Automotive
When software goes on strike: car recalls at record levels - software quality assurance still not a discipline in itself
There has been a growing number of recalls for remedial measures recently, which are very cost-intensive for both manufacturers and suppli-ers. Cases in point include airbags that do not inflate, wrong injection sequences, problems with the anti-lock braking system and vehicles forced to a halt because the signal from the control software indicating that the fuel tank is empty is too late. All these incidents are caused by faults in the software of the relevant system. The question is: what can be done - despite cost pressures - to ensure that the need for recalls is eliminated and even save costs in the development process at the same time?
The quality assurance of production processes in the automotive
industry is generally considered to have been the trailblazer
for other indus-tries. This is not at all the case in the
area of software development, where the processes are often
not fully matured, in spite of the dramatic increase in the
amount of software required for the functions of a vehicle. more 