Prius locks up like a frozen PC

You have to be careful with doing this. Perhaps your sentence is not even close to what the fragments really mean?

 

Question. When your nose suddenly grew did it damage your monitor?

 

My only response is: CTRL ALT DEL

 

Would this also happen is the communication is in fact an acceleration signal from who knows where?

 

Or, a gremlin signal is sent to accelerate without crashing?

Not always. I had to pull the power cord on several occasions to shut it off.

 

perfectly stated!

 

As if Macs don't "lock up".

And... pcs aren't inherently more susceptible to viruses, they are just targeted more since they are 90% of the market. Not as much fun to only hit less than 10% of computer users.

 

Since it would have to be in sequence and meet error control requirements, this is going to be one VERY special man in the middle attack!

I am going to use TCP examples, but the CANbus will use similar technologies.
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCP_sequence_prediction_attack]TCP sequence prediction attack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
This is hard to do deliberately, it will not be accidental

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_Check_Sequence]Frame check sequence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
This eliminates the possibility that a valid message will be corrupted into a different message accidentally.

The CANBus uses a 15 bit CRC as its FCS. It also uses a Data Length Counter, and either 11 bits or 29 bits of unique identifier
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canbus]Controller area network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

These are 20 to 50 years old, very robust, very debugged protocols.

 

In this case (bad pedal sensor, stuck pedal), the ECU should still respond to the brake pedal (brake override, at least on newer models), or the shifter (neutral), or the power button.

Remember, on the Prius there's no direct connection from pedal to gas engine throttle, often the pedal causes the ECU to operate the electric motors instead. This makes a simple fault that can result in unintended acceleration even less likely, IMHO. If anything the most likely unintended acceleration fault might be to activate MG2 and drive the car on electric power. Getting power out of the gas engine requires MG1 to be operated also, otherwise the gas engine will just spin MG1 instead of drive the wheels.

I really think it would be hard for the ECUs to continue supplying correct AC current to the electric motors to run them at the right speed and direction, operate the fuel injectors and the ignition, all in a way to get maximum power out of the car, if the ECUs are having a serious failure. I almost think the need to get 2 electric motors and a gas engine all operating the right way to drive the car makes it less likely that the car could do anything at all with a serious ECU failure.

As others (I believe Toyota) have said, What Sikes alleges would require multiple simultaneous failures.

 

Thanks to Google, I just got back from reading the whole of the Internet and found only one such claim:

We are hoping the author may someday provide credible sources for this quote. One excellent source would be the many posts in PriusChat by the friendly folks at PriusChat who own, drive, and work on their Prius. They have been trying to share their extensive experience and hands-on knowledge with the author.

As gentle as possible, we are trying to inform the author that we know how our Prius work and are not concerned. This includes many of us who recently got a software update to our skid control ECU and now find that our Prius works better. We are not afraid of computers ... like the one being used to read this message.

Computers work both ways and often include a log showing how the driver has been operating the car. Sikes may have been surprised to learn that his Prius had a record showing 250 operations of the brake pedal and accelerator. That goes right along with his admission that he ignored the recorded, 911 operator advice to shift into "neutral" or "turn off the car."

Computers have provided direct evidence, which Sikes chose to ignore, that showed:

• he called 911 to ask for help
• the 911 operator gave him the right advice
• he ignored the advice of the 911 operator
• a highway patrol officer had to overtake him at high speed
• while driving at high speed, the officer gave Sikes the 911 operator advice
• then and only then did Sikes follow the advice
• the car came to a stop

We suspect that upon learning the Prius records the operator inputs, there will be a sudden reduction in the number of Prius complaints claiming the car 'ran away.'

Bob Wilson

 

If you have decided that comments from random strangers on YouTube are a valid research source, then I say:

Good luck with all that.

 

One thing you fail to realize is that the ECUs have failsafe watchdogs. If code isnt updated before a timer runs out (usually every so many microseconds or sooner), then it throws an error and resets. If an ECU does freeze, it will just cycle on and off, create a log on the next startup, and work just fine faster than you can blink an eye, literally.

 

That is the beauty of computers, we don't have to look very hard. Thanks for taking your own advice but the original "quote" was found in only one place and from just one author.

More to the point, we are happy that our cars are computer controlled. The recent software update to the skid control ECU improves operation at speeds under 19 mph, in the rain or slippery conditions, running over a speed bump or pot hole, and holding the brake at a constant setting. Half of the Prius owners hadn't even experience or recognized there was a problem. Only one in five thought it was a severe problem easily handled by just pushing the brake pedal harder.

The point is Sikes called 911 for help and choose by his own admission to ignore what he was told to do. It took a highway patrol officer running at high speed, parallel to him, shouting the same instructions, 20 minutes later, that Sikes finally followed the advice and stopped the car. Meanwhile, the car computers recorded 250 braking and accelerator operations. Sikes got caught.

Bob Wilson

 

[emphasis added]

You aren't serious about the 'mechanical' part of this claim, are you?

No throttle icing (current Aveo investigation), no broken motor mounts yanking on throttle cable (past recall), no broken springs, no disconnected vacuum hoses, etc.?

There was a very good reason why, a couple generations ago, most drivers knew what to do when unintended acceleration occurred.

 

Here's a good article to read from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE): IEEE Spectrum: Toyota's Sudden Unintended Acceleration Remedy Doesn't Convince Everyone

And, here are a few quotes from the comments section:

(By a Ph.D. from a major government research lab run by one of the world's leading technical universities.)

(By another Ph.D. famous for developing a computer language and whose academic story Obama wrote about in Dreams From My Father.)

The IEEE blogs are a treasure trove of commentary and technical analyses, not necessarily Toyota focused. I recommend a reading of these intellectual leaders' comments for a solid technical foundation on the issues being addressed.

 

I recommend bringing facts and data, some reproducible symptom or circuit analysis or other empirical data demonstrating a fault or flaw. A hypothesis is not a diagnosis but just another guess until empirical data is brought forth.

If you have a Prius, grab your instruments, head out to the driveway and at least pull a Gilbert ... do the hard work and find the fault. If you don't want to use your primary ride, buy a second one and experiment with that one. There are more than a few of us who do experiment.

Speculation, sharing Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD), these soon become "the boy who cried wolf" and not worth the time I just spent explaining the basis of all modern science and technology ... empiricism.

Bob Wilson

 

I was a passenger in a Ford Aerostar in which the throttle cable became fouled with the hood release, when the driver pressed the pedal, the hood came up, and draggged the throttle cable with it. It is interesting being at full throttle with the hood up. I 'navigated' out the window.

We hit the brakes, and stopped the van, then put it in park and shut it off. Ty-wraps on the cables, prevented re-occurrence.