This webinar, presented by Stephen, a Product Manager at Adaore, focuses on Adaore's new "Ganat Pro for Rust" toolchain and its application in developing a dynamic pathfinding algorithm for a rover. The presentation introduces Adaore's history in providing high-integrity toolchains for mission-critical applications, now expanding to include Rust. It highlights Rust's advantages in type and memory safety, its strong community, and increasing adoption by government agencies for safety-critical software. The core of the webinar details the development of a pathfinding system using the D* Lite algorithm, implemented in Rust and showcased via a WebAssembly simulation. Key technical aspects discussed include the algorithm's implementation, Rust's safety features (borrow checker, traits), performance optimizations (scaling floats to integers), and future plans for integrating this system into an actual rover with machine learning capabilities. The presentation also covers Adaore's commitment to supporting Rust's maturity in safety-critical domains through qualified toolchains, long-term support, and participation in industry consortia.
Exploring Rust for Mission-Critical Applications: Adaore's Ganat Pro and Rover Pathfinding
00:00:15 Introduction and Webinar Overview: The webinar begins with a welcome and introduction by Stephen, a Product Manager at Adaore, focusing on "Ganat Pro for Rust."
00:01:14 Audience and Recording Information: High attendance is noted from 38 countries and 194 companies, indicating broad interest. The session is recorded and will be shared via email.
00:02:10 Adaore's Background: Adaore, founded in 1994 with roots in the 1970s, provides high-integrity toolchains, historically for Ada, Spark, and C++, and now includes Rust.
00:03:36 Rust's Origins and Strengths: Rust, created by Graydon Hoare, emphasizes type safety, memory safety, and a strong community. It's increasingly recognized by government agencies (DoD, NSA, CISA) for its security benefits in modern software development.
00:05:21 Ganat Pro for Rust: Adaore's offering brings its 30 years of experience in safety-critical industries to Rust, providing formal industry support, yearly updates, and a familiar development environment.
00:10:48 Rover Pathfinding Project: The core of the webinar showcases a project to develop a dynamic pathfinding algorithm for a rover, written in Rust.
00:11:50 D Lite Algorithm:* The chosen algorithm is D* Lite, an evolution of A* suitable for dynamic environments, allowing for replanning based on new information like obstacles.
00:17:28 Web Assembly Simulation: A detailed demonstration of the pathfinding system is presented using a simulator built entirely in Rust with WebAssembly and the Yew framework.
00:19:23 Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance: The simulation visually demonstrates the rover encountering and replanning around dynamic obstacles, showcasing the algorithm's effectiveness.
00:20:02 Four-Layer Architecture: The system utilizes a four-layer architecture, including a "memoryless" state for the rover's immediate position.
00:23:54 Rust's Borrow Checker and Traits: Key Rust features like the borrow checker and traits are highlighted for ensuring memory safety, preventing data races, and enabling zero-cost abstractions and code flexibility.
00:30:52 Performance Optimizations: The implementation includes scaling floats to integers to ensure consistent heap ordering and prevent rounding issues, contributing to predictable performance.
00:32:32 Error Reduction and Safety: The D* Lite implementation is entirely in safe Rust, avoiding unsafe blocks and raw pointers, which is crucial for certifiable applications.
00:33:00 Future Plans: Future plans include integrating the Rust pathfinding system into a physical rover, adding machine learning and AI capabilities (computer vision), and potentially scaling the algorithms for aerial or submersible vehicles.
00:33:49 Denver Tech Day: The speaker will present the rover and project progress in person at a Denver Tech Day in September.
00:35:02 Adaore's Commitment to Rust: Adaore is actively involved in the Rust Foundation's safety-critical consortium, aiming to advance Rust's maturity in mission-critical and certifiable applications.
00:36:26 Certifiable Toolchain Support: Adaore offers qualified tools, runtime libraries, certification materials, and long-term support for Rust, aligning with industry certification needs across various sectors (aviation, automotive, etc.).
00:41:41 Q&A Session: The webinar concludes with a Q&A session addressing audience questions about use cases, microcontroller demonstrations, and toolchain comparisons.