Do Car Safety Problems Come From Outer Space? 437
Hugh Pickens writes "As electronic devices are made to perform more and more functions on smaller circuit chips, the systems become more sensitive and vulnerable to corruption from single event upsets. This is especially true of Toyota, which has led the auto industry in its widespread inclusion of electronic controls in the manufacture of their various car models. 'These circuit families store not just data, but their basic function electrically,' says Lloyd W. Massengill, director of engineering at the Vanderbilt Institute for Space and Defense Electronics at Vanderbilt University. 'In the unfortunate event of a particle flipping just the right bit, a circuit configured to carry out a benign action may be reprogrammed to carry out some unintended action.' Denise Chow writes in Live Science that some scientists are pointing to cosmic ray radiation as a plausible mechanism behind the sudden, unexplained acceleration reported to have occurred with the late model Toyotas."
"As the design of automobile systems continues to evolve from mechanical to electronic controls, relying more and more on various circuitry and chips, these electronic components may be vulnerable to being confounded by high-energy radiation writes Chow. Federal regulators were prompted to look into the possible role that cosmic rays played in Toyota's product recall fiasco after an anonymous tipster suggested the design of Toyota's microprocessors, software and memory chips could make them more vulnerable (PDF) to interference from radiation compared with other automakers. 'What's not known is what direction Toyota and other automakers are taking in terms of finding and correcting these issues,' says senior researcher Ewart Blackmore."
Re:Why they tell you to turn off your phone... (Score:5, Funny)
How about safe languages? (Score:3, Funny)
I bet they still use C for these kinds of things, how about something safer, such as Eiffel?
Re:Why they tell you to turn off your phone... (Score:1, Funny)
How can you protect yourself from that checksum algorithm not getting flipped? What if that single-bit error caused the checksum algo to do some assembly magic and start injecting its benign code into places where it would be malignant!?
This just proves how vulnerable electric cars really are!
Space Rays, My Ass (Score:5, Funny)
This type of thing is just plain bat shit crazy. There is a problem somewhere in Toyota's system somewhere. Either a software bug or bad chips or something real and tangible
If someone here on
Re:Everyone Loves Space Ray (Score:4, Funny)
Space Ray: Hey, Deborah, did you hear what happened to my car?
Deborah: Don't worry about it, Space Ray, you didn't cause it this time (simulated audience laughter)
With a special guest appearance by Ace Frehley as "Just Another Confused Alien". Coming up right after "The Ghosts of Gilligan's Island"
Problem IS from outer space... (Score:3, Funny)
Since the biggest Toyota runaway story has turned out to be a problem exists between seat and pedals situation..
Ignorant alien between seat and pedals. Toyotas were designed for humans to drive. 'nuff said.
Re:Why they tell you to turn off your phone... (Score:5, Funny)
But what if my car is already red?
What if the cosmic rays... (Score:4, Funny)
Single-bit errors shouldn't send the car out of control... there should be some checksum that shouldn't add up.
What if the cosmic rays corrupted the checksum routine?
The mind boggles!
Re:Why they tell you to turn off your phone... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Why they tell you to turn off your phone... (Score:3, Funny)
Ummm, that wasn't safe mode. I did it, and my car turned into an Autobot. How the hell do I make it into a car again? I have to drive to work in the morning. It might seem cool, but having a giant robot walking down the highway is bound to freak out at least a few people. DHS may have something to say about my walking car with giant guns too.