Functional Safety Industry Best Practices for Introducing and Using ISO 26262

Functions such as adaptive cruise control, crash protection systems, active body control and ESP are increasing in complexity and taking an ever more active role in controlling the car. These functions are realized by systems of sensors, actuators and interconnected electronic control units. The systems must be designed to function under a variety of operating conditions and must adhere to a number of mechanical, hardware and software constraints. In order to be able to manage the emerging product liability risks associated with such systems as well as ensuring the high level of quality required of automotive systems, significant improvements to engineering processes are necessary. In this article, we describe our experiences in adapting companies' development processes to conform to safety standards and to cope with the challenges mentioned above. We detail key success factors in overcoming these challenges and provide practical examples from working with global OEMs and tier-one suppliers on implementing safety standards in E/E development.