FORCES: An Incremental Transpiler from C/C++ to Rust for Robust and Secure Robotics Systems

Unsafe memory accesses are the cause of most
cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Robotic systems are not exempt
from these risks, especially in defense environments where
they are prime targets for cyber threats, and exploiting these
vulnerabilities can lead to significant physical consequences.
To limit the risks associated with memory-unsafe languages
in robotic systems, the FOundations for Reliable, CorrEct, and
Secure robotic systems (FORCES) project proposes the design
of two tools. First, a robust and incremental transpilation tool
that enables the conversion of legacy C/C++ code to Rust,
thereby enhancing memory safety without sacrificing perfor-
mance. Second, a comprehensive evaluation framework that
establishes metrics for correctness, security, performance, and
maintainability to assess the effectiveness of the transpilation
process. Both tools will be tested and validated across diverse
robotic use cases for the Belgian Defense.