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I once worked on a QA system for a car manufacturer. The idea was to data mine for commonly ocurring problems and then support a workflow to do root cause analy
by brazzy 7y ago
I once worked on a QA system for a car manufacturer. The idea was to data mine for commonly ocurring problems and then support a workflow to do root cause analysis and organize a fix in order to reduce warranty expenses.
One problem that had been identified was "Cars of this model produced in this factory have the horn fail very often within the warranty period".
The root cause analysis was: "This factory produces for the Indian market. The horn is designed for 50k activation cycles. Due to the higher use intensity in India, this is not sufficient."
They were still debating whether to install a more sturdy horn only in cars delivered to India or everywhere.
- chetangoti 7y agoWas it German manufacturer? We experieneced lots of Skoda (basically anything of VW group) horn failures in India!
- carlmr 7y agoWe were told about this in a quality workshop. Had a similar issue once because we had lots of issues being reported from India. We found out drivers were opening the door while driving, triggering software problems, since when stopped the start-stop mechanism would assume the driver left the vehicle and would not start again. Turns out it's very common in India to chew betel nuts, open the door and spit it out. So India now has different software here.
- gpvos 7y agoThis is a clear example of software being too clever for its own good. The car is being started, so clearly there's someone inside, despite your fancy theories. The fix should have been applied to all cars.
- joezydeco 7y agoHe’s referring to the automatic stop feature that a lot of cars have now for fuel economy. The engine will shut off at stoplights and restart when the brake is released.
- carlmr 7y agoNo, that's exactly the problem with start-stop. You go on the brake, then the car shuts down the motor, now if you go off the brake it starts again. Many people would go park in their garage, the car shuts off, they leave the car, the car drives into the wall. In order to protect from this habit you need to detect whether the driver is still present. Opening the door is a pretty good indication (normally) that the car shouldn't start again.
- gpvos 7y agoThanks. I am aware of the start-stop mechanism, but didn't know its name, and have never had it in a car I was driving myself, so am less aware of its implications. (I don't drive often anyway.)
- blackRust 7y agoI know someone that was on QA at a major international horn manufacturer, the minimum activation cycles before failure for India were ~10x-50x higher than for other markets.