Course - Automotive Software Safety

Safety is one of the key issues in the development of software-based systems for road vehicles.

The safety of technical systems in general and of automotive electric and/or electronic (E/E) systems in particular is usually defined as the absence of unreasonable risk for humans. A reasonable risk level is established based on the fact that technology can never be entirely safe. Safety standards provide guidance on how to achieve the required risk level.

The technological risk of an automotive E/E system can be categorized regarding the fundamental source of potential hazards:

1) Hazards that occur due to malfunctioning behavior of E/E systems (Functional Safety), addressed by the ISO 26262 standard;

2) Hazards that occur due to functional insufficiencies of the intended functionality (Safety of the Intended Functionality, SOTIF), addressed by the ISO 21448 standard.

The lecture Automotive Software Safety introduces basic safety topics related to in-vehicle E/E systems. After discussing safety fundamentals, we will have a closer look at the two above mentioned aspects of safety, i.e. functional safety and SOTIF. This discussion will be based on the accompanying standards ISO 26262 and ISO 21448.

For further details and dates, have a look at the OPAL page of the course.