Functional Safety in
Automotive

Functional safety in automotive ensures that electronic and electrical systems in vehicles operate safely, even when faults occur. It involves designing systems to detect, prevent, or mitigate risks caused by hardware or software failures.

With the growing complexity of ECUs, sensors, and automated systems, functional safety is critical to avoid dangerous failures that could compromise passenger safety or system performance.

ISO 26262 is an international standard for functional safety in automotive systems. It outlines the safety lifecycle and provides guidelines for risk assessment, design, implementation, verification, and validation of safety-critical functions.

ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level) is a risk classification system defined in ISO 26262. It ranges from ASIL A (lowest) to ASIL D (highest) based on the severity, exposure, and controllability of potential hazards.

HARA (Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment) is the process of identifying potential hazards and determining the necessary ASIL. It forms the foundation for setting functional safety goals.

Techniques like FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis), FTA (Fault Tree Analysis), and FMEDA (Failure Modes, Effects, and Diagnostic Analysis) are used to identify, analyze, and address potential failure modes.

Not all, but any system that could affect vehicle safety—such as steering, braking, or ADAS—must meet ISO 26262 requirements depending on its safety impact and assigned ASIL.

Typical deliverables include safety plans, HARA, FSC/TSC documents, safety requirements, verification reports, safety analysis reports, and a safety case summary.