[MR2] MR2 news from Top Gear

[waynearndt at waynearndt.com]

Not to mention all this high tech stuff takes the responsibility away from
the driver which in turn makes for a poor and untrained driver. Even the
most responsible driver can't be expected to be all that great when every
car they've ever driven has actually driven itself... And I agree with Bill
about forcing all the "do-dads" onto us with new cars. No matter how much
cash I have i my pocket, I cannot even buy a new car without may of these
"features". Pet peeves that I wish I could do without are airbags, Big
brother's Onstar and the cars with push start buttons rather than typical
keyed ignitions. As mentioned earlier, it makes that panic reaction less
likely to be figured out in time. I guess maybe I'm a Luddite too.... I
suppose that means I digress since I'm an IT guy.... The exceptions for me
that I've come to like are powered & heated side mirrors and keyless entry.
It's nice having the mirrors stay clear even when the outside temp is -20F.
And as long as I lock the car with the fob after closing all doors I will
never again lock myself out.

-wayne
'91 Turbo T








On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:30:49 -0800, "William Brandt"
<wbrandt1 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Wow - lots of interesting discussions going on. First aircraft have
> redundant systems - Boeing is the best with most planes having 3
hydraulic
> systems. Plus they must be tested ad nauseum for the FAA before
> certification. 
> 
> I remember 20 years ago, working for Cessna in Wichita, going to the
> company cafeteria and going by the test hanger - they had a Citation 3
wing
> (a medium size exec jet) on some jigs with hydraulic presses constantly
> flexing the wing back and forth to simulate 1000s of hours of flight
time. 
> 
> Even then some of this fly-by-wire stuff is a bit too much - Airbus
seems
> to have a problem between their software and the rudder giving too much
> angle in certain situations - causing the tail to fall off ;-) Mercedes
has
> a cruise control system that automatically slows the car when it detects
> too small a space up front. And the computer will automatically tension
> seat belts when it detects the driver "slamming" on the brakes. 
> 
> And Lexus has their auto parking system. 
> 
> I view all this is fine until it goes bad and then big $$$ to diagnose
and
> fix. Then it is just more crap going out. Like the little motors inside
the
> LS430 vents that move the vents back and forth to move the air. Fine
until
> the motors go bad and you have to tear the dash up. 
> 
> When you have a car that is 100 times as complex electronically do you
> think you will get the same trouble-free longetivity? 
> 
> Mercedes electronic brakes - well, they did have a brake system that was
> computer controlled - with hydraulics - even changing the pads and
pushing
> the pistons back was a special procedure - offered on the latest SL and
the
> last E Class - but I have heard that they dropped it. They had a problem
> first with the initial software. Have a friend with an E Class who loves
it
> but as to why they have dropped it I cannot say. At least they have no
> plans on offering it in more models. That is what I heard. 
> 
> Bill
> 
> ***
> MR2 news from Top Gear
> To: bob-schultz at comcast.net
> Cc: mr2 at mr2.com
> Message-ID:
> <e4b348f21001241318s12da7969kb15ffcec6fea0bf3 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> 
> Airplanes though, to be certified by the FAA, must have redundant
systems
> built in.  I'm not a flight controls guy, and don't know if their backup
> system is mechanical or electronic; but it has to be there, and isolated
> from the primary system.  Besides that, airplanes cost $100,000,000.
> 
> Ah, here we go.....
> 
> loss of all flight control computers could immediately render the
aircraft
> uncontrollable. For this reason, most fly-by-wire systems incorporate
> either
> redundant computers (triplex, quadruplex etc), some kind of mechanical
or
> hydraulic backup or a combination of both. A "mixed" control system such
as
> the latter is not desirable and modern FBW aircraft normally avoid it by
> having more independent FBW channels, thereby reducing the possibility
of
> overall failure to minuscule levels that are acceptable to the
independent
> regulatory and safety authority responsible for aircraft design, testing
> and
> certification before operational service.
> 
> On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 12:49 PM, <bob-schultz at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
>>  I hear what you say and honestly I kind of agree with you.
>> My LS430 has radar cruise but when the Yaw Sensor gets out of sync
>> (something like a $600 part) the cruise dies so the drive back from
>> Yosemite
>> was a problem.  I think resetting the Yaw Sensor fixed the problem but
I
>> digress.
>>
>> Anyway, I have a friend who is a pilot and he told me that airplanes
have
>> been fly by wire for years and although they probably have had some
>> teething
>> problems way back then, they don't fall out of he sky that often.
>>
>> Bob
>>
> 
> 
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