Well, NASA doesn't have a roll in space anymore so why not fix cars.GM is building robots for spaceAnd in further stunning news about the shake-up of various responsibilities NOAA will be assuming the roles of the DoD
Since the problems are with Toyota cars shouldn't JAXA be tasked with this effort?
Jokes aside it's because the sudden acceleration issues are believed to be partly caused by cosmic rays.
Toyota has a history of trying to use the most cutting edge electronics in cars and they where using smaller process ICs then the other manufactures which are more susceptible to radiation issues.
One interesting thing the electronic throttle's benefit is mostly on making hybrid drives more seemless.It is pretty much pointless complexity on a non hybrid vehicle.
Some stuff was just stupidity on their part the single fault layer on the throttle control
the 3 second delay in shut down
removing the mechanical links in the shifter for selecting neutral
and not having the neutral position of the shifter disable power to the hybrid drive are just bad engineering.
Quote from: Patchouli on 04/03/2010 04:45 amJokes aside it's because the sudden acceleration issues are believed to be partly caused by cosmic rays.Do you have any relevant sources to support that claim?
I honestly wonder if it is a shielding/grounding issue, I had a GEN 1 '02 prius a while back and a first generation XM Delphi radio. On long drives the XM would randomly freak out and stop working. Same radio works fine in my wife's honda (been in there the last to years), never an issue. To get it to work fine in my ole prius I had to slap some ferrite's on the thing. When I got my newer Gen 2 '05 prius I no longer needed the ferrite's for the skyfi, but still leaves me wondering. I since upgraded to an XM inno and no issues to date.I suspect they have some grounding/shielding issues myself... Maybe cosmic, maybe mechanical (They did identify two separate weaknesses in the design), possible sw? Only a good rigorous systems engineering based review of the design will find if any additional ghosts lurk in the machine. I think that is what NASA brings to the table.NASA, the only place I know that can have endless meetings and at the end of the day actually do some amazing things despite all the meetings. It may be ITAR to explain how they pull that one off, but I really really would love to know how they do it
This is complete incorrect. You *can* select neutal all the time, even with the gas pedal floored. You can do it two ways: either you select "N" with the shifter and hold it there for 1s, or you tap the "P" (Park) button and the neutral is engaged immediately (if you press the "P" button while driving, it selects neutral, not park - this is a safety feature). If you do that while stomping on the gas, the engine would shut off automatically. Again, I *tried* that with my *own* car and I can confirm that it works as I say.
I don't necessarily mind some of the drive by wire technology, but it's scary if the claims of some Toyota drivers that the automatic transmission wouldn't respond in runaway incidents are true. And e-brakes are becoming common. Subaru, for example, replaced the good 'ol cable operated parking brake with an electronic brake controlled by a button on the dash on the redesigned Legacy. There has already been a software update in response to uncommanded parking brake releases on that vehicle. Call me old fashioned, but when we start relying on electronics and software for even the parking brake, maybe we're taking it a bit too far!
Quote from: vt_hokie on 04/05/2010 04:03 amI don't necessarily mind some of the drive by wire technology, but it's scary if the claims of some Toyota drivers that the automatic transmission wouldn't respond in runaway incidents are true. And e-brakes are becoming common. Subaru, for example, replaced the good 'ol cable operated parking brake with an electronic brake controlled by a button on the dash on the redesigned Legacy. There has already been a software update in response to uncommanded parking brake releases on that vehicle. Call me old fashioned, but when we start relying on electronics and software for even the parking brake, maybe we're taking it a bit too far!I could not agree more I don't mind electronic throttle if there is redundancy as found on GMs and Fords but the parking brake should be a pure mechanical affair that will work even if the battery is dead.If I was head of the company I'd fire the baka who came up with the button operated brake on the spot.I'd do it personally vs have HR do it.Electronic e-brakes and primary brakes that cannot operate in pure hydraulic mode as a backup really need to be outlawed by the NHSTA