedded system components. Each ST was assigned to integrate two different Cockpit Display Systems: the Launcher Cockpit Display - Control Station (LCD-CS) and the Satellite Cockpit Display - Control Station (SCD-CS). Both LCD-CS and SCD-CS were developed by using the SCADE Suite and Display, the Safety Critical Application Development Environment from ANSYS^®, an Integrated Computer Aided Software Engineering Environment (ICASEE). The major contribution of this paper is the description of how to use Scrum method and SCADE system tools to develop a complex real-time spatial embedded system to accomplish an assigned mission.