How do you make sure your embedded system is safe and reliable?

1 Define your requirements

Before you start developing your embedded system, you need to define your requirements clearly and precisely. What is the purpose of your system? What are the functional and non-functional specifications? What are the constraints and assumptions? What are the risks and hazards? You should document your requirements using a formal or semi-formal method, such as UML, SysML, or statecharts. This will help you to communicate your vision, validate your design, and verify your implementation.

2 Choose your hardware and software

The next step is to choose your hardware and software components based on your requirements. You should consider factors such as cost, performance, power consumption, memory, compatibility, and availability. You should also select the appropriate tools and platforms for your development environment, such as compilers, debuggers, simulators, or IDEs. You should follow the standards and guidelines for your domain, such as MISRA C for automotive systems or IEC 61508 for safety-critical systems.

3 Implement your code

Once you have your hardware and software ready, you can start implementing your code. You should follow the best practices for embedded software development, such as using modular and reusable code, avoiding dynamic memory allocation, checking for errors and exceptions, and commenting your code. You should also use coding standards and conventions, such as naming, formatting, and documentation. You should use version control and configuration management tools to track and manage your code changes.

4 Test your system

Testing your system is crucial for ensuring its safety and reliability. You should plan and execute different types of tests, such as unit tests, integration tests, system tests, and acceptance tests. You should use test cases, test scripts, test harnesses, and test tools to automate and simplify your testing process. You should also perform code reviews, static analysis, and code coverage analysis to detect and correct any defects or vulnerabilities in your code.

5 Debug your system

Even with thorough testing, your system may still have some bugs or issues that need to be fixed. Debugging your system involves finding and resolving the root causes of the problems using various techniques and tools. You should use breakpoints, watchpoints, tracepoints, and logging to monitor and control your system behavior. You should also use oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, and probes to measure and analyze your system signals and parameters.

6 Maintain your system

After you deploy your system, you need to maintain it regularly to ensure its safety and reliability. Maintenance involves updating, repairing, or replacing your system components as needed. You should monitor your system performance, reliability, and security using sensors, indicators, or feedback mechanisms. You should also collect and analyze data from your system using diagnostics, statistics, or analytics tools. You should document your system changes, issues, and solutions using reports, manuals, or logs.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?