7 ms·

That's pretty spectacular, I'd love to read some more sources on it. Makes me glad Tesla did their stuff the way they did. You can reboot the cenelter console

That's pretty spectacular, I'd love to read some more sources on it. Makes me glad Tesla did their stuff the way they did. You can reboot the cenelter console and/or days while driving and not much happens other than A/C turning off for about 20s.

antongribok 8y ago
Tesla really scares me. They released an OTA update to the brakes with less than 2 weeks from first reports to code being pushed to the entire fleet of cars on public roads.
- jclulow 8y ago
  Move fast on brake things?
- slg 8y ago
  Toyota had a similar brake software issue in 2010 [1]. They had a fix available 3 days after the NHTSA announced the issue. Toyota issued a voluntary recall for over 130,000 cars in the US. Since the recall was voluntary, it likely took years until some cars received that update when they were serviced for other unrelated issues. I have no idea if Tesla is doing things the best way, but Toyota having the ability to push that update out immediately would have indisputably prevented accidents and possibly saved lives. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle_recalls#Anti-lock_brake_software_recall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle...
Someone1234 8y ago
Tesla pushed out a software update to AutoPilot (Lane Centering) that caused a fatality[0], I hardly think they should be held up as an example of good software hygiene. [0] https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/29/tesla-crash-victims-family-claims-he-complained-about-autopilot/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/29/tesla-crash-victims-f...
- FussyZeus 8y ago
  I sleep very well at night knowing my software is not keeping helicopters in the air, cars on the road, etc. Honestly I'm in awe of the lot of programmers who take these kinds of tasks on. I don't know how they can relax at all relative to their work.
  - Ocerge 8y ago
    I'm with you, I'm nowhere near confident enough in myself to work directly on safety-critical systems. I imagine an important part of those organizations is removing SPOFs with respect to the engineering team itself; i.e. nobody fails alone, and everybody tests the hell out of everything. Could be wrong though.
  - ianhowson 8y ago
    If you as an individual are taking on that level of personal responsibility, your organization is broken. Part of the regulatory process is to demonstrate sufficient levels of resilience in both the systems produced and the development process used to produce them. It should be a really boring process with a lot of crosschecks. You should be sleeping well knowing that your work is being reviewed and tested and attacked by other people. (Reality is often different, of course. Just don't try to be the hero.)
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    > I don't know how they can relax at all relative to their work. They strictly follow procedures. If faulty code gets through to production and somehow causes a fatality, it's a failure of the procedures, not the individual developer. This works so well in aviation and yet seems completely non-existent in the automotive world.
    - ianhowson 8y ago
      The procedures exist and are 'followed', but there's a lot more time-to-market pressure. Manufacturing lines dictate the schedule and software must keep up no matter what.
amluto 8y ago
I’m very glad that Tesla’s instrument cluster is semi-independent. Because mine crashes every few minutes while driving due to a “high priority” firmware regression.

antongribok 8y ago

Tesla really scares me. They released an OTA update to the brakes with less than 2 weeks from first reports to code being pushed to the entire fleet of cars on public roads.

jclulow 8y ago
Move fast on brake things?
slg 8y ago
Toyota had a similar brake software issue in 2010 [1]. They had a fix available 3 days after the NHTSA announced the issue. Toyota issued a voluntary recall for over 130,000 cars in the US. Since the recall was voluntary, it likely took years until some cars received that update when they were serviced for other unrelated issues. I have no idea if Tesla is doing things the best way, but Toyota having the ability to push that update out immediately would have indisputably prevented accidents and possibly saved lives. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle_recalls#Anti-lock_brake_software_recall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle...

Someone1234 8y ago

Tesla pushed out a software update to AutoPilot (Lane Centering) that caused a fatality[0], I hardly think they should be held up as an example of good software hygiene. [0] https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/29/tesla-crash-victims-family-claims-he-complained-about-autopilot/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/29/tesla-crash-victims-f...

FussyZeus 8y ago
I sleep very well at night knowing my software is not keeping helicopters in the air, cars on the road, etc. Honestly I'm in awe of the lot of programmers who take these kinds of tasks on. I don't know how they can relax at all relative to their work.
- Ocerge 8y ago
  I'm with you, I'm nowhere near confident enough in myself to work directly on safety-critical systems. I imagine an important part of those organizations is removing SPOFs with respect to the engineering team itself; i.e. nobody fails alone, and everybody tests the hell out of everything. Could be wrong though.
- ianhowson 8y ago
  If you as an individual are taking on that level of personal responsibility, your organization is broken. Part of the regulatory process is to demonstrate sufficient levels of resilience in both the systems produced and the development process used to produce them. It should be a really boring process with a lot of crosschecks. You should be sleeping well knowing that your work is being reviewed and tested and attacked by other people. (Reality is often different, of course. Just don't try to be the hero.)
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  > I don't know how they can relax at all relative to their work. They strictly follow procedures. If faulty code gets through to production and somehow causes a fatality, it's a failure of the procedures, not the individual developer. This works so well in aviation and yet seems completely non-existent in the automotive world.
  - ianhowson 8y ago
    The procedures exist and are 'followed', but there's a lot more time-to-market pressure. Manufacturing lines dictate the schedule and software must keep up no matter what.

amluto 8y ago

I’m very glad that Tesla’s instrument cluster is semi-independent. Because mine crashes every few minutes while driving due to a “high priority” firmware regression.