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Remote-controlled Bolts and Screws
Winter writes "SMT Magazine has an article on intelligent fasteners (screws, bolts...) that can fasten themselves or by remote control.
Usage for this seems mainly to make sure normal people cannot change parts in their car themselves, and only allow for authorized parts and service.
Of course, a hacker might also have fun and disassemble the neighbours car."
..."normal people cannot change parts in their car themselves..!
Or to prevent terrorists sneaking bombs into aeroplane service hatches? This isn't an entirely anti-consumers-rights technology. Judge it by its useful applications as well as its possible abuses.
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
So... This is just another scheme so that they can sell you a part to actually work on your car. Or even worse, make you go to the dealer *shudder*.. I can see it now...
"Well sir, the bolts to your air filter are remote controlled... You need this $300 remote to take the cover off and replace the filter"
What's next, the same tool to be able to take the gas cap off, because that too is locked down? Only this time they sell it as a dealer add-on rather than a part?
Hmmm.
Unless the fastener costs less than a few cents, they are only going to have very specialized applications. Further, with a vibrant aftermarket repair and service industry it will be impossible, legally, to prevent people from understanding how to actuate these fasteners.
Of course, a hacker might also have fun and disassemble the neighbours car. While driving. On the freeway.
It'll be nice for the one or two niche applications that it was meant for. Beyond that, it's nothing more than a curiosity.
-Adam
Just when Congress appears ready to force auto makers to stop locking nondealer mechanics out of the car's diagnostic computer, they come up with a way to lock them out of changing parts. If they prove to be resistant to the average screwdriver or wrench, we'll know for sure what's up.
Only on
What happens a few years around the road when a little corosion sets in, and the little motor attached to the screw can no longer back it out. If you took advantage of the fact that it does not need access how do you remove it when the mechanism fails? I work on my vehicles, and often have to use a cheater bar to gain leverage on stubborn bolt. You would have to throw away the whole car, Starting to sound like "Brave New World"
I'm sorry Carbide and diamond cutting tools will now be banned under the DCMA.
This has got to be worth a second or two off pit stop times. All the pit crew has to do is tell the bolts to undo themselves as the car comes to a halt and they can proceed directly to changing the tyres. Of course, there are probably going to be a few amusing incidents when they trigger the release too soon as well... :)
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
One of the major features touted in the article is security, as in "you can't remove the fasteners without the secret code". As in "you can't install replacement parts unless you buy them from the original maker".
Forget DMCA tricks. This will force you to get all your parts and service from a single source, the company that originally made the product.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Hmmm. There has to be some tool that will remove a fastener without the security code, because what happens when a fastener breaks in such a way that it doesn't accept any code? "I'm sorry, you need a new engine, because the fasteners on your oil pan are broken. They don't answer the commands to unfasten." Not likely! So I guess if you are willing to go to a great deal of trouble you could pry out all the secure fasteners and put in your own.
Of course that would be a DMCA violation, but at least I can hope that the DMCA will be dead long before these fasteners are actually practical for widespread use.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
There's already way too much tech in our cars already. I love technology, but there are some places where it should be kept to a minimum. I long for the days when you could work on your own car with a decent socket set and a few wrenches.
Well, you still can do a lot. The engines aren't that different. Granted, software problems can be a PITA, but I think people are generally more scared of them than they should. I think intelligent fasteners sound like a good idea; encryption and encoded serial numbers would make selling stolen cars and car parts a nightmare.
while true;do echo -e -n "\033[s\n\033[u\134_\033[B";done
They'd see when people had voided their warranties or even prevent unauthorized (by Microsoft of course) people opening PCs so as to switch to a non DRM-enabling BIOS.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Now if you guys could just invent a muffler that didn't make it sound like a jet engine on takeoff, you just might find that other people like motorcycles, too.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
Why is it that on a site that's supposedly for Techies/Geeks/other lovers of the Bleeding Edge that every new invention creates an automatic wave of "That'll never work, and it's a bad idea!"?
/rant
This isn't part of some vast conspiracy to bilk you out of your money. It's just a screw that works itself, and more importantly it's not necessarily meant for every application.
Sheesh.
The evil monkey commands you to dance.
The day that Tim Taylor types long to never have to work on their cars is the day slashdotters long to never have to work on their computers.
Calling atheism and agnosticism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.
What I took away from this article is not how cool and useful intelligent fasteners might be, but how they promise to keep you from having control over the vehicle you purchased and legally own.
Something like this might spell the end of any non-factory automotive service, especially those who would like to save a few of their precious dollars by performing their own maintenance.
What happens if a bolt registers a "tamper event" and you are threatened with either a voided warranty or legal action when you next bring the vehicle into an "Authorized" station for any rerason?
I see this as similar to the recent court ruling in the UK, where it is now illegal to modify your legally purchased game console system.
-- Posted from my parent's basement
With occasional massive failure, like when your car decides that it doesn't want to let you out or your car's power windows wrap around your child's head and kill them. Oh, wait those days have already come.
This would be useful for situations where a screw is used for varible tensioning, like tuning on a guitar. Especially in a hostile environment.
if you don't feel better tomorrow, we'll just cut your legs off about here. - Theodoric of York
Or let's say your vehicle passes a pre-determined service life set by the manufacturer. Why, that's the time any good consumer should come in for a new vehicle. They could help you make your decision by locking the bolts and declaring the vehicle an "unsupported" legacy system.
Thinking about selling that old car? Suppose the manufacturer decides the new owner requires a lisenced seat?
Yikes, what happens if we get a few parts off a wrecked vehicle? "I'm sorry, Mr. Smith. These bolts are registered to a different VIN. You'll have to come with us."
-- Posted from my parent's basement
Thanks for the commentary. For some reason, after I read the article I didn't quite get the design freedom point, or why the hell you would want to have self-actuating fasteners. I mean, to the average joe, I'm sure they'd say, "For the love of God, it's just a screw! Leave it alone!"
But anyone who's worked on a car to any appreciable degree knows what a PITA it can be to get to some of the screws and bolts, and that's definitely something I can relate to.
If this technology can be applied so that I don't have to contort myself all up in the engine block, then yes, I agree; bring them on.
But certainly the fears about manufacturers trying to enforce their own agendas to lock in customers is something that will have to be addressed, as well as preventing mischief with automobile self-dissassembly. But I think that the latter could be relatively easily handled.
Yeah, but when the software goes wrong... Man does it go wrong. I've read some real horror stories about BMW 5 series software bugs...
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Keap it Simple, Stupid. Everyone out there knows that, and being an auto mechanic for ten years now, I'd hate to have to track down a problem to a fastener that intermitently lost its connection, decided to to losen itself, or over torque itself and break, or strip its threads. This will never work for two reasons, first off, I don't see how it can ever be cost effective, these things can't be cheap. Second is weight, the reason automakers have all been crying about how they're going to switch to 48 volt systems (any day now, riiiiight) is because the weight of the wiring for all of the electronic components in todays cars is piling up, and with thinner wiring they'll save weight, but have to run at higher voltages. Unfortunately they haven't been able to come up with connectors that won't jump an air gap and melt down connector terminals! So even if these things are wirelesss, the added weight on each connector will obviate itself out of existence. Where I do see these things going is on emissions control equipment to prevent tampering. No more hollowing out catalytic converters (for the morons that do it) and I can see these as being locks on ECU's to prevent them from being chipped or reflashed. It wouldn't be very difficult at all to have the ECU turn on the check engine light if one of these bolts were removed, but then again, it's bad enough chasing down loose connections and loose gas caps, the last thing I want these days is to chase down a loose bolt!
I've had Harley riders insist that this is the reason why they have to have the "Look at me! I'm an attention whore!" straight pipes while cruising in residential neighborhoods; yet even while watching them come and listening for them, I never hear them from very far away. You can always hear them as they roar by, and as they rumble off, though. I think the whole "hear them coming" excuse is a crock.
One of these same Harley riders insisted, during the very same conversation when I asked him about the mental rider fatigue all that extra noise must put him through, that he never hears his own pipes while cruising. "Hmm..." I asked him, "How can you hear them coming if you can't even hear them from 3 feet away?" "The wind carries the sound away before it gets to my ears" was the answer.
They felt that being silent would make them invisible and thus even more ignored on the freeways.
I've found that quiet bikes are much easier to stay alert on, especially in routine rides such as to work and back, and also as the miles add up on long road trips, and that's a far bigger safety factor in this world of sound-insulated luxury cars and SUVs. Most anyone with their windows up won't hear you anyway, unless you're riding with a half dozen others with straight pipes.
I don't bitch about straight pipe riders much, but I don't have a positive opinion of them, either.
They can't dodge you like those who ride sport bikes can.
They can if they're alert, competent riders.
I wish I had mod points for you, because this is +5 Insightful (if a little off topic). The mentality that drives unnecessarily and excessively loud motorcycles (HD rumbly types) reminds me of people blaring the car stereo with windows down. The only purpose is to cause others grief. And don't get me started about the kids on my lawn.
... remember that feeling you got when the legs sprouted out of that guy's head in John Carpenter's "The Thing" ?
That's the feeling I get when I hear about something as stupid as this... I mean, I guess it's the illogical evolution of the entire "tamper-resistant" fastener craze of the modern automotive industry, but as a professional mechanic for almost 20 years, I know from experience that fasteners with funny heads on them do not deter the fools and thieves out there from trying to take things apart - they only serve to provoke them into doing much more damage than they would have done had you simply used a normal bolt.
It's just bulls#it, plain & simple.
Mnem
It's impossible to make anything foolproof - the fools are too damned inventive."
i can just see it "highrise leveled when ceo accidently sat ont his remote...."
Engines that die when you let them idle, frequent back-firing, visible exhaust emissions, and the need to warm up the engine for a long period of time before driving off are all signs of a shitty machine.
I would know; one of the worst places I ever had the misfortune of living in was next to a biker bar. Some evenings, when forty or fifty bikers would pile into the parking lot, the total IQ for the group might rise past their cumulative shoe size.
The guys who can actually afford decent motorbikes, and ride them as a serious hobby or sport, and not just as a way to pick up the odd bleached-blonde bar fly, all own quiet bikes. You'll never hear a sputtering, ear-shattering exhaust coming from a BMW, Ducati, or high-end Harley-Davidson motorbike.
All /.ers long to never have to work on our computers. But not having to doesn't mean we won't. :D
The darkness... controls the music. The music... controls the soul.
However- I've got to admit that the super quiet Police BMW only caught my attention when he turned his Red & Blue lights on to give me a ticket- but the Harley driver 10 miles further down the road had my attention as soon as he got within 200 feet of my car. That's pretty empirical when you consider that the #1 cause of motorcycle fatality (at least according to the AMSF) is indeed not being seen by larger vehicles.
Now, beyond that, I can think of several other ways to make enough noise than tuning my engine to get worse gas mileage and grinding the valves down so that they have to be reseated every 1200 miles- which is why I'll never own a Harley.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
This "You can hear 'em coming" argument is the most arrogant, self-centered, thoughtless, and logically inconsistent argument I've ever heard. As if it's my responsibility as a pedestrian to dodge motorized vehicles, and not theirs to make sure they conduct themselves in a way that leaves me unharmed and with comfortably non-ringing ears.
but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
Hmm, the pipes on a motorcycle are directed to the rear and emit a fairly low frequency sound.
The sirens on emergency vehicles emit a much higher alternating frequency sound and are directed towards the front. Yeah, good comparison.
I live in an area popular with bikers, along a major road. I assure that I hear a bike for the first time about the time it roars past my house, and then I hear it for along time as it recedes loudly into the distance. I hear this sound constantly during the summer, to the point where it often interrupts conversations or the television. Not to mention bikers travel in packs like dogs, so I get to hear every single one of them roar by with their radios blaring classic rock.
Bikers who repeat this mantra are either ignorant or simply grasping hold of some justification for their rude, idiotic and inexcusable behavior. I especially like it when the guys with no helmets adhere to it, yeah you're big on safety issues moron. I'd like to find someone whose mantra this is and rev a Harley right outside their bedroom window every 5-10 minutes all night long and then see if it's still ok.
You will have a hard time arguing that the loud pipes don't provide that.
I really don't care if somehow we live in Bizarro World and it is true that it contributes to "safety" in some way. I would be a lot safer if I carried an air horn around and sounded it wherever I went, but you can bet no one else would put up with that crap. You don't get to do whatever the hell you want because you think it makes you safer. Your right to make obnoxious levels of noise ends at my ears. A loud car gets a ticket and a legal obligation to get it fixed or the registration suspended, loud Harleys should get the exact same treatment.
Unless he has exceeded the speed of sound then the sound energy will still reach him. The source and the receiver are moving at the same speed, so in your river analogy they move together. Even if the receiver was stationary, so long as the current is slower than the wave speed, waves will still arrive at the receiver.
5/10 for coming up with a reasonable model. 0/10 for thinking it through. You fail it.
Oh, please. Most Harley riders are piss-poor white trash who cannot afford to replace the crappy exhaust and carburetor systems that the low-end Harley motorbikes come with. That's why the bikes are so loud, and why the rider must constantly engage in revving the engine whenever the bike is at a stop
LOL. Never been into an HD dealership, have you? The biggest, loudest Harley's cost somewhere in the range of 40-50 grand. The kind of dough you could by THREE cars for, and that's WITHOUT paying extra for the LOUDER pipe. Piss poor my ass, most Harley rider's these days are "weekend warrior" types who spend the week doing things like performing surgery, fixing broken teeth, and suing teenagers for necking during the advertisements at the beginning of a movie.
Then again, you're singing the praises of BMW and Ducati, so if the above wasn't proof enough, then that alone is enough evidence that you don't know your asshole from your fuel tank.