[Amps] Good engineering

[mikea]

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 03:01:09PM -0400, Pete Smith wrote:
> I have read that in his testimony, the American in charge of Toyota USA 
> (Exec VP?) said that their on-board computers had not been subjected to 
> EMC testing.

> If that's the case, I wonder how many incidents are caused when joe 
> trucker pulls up alongside with his 400-watt solid state CB "linear" 
> while chatting with his pals.

> "Ten-fourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr good buddy"

I was wondering very much the same sort of thing earlier today, though I
grant I was musing more on cellphones and other weaker QRM. 

A friend who was involved in automotive microcode for a US carmaker,
rather a while back, told me he had found some hundreds of disaster-
guaranteed code flaws, ranging from software race conditions resulting
in indeterminate results (roll dice) to brakes, steering, or other major
subsystems failing hard.

I doubt things have got a whole lot better. I am very decidedly troubled
by this bit of testimony. These are man-rated systems chock full of
electronics, and EMC testing damn well ought to be mandatory. 

-- 
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin