It's sort of like "American Idol" for auto mechanics. Amid the controversy over Toyota's runaway cars, an automotive Web site is offering a $1 million prize to any tinkerer who can figure out the cause of the phenomenon. For now, the causes are shrouded in an engineering mystery. While the automaker says it has corrected the defects that caused sudden unintended acceleration by fixing floor mats and accelerator pedals, some safety advocates and drivers believe there is something awry in the engine electronics. The disagreement has left Congress and federal regulators grasping for answers as to whether the cars are safe. To settle the dispute, Edmunds.com is offering the prize money to elicit a "crowd-sourced" solution, one that emerges by inviting large numbers of people to think about it. washingtonpost.com
As a Management Scientist specializing in improving the software development process of companies, here's my take: It's the SOFTWARE, Stupids! Where do I get my million? [best consulting gig I've had!]
From the article: According to the company, the prize will go to a person who can "demonstrate in a controlled environment a repeatable factor that will cause an unmodified new vehicle to accelerate suddenly and unexpectedly." OK, here's the factor I am introducing: a driver with Alzheimer's who mistakes the accelerator pedal for the brake. Please send my check via FedEx.
Edmunds Error Detection Contest You can understand why edmonds might put the condition "unmodified new vehicle" on the contest, and the contest might catch the flaw if it is of a certain kind. For example, if it IS just the software, as PriusLewis suggests, then the error should be reproducible in any vehicle with the software. On the other hand, our PC engineering types, discussing this issue in other threads, have suggested that it COULD be such things as a defective silicon chip or a short. See the thread "Gilbert Report" on accelerator weakness (Not IS, just COULD BE, so far). Now, if that's what's going on, it will not be repeatable on a random unmodified new vehicle, because it won't have the defective part.
Re: Edmunds Error Detection Contest Actually that's pretty insightful, as the condition may manifest itself after some wear on the (yes, solid state) silicon hardware. Nvidia had a problem with some of their GPUs semi-recently, causing them to crash due to a weak die/packaging material set when they moved to a new process technology. However, this issue would only manifest itself after some extended period of time where the GPU was under use.
