Design and Development of a Functional Safety Compliant Electric Power Steering System

ISO 26262 is an international standard for the functional safety of electric and electronic systems in vehicles, and this standard has become a major issue in the automotive industry. In this paper, a functional safety compliant electronic control unit (ECU) for an electric power steering (EPS) system and a demonstration purposed EPS system are developed, and a software and hardware structure for a safety critical system is presented. EPS is the most recently introduced power steering technology for vehicles, and it can improve driver's convenience and fuel efficiency. In conformity with the design process specified in ISO 26262, the Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) of an EPS system is evaluated, and hardware and software are designed based on an asymmetric dual processing unit architecture and an external watchdog. The developed EPS system effectively demonstrates the fault detection and diagnostic functions of a functional safety compliant ECU as well as the basic EPS functions.