Indsendt af
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet
Resumé
Embedded systems are the invisible computers integrated inside physical products, controlling large parts on the devices and infrastructure we use everyday (e.g., a mobile phone). Such systems are a key enabler of the innovations in most FORSK 2020 themes. They are increasingly used in safety-critical areas, where they can endanger human life, the environment, or lead to large financial losses (e.g., cars, medical devices, trains). Safety-critical embedded systems (SCS) face serious challenges due to new, cost-effective, but unreliable consumer technologies and the pressures from the marked and from regulatory authorities. Denmark needs more research in this area, the industry needs broader expertise, and we need to communicate better to the society the risks and benefits associated with the widespread use of safety-critical systems.
Udfordring og muligheder
Most of the themes identified by FORSK 2020 use embedded systems as a key enabler of delivering the innovation required. For example, in the automotive area, 80% of the innovations are due to such systems.
SCS are a crosscutting innovation enabler across most themes. In particular, 3.1 digital opportunities and solutions, mentions that “a major challenge [is] to develop robust, reliable and safe systems which account for integration, design and user interaction. One example is the health sector with great potentials for the use of ICT-based solutions in diagnostics, treatment”, and that “research […] can contribute to security, safety, protection and reliability for the ICT systems […], not least within critical systems such as control systems for driver-less trains or for hospitals where mistakes may cost lives or have other catastrophic consequences” and “to ensure that the ICT systems integrated in physical products [that is, safety-critical embedded systems] and systems which link devices via the Internet work efficiently, securely and reliably”. Other themes are: energy infrastructure, building automation, electric vehicles, intelligent active houses (Section 1.1 in FORSK 2020), sensors monitoring the environment, radar and satellite systems (1.3), food production (1.4), personalized diagnostic devices (2.1), healthcare infrastructure (2.2), robots and industrial systems (3.2), sensor technology (3.3), transport, logistics, control of the public infrastructures (4.3).
SCS are increasingly used in safety-critical areas. Because they can endanger the human life and the environment (think of a malfunctioning IC4 brake computer), the regulatory authorities are demanding very strict certification. Because of this, the development cost of SCS is prohibitively high. There are cost-effective technologies used in non-critical consumer embedded systems (think of the multi-core processor in a smartphone), but they cannot be used for SCS because they are not reliable enough. The problem of developing cost-effective and safe SCS is an unsolved challenge, which requires more research; otherwise, we cannot use embedded systems to deliver innovation in safety-critical areas.
Målsætning
Embedded systems and ICT solutions have been consistently used to deliver more innovation in many areas. When such systems are used in safety-critical areas, there are serious limitations to the currently available solutions: they end up costing too much in order to guarantee the required safety.
The objective is to develop new hardware architectures, embedded software, development methods and processes, which can at the same time reduce development and certification costs, and deliver safe, reliable, low-cost and energy-efficient components and systems.
Innovationsbehov
Currently, companies do not know how to deliver cost-effective and safe solutions, and many sub-standard and very costly solutions are being deployed. Research and technology transfer in this area will enable the Danish companies to build cost-effective and safe SCS delivering innovative solutions.
Research is needed for new architectures, both hardware and software, targeted towards SCS, new methods to tackle the increasing complexity and increasing development and certification costs and new certification standards, adapted to the new technologies. New research is also needed to understand the interaction within infrastructure-critical systems-of-systems. Denmark needs to educate more engineers who can deal with the system engineering of complex safety-critical systems, and needs to educate the general public on the risks and benefits associated with SCS.
De danske forudsætninger
There are many Danish companies (both SMEs and large companies, such as Danfoss) delivering innovative embedded systems solutions. The problem is that, increasingly, these embedded systems are used in safety-critical areas, where they could endanger human life, the environment, or lead to huge financial losses. For example, think of the NovoPen Echo delivering insulin to diabetics. To stay competitive, Novo Nordisk had to develop their own insulin delivery device, although they are not an ICT company. Developing such a product has been very costly, and it is still very limited in terms of functionality (we know, for example, how to build an artificial pancreas delivering insulin, it is just too costly to do it in a safe way).
Even in non-critical areas, repeated failures due to computer systems lead to perceived low quality, and beneficiaries demand certification at high safety standards even for non-critical products, to ensure a high quality level.
Effekter og potentialer
In many areas, embedded safety-critical systems deliver the majority of the innovations. But we have now reached a limit: it is too costly to use embedded systems in safety-critical areas. Current societal challenges require us to continue to use embedded systems and, as discussed, many current challenges (from energy to health-care and industrial systems) need safe solutions—failures can endanger the human life and the environment. Research in this area will enable Danish companies to deliver cost-effective embedded systems solutions even in safety-critical areas.