Ans Functional safety is the absence of risk caused by faults in electronic and electric components of a vehicle. When a fault occurs in an automotive component, it can compromise the safety of the driver and occupants. For example, if the airbag system develops a fault such as a faulty sensor that fails to detect a collision, leading this leads to the airbag not deploying in a critical accident. This would be considered a compromise to functional safety due to a malfunctioning electronic component in the vehicle.

To ensure functional safety in automotive systems, it must be developed as per the guidelines mandated in ISO 26262 standard.

Ans Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA) is among the first steps in the journey to ISO 26262 compliance. It identifies potential hazards in electrical and electronic (E/E) systems, assesses the associated risks, and defines safety goals to mitigate these risks. Based on the risk assessment performed during HARA, ASIL rating is allocated to the system under development. Risk for each hazard is evaluated based on 3 factors:

• Severity: Potential impact of the hazard
• Exposure: The likelihood of occurrence of hazard
• Controllability: Ability of the driver to control or avoid the hazard

Ans The focus of functional safety is to ensure that safety-critical systems in a vehicle operate reliably under all conditions, including during faults or failures. Key principles include:

1. Hazard and Risk Assessment (HARA):Identifying and analyzing potential risks to assign appropriate ASIL levels, ensuring mitigation strategies are proportionate to the severity of risks.
2. Fail-Safe Design: Ensuring systems transition to a safe state during malfunctions, with designs that anticipate and handle failures effectively.
3. Safety Goals and Requirements: Defining clear safety objectives and implementing functional and technical requirements to meet these goals in all conditions.
4. Verification and Validation: Verifying the system’s adherence to design specifications and validating its performance under real-world scenarios.
5. Avoidance of Single Points of Failure: Incorporating redundancy in critical functions to ensure reliability in the event of individual component failures.
6. Safe Degradation: Designing systems to maintain partial functionality while minimizing risk during degraded operating states.
7. Continuous Monitoring: Implementing diagnostics and monitoring mechanisms to detect, report, and respond to faults in real time.
8. Traceability: Ensuring safety requirements, implementation, and verification are clearly documented and aligned throughout the development lifecycle.

Ans Under our ISO26262 Consulting services, we partner with your automotive product development teams for the following:

• Understanding the framework of ISO26262 Functional Safety Practices
• Evaluation and identification of critical Checklists , Guidelines, Templates, and Tools ( based on the project requirement)
• End-to end Technical Consulting, in order to develop a well-define functional safety roadmap.

Ans Post our Functional Safety workshops, we can partner with your design and development teams with in-depth analysis of the system and hardware/software components. Under this engagement, we collaborate to achieve the following

• Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
• Concept phase Safety Analysis( HARA for ASIL Determination)
• System level safety analysis
• Hardware and Software safety Analysis
• Independent Review of the product and the process

Ans Our ISO26262 design & development is based on the V-model SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle): For this engagement, our Functional Safety Project Managers and Embedded Product Developers, will partner with your teams for the following action items:

• Concept Development (HARA)
• System Requirement Analysis
• Hardware and Software Safety Analysis (FMEA, FTA and FMEDA) & Architectural Design
• Design Implementation
• Testing (Unit testing, Integration Testing & Functional Testing)
• System Integration and Testing
• Safety Assessment and Validation

Ans Yes. Our ISO26262 Functional Safety offering is based on an ‘Onsite-Offshore’ model. Our team can perform requirement gathering and analysis of the project, onsite.

The actual ISO 26262 based implementation service can be done onsite or offshore, based on the scope of the project.

In some instances, sensitive work-products that can’t cross the country borders or the customer premises; are managed onsite.

Ans Yes, ISO 26262 recommends the organizations ( auto-manufacturers and suppliers ) to adhere to Quality Assurance standards such as CMMI, ISO/TS 16949 or ISO 9001.

Ans ISO 26262 is an automotive functional safety standard that provides a structured framework for safety-critical automotive solutions development. The standard captures the entire lifecycle from design to production and beyond. ISO 26262 introduces the concept of Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASIL) to classify safety-critical functions and determine the level of testing and validation required.

By adhering to ISO 26262, automotive manufacturers and suppliers can ensure vehicles are not only safe for consumers but also comply with global regulatory requirements. This standard is essential for systems like braking, steering, ADAS, and electric vehicle components, where failures could have significant safety implications.

Ans Functional safety ensures that a system operates reliably and minimizes risks when failures occur.

In the automotive domain, every Some of the electronic and electric modules that is aare critical examples of functional safety. These include: include:

• Anti-lock Braking System (ABS): Prevents wheels from locking during braking to maintain steering control.
• Electronic Stability Control (ESC): Helps maintain vehicle stability during cornering or slippery conditions.
• Airbag Systems: Deploys airbags during a collision to protect passengers.
• Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): Features like lane-keeping assist or adaptive cruise control rely on functional safety to ensure reliable operation.
• Battery Management Systems (BMS): In electric vehicles, these systems ensure safe charging, discharging, and temperature control.

Ans A functional safety plan is a mandatory artifact in the ISO 26262 framework. It provides a comprehensive roadmap for managing safety activities across the lifecycle of an automotive item or element, ensuring compliance with safety goals and ASIL requirements.

Core Components of a Functional Safety Plan:

1. Scope of Safety Activities:
   • Defines the safety lifecycle phases to be covered (concept, development, production, operation, and decommissioning).
   • Specifies the item or element being addressed.
2. Roles and Responsibilities: Allocates responsibilities for the Functional Safety Manager and other key stakeholders.
3. Hazard and Risk Assessment (HARA): Includes strategies to identify hazards, assess risks, and determine ASIL levels.
4. Safety Lifecycle Tailoring:
   • Details how lifecycle phases will be tailored to meet specific ASIL requirements.
   • Defines interfaces with other processes like system, hardware, and software development.
5. Verification and Validation Activities: Outlines plans for confirmation reviews, functional safety assessments, and validation against safety goals.
6. Safety Analysis Methods: Specifies techniques like FTA (Fault Tree Analysis), FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis), and FMEDA (Failure Mode Effects and Diagnostics Analysis).
7. Change and Configuration Management: Ensures adherence to controlled processes for managing modifications while maintaining traceability.
8. Safety Culture and Competence Management: Ensures the team possesses the necessary qualifications and experience for safety-critical development.

Ans As an automotive company, your functional safety responsibility involves:

• Implementation of organization Specific
• Safety Policies & Rules
• Ensuring Safety Culture
• Management of safety anomalies
• Competence management
• Quality management
• Project-independent tailoring/adaptation of the safety lifecycle

Ans Yes, we have various ISO26262 training programs designed to suit your requirement. Based on your business requirements, you can collaborate with us for any of the following trainings schedules:

• 1-day training: ISO 26262 Overview
• 2-days training: Covers the specific topics under the ISO 26262 Safety Standard
• 5-days training: Detailed ISO 26262 Functional Safety Training

Ans. For existing product lines, we will perform Gap analysis at various levels including the process, the management, and the technical level. Gap Analysis will help you understand safety gaps in your product line while identifying measures to close the gap towards functional safety compliance. The entire process involves:

• Addressing each gap and mitigating them as per the ISO 26262 recommendations
• Generating Compliance report

Ans Yes, Embitel’ s Functional Safety (FuSa) team can assist you by performing ISO26262 recommended analysis of any SEooC product (Safety Element out of context) to ensure safety compliance.

Ans Not exactly. The ISO 26262 is recommending quality process to ensure functional safety. At the same time, the standard is providing technical guidelines to meet required safety integrity goals/ levels at the hardware and software level.