Consultants say interference in vehicle electronics is possible

[DainBramaged]

Testing by Toyota Motor Corp. and other automakers has never detected electronic causes of sudden acceleration because it has looked for the wrong evidence and because this evidence is difficult to detect, three British consultants with doctorates in engineering said today.

The consultants, who expect to meet tomorrow with U.S. investigators, said Toyota's pedal assembly and electronic throttle-control system have a number of parts that aren't shielded against electromagnetic interference, or EMI.

“Thirty years' empirical evidence overwhelmingly points to (sudden acceleration) being caused by electronic system faults undetectable by inspection or testing,” said Keith Armstrong, a engineering consultant from the United Kingdom who appeared with two other engineers at a Washington news conference organized here by consumer advocates.

Armstrong, who said he was interviewed last month by U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigators, said the problem with electronic interference is industrywide. “EMI is endemic in electronics,” he said. EMI is electrical disturbances in the circuits.

Real-life EMI

Tests by Toyota and other automakers don't cover most real-life EMI, nor do they simulate typical faults to verify that backup measures work, Armstrong said.

NHTSA is looking into possible links between electronic defects and loss of speed control.

Studies have shown that Toyota has had more complaints about unintended acceleration over the past decade than any other automaker.


Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100323/OEM/100329954/1143#ixzz0j6aZW8kp

[MindPilot]

1. I recall, back in the seventies and early eighties when I worked for Ford

There were issues with the electronic engine controls and CB radios. Some dude in a cab-over Kenny with three 1kw linears under his seat, punched the PTT button and your car just quit running, only to restart with no problem a minute later.

[Liberal In Texas]

2. Cell phone intereference.

Bet ya.

[KittyWampus]

3. Yes, it is industry wide. Which is why the Toyota pile-on reeks. A DU'er posted about this

Electronic interference and said it can be controlled by something like padding (IIRC) but this is expensive so it's a cost issue.

[Old and In the Way]

4. If the black box is properly shielded (create a faraday cage),

I'd think that would suffice. That can be done with carbon black in the plastic resin, metalizing the plastics or using a metal box to shield the CPU from EMI.

[DainBramaged]

7. Too many modules which are now programmable throughout the vehicle

chassis control, body control, drive train, cabin, entertainment, all are in addition to the main computer that controls engine/emissions functions. In a GM vehicle, when a module goes bad, it has to be reprogrammed upon replacement via a computer hooked up to the web. Toyota does the EXACT SAME THING, but they refuse to allow unfettered access to their systems like GM, Ford and Chrysler have.


I wonder why????????

[Old and In the Way]

8. Obviously, the more CPU's you have controlling stuff, the more chances

you have for I/O errors. But I was responding specifically to the EMI issue. There are a variety of ways to isolate the modules from EMI. Faulty cpu's are another issue entirely.

[DainBramaged]

6. Studies have shown that Toyota has had more complaints about unintended acceleration

over the past decade than any other automaker.


That sentence speaks for itself. Ask the 53 families of the dead if it's piling on.

[TexasObserver]

5. "Tests by Toyota ... don't cover most real-life EMI, nor do they simulate typical faults"

Yep.

Here's a thought that many - including some of the police "investigating" such incidents - don't seem to consider: asking the people who created the problem to find it may not work out. Traditionally, we get experts unassociated with the defense of the product to give unbiased opinions. The guy covering his tracks is the wrong person to ask.

[MineralMan]

9. I figured it out. Toyota's computers are running

Linux, with the source code modified by a 15 year old kid. That must be it.