PRR - thanks to globalization aren’t most of the airbags contracted out to third parties, such as Takata? So as with all the other subcontracted components, the manufacturers must trust in their quality and lifespan.
I got a recall notice for the passenger side bag on my now 10yr old Ford Ranger. When I called for an appointment I was told “Oh, we’re on backorder for those parts, and we’ll give you a call when they’re in. Probably be ‘a while’” . Gee, thanks for fostering confidence.
I got a recall notice for the passenger side bag on my now 10yr old Ford Ranger. When I called for an appointment I was told “Oh, we’re on backorder for those parts, and we’ll give you a call when they’re in. Probably be ‘a while’” . Gee, thanks for fostering confidence.
I don't think so. It just seems pedantic to me.
Do we at least all agree Boeing is to blame here? Surely that's beyond reasonable doubt?
The short-cut redesign to allow bigger engines led to an MCAS system based on one AOA sensor/indicator (sindicator?). This system was inherently dangerous and led to the deaths of 346 people.
+ 1000000000000
Takata has been mentioned in this long-running scandal. (When Googled, Takata Recall comes up before the corporate site.) FWIW, Takata closed in 2017 after a series of airbag fatalities.
Takata's history is blemished. 1995 investigation of seatbelt failures in Honda and other brands. (My seatbelts don't work right despite a Service Notice which describes cleaning the belt instead of fixing the bind. Also the switch has failed and the red light won't go out.)
Part of the problem on the airbags is that Takata's Mexican subsidiary did not keep records of how they mis-handled the propellants. But also users were blamed for "excessive moisture". (In a previous recall, I had to wait because "humid states" had priority, even though at a mile from the sea we get pretty damp here.)
More fun fact: a truck of Takata airbags was in a crash, the blast destroyed a house and killed somebody.
I bought the car with confidence in Honda. It is Honda's concern where they source parts. I'm 98% pleased with the car. But this fix of a fix of a fix of a probably-known and denied problem is ticking me off. I hate Toyota *dealers* but it may come to that.
These things are getting more and more complex every year.
I worked at Philips as a product line GM and supplied power semi's into the Auto Tier 1 suppliers from 1996 to 2001 (I moved over to computing, telecoms etc after that).
The average Merc and BMW already had about 60 uControllers or devices with microcontroller cores in them in 2000. How can that be?
EMU (usually 16 bit Infineon or Freescale)
IVN network - 1 per node - usually 20-30 nodes per car (8080 8 bit cores)
ABS 1 per wheel - 16 bit
Steering assist (was all electric already then)
Seatbelt controller/Airbag system - not sure of qty or platform
Stability control (links to ABS system) - 16 bit - not sure of the platform - probably Infineon
Mirrors - 8080 core
Headlight tilts - 8080 core
Aircon - not sure
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At a minimum, each controller had hundreds of lines of code, and on ABS and EMU probably tens of thousands of lines
So when they say there was much, much more computing power in a car than the Apollo Launch system and all the stuff that went with it they were not kidding - it was true already in the '80's.
But, millions of cars are churned out every year and for the most part work reliably and to spec which is a testament to the industries focus on quality. In the old days you got 6 months/6000 miles warranty (whichever came first) and that changed dramatically from the 1980's as manufacturers (same for TV BTW) recognized that products with failure rates in the 100's of PPM were just not going to cut it - call outs cost big bucks to say nothing of the damage to a brands reputation. It had to be in the low ppb range and it was the Japanese that first touted 'Zero Failures' (I think they sort of took Deming's quality philosophy and put it on steroids).
Some of the toughest discussions I had in business was trying to explain to a senior quality guy at a customer why our product quality had not hit agreed annual reduction targets - almost always ended up in a factory audit.
I don't believe these auto companies are not doing there absolute best to bring good products to market, its just that with the level of complexity - not just technical BTW, you also have to think about the supply chain - things are going to emerge after the product has launched.
I don't know anything about the aerospace industry, but I do know Auto has been a major driver of quality in the semi industry. There was a big electronic/semi supplier conference in Paris when I was involved in auto. The head of Merc electronic development was one of the speakers and he berated the suppliers in his speech - basically 'if one of our cars breaks down, other than flat tyres etc, you can bet its your industry that's the cause. Get you act together, you are failing us'.
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I have a friend, now long since retired from the auto components business. He was at a gala sponsored by Chrysler. Lee Iacoca came over to him and started screaming at him in this huge public event because the adhesive in some of the door seals was failing to adhere on a certain part of the door frame.
Auto companies know your margins, and they feed you enough to stay alive. On a product cycle you're pretty much allowed to keep any improvement in margins, or eat any deficiencies. At the end of the product cycle it's dog-eat-dog all over again.
Geeze, that (fill in the blank) guy has a huge ego.
Elon: hold my beer, mate
I kinda think the smartest person in the room is the one who doesn’t overpromise.
Yeah.
That (fill in the blank) guy has put a rocket up the back passage of the space industry but . . . I'm not expecting a manned Mars shot anytime soon.
If it happens in my lifetime, it will take a huge international effort. Flying 40 million miles (one way) and 3 years round trip is orders of magnitude more challenging than 250k miles (one way) over 10~11 days round trip.
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In computing they expected quarterly price reductions because that's what Dell and HP demanded.
I remember an article somewhere extolling the virtues of the ODM supply chain model and how Dell were an 'anti-technology' company because of their 'confiscatory pricing demands' LOL.
The Taiwanese ODM's were on 3% margins well before 2010 already and then the iPhone and iPad hit them.
BTW, on some auto stuff, its open book pricing so if it costs you $100 to make, the auto customer will give you a margin of 5% or whatever - take it or leave it. That never happened in semi's though since the supplier base is very narrow - only 3 or 4 big guys with any heft and the infrastructure to handle it.
While I frankly think that any large scale manned mission to Mars would be a stupendous waste of resources much better applied to solving terrestrial problems - starting with what is in my mind the root cause, overpopulation- there’s no doubt that Spacex, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are showing the lumbering government agencies and long established subsidized contractors a thing or two. However, it’s the recent announcements of “best chip in the world”, and “you’d be insane not to buy/drive a Tesla” that get under my skin a bit.
Even with a certified genius, there’s a thin line between self confidence and hubris, the latter offering greater chances for grave and unintended consequences, as it didn’t take Daniel Graystone long to find out.
Even with a certified genius, there’s a thin line between self confidence and hubris, the latter offering greater chances for grave and unintended consequences, as it didn’t take Daniel Graystone long to find out.
Thanks for the reboot back to topic - excellent series by Mr Brown. 40yrs combined military and commercial flight experience, and one helluva communicator.
Yes, J. Browne is a great communicator.
In a subsequent video he talks about some of the changes that are proposed. One is to make sure MCAS cannot move the stabiliser trim beyond the point where the elevators can cause climb. Another is to read both AOA sindicators and disable MCAS if they disagree by more than about 5 degrees.
In a subsequent video he talks about some of the changes that are proposed. One is to make sure MCAS cannot move the stabiliser trim beyond the point where the elevators can cause climb. Another is to read both AOA sindicators and disable MCAS if they disagree by more than about 5 degrees.
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