Incident: Airbag Sensor Software Failure in Nissan Recalled Vehicles.

Published Date: 2015-03-22

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident with the Nissan recalls happened in 2013 and last year, as per the article [34290]. Therefore, the timeline of the software failure incident can be estimated as follows: Step 1: The incident occurred in 2013 and last year. Step 2: The article was published on 2015-03-22. Step 3: Based on the information, the software failure incident with the Nissan recalls likely occurred in 2014. Estimated timeline: 2014
System 1. Front-seat airbag seat sensors system in Nissan vehicles: - Altima midsize car - Leaf electric car - Pathfinder SUV - Sentra compact models - NV200 Taxi van - Infiniti JX35 SUV - Infiniti QX60 SUV - Infiniti Q50 SUV - Models from 2013 and 2014 model years - Models from 2013 and 2014 [34290]
Responsible Organization 1. Nissan - The software failure incident involving the front-seat airbag seat sensors in nearly 990,000 vehicles was attributed to Nissan [34290].
Impacted Organization 1. Vehicle owners of Nissan models such as Altima, Leaf, Pathfinder, Sentra, NV200 Taxi, Infiniti JX35, QX60, and Q50 from the 2013 and 2014 model years [34290].
Software Causes 1. The software cause of the failure incident was the computer software failing to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating [34290].
Non-software Causes 1. The failure incident was caused by a problem with front-seat airbag seat sensors that the computer software may fail to detect, leading to the airbags not inflating [34290].
Impacts 1. The software failure incident led to a situation where the airbags in the affected vehicles may not inflate if the computer software fails to detect an adult in the passenger seat, potentially compromising passenger safety [34290].
Preventions 1. Implementing thorough testing procedures before releasing the software updates to ensure the detection of potential issues like the failure to detect an adult in the passenger seat [34290]. 2. Conducting comprehensive quality assurance checks to verify the effectiveness of the software fixes in detecting passengers and triggering airbag inflation [34290].
Fixes 1. Updating the computer software to ensure it properly detects an adult in the passenger seat [34290].
References 1. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) [34290]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization The software failure incident related to the Nissan recalls involved a problem with front-seat airbag seat sensors where the computer software may fail to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 124 people complained about the issue happening even after repairs were made, indicating that the problem persisted despite the recall fixes [34290]. This suggests that the software failure incident happened again within the same organization (Nissan) despite the attempted fixes.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in the reported articles is related to the design phase. The issue stems from computer software that may fail to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. This problem was identified after the vehicles were recalled in 2013 and last year, indicating a design flaw in the software's functionality [34290]. (b) There is no specific information in the articles pointing to the software failure incident being related to the operation phase or misuse of the system.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) The software failure incident related to the Nissan recalls not fixing the problem with front-seat airbag seat sensors is within_system. The article mentions that the recall was issued because the computer software may fail to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. This issue is directly related to the software within the vehicles' systems [34290].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident in this case is related to non-human actions. The article mentions that the recall was issued because the computer software may fail to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. This indicates a failure in the software's functionality without direct human involvement in causing the issue [34290].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) hardware, software (a) The software failure incident in the articles is related to hardware. The issue is with the front-seat airbag seat sensors not detecting an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. The problem is attributed to computer software that may fail to detect the presence of an adult in the passenger seat, which is a hardware-related issue [34290].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident described in Article 34290 is non-malicious. The failure is related to a problem with front-seat airbag seat sensors in Nissan vehicles, where the computer software may fail to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating complaints about this issue, and Nissan maintains that the fixes made during the recalls should have addressed the problem [34290].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown The articles do not provide specific information about whether the software failure incident related to the Nissan recalls was due to poor decisions or accidental decisions. Therefore, the intent behind the software failure incident is unknown.
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) unknown The software failure incident related to the Nissan recalls for airbag seat sensors does not indicate any specific information about the failure being due to development incompetence or accidental factors. The articles do not provide details that would allow us to determine whether the failure was caused by lack of professional competence or accidental introduction of contributing factors. Therefore, the specific cause of the software failure in this case remains unknown based on the provided articles.
Duration temporary The software failure incident described in Article 34290 seems to fall under the category of a temporary failure. The article mentions that the recall was issued because the computer software may fail to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. However, Nissan maintains that the fixes made during the recall should have taken care of the problem. This indicates that the software failure is not a permanent issue but rather one that can be addressed through specific repairs or updates.
Behaviour crash (a) crash: The software failure incident in the articles is related to a crash behavior where the computer software may fail to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. This failure results in the system losing its state and not performing its intended function of detecting the presence of an adult in the passenger seat [34290].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception embedded_software The software failure incident reported in Article 34290 is related to the embedded software error. The article mentions that the recall was due to computer software that may fail to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to the airbags not inflating. This indicates a failure in the embedded software responsible for detecting the presence of an adult in the passenger seat [34290].
Communication unknown The article does not provide specific details indicating whether the software failure incident related to the Nissan recalls was specifically linked to the communication layer of the cyber-physical system. Therefore, it is unknown whether the failure was at the link_level or connectivity_level.
Application TRUE Based on the information provided in Article 34290, the software failure incident related to the Nissan recalls was not explicitly mentioned to be related to the application layer of the cyber physical system. The article focused on the issue with the front-seat airbag seat sensors and the computer software's failure to detect an adult in the passenger seat, leading to airbags not inflating. Therefore, it is unknown whether the failure was specifically related to the application layer of the cyber physical system as described in the question.

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence harm The consequence of the software failure incident reported in Article 34290 is related to option (b) harm. The article mentions that if the software fails to detect an adult in the passenger seat, the airbags won't inflate, potentially causing physical harm to individuals in case of an accident [34290].
Domain transportation (a) The failed system was intended to support the transportation industry. The software failure incident involved vehicles, including the Altima midsize car, Leaf electric car, Pathfinder SUV, Sentra compact models, NV200 Taxi van, Infiniti JX35 SUV, Infiniti QX60, and Q50 SUVs [34290].

Sources

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