Rust: First safety-certified embedded system

Sonair is a Norwegian startup building 3D ultrasonic sensors for robotics and industrial automation. Unlike traditional LiDAR or cameras, their sensor uses ultrasound (like a bat's echolocation) to create 3D maps of the environment, making it resilient to dust, lighting changes, and reflective surfaces. The article's headline claim — "Rust: First safety-certified embedded system" — refers to the fact that Sonair's sensor runs software written in the Rust programming language and has received functional safety certification (IEC 61508 / ISO 13849). This is newsworthy because Rust has been gaining traction as a "memory-safe" alternative to C and C++ for systems programming, but its use (especially with safety-critical certification) in embedded hardware is very rare. Prior to this, safety-certified embedded systems were almost exclusively written in C or C++ and followed strict coding standards. Sonair's achievement suggests Rust is maturing enough for use in applications where a software bug could cause physical harm or equipment damage.