On Functional Safety of Vehicle Actuation Systems in the Context of Automated Driving

One of the most important trends in the automotive domain is the increasing automation of driving functionalities. Demonstrated functionality of all contributors in this field is steadily increasing. The development moves towards systems where the driver’s tasks are executed more and more by electronic systems. With increasing automation, the driver vanishes as central safety element. Thus, the driver’s contribution to overall vehicle safety must be implemented in electronic systems. In this contribution, the impact of vehicle actuation systems on functional safety of automated vehicles is examined. By understanding automated driving as a control problem, a systems theory based analysis systematically reveals generic malfunctional behavior related to steering, brakes, and drives. Furthermore, different aspects which must be considered for designing functionally safe actuation systems are presented.