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ISO 26262 and Recent Updates: Ensuring Functional Safety in the Automotive Industry
ISO 26262 is a safety standard developed specifically for the automotive industry. It was published in 2011 and updated in 2018, with the goal of providing a systematic and structured approach to ensure functional safety of electrical and/or electronic systems within road vehicles. The standard is applicable to all parts of the vehicle’s electrical and electronic (E/E) systems, including hardware, software, and their integration.
In recent years, there have been updates to the ISO 26262 standard, specifically in the form of new guidelines and recommended practices. In this article, we will explore the basics of the ISO 26262 standard, as well as the recent updates and their impact on the automotive industry.
What is ISO 26262?
ISO 26262 is a functional safety standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for road vehicles. The standard provides a framework for developing, testing, and validating the safety of E/E systems in vehicles. It is designed to ensure that any malfunctions or errors in the vehicle’s systems don’t result in accidents or injuries to passengers or other road users.
The standard is divided into ten parts, each focusing on different aspects of functional safety, like management of functional safety, concept phase, product development at the system level, hardware development, software development, production and operation, supporting processes, and the relationship with other standards.
ISO 25252 has four Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASIL), from A., which is the lowest, to D, which is the highest. Each level corresponds with a different level of risk associated with a potential malfunction or error in the system that could happen. The ASIL is assigned based on a few factors: the severity of the potential hazard; the likelihood of it happening; and if the driver to mitigate the hazard.
Updates to ISO 26262?
Since the original ISO 26262 standard came out in 2011, there’s been several updates and additions to the standard. These updates have been made in order to address new technologies and challenges in the automotive industry.
One of the most significant updates to the standard came in 2018, with the publication of ISO 26262-11. This addition provides guidelines for the development of safety-critical systems that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. As AI and ML become more and more prevalent in the automotive industry, this guidance is essential for ensuring that these systems are safe and reliable.
Another recent update to the standard is the addition of ISO/PAS 19451:2020. This document provides guidance on how to use ISO 26262 in conjunction with other functional safety standards, such as ISO 21448 (which covers the safety of automated driving systems) and IEC 61508 (which covers the safety of electrical and electronic systems in general).
There have also been updates to ISO 26262 to address cybersecurity concerns in the automotive industry. In 2018, ISO 26262-9 was updated to include guidance and considerations for cybersecurity, such as the need for secure communication channels between components within the vehicle’s systems.
Impact of ISO 26262 on the automotive industry
ISO 26262 has made it possible for manufacturers to develop safer and more reliable systems and has had a significant impact on the automotive industry, in general, especially in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving.
While it has positively impacted the automotive industry, it’s also introduced challenges.. Particularly for smaller businesses, compliance with the standard can be time-consuming and expensive. The standard is not always explicit on how to handle specific problems, such as the security of AI or ML-based systems.
Despite these difficulties, ISO 26262 is probably going to remain a crucial standard in the automotive sector. It will continue to be a crucial standard for the safe development of automobiles even when new technologies are developed.
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