| Step | Activity | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify hazardous events from TC list | Hazardous event register (TC + consequence) |
| 2 | Classify severity, probability, controllability | Risk rating per hazardous event |
| 3 | Determine acceptance criteria | Quantitative targets per high-risk event |
| 4 | Define design measures for unacceptable risks | Design measure register linked to TCs |
Lab: ADAS Hazard Analysis (SOTIF HARA)
Exercise 1: SOTIF Hazard Analysis
"""SOTIF Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment."""
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import List
@dataclass
class SOTIFHazard:
hazard_id: str
tc_id: str # triggering condition
hazardous_event: str # what happens
severity: int # S0-S3 (ISO 26262)
probability: str # high/medium/low
controllability: str # controllable/difficult/uncontrollable
risk_level: str # acceptable/tolerable/unacceptable
acceptance_criterion: str
AEB_HAZARDS: List[SOTIFHazard] = [
SOTIFHazard(
hazard_id="H_AEB_001",
tc_id="TC_001",
hazardous_event="AEB fails in heavy rain; rear-end collision at 50 km/h",
severity=3,
probability="high", # rain is frequent
controllability="difficult", # rear collision hard to avoid
risk_level="unacceptable",
acceptance_criterion="Miss rate < 0.1% in light rain; HMI warning in heavy rain"
),
SOTIFHazard(
hazard_id="H_AEB_002",
tc_id="TC_003",
hazardous_event="False AEB activation on highway; rear-end by following vehicle",
severity=3,
probability="low",
controllability="difficult",
risk_level="tolerable",
acceptance_criterion="False activation rate < 0.01 per 1000 km"
),
]
for h in AEB_HAZARDS:
print(f"[{h.hazard_id}] S{h.severity} | {h.risk_level.upper()}")
print(f" {h.hazardous_event[:60]}")
print(f" Criterion: {h.acceptance_criterion}")Summary
The SOTIF hazard analysis mirrors the ISO 26262 HARA process but with a critical difference in the probability dimension: where ISO 26262 probability refers to the probability of hardware failure, SOTIF probability refers to the exposure probability of the triggering condition in the ODD. Rain is a high-probability triggering condition in European ODDs (it rains frequently); a particular construction zone configuration is low-probability. This exposure-based probability is what makes SOTIF risk assessment inherently statistical and what drives the scenario coverage targets: high-probability triggering conditions require extensive testing evidence; low-probability but high-severity conditions require conservative design measures even with limited testing evidence.
🔬 Deep Dive — Core Concepts Expanded
This section builds on the foundational concepts covered above with additional technical depth, edge cases, and configuration nuances that separate competent engineers from experts. When working on production ECU projects, the details covered here are the ones most commonly responsible for integration delays and late-phase defects.
Key principles to reinforce:
- Configuration over coding: In AUTOSAR and automotive middleware environments, correctness is largely determined by ARXML configuration, not application code. A correctly implemented algorithm can produce wrong results due to a single misconfigured parameter.
- Traceability as a first-class concern: Every configuration decision should be traceable to a requirement, safety goal, or architecture decision. Undocumented configuration choices are a common source of regression defects when ECUs are updated.
- Cross-module dependencies: In tightly integrated automotive software stacks, changing one module's configuration often requires corresponding updates in dependent modules. Always perform a dependency impact analysis before submitting configuration changes.
🏭 How This Topic Appears in Production Projects
- Project integration phase: The concepts covered in this lesson are most commonly encountered during ECU integration testing — when multiple software components from different teams are combined for the first time. Issues that were invisible in unit tests frequently surface at this stage.
- Supplier/OEM interface: This is a topic that frequently appears in technical discussions between Tier-1 ECU suppliers and OEM system integrators. Engineers who can speak fluently about these details earn credibility and are often brought into critical design review meetings.
- Automotive tool ecosystem: Vector CANoe/CANalyzer, dSPACE tools, and ETAS INCA are the standard tools used to validate and measure the correct behaviour of the systems described in this lesson. Familiarity with these tools alongside the conceptual knowledge dramatically accelerates debugging in real projects.
⚠️ Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Assuming default configuration is correct: Automotive software tools ship with default configurations that are designed to compile and link, not to meet project-specific requirements. Every configuration parameter needs to be consciously set. 'It compiled' is not the same as 'it is correctly configured'.
- Skipping documentation of configuration rationale: In a 3-year ECU project with team turnover, undocumented configuration choices become tribal knowledge that disappears when engineers leave. Document why a parameter is set to a specific value, not just what it is set to.
- Testing only the happy path: Automotive ECUs must behave correctly under fault conditions, voltage variations, and communication errors. Always test the error handling paths as rigorously as the nominal operation. Many production escapes originate in untested error branches.
- Version mismatches between teams: In a multi-team project, the BSW team, SWC team, and system integration team may use different versions of the same ARXML file. Version management of all ARXML files in a shared repository is mandatory, not optional.
📊 Industry Note
Engineers who master both the theoretical concepts and the practical toolchain skills covered in this course are among the most sought-after professionals in the automotive software industry. The combination of AUTOSAR standards knowledge, safety engineering understanding, and hands-on configuration experience commands premium salaries at OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers globally.