Using AI to Analyze Robot Failures (Generate FMEAs)

How Saphira AI Automates Failure Mode and Effects Analysis for Safer Robotics Systems

As robotics systems become more complex and autonomous, ensuring their reliability and safety becomes increasingly critical. One of the most trusted tools in safety engineering is Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)—a structured process used to identify potential failure points in a system, assess their risks, and define mitigation strategies. But traditional FMEA methods are often slow, manual, and difficult to scale across dynamic robotics projects. That's why robotics developers are turning to Saphira AI to automatically generate FMEAs, accelerate failure analysis, and seamlessly integrate it into their safety and compliance workflows.

From Manual Failure Mapping to Intelligent Automation

Saphira AI enables robotics teams to create risk assessments and analyze failure modes in just minutes. Whether importing from existing Excel-based documentation or entering hazards manually, users can quickly set up a failure analysis project. Once hazards and system functions are entered, Saphira's AI engine begins inferring critical data such as severity, likelihood, and detectability—key components in the FMEA process.

Instead of relying on manual scoring or static templates, Saphira generates consistent, standards-aligned risk evaluations based on your chosen safety frameworks, including ISO 13849, ISO 10218, or IEC 61508. This ensures that the FMEAs you generate are not only fast but also reliable, transparent, and ready for certification.

The platform's AI engine can automatically identify:

• Component-level failures in mechanical, electrical, and software systems
• System-level failures that affect overall robot performance
• Interface failures between different subsystems
• Environmental failures related to operating conditions
• Human-robot interaction failures in collaborative applications

Built-In Traceability to Control Measures and Safety Functions

With Saphira, FMEA is more than just an isolated table—it's directly connected to your broader compliance architecture. Each identified failure mode can be mapped to control measures, which are then grouped into safety functions linked to your system architecture. This built-in traceability allows your team to visualize how each potential failure is mitigated, documented, and validated. For robotics companies, this means faster iteration, tighter alignment between engineering and safety, and real confidence in the integrity of your systems.

The traceability features include:

• Failure-to-control mapping showing how each failure is addressed
• Safety function grouping organizing controls into logical safety systems
• Requirement tracing linking failures to specific regulatory requirements
• Evidence linking connecting controls to test results and validation data
• Impact analysis showing how changes affect the overall safety architecture

Generate, Analyze, and Prioritize—All in One Workflow

Using Saphira's Compliance Dashboard, you can review your FMEA results across your entire project. The "Trace Graph" and Table Views allow you to filter by criticality, residual risk, or control class, helping you focus attention where it matters most. Saphira's "Find Similar" feature identifies overlapping or duplicate control strategies, making it easy to consolidate redundant mitigations and streamline your design.

If verification and validation are required for certain mitigations, Saphira also provides autogenerated test plans—complete with acceptance criteria and even executable test code templates—so you can close the loop on your FMEA process from failure identification to final validation.

Advanced Analysis Features

Saphira's FMEA capabilities include:

• Risk Priority Number (RPN) calculation based on severity, occurrence, and detection
• Criticality analysis to identify the most important failure modes
• Failure mode clustering to group similar failure mechanisms
• Trend analysis to track failure patterns over time
• Gap analysis to identify missing controls or tests

Integrated Documentation and Certification Readiness

Whether your robot needs to meet CE Mark requirements, UL certification, or functional safety standards, Saphira prepares all the necessary documentation. Your FMEAs, hazard assessments, control measures, and validation evidence are automatically included in comprehensive safety case files, ready for submission. The platform also supports gap analysis, highlighting any missing tests or control measures needed to satisfy standards like ISO 10218 or the Machinery Directive.

The platform supports multiple certification paths:

• CE Marking for European market access
• UL certification for North American markets
• ISO 10218 for industrial robot safety
• ISO 13849 for functional safety of control systems
• IEC 61508 for broader functional safety applications

Scaling Safety with AI

Manually maintaining FMEAs across an evolving robotic system is no longer sustainable. Saphira AI empowers robotics developers to automate the most critical—and time-consuming—portions of their failure analysis and compliance workflows. By integrating FMEA generation into the broader lifecycle of safety case creation, verification, and certification, Saphira transforms failure analysis into a scalable, intelligent, and agile process.

Key Automation Capabilities

• Automatic failure mode identification based on system architecture
• Intelligent risk scoring using standards-based criteria
• Automated control measure generation for common failure modes
• Test plan generation with specific acceptance criteria
• Documentation export in multiple formats for different stakeholders

Real-World Applications

Saphira's AI-powered FMEA generation is helping robotics companies across industries:

• Manufacturing robots analyzing mechanical and control system failures
• Collaborative robots identifying human-robot interaction failure modes
• Mobile robots mapping navigation and environmental failure scenarios
• Service robots evaluating public interaction failure risks
• Autonomous systems analyzing AI decision-making failure modes

Key Benefits for Robotics Teams

Accelerated Failure Analysis

• FMEA generation in minutes instead of weeks
• Automated risk assessment reduces manual effort
• Faster iteration cycles for safety improvements

Improved Accuracy and Consistency

• AI-powered failure mode identification catches overlooked risks
• Standards-based analysis ensures regulatory compliance
• Consistent risk scoring across the entire project

Enhanced Traceability

• Complete traceability from failures to controls to evidence
• Real-time updates as the system evolves
• Clear audit trails for compliance documentation

Cost Reduction

• Reduced reliance on external safety consultants
• Faster certification cycles
• Fewer safety-related delays in product development

Integration with Safety Lifecycle

Saphira's FMEA capabilities integrate seamlessly with the broader safety lifecycle:

• Hazard analysis feeds directly into FMEA generation
• Safety case creation automatically includes FMEA results
• Test planning is generated based on identified failure modes
• Compliance reporting includes comprehensive failure analysis
• Continuous monitoring tracks failure mode evolution

Getting Started with AI-Powered FMEA

With Saphira, robotics teams can move faster, build safer, and approach certification with confidence. The platform transforms traditional failure analysis from a manual, time-consuming process into an automated, intelligent workflow that scales with your project needs.

Ready to accelerate your robotics failure analysis?
Book a demo with Saphira to see how AI can transform your FMEA process and make your robotics systems safer and more reliable.

By automating FMEA generation and integrating it into the broader safety lifecycle, Saphira AI eliminates the bottlenecks that slow down robotics development while ensuring comprehensive failure analysis and compliance with relevant standards.