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Barr Group's experienced automotive software expert witnesses advise attorneys in product liability and intellectual property cases.  All of our experts in automotive systems technology have hands-on experience designing electronic systems for cars and trucks.  Barr Group experts have testified in high-profile multi-million dollar class action jury trials.

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

Automotive Systems Expert Witness List

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

Embedded computing pioneer with thirty years of experience designing electronics and firmware, notably for DVR-capable satellite TV receivers.
Director of one university research lab that supports NASA and another that prototypes smart grid / energy, smart roads, and other smart city projects.
Professor with decades of experience in technologies from communication protocols to smart transportation systems for connected and autonomous vehicles.
Consultant with two decades of experience developing software and mobile apps for Android, Linux, Windows, and real-time operating systems.
Artificial intelligence expert specializing in chatbot design and development, GPT and LangChain, speech recognition, and natural language processing (NLP).
Electrical engineer and consultant in telecommunications, information technology, media, electronics, and e-business with thirty years of industry experience.
Computer science professor with industry experience in system administration as well as data centers and cloud storage and a range of other technologies.
Former professor of computer science and consultant with specialized knowledge of the internal structure of the Linux operating system.
Electrical engineer with three decades of experience in safety-critical aerospace, automotive, and medical and expertise in hybrid electric vehicles.
PhD in psychology and author of two books on UI design with experience leading research to evaluate the usability of operating systems, websites, and apps.