Functional Safety
In the automotive industry, as in other industries, the increasing use of electronics, hardware and software leads to improvements in environmental compatibility, efficiency, safety and also to new comfort functions.
At the same time, the use of such new technologies and functions also involves ever greater risks due to the high complexity, the networking of these systems with each other or due to their new technologies. Malfunctions can have fatal consequences - up to the loss of human life.
Functional safety helps to reduce these risks and to identify and minimize potential sources of error in a newly developed system in advance - before and during development.
Advice and support
In addition to an understanding of processes, tests and software development, functional safety, i.e. the understanding of norms and standards and their compliance, is one of our tasks.
Industry uses the internationally generic standard IEC 61508, which is considered a basic safety publication.
The CENELEC standard for functional safety in software development, DIN EN 50128, is indispensable in rail technology.
Since 2012, seneos has also focused on functional safety in the automotive sector and its ISO 26262 standard.
Through its strategy, seneos promotes the effective reduction of product risks to a minimum to improve product liability while taking total effort into account.
Here, seneos takes on responsible advice and support in automotive customer projects with German OEMs and international suppliers.
Services in the area of ​​Fusi according to ISO26262: Since 2011, ISO 26262 has set the tone for functional safety in automobiles. That doesn't mean it's music to the developers' ears.
A pragmatic implementation of ISO26262 can change that.
The goal should be to generate the greatest possible added value for the development of the product through reasonable effort.
This increases the duty to virtue and the confidence in the safety of one's own products.
Functional Safety Management & Functional Safety Engineering
The ISO 26262 spans the entire development V model: every activity within the V model is linked to a functional safety task. A clearly structured functional safety management strategy is required to maintain an overview of all activities. That is the only way of complying with the key point required by the standard, seamlessly planned development from the outset through to safety certification.
The seneos Functional Safety Manager provides expertise in both areas throughout the V model when it comes to interweaving management and development. We believe that our management strategy specially adapted to the customer enables optimal collaboration. Our management guidelines are customized to the customer’s project and development structures in order to offer the utmost flexibility and efficiency.Â
Project management within projects with safety-relevant requirements
Organisation and planning of individual activities within the functional safety life cycle
Effective integration of the processes required under ISO 26262 into the existing development process
Formal and content-specific reviews and analyses on ISO 26262 work products with an emphasis on compliance with the standard
Advice & support on methods when implementing the activities
E.g. ISO-compliant tool management, more specifically the classification and qualification of software tools in accordance with ISO 26262
Our functional safety activities include:Â
Drafting and reviewing hazard analyses and risk assessments
Advice on the drafting, reviewing and development of safety concepts
Specialist reviews and drafting of analyses such as FMEA and FMEDA
Efficient test security in compliance with ISO 26262
Technical review of safety life cycle work products
Medini analysis for support in the process of functional safety
seneos uses the medini analyze tool from IKV (www.ikv.de) in its functional safety projects. From drafting to review of the hazards and risk analysis, the workflow agreed upon between developer and reviewer is implemented within medini analyze. Furthermore, safety concepts integrated within the tool can be systematically broken down, for example, to component level in hardware or to model level in software. The mapping of analysis methods within the tool itself makes the individual requirements clearly traceable. Using this tool within an ISO 26262-compliant development project from the outset reveals a common theme which is evident through the seamless composition of the security certificate and contributes significantly to its transparency. The system has already paid off when used in large-scale projects with vehicle manufacturers due to a clearer overview of functional safety across all projects.Â
Advice on incorporating the tool into the customer's process
Engineering within medini analyse (e.g. hazard analysis and risk assessment)
Trust & security in using software tools
How many software tools do you use in your day-to-day work? How many of them significantly influence the development process? How many of those tools work unequivocally correctly? Have you ever even asked these questions? seneos helps you answer these and many other questions within the context of ISO 26262-compliant tool management. To achieve confidence in dealing with software, closer scrutiny is absolutely necessary: a targeted analysis combined with a broad wealth of experience from completed classifications enable potential errors in the software, particular in its handling, to be pinpointed safely and effectively. In spite of potential errors, specific measures can be defined to increase confidence in the tool during subsequent classification of the software-based tool. Wide-ranging experience in observing tools from all development stages of the V model enables seneos to provide systematic support: both for the introduction of such a tool management process into development teams and for drafting the necessary documentation for classification and qualification and any reviews that may be required.Â
Advice on drafting classification and qualification reports
Establishing the tool management process within the development team
One of the pillars of our company philosophy is the internal and external transfer of knowledge which we achieve through training courses and workshops. Our content therein is heavily influenced by case study reports from the various projects involving ISO-compliant development and is supplemented with practical examples. This enables us to offer an attractive combination of theoretical teaching on ISO 26262 and its practical application within the development environment.Â
Training & Education
Training on software and HiL testing from a functional safety perspective
Functional safety training in accordance with ISO 26262
Methods workshop on implementing tool management in accordance with ISO 26262
SW testing basics, planning and test methods testing training courses (within the framework of ISO 26262 also)
Assesments
In the case of collaboration between a supplier and an OEM, ISO 26262 expressly requires proof of quality on the part of the supplier. This includes ISO-compliant safety assessments offered by seneos as follows:Â
Assessment of the functional safety of development projects
Assessment of the functional safety of sub-projects