Design error - the enemy of safe and robust control systems

The design of control systems was investigated in a 2012 study to determine the factors causing design error in control technologies. Designers and end-users from around the world were surveyed to investigate those stages during the design process where errors can occur that later emerge as design-induced errors for network controllers in safety critical industries. The survey results were then checked and validated in face-to-face interviews with Australian designers and network controllers. As might be expected, the greatest risks of error are perceived to occur during the concept development and testing stages of the design process, with lower levels of risk occurring during the writing of specifications, development and engineering, and implementation stages. The results of this study are informing the development of a series of tests that can be applied during the design process of new control systems to mitigate control error.