We are very experienced with the “functional safety” of automotive software, to which we also count the Safety of the Intended Functionality (SOTIF) – especially in compliance with the IEC 61508, ISO 26262 and ISO 21448 standards.
These standards define requirements for the reliable functioning of diverse systems – from yaw rate sensors to electrical controls, vehicle control systems and various assistance systems or high voltage systems for electric vehicles. We are also working more and more for autonomous systems. We help to make your safety-critical projects successful and to keep your costs within reason.
Consulting with safety audits and assessments
Our consultants are SGS-TÜV certified „Automotive Functional Safety Professionals / Experts” and VDA OMC certified Automotive SPICE® Assessors (Provisional to Principal). And they have a solid background in development technology. We can therefore support your projects from two sides:
We help you to create guidelines that pragmatically cover the requirements of the safety standards and higher levels. And we support your development engineers with the implementation.
In safety audits, combined with Automotive SPICE® assessments if necessary, we check whether your projects comply with all relevant standards and conditions.
From management down to the tools
We see ourselves as consulting experts with a broad perspective:
Safety management:
Safety management: In safety-related projects in the automotive sector F+S functions as the safety manager, supporting and reinforcing the project manager with all safety issues
Engineering:
Our development engineers are familiar with the processes necessary for ensuring safe development in accordance with standards. And they also know the methods for reliable detection of hardware errors and prevention of software errors.
Tools:
Tools: In the development of tools for use in safety-related projects we comply with the requirements of ISO 26262 and we qualify our tools in accordance with these requirements
Our services
Altogether we offer you:
Safety managers with responsibility for functional safety,
Processes that integrate both Automotive SPICE®, ISO 26262 and ISO 21448 and also take into account rules for autonomous systems derived from research projects,
Safety audits, combined with SPICE assessments, if necessary,
Development engineers who know and apply solutions for safety problems,
Tools that facilitate your work and are qualified for safety-related projects.
Competences
Safety consulting
With a vision toward more safety
Functional safety, Safety of the Intended Functionality (SOTIF) and and autonomous systems require technical competence and consistent application of the relevant standards and research results. We offer consultation at the highest level in this respect.
Integrated safety
The development of safety-critical components requires an especially methodical development process. In this respect you have to execute additional activities within the projects – for example:
Creation of the functional safety concept (if necessary) and of the technical safety concept,
Coordination of a development interface agreement with the client and suppliers,
Execution of technical analyses such as FMEA, FMEDA and FTA, or the assessment of the residual risk,
Identification of performance limits of sensors, algorithms and actuators,
Determination of the intended area of application (Operational Design Domain, ODD),
Determination of the critical scenarios (limits of the system),
Qualification of tools and components.
You also have to review and update development guidelines, as needed – some examples:
Priority of structuring in components, according to Automotive SPICE® only required in system design (SYS.3), to the system specification (SYS.2),
Explicit consideration of test- and validation methods in the test processes,
Simulation of the system or its components under critical conditions (e.g. driving situations, other road users or weather), checking especially the limit areas during tests on test benches and in driving trials.
Promise of quality
ISO 26262, ISO 21448 and autonomous system higher level require confirmation measures; we will be glad to support you with the implementation:
Management and control of confirmation measures and
Review of the work products that affect safety-related parts of the system,
Audit of the implementation of processes that are necessary for functional safety,
Processes and criteria for the approval of SOTIF systems.
Experienced experts
Our consultants will help you to implement the requirements of ISO 26262, ISO 21448 and for autonomous systems higher level in your projects and to adapt your development guidelines accordingly. They will assist you with all safety-related issues:
Our consultants are VDA QMC certified Automotive SPICE® assessors and SGS TÜV certified Automotive Functional Safety Experts (AFSE) or Professionals (AFSP),
and have many years of experience in quality assurance and the execution of audits and assessments.
Competences
Safety managers
Planning, implementation and assessment
Functional Safety, Safety of the intended functionality (SOTIF) and autonomous systems require a broad perspective. Our safety managers have all of the necessary competences.
The safety manager: a supporting role
The safety manager advises the project manager on the implementation of safety of the system and informs him about problems. In addition to extensive knowledge of the relevant safety-related methods, tools and research results, he needs a deep technical understanding of the product to be developed.
He cooperates closely with the project manager, since resources and time are needed for safeguarding the system. He also cooperates intensely with the quality assurance manager, since the processes and their correct implementation have a significant impact on the safety of the system.
Diverse responsibilities
The safety manager performs important tasks in the project, such as:
Creation of the safety plan, which on the basis of the safety requirements contains the planning of all safety activities and the project-specific tailoring of the safety life cycle,
Identification of missing methods or processes, especially for higher levels of autonomous driving,
Identification and evaluation of the potential dangers and risks arising from the intended function, including recognition of the system limitations with possible solutions, how these can be safely mastered with high availability,
Coordination and monitoring of all safety-related activities in the project with consultation for the development engineers in the implementation of the safety requirements,
Coordination of the safety goals and safety requirements with the manufacturer,
If necessary, coordination with developers of external systems or suppliers
Creation of the safety documentation (safety case),
Management and control of confirmation measures and
the processes and criteria for the approval of SOTIF systems,
Transfer of the system into a state of safe production and definition of measures for maintaining safety throughout the life of the system.
The requirements must be right
Safety management is easier to integrate in a project if the following conditions are given:
A process-oriented development culture within the project,
Quality assurance that monitors the quality of the work products and the processes,
Complete process descriptions that only need to be supplemented to included safety aspects.
Our services
We perform the role of functional safety manager for you
through SGS TÜV certified Automotive Functional Safety Experts (AFSE) or Professionals (AFSP),
with knowledge of the necessary methods and tools,
and with technical understanding based on many years of experience.
Contact us
Get to know uspersonally.
Get to know the people behind F+S, contact us directly, arrange a direct appointment with us or follow us on LinkedIn.
Competences
Safety engineering
From the concept to the product
Functional safety, Safety of the Intended Functionality (SOTIF) and autonomous systems are not the result of a particular development stage. They require comprehensive thinking and actions. That is why we believe in integrated safety engineering.
A combination of competence and culture
Functional safety starts early in the development cycle, is present in all processes and ends only when the product is decommissioned. It requires well-founded knowledge of processes, solutions and algorithms, as well as high implementation competence:
The standard requires a safety culture, i.e. the development team must be aware of its responsibility. Our development engineers have the necessary experience and are aware of their responsibility.
The system must be safeguarded against sporadic and systematic errors. Our development engineers know how to implement effective error detection and correction.
In complex systems, in particular with pattern recognition and/or AI, the scenarios, in which correct function is no longer guaranteed, must be determined and measures must be found to master the scenarios or to assume a safe state early enough (eg transfer to the driver).
In addition, ISO 26262 and ISO 21448 provide specifications on the scope of tests and validation incl. methodical derivation of the test cases. Our development engineers are familiar with the required test methods and how to implement them.
Beyond the usual
Your established processes may have to be revised:
Requirements engineering:
The safety requirements that result from the safety concept or the limits of the specified functionality must be additionally coordinated with the customer and included in the system requirement specification. The “novelty value” of these requirements calls for special treatment!
Architectural design:
Depending on the assessed system, risk mechanisms must be incorporated in the architecture to reduce the residual risk below the acceptance threshold. This can include monitoring and warning procedures, measures for achieving a safe condition and others
Detailed design and implementation:
Safety-critical modules necessitate especially high quality requirements. They are ensured through reviews and tests with special test methods and overlapping monitoring. Special know-how is necessary for various technical requirements.
Our services
To ensure that your projects are on the safe side, we perform the following tasks:
Creation of the system requirement specification with safety requirements,
Creation of an architectural design with additional safety mechanisms,
Detailed design, implementation and module testing of safety-critical modules,
Integration through to the complete system with corresponding tests.
"Functional safety, SOTIF and autonomous systems are not the result of a particular development stage. They require comprehensive thinking and actions. That is why we believe in integrated safety engineering."
Dr. Johannes Czekansky
Team Lead Consulting