3 ms·

"Other automotive safety systems include anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC/ESP), traction control (TCS) and automatic four-wheel

"Other automotive safety systems include anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC/ESP), traction control (TCS) and automatic four-wheel drive." So anti-lock brakes are going to stop working after the wraparound? Seems to me that either (a) they're relying on code that they shouldn't--why should ABS depend on date and time? or (b) the article is just giving examples of embedded systems that could fail. If case (a) is true, I imagine (or would like to think) that they're just using the timestamp to perform some simple physics computations of how to control the brakes. If this is the case, they could just use the uptime of the processor instead. Then they would only bump into this issue if the car ran nonstop for 60+ years, which is a reasonable thing to assume will not happen. If case (b) is true, then the article needs a bit more research into examples of systems that actually rely on datetime.

learc83 13y ago
I think it's more of they use datetime for logging events and no one has really tested the ECU to see what happens to it when datetime overflows. I think it's very unlikely it would actually affect ABS. Now that I think of it, I don't believe ECUs have internal batteries, so every time your battery dies the clock would be reset anyway.
aidenn0 13y ago
I think you're right; there are some systems that maintain time even when the car is off, but most of those will reset when you replace the starter battery.
derekp7 13y ago
Seen the same thing back with Y2K -- all kinds of scare mongering using countless embedded systems as examples -- but not one of those examples has an interface where you can set the current date/time. As long as it isn't blinking "12:00" (or more precisely "Jan 1, 1970 00:00 UTC") when you first turn it on, you don't have to worry about it. Sure you have to set the time on your microwave, but none of the ones I've had displayed a calendar date.
- jrabone 13y ago
  True. There are also some ingenious "solutions" out there - like my DECT phone for example. The interface takes time and date (with NO year field) in one menu, and day-of-week in a different menu on the base station... (if it's got a look-up table somewhere and is calculating epoch-second timestamps from this I will ritually burn it.)
rachelbythebay 13y ago
There was a cell phone which couldn't focus its camera for two weeks at a time, then could again, and so on. It had something to do with the time stamps of samples it read from its sensor and a sign extension gone wrong. I never imagined the internal clock could affect camera focus, but it did.

learc83 13y ago

I think it's more of they use datetime for logging events and no one has really tested the ECU to see what happens to it when datetime overflows. I think it's very unlikely it would actually affect ABS. Now that I think of it, I don't believe ECUs have internal batteries, so every time your battery dies the clock would be reset anyway.

aidenn0 13y ago

I think you're right; there are some systems that maintain time even when the car is off, but most of those will reset when you replace the starter battery.

derekp7 13y ago

Seen the same thing back with Y2K -- all kinds of scare mongering using countless embedded systems as examples -- but not one of those examples has an interface where you can set the current date/time. As long as it isn't blinking "12:00" (or more precisely "Jan 1, 1970 00:00 UTC") when you first turn it on, you don't have to worry about it. Sure you have to set the time on your microwave, but none of the ones I've had displayed a calendar date.

jrabone 13y ago
True. There are also some ingenious "solutions" out there - like my DECT phone for example. The interface takes time and date (with NO year field) in one menu, and day-of-week in a different menu on the base station... (if it's got a look-up table somewhere and is calculating epoch-second timestamps from this I will ritually burn it.)

rachelbythebay 13y ago

There was a cell phone which couldn't focus its camera for two weeks at a time, then could again, and so on. It had something to do with the time stamps of samples it read from its sensor and a sign extension gone wrong. I never imagined the internal clock could affect camera focus, but it did.