Present and future safety challenges of computer control

Abstract

Computer-based control systems have gradually assumed control of the national energy consumption. Computers have gone from control of a few percent of the nation's total prime-mover (engine) horsepower to an overwhelming majority through application to vehicle engines, which are 95% of total national prime-mover horsepower. If an accident is defined as an undesired release of energy causing injury or loss, then unintended computer-control operations or malfunction could affect the national safety picture. As computer-controlled systems move from military/space applications to mass consumer products, these systems are subject to abuse and operating conditions that tax any program design. Such systems will enter the national product-liability situation, where computer-system designs will be judged not only on their ability to operate as intended, but on their ability to compensate safely for foreseeable misuse. Present and future problems of computer control are discussed in this context.<>