Have you read the latest... it seems that there is a small possibility that Cosmic rays from outer space that penetrate through the Earth's atmosphere, may be a contributing factor to the unintended acceleration problem in Toyota cars. Even though they are called rays, they are actually single particles travelling close to the speed of light, and strike the earth's surface rarely but in a random fashion. Harmless to humans in low quantities, but cause problems in microprocessors and memory chips. How likely is it that cosmic rays are the problem? Could this phenomenon be connected to the brake problem also, or was this purely code?
How about some of these other possible reasons for random electronic problems that I've thought of__:
--> The introduction of RoHS (Removal of Hazardous Substances) has brought about lead-free solder. What if the absence of lead has meant electronic systems are now more susceptible to certain forms of interference?
--> Maybe the automotive Hardware and Software engineers "can't see the wood for the trees". i.e. they are all so focused on certain elements of design, that there is nobody to stand back and look at the big picture. What if the solution to Toyota's problems turns out to be something known and practiced 20 years ago...
--> Coming back to the Cosmic Ray theory... Maybe, (just maybe!), there are stray particles coming from the numerous Particle Accelerator Experiments around the globe. Maybe some are not buried deep enough underground, and during the collisions the scientists are creating particles that escape, particles that we can't even understand or detect yet!! The physicists even admit themselves that they do not know what to expect in the quest to uncover Higgs.
--> Cars are fast becoming computers on wheels... A few weeks ago, when turning on my mobile phone, the crossover burst of RF from the phone unlocked the remote control central locking in my Japanese manufactured car. Security is one thing, but safety is another. Is it possible that modern-day electronic gadgets (Quad band Blackberry phones, a faulty pacemaker, Bluetooth car kits...) are playing a part in the issue, and Toyota have stumbled across it first as they are more advanced with their electronic Engine Management Systems?
--> Rogue fragments of metal sliding around the PCB. Circuit boards are cleaned after the components are mounted, but what if minute metal shards escape onto the board afterwards during ICT testing, in-house repair or final assembly (you may not see it, but even tightening a brass screw scrapes tiny bits of metal off the brittle surface, and with the BGA balls so close to each other these days....)
--> Is somebody playing around with a military spec electromagnetic pulse, or has electronics gone as far as it can reliably go for now? ICs have become so compact, that maybe the circuits need to have a protective mini-bubble around them!
How many other manufacturers will follow Toyota, and have similar issues?
Until they know what's going on, and as a temporary proactive safety solution, maybe all new cars should be fitted with a big red 'panic' button on the dash. This old fashioned mechanical switch would instantly kill the drive-by-wire electronics and/or the fuel, but leave the brakes still operating. At the moment, it looks like people are panicking and forgetting the safety procedure during the power surge.
Any ideas, can NASA save the day?!?
@ Merlin: I take your points about mechanical hardware or the drivers themselves being possible factors. But wouldn't a mechanical fault have been troubleshooted long before now? As for the drivers, black box analysis will show if the gas pedal was held down instead of the brake (that's if the electronics in the black box data recorder can be trusted!!)
@ Dude: I've never owned a Toyota, but I admire their build quality and reliability. I thought of sabotage as a possibility myself, but maybe it's just that Toyota are so advanced that they're coming across this problem before other manufacturers. I'd love to see a Defect Concentration Diagram where red dots plotted on a World map would represent an occurance of unintended acceleration... Are there any trends??
How about some of these other possible reasons for random electronic problems that I've thought of__:
--> The introduction of RoHS (Removal of Hazardous Substances) has brought about lead-free solder. What if the absence of lead has meant electronic systems are now more susceptible to certain forms of interference?
--> Maybe the automotive Hardware and Software engineers "can't see the wood for the trees". i.e. they are all so focused on certain elements of design, that there is nobody to stand back and look at the big picture. What if the solution to Toyota's problems turns out to be something known and practiced 20 years ago...
--> Coming back to the Cosmic Ray theory... Maybe, (just maybe!), there are stray particles coming from the numerous Particle Accelerator Experiments around the globe. Maybe some are not buried deep enough underground, and during the collisions the scientists are creating particles that escape, particles that we can't even understand or detect yet!! The physicists even admit themselves that they do not know what to expect in the quest to uncover Higgs.
--> Cars are fast becoming computers on wheels... A few weeks ago, when turning on my mobile phone, the crossover burst of RF from the phone unlocked the remote control central locking in my Japanese manufactured car. Security is one thing, but safety is another. Is it possible that modern-day electronic gadgets (Quad band Blackberry phones, a faulty pacemaker, Bluetooth car kits...) are playing a part in the issue, and Toyota have stumbled across it first as they are more advanced with their electronic Engine Management Systems?
--> Rogue fragments of metal sliding around the PCB. Circuit boards are cleaned after the components are mounted, but what if minute metal shards escape onto the board afterwards during ICT testing, in-house repair or final assembly (you may not see it, but even tightening a brass screw scrapes tiny bits of metal off the brittle surface, and with the BGA balls so close to each other these days....)
--> Is somebody playing around with a military spec electromagnetic pulse, or has electronics gone as far as it can reliably go for now? ICs have become so compact, that maybe the circuits need to have a protective mini-bubble around them!
How many other manufacturers will follow Toyota, and have similar issues?
Until they know what's going on, and as a temporary proactive safety solution, maybe all new cars should be fitted with a big red 'panic' button on the dash. This old fashioned mechanical switch would instantly kill the drive-by-wire electronics and/or the fuel, but leave the brakes still operating. At the moment, it looks like people are panicking and forgetting the safety procedure during the power surge.
Any ideas, can NASA save the day?!?
@ Merlin: I take your points about mechanical hardware or the drivers themselves being possible factors. But wouldn't a mechanical fault have been troubleshooted long before now? As for the drivers, black box analysis will show if the gas pedal was held down instead of the brake (that's if the electronics in the black box data recorder can be trusted!!)
@ Dude: I've never owned a Toyota, but I admire their build quality and reliability. I thought of sabotage as a possibility myself, but maybe it's just that Toyota are so advanced that they're coming across this problem before other manufacturers. I'd love to see a Defect Concentration Diagram where red dots plotted on a World map would represent an occurance of unintended acceleration... Are there any trends??