Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Haven't found that software glitch, Toyota? Keep trying
Los Angeles Times ^ | March 11, 2010 | David M. Cummings

Posted on 03/15/2010 3:54:27 PM PDT by dickmc

While the Toyota portion of the article is informative, the really interesting is the authors remarks on:

As anyone with experience in embedded systems will tell you, there are nasty software bugs that can be extremely difficult to reproduce in a laboratory test environment. To illustrate, I'd like to describe one such bug we encountered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory while developing the flight software for NASA's Mars Pathfinder spacecraft....
much more experience is detailed in the article here which is quite interesting and well worth reading.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Science
KEYWORDS: software; toyota
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-31 last
To: Ramius

Could be RF interference. There is a ton of RF energy floating around, especially in urban areas and along roads. RF interference wouldn’t be hard to prove one way or the other, though. Half an afternoon with Toyota, a signal generator and PA and I could determine fairly conclusively whether or not RF was the culprit.


21 posted on 03/15/2010 4:16:56 PM PDT by Thermalseeker (Stop the insanity - Flush Congress!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Thermalseeker

This is of no danger to anyone, but a friend of mine has a 2 year old Caddy. When she parks her car on the North side of the local JCPenney store her remote door locks will not work. If she parks on the east side they work fine. The problem only happens there and can be duplicated each and every time. The service dept can duplicate the problem at that location but no where else. The only thing they have come up with as a possibility is the RFID transceiver at JCPenney. Her answer is “just park on the east”.


22 posted on 03/15/2010 4:32:40 PM PDT by techrules2002
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: dickmc
are packed with up to 100 million lines of computer code, more than in some jet fighters.

The F-86 Sabre is a "jet fighter". So is the MiG-15.

Jus' Sayin'.

23 posted on 03/15/2010 4:37:49 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: ArrogantBustard

But do they have 100 million lines of code?


24 posted on 03/15/2010 4:43:14 PM PDT by James C. Bennett
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

The more I hear the more I think this goes beyond software.


25 posted on 03/15/2010 4:57:01 PM PDT by CodeToad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: James C. Bennett
Yes. Ninety percent of them are blanks or comments.

≤]B^)

26 posted on 03/15/2010 5:46:14 PM PDT by Erasmus (Lying fallow in preparation for planting season)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: James C. Bennett
Airbus...a million software bugs flying in close formation.

We have lots of military jets that are "fly by wire". F16, F117 and F22. The aerodynamics of the F117 are such that only a computer can fly the damn thing.

27 posted on 03/15/2010 8:52:41 PM PDT by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Myrddin

Actually the aerodynamics of most fighter planes are “geometrically unstable” to be flown by controls directly linked to the pilot. Computers make thousands of minute adjustments per second to keep the plane stable in flight.

This isn’t just with the F-117.


28 posted on 03/15/2010 9:59:27 PM PDT by James C. Bennett
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: techrules2002
The only thing they have come up with as a possibility is the RFID transceiver at JCPenney.

Could be a reflection off the building from a high powered FM or TV transmitter nearby, or a harmonic from a combination of sources like that. Anything powerful enough to cause a problem like that should be fairly easy to identify if you have the right test gear and knowledge of how to use it. The RFID transceivers have very low effective radiated power. I doubt that is the source. There might be a cell site on the roof of the JC Penny's that could be interacting with a high power RF source, causing a harmonic that the door locks don't like, too. That would be the first place I'd look.

29 posted on 03/15/2010 10:27:15 PM PDT by Thermalseeker (Stop the insanity - Flush Congress!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: cake_crumb
IIRC, the Answer is 48.

"The answer is.....is.....42."


30 posted on 03/16/2010 1:51:45 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: dickmc
Toyota Problems Caused By Cosmic Rays?
31 posted on 03/17/2010 8:26:42 AM PDT by syriacus (Obama says we shouldn't infer that a HUMONGOUS gov't health bill will lead to any gov't takeover.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-31 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson