Look Who it Was Random video

More "Electronical" Controls We Don't Need!!!

610 views · Published 13 August 2015 · 1:57 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: jaykay18 · 2015 · Howto & Style

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Originally recorded July 24, 2015.

Cars aren't cars anymore.  They're rolling computers.  Computers break.

If that weren't unreliable enough, this particular car has done away with the traditional mechanical shifter and parking brake lever, and converted them to both be electronic.  Now you have to rely on the computer once again to do its job, and tell the mechanical actuators to run or turn in a certain direction, and hope that the car does your bidding.  If not, there could be serious implications.

There was nothing wrong with good old mechanical cables.  They worked, and very rarely broke.  The exception would be the parking brake cable, if never or rarely used, it likely wouldn't work when it was later called into service.

Better yet, cables were adjustable for tension.  In my car, if I need to tighten up the parking brake cable, I remove 1 plastic panel with no tools required, and there's essentially a "turnbuckle".  Tighten up to where I want it, and all's well.

Reverse is an even bigger trip in this car (not shown).  It has a rear-facing camera.  When shifted to reverse, many things need to happen:
1.  The computer has to receive the signal, and light up the appropriate indicator.
2.  The actuator needs to shift the transmission into reverse.
3.  The rear-facing camera has to be enumerated and initialized, then needs to settle.
4.  The screen needs to change inputs to the rear-facing camera.
5.  The screen shows lines where the sides of the car are.  These lines bend depending on which way and how much the steering wheel is turned, so there are sensors in the steering column to determine its position.
6.  The computer has to recalculate proper placement of the lines in relation to the steering wheel, in real time.
That's right, 6 things need to happen for the car to reverse like it was designed.  Shameful.  

In the old days, on my old car, I had a mechanical cable connected to the shifter, which manually shifted the transmission into reverse.  The indicator for the transmission was a needle attached to the steering column shifter, which would simply point to "R".  For everything else, there was an ingenious invention called a MIRROR.

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