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Here's something that I never knew existed: Single Event Upsets. SEUs are the reason for technological glitches (usually in consumer electronics); they're caused by the resulting radiation when "cosmic rays strike the atmosphere". Could these radioactive waves be the cause of Toyota's unintended acceleration?
SEU glitches tend to show up and then simply disappear, leaving no hard evidence of the cause whatsoever. The major issue is that "unlike interference from radio waves, there's no way to physically block particles; [SEUs] typically have to be prevented by a combination of software and hardware design."
Yet somehow, according to the Freep, "an anonymous tipster told NHTSA last month that 'the automotive industry has yet to truly anticipate SEUs'...adding that [it] had yet to adapt the techniques used by aircraft firms to prevent problems from SEUs."
It seems that the aerospace industry has been handling the problem for fifty years by having systems triple-check different processes. 50 years, guys. Come on.
In its defense, Toyota claims that its electronic systems are far superior to "typical" consumer electronics, and are created with "absolute reliability" in mind. God, I would hope so. What if their electronics were flawed and the cars ended up driving people...oh wait.
In order to knock super-power-producing cosmic rays off the list of potential culprits behind Toyota's woes, cars would have to be parked "in front of a particle accelerator and [showered] with radiation". Hop to it, Toyota. Let's get us some results.
- By Phil Alex
Via: Freep