Anonymous Coward
User ID: 865798
 United States
03/31/2010 02:23 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' The studies will focus attention on the reliability of computers that help run today’s vehicles. Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has said it found no evidence that the systems are at fault for sudden bursts of speed that led to a worldwide recall of more than 8 million cars and trucks.
The National Research Council’s study will cost $2 million and NASA’s will add $1 million, LaHood said. The studies will include the possibility that electromagnetic interference can cause the controls that run today’s vehicles to go awry, LaHood said.
Here we see the biggest clue that solar radiation particles are to blame. NASA is adding $1 million for the research into this problem.
WTF!? Since when does NASA pay for a CORPORATE business troubleshooting project? This sounds exactly like Toyota's electronics and software, etc., are all fine and that it is something external to the system that is causing the malfunction.
Cosmic rays offered as Toyota acceleration cause
Electronics makers have known for decades about "single event upsets," computer errors from radiation created when cosmic rays strike the atmosphere.
With more than 3,000 complaints to U.S. regulators of random sudden acceleration problems in Toyota models, several researchers say single event upsets deserve a close look.
The phenomenon can trigger software crashes that come and go without a trace. Unlike interference from radio waves, there's no way to physically block particles; such errors typically have to be prevented by a combination of software and hardware design.
And an anonymous tipster told NHTSA last month that "the automotive industry has yet to truly anticipate SEUs."
Such radiation "occurs virtually anywhere," said William Price, who spent 20 years at the Jet Propulsion Lab testing for radiation effects on electronics. "It doesn't happen in a certain locale like you would expect in an electromagnetic problem from a radio tower or something else."
Toyota staunchly defends its electronics, saying they were designed for "absolute reliability."
Testing for the problem would involve putting vehicles in front of a particle accelerator and showering them with radiation, a step that experts said would help resolve the question.
The phenomenon was first noted in the 1950s affecting electronics at high altitudes; unlike electromagnetic waves, there are no ways to physically shield circuits from such particles. Airplane and spacecraft makers have long designed their electronics with such radiation in mind, through safeguards such as systems that triple-check data.
Only in the late 1970s did researchers discover that a minuscule portion of such radiation falls to earth. It's not enough to harm humans, but as circuits in computers and cell phones on the ground have shrunk to the width of several dozen atoms, the risk of errors has grown. "Five years ago, it was a problem in very few applications," said Olivier Lauzeral, general manager of IRoC Technologies, which tests chips and software for SEU resistance. "In the past couple of years, we've seen a rise in demand and interest."
In an anonymous e-mail last month to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a tipster said such an error "may be one reasonable explanation for incidents of sudden acceleration," adding that the automotive industry had yet to adapt the techniques used by aircraft firms to prevent problems from SEUs.
NHTSA added the tipster's information to its electronic investigative file on Toyota recalls. The agency declined several requests from the Free Press for comment. |
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 930815
United States
03/31/2010 02:33 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' I know...
I told my son the same thing...an outside influence creating vehicular hiccups. |
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 928055
 Germany
03/31/2010 02:37 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' Yes, it's the chinese saboteul from some chinese man car factoly. |
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 898995
 Canada
03/31/2010 02:39 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' All your base are belong to us |
n0 1
User ID: 930181
United States
03/31/2010 02:47 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' I agree. I have only bought Toyotas for 30 years. I put over 200,000 miles on every one of them. My family worked for the American Auto Companies (2 generations). I took a lot of flak for my choice. I was looking for a car that I could put at least 200,000 miles on, one that for at least 30 mpg and would perform well in crash tests. The Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes and some Hondas qualified. American Manufacturers repeatedly said that they could not make a car like I wanted. They even went before congress to ask them to pass a bill forbidding the sale of foreign cars in the U.S. because they could not compete. Knowing so many who worked for the auto companies really helped me to choose Toyota. They were in my face, smoking dope, drinking beer in the metroparks where I ran, making fun of me for having to actually work for money. The shops were the place where people went to buy drugs. I had no question as to why my first 2 cars (American) were lemons. I think it's stupid to support an industry as dumb as the American automakers. They need some competition in order to be forced to make a decent product, at least a competitive product.
I am pretty positive that unless Toyota is produced in American by those lame, stoned autoworkers, it's a sabotage job by American Companies who should instead focus their energy on creating the kind of vehicles Americans would want to buy.
They have acted like retards for years.
They deserved to fall. |
Anonymous Coward (OP)
User ID: 865798
United States
03/31/2010 03:49 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' YOU KNOW WHAT THIS EXPLAINS ALSO?! All the planes dropping out of the sky! |
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 835682
United States
03/31/2010 03:52 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' Yes, Chinese Hackers. |
aether
User ID: 929071
 United Kingdom
03/31/2010 03:57 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' Cosmic rays link to Airbus fallsCOSMIC rays are being considered by air safety investigators as a possible cause of a Qantas Airbus plunging twice in quick succession on its way from Singapore to Perth in October last year. In their latest report on the flight QF72 incident, in which more than 100 people were injured, investigators refer to a glitch with one of three avionics boxes. [ link to www.theage.com.au] |
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 491785
United States
03/31/2010 03:59 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' it was just a test- same idea as remotely flying airliners into buildings. |
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 69144
United States
03/31/2010 04:06 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' Are you saying the external influence is like HAARP or something? I can see where some very elite people would benefit from it. |
Anonymous Coward (OP)
User ID: 865798
United States
03/31/2010 04:07 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' Are you saying the external influence is like HAARP or something? I can see where some very elite people would benefit from it.
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 69144No, from increasing cosmic rays and energy entering the atmosphere. |
Anonymous Coward
User ID: 930984
 India
03/31/2010 06:37 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: I am nearly convinced Toyota's problem is caused by an 'External Influence' And NASA is getting busted by the US Senate for falsifying data.
WTF is up with the world we live in?
Someone hit the RESET button! |
