Comments on: The Anxiety of Digital: Cars, Power Grid Up Next http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/ Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:23:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Toyota Finds Driver Error (Not Software) to Blame in Some Runaway Cars http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30435 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:58:29 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30435 [...] can fatally pin down the gas pedal. And it’s likely only the beginning of a larger wave of anxiety over computer- and software-dependent cars — especially as electric cars roll out in the next few years with even more reliance on [...]

]]> By: KenlFory http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30434 Mon, 17 May 2010 02:44:09 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30434 Niksmepe say: At all I do not know, that here and to tell that it is possible

ciallis
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]]> By: Hacking the Car: Next-Gen Vehicles at the Mercy of Cyber Attacks http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30433 Fri, 14 May 2010 22:23:10 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30433 [...] has maintained a relatively strong focus on safety when it comes to introducing new software (Toyota’s recent software glitches notwithstanding), it’s questionable whether car makers have anticipated “the [...]

]]> By: How to Improve Vehicle Software: Open Up the Data, Dive In http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30432 Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:01:28 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30432 [...] string of recent events has helped to focus a strong, and not too favorable light on the growing amount of software embedded in the cars we drive: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak [...]

]]> By: How Toyota’s Prius Troubles Will Shape the Green Car Market | AniChaos.com http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30431 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:29:09 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30431 [...] Regulators are only beginning to look into the most recent incidents. But initial reports suggest the problems may not have been linked to a floor mat that pinned down the gas pedal in other Priuses and prompted Toyota to issue a recall last year for 2004-2009 models of the hybrid. Last month, when problems surfaced with the regenerative braking system of some 2010 Prius models, Toyota attributed them to a software glitch. [...]

]]> By: How Toyota’s Prius Troubles Will Shape the Green Car Market http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30430 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:43:00 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30430 [...] Regulators are only beginning to look into the most recent incidents. But initial reports suggest the problems may not have been linked to a floor mat that pinned down the gas pedal in other Priuses and prompted Toyota to issue a recall last year for 2004-2009 models of the hybrid. Last month, when problems surfaced with the regenerative braking system of some 2010 Prius models, Toyota attributed them to a software glitch. [...]

]]> By: Earth2Tech Week in Review http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30429 Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:26:56 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30429 [...] The Anxiety of Digital: Cars, Power Grid Up Next: Both vehicles and the power grid are undergoing massive transformations involving IT. Get ready for that good ol’ digital anxiety. GA_googleFillSlot("earth2tech_ros_post_footer"); [...]

]]> By: Katie Fehrenbacher http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30428 Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:24:25 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30428 @Anita, Thanks for weighing. To clarify in my article, when I wrote “I’ve had to call customer service several times in order to restart the computing system (kinda like rebooting a computer) to get the car to work properly.” It was particularly when turning on the Smart car — not when driving it. So it wasn’t a safety issues, but a convenience issue.

]]> By: Anthony W. http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30427 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:24:48 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30427 I think this is a valid concern. Most of those old systems that we’ve lived with weren’t as complex, and have been well tested.

It’s not the fact that these life-critical objects are driven by software, it comes down to how they’re tested in real life situations.

If software and hardware designers do a good job in creating multiple backup, checkup and redundancy systems, then the chance of a problem causing a fatal incident are greatly reduced.

Anthony.

]]> By: Kathryn http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30426 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:27:57 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30426 One more clarification: There were problems with the voting machines, but they seemed to be purposely in place as opposed to actual bugs with the code. I find it hard to believe that there was a bug that only decreased the counts of democrats and overstated only republicans – no other candidates. That is more like a conspiracy theory than a real software issue.

]]> By: Kathryn http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30425 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:20:15 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30425 First of all, I would like to point out that the fear over computerized voting had nothing to do with the performance of the software but rather the political motivations of the company that produces them combined with a lack of audit trails and the fact that there is only one major producer of voting machines. A company with a monopoly on voting machines, whose leaders are big supporters of the republican party, could conceivably fix elections if there isn’t an appropriate amount of oversight and traceability. This was the cause for concern, not the fact that software was being used to tabulate votes. It’s the process and lack of oversight, not the product itself.

Furthermore, it seems like your actual fear here is network security and hackers. That is always a concern for people who manage large information networks and is a very valid one. However, not everything with software is hooked up to a network (or even to neighboring components). The ECU in a car is a stand-alone system and, to my knowledge, is not part of any network. GPS tracking systems are installed in some cars, but again, those systems are separate and do not interact with the control modules of the actual car. They are stand-alone systems just like the technology used by car sharing companies. They work much the same way your phone does (which also has software and uses a network to transmit information).

Also, engineering failures have been occurring since the dawn of time. To say that a company has a product with a design flaw doesn’t mean that the use of software is to blame. When China manufactures a bunch of toys with lead paint, we don’t say that they toys themselves are to blame. It’s the design or manufacturing process that caused the problem. There can be design flaws in software just as there can be mechanical design flaws (like where something wears differently over time than expected).

Software itself is not some evil thing that we need to be afraid of. There is software in everything these days, including just about everything electronic. It’s the process behind the product that is the real concern – how thoroughly the product is tested, how experienced the engineers are, what they do with the information they collect, how they protect our information from fraud, and so on.

]]> By: Anita Daley http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30424 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:23:21 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30424 Hi Katie-

I am writing from City CarShare to assure you and our members that our system does not interfere with the car’s driving software. The system we use is like a car alarm; we can prevent a car from starting in case someone leaves it unlocked or if a member tries to take a car when s/he doesn’t have a reservation. Our in-car technology is a stand alone system and can only stop the car from being started when the car is already turned off. In others words, it can’t turn the car off once the car is started. Once the car is started, our system only calculates how far someone has driven. It cannot interfere with the car’s driving operation.

Our smart cars have an automated manual transmission with paddle shifting that can be awkward for drivers new to this technology. If you’ve had to call to reboot the system it was not because of the car–it had to do with our reservation system telling the car you weren’t supposed to be driving. The most common causes of this is when a member tries to pick up a car early or from the wrong location.

Thank you for allowing me to clarify this issue, and as always, thanks for sharing!

–Anita

]]> By: Andy Bochman http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30423 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:02:37 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30423 This article doesn’t read as hype to me. A wide variety of software is being conceived and (often rapidly) built for several new and extremely complex networked domains. While the previous commenter points our examples of successful, single purpose automotive control system code implementations, the author is discussing scenarios that are infinitely more complex. As such, a proactive approach to risk management for the Smart Grid, new software-managed vehicles and V2G applications is unquestionably a very good idea.

]]> By: Katie Fehrenbacher http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30422 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:13:58 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30422 Thanks for the comment Paul, I totally agree with you. Yes, it’s about consumer perception. Cars have been using software for years. But they re increasingly offering more networked communication services and digital interfaces and that will lead to an anxiety over the transition for consumers, and also in media headlines.

]]> By: The Increasing Complexity of Your Car « Smart:Drive http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30421 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:53:21 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30421 [...] one other related article I recommend. Thanks. [...]

]]> By: Paul http://gigaom.com/cleantech/the-anxiety-of-digital-cars-power-grid-up-next/#comment-30420 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:39:06 +0000 http://earth2tech.com/?p=50852#comment-30420 Hey Katie,
Lets cut the media hype and talk reality. Electronic fuel injection and Anti-Lock brakes are just two examples of automotive systems that have been standard equipment on cars for DECADES! Both are electronic systems with software at their core and the software is more reliable than the physical printed circuit boards and mechanical parts they control. (ie. the software NEVER fails or wears out)

Most air liners and even the space shuttle are all 100% software controlled, yet there have been virtually no recorded deaths attributed to software failure.

Hysterical media seem to forget that automotive systems like these don’t behave like the half baked / rushed-out-to-market software sold by companies like Microsoft. As you correctly point out, auto makers are far more liable than some cranky software outfit and they design their software accordingly.

None of these so-called regenerative brake software glitches have killed/injured anyone and by the description of the fault it actually sounds close to how normal 100% functional ABS works!

Don’t you remember the now infamous Bill Gates Vs General Motors PR battle?

http://mistupid.com/jokes/msvgm.htm

Absolute CLASSIC!

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