Speaker: Marie Farrell (The University of Manchester, UK)

Abstract: Formal methods, combined with testing and simulation-based approaches to verification, all play a role in analysing the robustness of critical systems. But each of these techniques cannot be used effectively unless the requirements of the system are clearly and unambiguously defined. In fact, requirements specification is an especially difficult part of the development process. This talk will explore the use of NASA's Formal Requirements Elicitation Tool (FRET) as a way to capture and formalise requirements using examples from the aerospace and autonomous robotics domains.

Bio: Marie Farrell is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at the University in Manchester. Her research focuses on "Strong Software Reliability for Autonomous Space Robotics". In particular, she is developing new ways of describing, analysing and assuring the autonomous behaviour of robotic space systems. Previously, she was a Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Computer Science at Maynooth University (VALU3S project). This work involved eliciting and verifying requirements for an aircraft engine controller. Before that, she worked on the EPSRC funded FAIR-SPACE Hub and participated in the RAIN and ORCA Hubs. This work focused on using and combining formal methods to reason about and provide certification evidence for robotic systems that are to be deployed in hazardous environments. Marie received her PhD from Maynooth University in 2017 for her work on defining a semantics, modularisation constructs and interoperability for the Event-B formal specification language using the theory of institutions.