So many things!... But mostly:
A tool-chain targeting heterogeneous
systems, using model-based development
A process supporting the creation of systems,
using formal models and automatic code generation
A laboratory platform experimenting with safety-critical SW
technologies, based on open-source, freely accessible solutions
The best way to know what TASTE is, is to go through this presentation.
And this smaller presentation shows a key technology at the heart of TASTE:
how we use ASN.1 to automatically generate many tedious, error-prone SW parts.
Finally, those of you that prefer hands-on sessions, should watch the two videos below.
TASTE's lineage can be traced back to the EU/FP6 ASSERT project;
an effort led by the European Space Agency back in 2005, whose purpose was
to bring true, formal models-based Engineering into the way we develop space SW.
Over the last 20 years. a large number of companies have contributed
to TASTE's development, with more than 20000 commits across 18 repositories.
A nice way to see what TASTE does, is to watch it applied hands-on, in building an application from scratch.
This video showcases how TASTE automatically creates device drivers and VHDL skeletons for the HW parts of a system.
Bonus footage at the end with actual deployment on an FPGA board.
TASTE can be installed on a Linux distribution: Debian 12 or Ubuntu 24.04LTS (for older distros: contact us).
$ git clone https://gitrepos.estec.esa.int/taste/taste-setup.git tool-src $ cd tool-src $ git checkout feature_debian12 $ ./Update-TASTE.sh
You'll then have to follow the prompts to fix whatever issues are detected in your configuration, and source ~/.bashrc.taste from your .bashrc file to ensure that the environment variables are set.
TASTE is developed in the open; with tools available under Open-Source Licenses.
The toolchain itself is maintained here, with all the tools' source code checked out under it via 18 Git submodules.
PERASPERA used TASTE under the hood to implement the "soul" of this rover.
.
Quadcopters flying in formation under the control of TASTE-generated SW.
One of the major attractions in ESTEC's Open Days of the last two years.
Using TASTE, to apply the power of Model-based SW Engineering (MBSE) on a tiny MSP430 microcontroller that flies in CubeSats. Total memory: 64KiB!
CHEOPS, an ESA mission that launched in December 2019, used TASTE's ASN1SCC to generate the message marshallers for the application software.
FBK used TASTE in "Contest" (solar/stirling cogeneration; modeling, deployment); "GreenerSys" (single-unit Organic Flow-Batteries; model, deployment); "GreenerNet" (grid of OFBs; modeling)
PROBA-3 uses TASTE in many ways: the payload onboard and the ground segment make extensive use of the Data Modelling Tools from TASTE, for both code and documentation purposes.
Many organizations (in Telecom and elsewhere) are using ASN1SCC; the "heart" of the message marshalling in TASTE, creating bulletproof message marshallers (automatic test cases; 100% coverage by construction; SPARK contracts; automated interface control documents; and more).
Finally, experiments are taking place using TASTE. TASEC-Lab, for example. was a balloon project developed by the "Ignacio Da Riva" Institute (IDR) in collaboration with the STRAST research group from the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). They launched a balloon with a TASTE-programmed Raspberry 3B+, implementing a data acquisition system composed of sensors and actuators - such as thermometers, pressure sensors, heaters, etc.