Hacking public transportation systems is always depicted on TV and movies. And they make it seem so easy… it only takes seconds for these fictional experts. Is it a reality?
Well, the Amtrak train derailment that occurred earlier this year in Philadelphia got me thinking about “hacking” as a…
Pressure can be good. It creates diamonds, right? It can help us focus; may move us to learn something new. It can help reduce procrastination. However pressure can quickly turn into a bad thing if it causes us to skip important process steps or to force a release because…
Sure, you might think I’ve got it made… sitting here on my perch telling you what you need to do to meet IEC 61508, while you sit there with all the work to do. Well, it wasn’t always that way. I was in your shoes, responsible for achieving functional…
We’re only human. Most of the time, that is a good thing. But humans seem to accept more risk over time when nothing bad has happened. We lose our vigilance. We take more chances. A close call might only be remembered as an unusually rare anomaly instead of a…
Many products have options and features that are valuable to users. But not all these features should be permitted while the product is performing a safety function. For example, HART communications should not be permitted to write data to a transmitter while it’s performing the safety function. If you…
Some designs push their operating specifications right up to the limit of the components in the system or device. (let’s not talk about the designs that try to spec a limit that is beyond the capability of one or more components… phooey on them!) And if you make a…
Plane crash?
Earthquake?
Ebola outbreak?
Shark attack?
There are probably lots more things to add to that list. What could we do to prevent them? Not too much for some… a little more for others. But would those mitigations be practical? What tolerable risk can we accept for these…
Simply stated, the 2nd edition of IEC 61508 is the relevant standard for newly developed products and new certifications. This represents the current best practices on functional safety techniques and measures, and is what the marketplace expects for today’s products.
Renewed certifications can use the 1st edition of…
I’ve heard this phrase so many times in my life… “<Something> is the best thing since sliced bread.” I personally can’t remember a time when sliced bread was not available, but I certainly remember going to the deli and having them use the slicing machine before handing me a bag…
When I start working with new customers for IEC 61508 certification projects, it’s easy to understand why they might not have a compliant development process for functional safety: they’ve never done it before! They understand their market and their products, but they need help to understand the…
At least I do. Sometimes I wonder how I could forget certain things. Maybe it’s age? Maybe it’s information overload? It’s always apparent when I get ready to go on vacation. You’ve probably been in the same situation… arriving at your destination only to find that the one thing…
Estimating time and cost for a project, or even part of a project, can be tricky. Breaking down the tasks into subparts must be done or you don’t stand a chance. Given enough time, you can develop an accurate estimate and put a good plan in place. But sometimes…