Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Software Glitches Stall Toyota Prius

Posted by timothy on from the cool-story-to-tell-saint-peter dept.

t35t0r writes "CNN/Money/Tech reports that 2004 and early 2005 Toyota Prius models have software bugs that cause them to stall while traveling at highway speeds. While no accidents were reported to have been caused by the software glitch, could we be heading into an era where our automobiles will require software updates and fixes to keep them from literally 'crashing'?"

17 of 560 comments (clear)

  1. Shouldn't have stolen that code... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...from Ford.

    1. Re:Shouldn't have stolen that code... by khrtt · · Score: 5, Funny

      The throttle on my old '91 Golf stuck a few times a week for a month or two, until I got my around to fixing it. My foolproof recovery sequence was - clutch, neutral, ignition off (engine stops), ignition back on (to prevent the steering from locking up, flashers, pull over (if have enough speed/space), stop. Pop open hood, get out of the car, kick crap out of throttle assembly while swearing loudly (which caused the throttle to unstick). Get in, continue driving.

      I've done it some 20 times at least, and never got even so much scared, except for one time when the stupid throttle got stuck just as I was racing an 18-wheeler after flipping a birdie at him. Which was, of course, somewhat dangerous even without the throttle problems.

    2. Re:Shouldn't have stolen that code... by HermanAB · · Score: 5, Funny

      More likely, this was a case of 'wrong pedal syndrome' where she had her foot on the accellerator instead of the brake and pressed that to the floor - but damned if she'll ever admit to that...

      --
      Oh well, what the hell...
    3. Re:Shouldn't have stolen that code... by ThosLives · · Score: 5, Informative
      Actually, Ford isn't paying royalties on anything. Ford and Toyota have cross-licensing agreements for various hybrid components and other automotive technologies. Ford developed their hybrid drive independently of Toyota's; the thing is the engineering problem only lends itself to so many economical solutions. (Notably, Ford's design is based more on the Volvo hybrid, but both the Volvo/Ford design and Toyota's use a modified Ravigneaux gearset - that's where the IP conflict arises).

      Mostly these technologies have to do with the transmission and, I believe, some of the control mechanisms and algorithms. But, despite what you have read in most media outlets, Ford is not buying parts or designs from Toyota (at this time).

      --
      "There are a dozen opinions on a matter until you know the truth. Then there is only one." - CS Lewis (paraprhase)
  2. Failover by Nos. · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Like planes, and other vehicles, any software problem should failover to a tested, less automated system. If my car stalls on the highway and I lose power steering and/or brakes, there's a big problem. Instead of stalling the engine, it should just shut down and let the engine take over, maybe flashing some warning lights.

    1. Re:Failover by TopSpin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...should failover to a tested, less automated system...

      It did. At least based on the anecdotes posted at edmunds.com by the drivers. The engine shut off, the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree and the battery continued to power the car. Not surprising that you might conclude total failure from the /. posting and its exceptionally lame, MSM-like allusions to 'crashing'...

      Guess what folks; you are expected to be capable of coping with vehicle problems while traveling at the phenomenal rate of "highway speed". Tires blow, people fuck up, things fly off randomly; deal with it.

      --
      Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
  3. But officer..... by ad0le · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was only trying to install the latest windshield wiper drivers....

    --
    My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch.
  4. If Microsoft designed cars... by mcc · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...then... uh... i guess things would be just like they are now

    --
    Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
  5. BMW?? by NETHED · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sounds very Familiar

    More to the point. How does everyone feel giving up full control of thier car? What about the Mercedes digital brakes? There is no physical link between the pedal and the wheels.

    We were promised self driving cars, and we're on the way to it.

    --
    --sig fault--
    1. Re:BMW?? by EggyToast · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Depends. A lot of traffic accidents and general traffic problems are caused by individuals acting separate from the "herd" of cars that are obeying traffic laws.

      Imagine if in 10 years, when there's a minor fender-bender, once the accident is off to the shoulder, traffic picks back up at a regular pace. Now, everyone gawks and traffic stays backed up for miles thanks to that.

      Or even better, when someone misses an exit, they don't slam on the brakes in the middle of the expressway and back up to the exit.

      There was an 8 car pileup with numerous fatalities last year on the Baltimore beltway thanks to someone in the middle lane cutting across 2 lanes of traffic at top speed to turn into those "Emergency turnaround" digouts between expressway lanes. If he literally was prevented from doing something that stupid thanks to his car, those people would still be alive. Sure, he'd be 5 minutes later to where he was going...

      Bring on cars that don't let people be idiots. The rest of us who do a good job of obeying traffic laws will be that much safer thanks to it.

      As far as software controlling much of our cars, we're already mostly there. Power locks lock you out of your car if they fail. Power steering makes your car nearly unturnable if that fails. Power breaks provide so much extra breaking power that if they fail, your car is basically going to be nearly brake-less anyway.

    2. Re:BMW?? by Xzzy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Buy a classic auto while you still can.. before 1975 or so (depends on your state) so you can skirt around smog regulations as well. Especially if most of your daily driving is on local streets.

      Simple and functional, and after a while you'll even look forward to spending a weekend maintaining it.

      I drive a 40 year old vehicle, and wouldn't give it up for anything. As vehicles become more and more drive-by-wire, I only see it as validating my decision. ;)

  6. I can just imagine it... by Kesh · · Score: 5, Funny

    "You have shifted gears. You must restart your car for these changes to take effect."

  7. Software fixes are already part of auto recalls by silentbozo · · Score: 5, Informative

    The 2001/2002 Ford Escapes have to have the EEPROM flashed as part of a transmission recall. The days of software fixes for cars have been with us for a while.

  8. Isn't the engine designed to turn off? by winkydink · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh. At red lights. Not at highway speeds. Never mind.

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

  9. hour long software upgrade by trb · · Score: 5, Funny
    They said:

    sent owners a service notice advising them to bring the cars into dealers for an hour-long software upgrade.

    They meant:

    It's a five minute software upgrade, but if we told you that, you'd be upset when the service dept made you wait for an hour.

  10. It Finally came true..... by kbeech · · Score: 5, Funny

    If OS's Were Cars If operating systems ran your car, and you needed to go to the shops... MS-DOS: You get in the car and try to remember where you put the keys. Windows: You get in the car and drive to the shops very slowly, because attached to the back of the car is a freight train. Macintosh System 7: You get in the car to drive to the shops and the car drives you to church. Unix: You get in the car and type 'grep store'. After reaching speeds of 200 mph en route, you arrive at the barbershop. Windows NT: You get in the car and write a letter that says "go to the shops". Then you get out of the car and nail the letter to the dashboard. Taligent/Pink: You walk to the store with Ricardo Montalban who tells you how wonderful it will be when he can fly you to the store in his LearJet. OS/2: After fuelling up with 6000 gallons of fuel, you get in the car and drive to the shops with a motorcycle escort and a marching band in procession. Halfway there, the car blows up, killing everyone. S/36 SSP: You get in the car and drive to the shops. Halfway there you run out of fuel. While walking the rest of the way, you are run over by kids with mopeds. AS/400: An attendant kicks you into the car and then drives you to the shops where you get to watch everyone else buying filets mignon.

  11. Re:Shouldn't have stolen that code not informative by DavidTC · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'm amazed people don't do that anyway. How do you know how your anti-lock brakes work if you don't practice?

    Whenever I get a 'new' car, I run down to the nearby college at night and find an empty lot and slide around a bit, and see what happens when I turn the engine off and if I can turn the key back and have it start magically, aka, a push start, which is incredibly useful if your car stalls while you're driving down the highway. (The other option being a normal start in neutral, but that takes much longer. And wouldn't work if your battery was dead, but that's a rather worse-case scenerio.)

    Then I come back and do it again when it's raining, solely for seeing how it skids.

    And if I have a car I've never tried it on, and I'm on a completely empty and straight stretch of highway, I kill the engine there, too, to see if it does something different at high speeds. (That's probably a traffic violation, but if a cop appeared out of the blue, I'd just say I stalled for some reason.)

    I will admit I've never tried to solve a hypothetical 'stuck pedal', but, OTOH, the parking lots aren't really big enough for that. It's a good idea, though. I know I can shift into neutral at any speed, but I agree that cutting the engine is better...for one thing, it should let the engine slow down the car. I'll have to figure out some way to test that.

    Do people really drive around in a ton of metal and not know in advance how it operates when bad things happen to it? When, exactly, are they planning on learning? The time to learn what happens when you slam on the brakes on a puddle of water is not in the middle of traffic. I once had an early antilock system that pulsed the brakes really oddly...there was a lag between losing traction and the unlocking of the brake, or something, I never really figured it out.

    I mean, there are somethings you can't learn until they happen, for example, if you really need to stop the car, you can switch into park when you're going 20 mph, but you'd obviously never want to do that unless you had to. But what happens when your engine cuts off, or if you hit a patch of water while turning? Everyone should test that.

    --
    If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?