Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by lucyjeanne, Oct 8, 2004.

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  1. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I was locked in training and meetings all day. Had to wait until evening to check up on the forum. Sorry I didn't have the chance to chime in earlier on this one.

    It seems to me that it's not fair to ask a geek to define what it is that makes them geeky. It might be best to review this thread and notice the ease with which the posters are able to explain the advanced technology on their cars. I would be willing to bet that there is an average IQ and occupational/vocational preference for Prius owners. In fact, when I was talking to a reporter, he said that I was the fifth person he spoke with: 2 engineers, 2 educators, and I work in corporate education for an engineering firm.

    Another thing to consider is the early-adaptor syndrome. I think it is natural for people to not be early-adaptors. Historically, I would think that if the caveman decided to try something new, he might have gotten killed; I think we have evolved (or were created, FrBill) to be naturally cautious creatures. It's just easier to let someone else try it out first, work out the kinks, and once the method is poven, then give it a try. These days, most advances are being made in the arena of technology. Therefore, it's easy for the cautious to call those who try the new technology 'geeks'. I, on the other hand, insist that I'm a nerd, not a geek. Comic Strip Guy on The Simpsons is my definition of a geek.

    I'll end this post with a quote from a hero of mine, Gilbert Lowe: No one's really gonna to be free until nerd persecution ends!
     
    #21 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 8, 2004
  2. lucyjeanne

    lucyjeanne New Member

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    Need to get my acronym list out and read it....

    First, I LOVE the crazy eyes! They are cool! (They are defintely worthy of a point donation......) Secondly, what is "drive-by-wire interface?" Explain, please.

    Secondly, I can't find my acronym sheet -- so would someone tell me (I do feel dumb) what HSD stands for? (Darn-- I wish I could find my sheet and I wouldn't look soooo dumb.....) Thanks!!!!!

    Love all your answers!
     
    #22 lucyjeanne, Oct 8, 2004
  3. Canuck

    Canuck Member

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    Re: Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features

    Having only just completed our first 1000 km, up to Mt. Washington 4100 ft in about 12 km so I don't know where to begin.
    1. We averaged 58.7 mpg
    2. Wife liked the map storage pockets in the doors which had water bottle contours.
    3. Flat dash area which held our Garmin 2620 GPS unit where we both could see where the heck we were and also directed us to our son's house in little Courtenay, BC .
    4. The rear view side mirrors are able to be adjusted flat against the vehicle body so cyclists don't smack into them when we are parked.
    5. Wife can control the world from the steering wheel...A/C, JBL sound etc.
    6. We can change from MPH to KMH at the flick of a button.
    7. We have implanted ourselves with the key fobs so never forget putting them in our pockets.
    8. I now have PriusChat to occupy myself so as not to interfere with her SOAPS on TV.
    Perhaps I've missed some more important items but will report back when I discover them. :mrgreen:
     
    #23 Canuck, Oct 8, 2004
  4. lucyjeanne

    lucyjeanne New Member

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    Re: Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features

    Reply to CANUCK:"Having only just completed our first 1000 km, up to Mt. Washington 4100 ft in about 12 km so I don't know where to begin.
    "1. We averaged 58.7 mpg"
    (WOW!!! I am very impressed, indeed.)

    "2. Flat dash area which held our Garmin 2620 GPS unit where we both could see where the heck we were and also directed us to our son's house in little Courtenay, BC ."

    (Where do I buy one of those neat items? I am not a "shopper." Do we get this item at Circuit City? Do we plug it in? I definitely need educating in the field of tech toys.....)

    "4. The rear view side mirrors are able to be adjusted flat against the vehicle body so cyclists don't smack into them when we are parked."

    (Absolutely-- these are a great asset!)

    "6. We can change from MPH to KMH at the flick of a button."

    "7. We have IMPLANTED ourselves with the key fobs so never forget putting them in our pockets."

    I think that you may have started a whole new thread here: a new kind of plastic surgery for Prius owners: FOB IMPLANTS. Good idea.

    "8. I now have PriusChat to occupy myself so as not to interfere with her SOAPS on TV."

    Very important last point.

    "Perhaps I've missed some more important items but will report back when I discover them. "

    If you think of any more, let us know. Your answer is defintely worthy of a donation of points. So I shall donate more points to you! (You can accumulate them to buy a new Prius.....or a cheese sandwich.....) :lol:
     
    #24 lucyjeanne, Oct 9, 2004
  5. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Let me try to take a crack at the fly-by-wire thing, LJ.

    Let's start with tradition...
    There is a Lego set in which you build a car; more like a dune buggy. I made this thing many times and loved playing with it. Anyway, the wheels turn and the steering works. To make the steering work, you have to run a 'stick' from the steering wheel to a gear located between the wheels. When you turn the steering wheel, the stick turns, gears interact, and thanks to some other clever things, the wheels change direction. That is the most basic explination of mechanical manipulation. And this is how most cars work. When you turn the steering wheel, gears interact and the wheels adjust. In fact, before power steering, the effort required to interact those gears was quite substantial if the vehicle was not moving.

    Now for F-b-W...
    When you turn the steering wheel in a Prius, it sends a signal to a computer. The computer interepts the signal and transmits it to the wheel mechanism and it adjusts the wheel direction. (Note that I am trying to avoid saying that the wheel turns because I don't want to confuse it with rolling).

    Hopefully that made sense if only on the broadest of explinations, because from here it gets cool...
    Fighter airplanes have been F-b-W for quite some time. There are simply too many controls for the pilots to maintain them all. Therefore, the computers are constantly monitoring each other and the equipment settings. When the pilot tells the plane to go left, the computers take care of it. The same works with the Prius. You are simply telling the computers what you want and they are controlling the equipment. With such computer controls, software can be added for the benefit of the driver. For example, in the fighter planes, when pilots launch themselves from the decks of carriers, they are required to hold on to the tops of their canopies and not touch the controls. This is because the computers are actually flying the planes for the first few seconds. Also, if they attempt to fly an airplane into a situation that might cause a stall or into a mountain, the computer has the ability to say "screw you, I want to live" and take over the controls, overriding the pilot's input.

    There are similar safeties written into the Prius' F-b-W interface. Though I've never tried this, it has been discussed on this board: if you were traveling at a good speed and tried to throw the car into Reverse, it would ignore you. In a mechanical car, it would have no choice but to do it and possibly cause substantial damage. If you have ever attempted heavy accelleration on wet surfaces, you might notice that the wheels slip and the Prius adjusts power to the wheels until traction is regained. No matter how hard you press the accelerator, it simply will not sit there and spin out. The acceleration computer is acknowleding that you want to accelerate, but making sure that you do it in a safe condition.

    Wow. I hope that helped a little. It's just that there's a computer between you and the equipment you think you are controlling. And once there's a computer in the mix, there's the possibility of allowing that computer to control some or all of the process.
     
    #25 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 9, 2004
  6. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    in the Prius the power assist for the steering is a three part system (simplest terms) it is a conventional rack and pinon steering box with the addition of a stepper motor and gear box in the pinon shaft (steering wheel hooks to the top) and a pair of strain gauges across the gear box. When you turn the wheel you impart a twisting motion on the strain gauge and it sees this as a difference in resistance and converts it to an electric signal and the computer sends a signal to the stepper motor to turn the gears in the gear box and this helps turn the lower portion (connected to the pinon in the rack) and assists in the turning of the pinon against the rack. For further info on stepper motors and strain gauges just google them and read.
    in the Prius the reason for the interrupt in power when the wheels spin on wet surfaces is to protect MG1 from an over speed condition as the psd tries to correct the MG2 speed and it's all controlled by the abs computer input to the ICE control computer. It sees wheel speed for all 4 wheels and say's nope your not going to over speed MG1 when you regain traction and the psd want's to correct the speed imbalance between the 2 of them. Shifting into reverse while traveling forward with and electronic controlled transmission is very easily handled by the computer which reads speed and direction of the wheels. This has been standard in the truck and forklift industry for years.
     
    #26 Frank Hudon, Oct 9, 2004
  7. DanH

    DanH New Member

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    Re: Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features

    Lucy Jeanne,

    The Garman 2620 can be had at Circuit City: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Garmin-Stre...roductDetail.do

    I don't think it is something you need with a #9 (BC) as in it would be redundant with your NAV system. A reason someone might want this though is if they wanted NAV and didn't want to spend the extra $3000+ for a BC package. Also this unit would allow you to take it from car to car by simply plugging it into the lighter and setting it on the dash.
     
    #27 DanH, Oct 9, 2004
  8. Kablooie

    Kablooie Member

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    Re: Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features

    There is one feature that I appreciate that I haven't heard anyone talk about. The glove compartment. I've never seen one before that's split into two and has a shelf to organize your items on. Also it has that simple but cool pocket in the back of the bottom glove compartment for holding all your manuals and receipts out of the way of the rest of the flotsam you put in there. I can quickly get to items I need instead of digging through a pile of junk each time. A small but useful feature.
     
    #28 Kablooie, Oct 9, 2004
  9. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    Re: Need to get my acronym list out and read it....

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lucyjeanne\";p=\"44158)</div>
    I can't believe no one answered this question!

    Hybrid Synergy Drive - Toyota's fancy schmancy name for the whole ball of wax - ICE, generators, planetary gear transmission, 'by wire' things. All the geeky stuff :)

    50 points to Lucy Jeanne for being willing to ask when she doesn't know something.
     
    #29 bruceha_2000, Oct 9, 2004
  10. Hytec

    Hytec New Member

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    Re: Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features

    Ya know, LJ...when it comes right down to it, the whole doggone Prius is GEEKY, with the possible exception of the door handles...an' Ah ain't too sure 'bout them neethah! :?
     
    #30 Hytec, Oct 9, 2004
  11. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    Re: Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hytec\";p=\"44298)</div>
    Must be you don't have the SKS Hytek :) I think the "My car knows it's me" door handles are VERY geeky. And I LOVE them!!!
     
    #31 bruceha_2000, Oct 9, 2004
  12. Driftwood05BC

    Driftwood05BC New Member

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    I gotta say this -- I love my SKS! In fact, I now resent my office because it makes me take my keys out of my pocket to unlock it!

    Peter+
     
    #32 Driftwood05BC, Oct 9, 2004
  13. lucyjeanne

    lucyjeanne New Member

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    Re: Need to get my acronym list out and read it....

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bruceha_2000\";p=\"44289)</div>
    I can't believe no one answered this question!

    Hybrid Synergy Drive - Toyota's fancy schmancy name for the whole ball of wax - ICE, generators, planetary gear transmission, 'by wire' things. All the geeky stuff :)

    50 points to Lucy Jeanne for being willing to ask when she doesn't know something.[/b][/quote]

    :p Thank you, Bruce, for the point donation! I am saving them to buy another Prius! (We can do that, right???)

    By the way folks, like my signature says: I have a #9 with all the bells and whistles. I guess I didn't realize all the neat features are "geeky." I must be soooo geeky that I don't see anything geeky about them!!!!!! (Love when the car know I have the key hanging around my wrist.)

    Bruce, I used to have a cartoon in my office of two men in an office setting talking -- over a water cooler. One says to the other: "There is the person who is not afraid to say, "I don't know." That has been my mantra ever since. A person can't learn sqat if he/she is not willing to say, "I don't know." Thanks for the generous donation!

    For your kindness, I am going to donate points to you. You can use them in the car accessory department at Wal-Mart, right????? :lol: :wink:

    PS: As long as I am constantly admiting my ignorance, I have a "cute" bit to admit here. :roll: Ever since I put the fob in backwards (there is only one correct way to insert fob..) and then I couldn't get it out........ (but with prayer and hysteria, I finally did), I now do NOT insert the fob AT ALL. I just stick it in my cup holder so that I will always see it and not forget to take it with me. Also, for safety sake, I only lock the car with the fob-- and not the black button on the door(s).

    As always, thank you all for your SMARTS.
     
    #33 lucyjeanne, Oct 9, 2004
  14. priusham

    priusham New Member

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    #34 priusham, Oct 9, 2004
  15. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    Lucy Jeanne, did you watch the little SKS video on the Toyota site? No need to put the fob in the slot of your BC, leave it in your pocket or pocket book :)
    When I had the rental I accidentally put the remote starter fob from my Odyssey in the slot. It fit fine as it is almost exactly the same size and shape. The car didn't start. Thankfully it didn't get stuck!

    When I go skate, I stick the fob in the side pocket of my bag with my wallet. I put the bag in the back seat. I did find I have to put the fob side forward, maybe the blades interfe with the SKS signal. When I tried to start the car, it gave me a No Key symbol. "But I HAVE the fob!" I think, then I turned the bag and all was A OK.

    I never lock the car with the fob, always with the black button. The system won't let you lock the car if the fob is inside (OK, I'm trusting Toyota on this one, I haven't tried it :) ). You should not even be able to lock it using a fob at a distance if the other one is in the car.

    I don't resent my office door, it has a push button lock. I do resent my house door, which does not love me and will not unlock without a key.
     
    #35 bruceha_2000, Oct 10, 2004
  16. bobmrg

    bobmrg New Member

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    I'm glad to hear that a Garmin GPS fits on the dash...my StreetPilot will fit just fine when my number finally comes up.
     
    #36 bobmrg, Oct 10, 2004
  17. ggarb

    ggarb Member

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    Re: Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features

    The smart key system is so much more than just a set of geeky initials.

    I love that the light inside my Prius comes on when I walk up to the car.

    I like just grabbing the door handle to open it.

    I love just getting into and out of the car, without having to fumble with keys, pull them out of my pocket, shove them back in my pocket. I wish my house had something similar. I'm thinking maybe I will attach my Prius entry fob to my belt, instead of keeping it on my keychain.

    When I show people the car, the Power button and the shifter amaze them. The Info displays fascinate them. The Nav system, while not unique, does add to the futuristic, gadgety nature of the car.

    /Gordon
     
    #37 ggarb, Oct 10, 2004
  18. priusham

    priusham New Member

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    #38 priusham, Oct 11, 2004
  19. prius04

    prius04 New Member

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    This in regards to the mirrors folding in an earlier post.

    I'm pretty sure this feature is not for us the consumer. I think this has to do with shipping them to the USA on container ships. With the fold in mirrors, they can pack our Prii tighter.

    So far, I've owned about 5 foreign cars from Europe and Japan and they all had fold in mirrors. Cheap ones and luxury ones.
     
    #39 prius04, Oct 11, 2004
  20. Canuck

    Canuck Member

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    Re: Luv m'Pri but what is so geeky special bout Pri features

    I'll give Toyota the benefit of the doubt judging from all the other cleverly engineered thingmies in the Prius. In any case it's a great feature and if it saves me having to replace the mirror fixtures at some later date then it's great. I would imagine that a considerable number of design features in any auto might have been incorporated primarily to make the assembly and shipping more economical but if the customer also reaps an improvement we all win. :lol:
     
    #40 Canuck, Oct 11, 2004
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