Ecm role expanding?

[Eric Bryant]

> From: ae2598 at wayne.edu [mailto:ae2598 at wayne.edu]
> Subject: Re: Ecm role expanding?
> 
> 
> It's gonna be the whole "sudden acceleration" scandal all 
> over again.. 

"Sudden acceleration" was due to driver error - some people just couldn't
figure out that they were hitting the gas pedal, despite the obvious clues
(screaming engine sounds, sudden motion of vehicle).  There's not too many
vehicles that can actually overpower their brakes; the limp 5-cylinder in an
mid-80s Audi certainly can't.  As a result of this driver error, you now
have the BTSI systems in shifters that don't allow a shift out of Park until
you put your foot on the brake.  

I don't really see the same issue with ETC - sure, it might get blamed for
something, but I'm sure the system has seen enough validation time where
it's not going to be the cause of any accidents - that is, until someone
thinks that they can dick around with the code or sensor adjustment to get
better tip-in response or something.  I haven't seen any schematics for the
system, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it running something like a
M-rola HC08 (maybe the AZ60, since it has Flash, CAN, and J1850 features),
with a second, less-powerful processor as a "watchdog" with some minimal
functionality in cause of failure of the main processor.  

X-by-wire has already been proven in aircraft and large industral/commerical
vehicles.  Just because something is electronic doesn't mean that it's less
reliable than a mechanical system.

Eric Bryant
mailto:bryante at ghsp.com
http://www.novagate.com/~bryante 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from gmecm, send "unsubscribe gmecm" (without the quotes)
in the body of a message (not the subject) to majordomo at lists.diy-efi.org