Single Event Upsets: Cosmic radiation makes Toyota computers go haywire?
in [Toyota Prius]
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From: Davoud on 3 Apr 2010 14:11 Neo: > The problem with the cosmic rays theory > is that it would effect electronics devices everywhere > so you would not just have runaway Priuses but > other electronic devices going nuts too. I'm an astrophotographer. I use very sensitive purpose-built astronomical CCD cameras. _Every_ frame I expose has one or more "cosmic-ray hits" -- pixels that are fully saturated because a cosmic ray triggered the release of electrons within the pixel itself, overwhelming the electrons that were released when photons from the desired target struck that pixel. "Going nuts" is not a scientific description of anything, so I can't comment on it. I can tell you, however, that cosmic rays are constantly impinging on all microelectronics and that the result is often not evident (it may be inconsequential; imagine a well regulated source that is supposed to supply 9 VDC but that momentarily supplies 9.001 VDC, e.g.) and usually not predictable (the CCD pixel saturation being an exception in that is very reliably predictable). > > From what I've seen so far the Prius > electronics seem to be shielded and protected as > well as any other car. There is no way to block the highest energy cosmic rays. Some of them pass through the Earth unhindered. Davoud -- Posted via iPhone |