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All functional safety standards have some definition of “risk” and the automotive standard ISO 26262 is no exception. Risk is related to the exposure, the severity of the outcome, and in the case of ISO 26262, the controllability in relation to a specific vehicle hazard or hazards associated with the behavior of the vehicle or part of the vehicle. Thus hazards are central to understanding the risk associated with systems. When considering traditional power train systems, based on internal combustion engines or centralized electric motors, hazards are most usually limited to unintended acceleration and deceleration. The situation is complicated somewhat with the introduction of electronically controlled differentials, which can induce limited amounts of induced yaw, as can ABS and ESC. In a similar manner, replacing the centralized driveline system with in-wheel electric motors brings with it a similar set of issues.

Compact direct drive in-wheel motors with integrated inverters, control and brakes offer a number of distinct advantages compared to conventional electric drive systems. The most obvious being that the drivetrain is now packaged within the wheel freeing up space elsewhere, in addition many driveline components and their associated losses are eliminated and the vehicle efficiency, response and handling can be improved. In new vehicle applications this allows complete freedom for designers to optimize the vehicle layout, have more usable space inside the vehicle body and enables revolutionary vehicle concepts (which will become more important as road space becomes scarce and taxation measures migrate towards vehicle size). In retrofit applications the compact package allows an electric drive to be added to any existing vehicle without requiring any significant disruption to the vehicle platform to keep integration costs down.

In response to the question, “why do we want process improvement?”. This paper examines, from a software engineer's viewpoint some of the legal issues that are believed to affect the production and sale of automotive related software in the European Union and the constraints and requirements that this may place on the software quality process.

This paper describes a tool developed at Pi Technology for performing unit testing. The tool is used to support the production of embedded real-time software for high-reliability applications such as engine control units. A brief history of the development of the tool is given along with details of how the tool is used in the context of our development process. The tool itself is examined from both usage and construction points of view and an analysis of the tools effectiveness in use is given.

This paper outlines Pi Technology's approach to testing high-reliability automotive software. Based on data collected during an engine controller development, it discusses the value of different types of testing at various stages of the design process and when errors are found. The team structure used for embedded systems is discussed to provide the context in which software development occurs.