NHTSA Complaint #10318345 — 2010 TOYOTA CAMRY

INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) FROM:[XXX] SUBJECT:TOYOTA COMMENTS: I RECALL A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH MILITARY AIRCRAFT, IN WHICH THE ENGINEERS (MYSELF INCLUDED), COULD NOT ISOLATE A SYSTEM ERROR. IT WAS REPEATEDLY FIXED WITH NO SUCCESS. THE PROBLEM FELL DOWN TO A FIRMWARE ERROR, ON WHICH THE SOFTWARE WAS RUNNING. THE FIRMWARE LOGIC CODE WAS A THIRD PARTY PROVISION TO THE SYSTEM, AND NONE OF THE ENGINEERS HAD REAL ACCESS TO THE LOGIC CIRCUITRY. THE FIRMWARE TESTED FINE, AND RAN THE TEST CODE AS WELL, WITH NO ERRORS. IT WASN'T UNTIL THE SYSTEM WAS FULLY OPERATIONAL, THAT THE SYSTEM THREW THE ERRORS. SINCE IT WAS THE FIRMWARE THAT THREW THE ERRORS, NONE OF THE SENSORS OR ANY OF THE SYSTEM LOGS CAUGHT THE PROBLEM. THE VENDOR OF THE FIRMWARE "ASSUMED" IT WAS ALWAYS THE USER CODE "THE OEM" THAT WAS AT FAULT, AND ANY LOG WAS AIMED AT MONITORING THE SOFTWARE EXECUTION, AND NOT THE FIRMWARE PROCESSING. IN WATCHING THE MAJOR AUTO MANUFACTURER COME TO HIS KNEES, IT STRUCK ME AS TO HOW SIMILAR, THE SITUATION SEEMS IN THIS CASE, TO WHAT WE EXPERIENCED, IN THE AIR FORCE. PERHAPS THERE SHOULD BE SOME MODICUM OF CONSIDERATION TO THE FIRMWARE ARCHITECTURE IN YOUR INVESTIGATION, AND NOT JUST THE SOFTWARE. JUST A THOUGHT FOR YOU TO HAVE FUN WITH. DAVEC FROM NHTSA WEB SITE. *TR