Automotive Systems Expert Witnesses

Electronic Automotive Systems

Motorcycles, cars, and trucks are increasingly powered by networks of embedded systems, each of which is a combination of software and electronics. Some modern vehicles have over one hundred processors and when even one of these electronic automotive systems malfunctions, the results can be deadly. Barr Group is in the business of designing reliable and secure computers and our team of expert software engineers, electrical engineers, and mechanical engineers is intimately familiar with electronic automotive subsystems including:

• Engine control units (ECU) and transmissions
• Anti-lock braking systems​ (ABS)
• Navigation systems and GPS
• Airbag controllers and electronic data recorders (EDR)
• Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)
• Automotive vision systems and self-driving technologies
• Other vehicle safety and security systems
• In-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and telematics like OnStar
• CAN busses and related SAE network protocols
• Hybrid and electric vehicles and battery charging

Barr Group's software experts are familiar with all of the operating systems used by carmakers, including real-time operating systems like OSEK and QNX, and Android/Linux, as well as all programming languages such as assembly, C, C++, and Matlab.  And we are just as comfortable with electronic circuits and ASICs and the Verilog and VHDL languages.

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Expert Witness Services

Barr Group's automotive software experts support plaintiffs and defendants in litigation in U.S. District Courts, at the International Trade Commission (ITC), and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Our services include:

• Technical assistance with drafting of discovery requests
• Software source code review and analysis
• Source code comparisons for copyright and trade secret theft
• Analysis of electronics and related design documents
• Prior art review for patent invalidity
• Reverse engineering, including disassembly of binary code
• Forensic analysis and accident reconstruction
• Crash data retrieval and analysis
• Expert reports, declarations, and witness statements
• Testimony at deposition, oral hearings, and trials

Our experience with automotive litigation is extensive and includes source code analysis and testimony in the runaway Toyota economic loss and personal injury cases as well as in suits relating to excess VW diesel emissions, faulty MyFord Touch subsystems, and deadly GM ignition switches.

Barr Group has a demonstrated ability to quickly activate one or more code reviewers to match the size, scope, and complexity of any project.

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Further Reading

• Automotive Grade Linux for Infotainment
• Toyota Unintended Acceleration: A Source Code Case Study

The following is a representative subset of Barr Group's experts who have experience designing and/or testifying about these technologies:

Who are Barr Group's Automotive Systems expert witnesses?

Barr Group's Automotive Systems expert witness roster holds 84 anonymized, prequalified profiles; a selection follows, and matched recommendations from the full roster are free to the attorney.

• Embedded Software Design Expert Witness. Barr Group's embedded software expert witness has more than twenty-five years of software industry experience and has testified more than twenty times before judges and juries in U.S. and Canadian courts.
• Secure Computer Systems Expert Witness. Barr Group's embedded electronics and software expert witness has extensive product development and computer security experience and has testified in automotive product liability, software forensics, and source code intellectual property cases.
• Electronic Vehicle Controls Expert Witness. Barr Group's automotive electronic subsystems expert witness has over forty years of industry experience in vehicle electrical and electronic architectures, power generation and distribution, smart and analog sensors, driver assistance and safety features, and mild hybrid dual voltage bus systems.
• Battery Chemistry Expert Witness. Barr Group's battery and energy storage expert witness has more than thirty years of experience in battery, materials, and control system technology and has analyzed catastrophic battery system failures to determine root causes and cascading failure modes.
• GPS & Navigation Systems Expert Witness. Barr Group's GNSS and location-based services expert witness has twenty-five years of navigation technology experience spanning global positioning systems, geolocation and tracking, mobile and IoT devices, and cloud-based services across the consumer electronics and automotive industries.
• Embedded Firmware Architecture Expert Witness. Barr Group's embedded firmware architecture expert witness has over 30 years of experience with real-time operating systems and hardware-software interfacing for safety-critical automotive and medical devices, with litigation experience in automotive product liability and patent disputes.
• Power Electronics and Motor Drive Expert Witness. Barr Group's power electronics expert witness has over two decades of experience designing switch-mode power supplies, wide-bandgap semiconductor converters, and permanent magnet synchronous motors for aerospace and defense propulsion applications.
• Lithium Battery Ultracapacitor Expert Witness. Barr Group's lithium battery and ultracapacitor expert witness has thirty years of industry experience in portable power, including managing the team that first commercialized lithium-ion battery technology in North America.
• Secure Embedded Systems Expert Witness. Barr Group's embedded systems security expert witness has over 15 years of experience with ARM TrustZone trusted applications, embedded Linux cryptography, secure boot, and binary reverse engineering across defense, automotive, and commercial systems.
• NFC Security and Mobile Payments Expert Witness. Barr Group's Near Field Communications security expert witness has over 15 years of experience in mobile payment systems, secure elements, Host Card Emulation, FIDO authentication, and cryptographic protocols, with extensive expert witness experience in intellectual property litigation.