Computers in cars 1980 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2019, 03:28:01 pm
content: Nothing says "Late 1980s technology" better than a VFD display.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2019, 03:54:34 pm
content: "30000 transistors that is as many as in a 1000 color tv sets"

author: TheUnnamedNewbie
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2019, 11:04:38 am
content: And to think now that there are literally hundreds of microprocessors in a single car. I have heard from a certain automotive electronics manufacturer that there are more than 170 microprocessors in the car, without including the ones in sensors (EG: an automotive oil pressure sensor might actually contain a entire DSP processor to compensate for non-linearity, temperature variation, aging, etc).

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2019, 05:00:07 pm
content: Quote from: schmitt trigger on May 27, 2019, 03:28:01 pmI've had two of those and I still have one that is NIB. I bought my first one in 1979 or 1980 IIRC. I KNOW it was well before 1982. I used that one in four different vehicles over the years and it worked as exactly as promised. I pulled it out when I got rid of the last vehicle that I had it in about six years ago and it's retired to a box in my garage.They literally did have 44 functions built into them and I've never seen an OEM car computer that even came close to having as many functions as these did.

author: bsdphk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2019, 07:42:59 pm
content: Chrysler used RCA1802 in the Lean Burn system around 1980.The CHM's oral history about the 1802 has some details.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 03:49:10 am
content: I had installed a few of those car computers, also called the ZT-1. People wanted cruise control, it was all the rage back then.You had to mount magnets on the drive shaft and a reed switch.There was a huge vacuum actuator to move the (carburetor) throttle.Fuel consumption was measured with an optical rotating vane flowmeter.It was a lot of work to install but fun on long trips, to see all the data it gathered.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 08:59:34 am
content: Wasn't there some models of the Audi 100 and 200 that also had an electronic throttles that use to unintendedly accelerate and they had recalls on it. I think I saw in documentary and Volkwagon introduced in their cars in the 1990's but they had a failsafe cut out mechanism by pushing the brake the accelerator pedals down at the same time.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 12:27:55 pm
content: Every cruise control that I've ever seen could be disengaged by pushing on the break pedal. The Compu Cruise 44 also had a user installed switch to connected to the brake and the clutch pedals and pressing on either one would cause the system to disengage. The switch was mounted to the firewall above the pedals and it had a bead chain that clamped onto the brake lever, run down through the switch housing and then to the clutch lever. As long as both the clutch and brake in their normal positions, the chain would be under tension and would hold the switch open. but if you depressed either the brake or the clutch then tension would be released on the chain and the switch would close.The earliest cruise control that I ever used was a 1966 Buick Wildcat. It didn't control the engine directly. Instead tit had an added hand on the speedometer. A knob on it let you set the pointer at what ever speed that you didn't want to exceed, once you speed got to that setting the speedometer would start making a growling sound. Of course, the driver was free to ignore the sound and could keep on accelerating. It was good system for use when passing since you didn't have to turn it off or reengage it when you finished passing. And it did help keep the driver awake and alert. I'm not sure but I think that system was completely mechanical.Besides the sensors that Flobby mentioned, the Compu Cruise 44 also had two air temperature sensors. You could mount them anywhere that you likely but usually one inside and one outside.IIRC the LT1 system came out after the CompuCruise 44 and they left off one of two features but i don't remember which ones.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 02:01:42 pm
content: Quote from: MrMobodies on May 31, 2019, 08:59:34 amIn the US it was the mid 80's Audi 5000 (that would be the 200 in other countries). And it was 100% bullshit, as people claimed they had their foot on the brake. No, you didn't, because the car CAN NOT overcome the brakes. And the brakes weren't any sort of drive by wire system, there was a direct mechanical link from the brake pedal to the master cylinder, so no way the brakes were disabled by some electronic glitch. Nope, just people who had their foot on the gas and then switched into gear. How you can't tell the engine is revving..oh wait, we ARE talking about the typical American driver here who will regularly believe you need to periodically top off the blinker fluid... My best friend had an 83 Turbo model. No, it could not overpower the brakes, instead you would get up tot he stall speed of the torque converter and the engine would die. The recall involved adding an interlock that required the brake to be depressed to unlock the shift lever.Boy would the nannies hate my truck - it has a button to disable the lockout that requires you to depress the clutch for the starter to engage.

author: odessa
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 03:47:56 pm
content: The shot in the car is Sunbury Cross roundabout, about 5 miles from me

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 06:12:30 pm
content: Quote from: Stray Electron on May 31, 2019, 12:27:55 pmZemco ZT-1 had a cruise control on/off switch on the front panel. Otherwise I think the ZT-1 is identical to the Compucruise 44? The vacuum actuator which was real fun to setup.pics are from a used nos sale

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 06:23:17 pm
content: Quote from: floobydust on May 31, 2019, 03:49:10 amI remember my dad helping my grandpa install one of those in his motorhome, I think it was a 1965 model, big old turquoise and white thing. Lots of good memories around that, anyway I specifically remember watching him install the strap of magnets on the driveshaft.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 10:29:22 pm
content: Quote from: rrinker on May 31, 2019, 02:01:42 pmDamm! I had forgotten about that claim against the Audies! I knew a woman who's 12 year old daughter was killed in one of those in Lake Mary, Florida in about 1985. Another woman was driving the car and claimed that the cruise control had gone out of control and caused the car to accelerate to about 95 MPH before it slammed into a tree killing the driver's son and the young girl that were in the back seat of the car. The police and the courts did a very extensive investigation and found that the driver had been involved in a domestic dispute a few hours before the accident and also made a complete stop just seconds before accelerating away at full throttle and then smashing into the only tree within a mile. The investigation could find no evidence that the Audi cruise control was at fault and the driver was convicted of 2 counts of vehicular homicide and sentenced to, IIRC, 20 years in prison. The sentence was upheld through two subsequent appeals. I drove by the accident site several times per week and the property and tree damage was obvious for years afterwards.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 11:20:19 pm
content: I have seen a few cases where cars (not that one as far as I know) have gotten stuck throttles and the driver unable to stop. I think what happens though is driver error, rather than really planting the foot on the brake to bring the car to a stop they ride it trying to keep the car at a reasonable speed until the brakes overheat and fail. Of course they could still shift the car out of gear or turn off the key in most cases so again more driver error. In modern cars where everything including the throttle, gear selector and parking brake are all drive by wire there may be failure conditions where this really would not be possible to do but I don't think there has been a case yet.Some people seem to panic and just freeze up the moment something unexpected happens.

author: Homer J Simpson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2019, 11:31:46 pm
content: Wikipedia has some good info on the Audi "unintended acceleration" issue.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_10060 minutes did a story in 1986 where it was later discovered they had rigged the car in order to display an issue." In North America, the CBS television broadcast network 60 Minutes news program aired a report titled Out of Control on November 23, 1986. It featured interviews with six people who had sued Audi after reporting unintended acceleration, including footage of an Audi 5000 ostensibly displaying a surge of acceleration while the brake pedal was depressed. Subsequent investigation revealed that 60 Minutes had not disclosed they had engineered the vehicle's behavior – fitting a canister of compressed air on the passenger-side floor, to pump fluid via a hose to a hole drilled into the transmission — the arrangement executed by one of the experts who had testified on behalf of a plaintiff in a then-pending lawsuit against Audi's parent company. "NHTSA investigation identified a situation where the IAC, (idle air control), could cause an rpm surge and from there it was was driver panic mode coupled with gas and break pedal that where closer together than the customer was used to." In a review study published in 2012, NHTSA summarized its past findings about the Audi unintended acceleration problems: "Once an unintended acceleration had begun, in the Audi 5000, due to a failure in the idle-stabilizer system (producing an initial acceleration of 0.3g), pedal misapplication resulting from panic, confusion, or unfamiliarity with the Audi 5000 contributed to the severity of the incident. "

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2019, 02:56:54 am
content: The Compucruise/ZT-1 I think cruise control did not freak out if the speed sensor read low, i.e. lost pulses from some of the driveshaft magnets. I thought it just cut out.Every car I've driven has had the throttle get stuck.Spark plug wire got jammed in the linkage, a couple floor mats slid up, and an old 1968 Pontiac had a suicide mode.Stepping on the throttle locked it to the floor and the brake booster hose would pop out. So no power brakes and full throttle. It was a rocker arm worn out (exhaust and intake operating one valve) so backfiring for one cylinder which made positive pressure pulsations on the intake manifold.I think Toyota still has throttle problems, it's proven their ECU drive-by-wire software is shit.The stack could overflow, variables not range checked etc. Dangerous code.One acquaintance crashed RAV into a building. Whether it was the "wrong pedal" or Toyota still having ECU software bugs, I haven't checked reports.One Toyota I've driven surged hard when you are backing up and tap the throttle. It's as if you really hit the throttle hard for a long period like a few seconds. It was cold in fast idle (different mode) but definitely gunned it while I nailed the brakes. WTF the ECU knows you are in reverse and no need for hard acceleration.