1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? I am back from vacation, 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: UH and originally I wanted to do something related to 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: Pie Day because March fourteen, three fourteen, that's Pie Day, 7 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: and UH. I had hoped to do an episode about 8 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: the equipment used to mass produce pies. But it's a 9 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: strange thing, hard to find a lot of information on that. 10 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: So that's gonna have to wait till next year because 11 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: I need to get enough info to do a good episode, 12 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,239 Speaker 1: and I just couldn't scramble up enough for for today's. 13 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: But I do have something else I want to talk 14 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: about this very timely. The ongoing semiconductor chip shortage and 15 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: its effect on multiple industries really sparked today's EPI swed 16 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 1: that's a pun. So once upon a time, automobiles were 17 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: pretty much just a pure representation of mechanical engineering. So 18 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: if you were mechanically inclined and you add access to 19 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: the right tools, you could perform many or practically all 20 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: repair jobs on a car just by yourself. You can 21 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,839 Speaker 1: take on huge projects like rebuilding an engine, and if 22 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: something went wrong with your car, then you could potentially 23 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: diagnose the problem yourself, identify the solution, which might include 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: getting a new part, and then see it through maybe 25 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:39,199 Speaker 1: even install that new part. Gear Heads could spend hours or, 26 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: in the case of one neighbor that I knew back 27 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: when I was a kid, years working on a project 28 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: car to get to perform just the way they wanted 29 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: it to. But over time our cars have become far 30 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: more advanced, and now today cars have computer chips inside them, 31 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: lots of computer chips. And I've seen different give different, 32 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: very large numbers thrown around to say how many your 33 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: typical car has, But I'm going to go on the 34 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: conservative side. So a an internal combustion engine vehicle, you know, 35 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: gas or diesel powered car might have around a thousand 36 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: or more computer chips in it, and an electric car 37 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:24,359 Speaker 1: would likely have twice as many. Now that means that 38 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: fixing a car today isn't as simple as getting out 39 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 1: a wrench and putting in some elbow grease, don't forget 40 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: the headlight fluid. But these days you might need some 41 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: specialized equipment just to identify any issues that are going on, 42 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: and if the problem happens to be a faulty chip, 43 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: then you're likely going to have to seek out expert 44 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: help to replace that kind of stuff. It's not the 45 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: sort of thing that you can just, you know, spend 46 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: us after Saturday afternoon in the garage tinkering around and fixing. 47 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: The computer chips have made our cars far more advanced 48 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: than they used to be, with features that range from 49 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: safety measures that can potentially prevent accidents, to advanced entertainment 50 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:08,079 Speaker 1: features and lots more besides. However, it also means that 51 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: it has become increasingly challenging to maintain and repair one's 52 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: own car. Plus, as we have seen in the wake 53 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: of the semiconductor chip shortage and the supply chain issues 54 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: around the world, it also means that car manufacturers hit 55 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: essentially a roadblock pun intended when those precious computer chips 56 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: are in short supply, and that in turn affects us 57 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: as the customers. You know, if I don't know if 58 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: you've been car shopping over the last two years, but 59 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: it's pretty grim. Even in the used car market. Prices 60 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: are pretty high, and in fact, we've already seen this 61 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: play out in the automotive world, as some car manufacturers 62 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: have had to roll back on certain features just to 63 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: get cars out to dealerships. For example, Ford is sending 64 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: car dealerships some Ford Explorers that lack the microchips that 65 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: would otherwise power the rear seat air conditioning and heating controls, 66 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: and that means folks are writing in the back of 67 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: those Ford Explorers will no longer be able to set 68 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: their own climate control settings with those new cars, at 69 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: least not initially. Ford hopes to send out those chips 70 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 1: to dealerships within another year, which means that the people 71 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,799 Speaker 1: who purchased those Ford Explorers will then have to return 72 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: to a dealership in order to get the chips installed 73 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: in their vehicles to get that feature activated. Essentially, that's inconvenient, 74 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: But on the flip side, if Ford didn't do this, 75 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: then it wouldn't be able to bring Ford Explorers to 76 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: dealerships at nearly the same rate. So with shortages in 77 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: dealerships as it stands, and with the subsequent price hikes 78 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: in all sorts of cars, there's a real need to 79 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: get more cars out to potential customers. Also, it allows 80 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: Ford to move partially built vehicles out of its factories 81 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 1: where otherwise they're just taking up valuable space. Like that 82 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: was something I didn't really think about before. But yeah, 83 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: they're all these cars that are mostly built but still 84 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: are lacking certain semiconductor chips for certain systems, and those 85 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: cars are you know, their their physical things. They take 86 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: up space and you only have so much room to 87 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: hold stuff before you start really backing up. So it's 88 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: a necessity for all along the supply chain. Other car 89 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: companies have seen similar setbacks. It's not just Ford test 90 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: Lea's old some electric cars without USB ports for charging electronics. 91 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: Cadillac had to ship two Escalades without without the hands 92 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: free driving option that was just deactivated. BMW got rid 93 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: of some touch screens and some of its luxury vehicles. 94 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: GM gutted some of its pickup truck models and removed 95 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,359 Speaker 1: systems that did everything from wireless charging UH to a 96 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: fuel management system that would make trucks more fuel efficient. 97 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: All of that had to be kind of put off 98 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: to the side because there's just there wasn't the inventory 99 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: too enabled those options. So I thought it might be 100 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: interesting to kind of look back on the history of 101 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: electronic systems and computer chips in cars. What got that 102 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: all started in the first place. Now, in the very 103 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 1: early days of automobiles, there was no such thing as 104 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: a semiconductor chip. The history of semiconductors, you could argue, 105 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: could be traced all the way back to the eighteen seventies, 106 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: but there was no such thing as a semiconductor chip 107 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: in the early days of automobiles. In fact, for the 108 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: first few decades, there's no way to incorporate small, efficient 109 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: electronics to manage systems because in the electronic space you 110 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,679 Speaker 1: still had people using stuff like vacuum tubes that would 111 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: serve as diodes and amplifiers. Now, vacuum tubes are big, 112 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: they're bulky, they give off a lot of heat, they're 113 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: kind of like light bulbs, so they're also breakable. So 114 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: that's that you couldn't really easily incorporate them into car 115 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: systems in a way that would make sense. But by 116 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: the late nineteen four thease you had some smarty pants 117 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: folks over at Bell Laboratories inventing transistors. Now the transistors 118 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: used semiconductor material to fulfill the same basic functions as 119 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: vacuum tubes. Semiconductor really just means it's a material that 120 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: can act either as a conductor that is, something that 121 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: allows electricity to flow through it, or an insulator something 122 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: that prevents electricity from flowing through it. Semiconductors can act 123 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: as either. It all depends upon how you layer them. 124 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: But I've done full episodes about semi connectors, so we're 125 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: not going to go into detail here now. The early 126 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: transistors that were developed out of Bell Laboratories were more 127 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: proof of concept type of technologies. They were not practical 128 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: for implementation. You would not be able to use them 129 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: for anything practical because they were big and bulky and 130 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: very delicate. But we were off to the races soon 131 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: enough once the principle was proven and people understood how 132 00:07:54,680 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: it worked. Transistors allowed engineers to miniaturize circuit elements in 133 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: a way that just wasn't possible before. In fact, in 134 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty nine we got the first integrated circuit that 135 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: came out of Texas Instruments, and the integrated circuit used 136 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: a semiconductor substrate so that all the elements of a 137 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: circuit could be printed directly onto that substrate, so there 138 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: was no need for you know, tons of wires connecting 139 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: different discrete components. Together to make a circuit, and that 140 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: meant that engineers could make electronics at a fraction of 141 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: the size of their predecessors. So devices like radios and 142 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,599 Speaker 1: televisions went from being these huge pieces of furniture to 143 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: much more compact gadgets like pocket sized in the in 144 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 1: the case of radios. Now, while the transistor debuted in 145 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:45,959 Speaker 1: the late nineteen forties, it wouldn't be until the late 146 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:50,839 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties that we would see production cars incorporate transistors 147 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,559 Speaker 1: in them to control a particular system. And that system 148 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: at that time was fuel injection. So we should probably 149 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: talk about what that means and and how we got there. 150 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:02,320 Speaker 1: So to do that, we need to talk about the 151 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: basic principles behind internal combustion engine cars. And this is 152 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 1: going to be very very high level because I've talked 153 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: about this in previous episodes too, so I'm sure we 154 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: all know that internal combustion engine cars burn fuel to 155 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: produce the energy they need to make the car go. 156 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: But what is actually going on here, Well, in the 157 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 1: engine you have cylinders. These are the combustion chambers, and 158 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: they're essentially you know, just that they're little explosion chambers. 159 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: You could think of, uh, in that term. And this 160 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: is where you get a mixture of fuel and air 161 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 1: injected into the cylinder, uh, and that mixture gets compressed 162 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 1: by a piston, and a spark from a spark plug 163 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: then ignites that compressed mixture of air and fuel or 164 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: gas or diesel in some cases, that causes a small explosion, 165 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: and the force of that explosion pushes the piston outward 166 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: through the cylinder, like, not completely out, but out to 167 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: the other end of the cylinder. That piston is connected 168 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: to a crank shaft via a piston rod, and that 169 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: means that the force from these little explosions inside the 170 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: cylinders transfer to the crank shaft, which then turns as 171 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: a result, and that crankshaft provides the force for the 172 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: drive train of the car, and ultimately that causes the 173 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 1: car's wheels to turn, assuming, of course, we're talking about 174 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: an internal combustion engine vehicle here. Now that's the super 175 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: duper simplified version. I didn't talk about transmissions or anything 176 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: like that, so a lot more goes into it. But um, 177 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: you know, we can also talk about the various cycles 178 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: or strokes that happened in a cylinder intake and exhaust 179 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: and all that kind of stuff, But I think you 180 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: get the general idea. Gas and air go into the cylinder, 181 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: sparking knights the mixture. The explosion inside the cylinder drives 182 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: the crank shaft to turn, and this happens over and 183 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:59,840 Speaker 1: over again as your car merrily putters down the interstate 184 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: or whatever. Now I'm sure we also know all about 185 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: the fire triangle, right then, In order to have fire, 186 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: you know, combustion in other words, we need fuel, we 187 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: need an oxidizer, and we need heat. So in the 188 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: case with gas powered cars, the fuel is the gas, 189 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:21,680 Speaker 1: and the oxidizer is air, which has oxygen in it, 190 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: and the heat comes from a spark generated by a 191 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: spark plug. But while you need these three things to 192 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: make fire, the precise mixture of fuel to air is 193 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: something that we can play around with in order to 194 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: make the most efficient fire, you know, or the hottest fire. 195 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: And you probably know that fires in high oxygen environments 196 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: tend to be super dangerous, like you don't want to 197 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: have it happened on say a spacecraft, for example. So 198 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: if you could tweak the mix of air and fuel 199 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 1: so that you have just the right mixture, you could 200 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:58,080 Speaker 1: theoretically boost vehicle performance, and that performance might manifest as 201 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: more power, or might mean that the vehicle is more 202 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: fuel efficient or both. Now, in the olden days, cars 203 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: had a device called a carburetor, and the way these 204 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,679 Speaker 1: things work is pretty darn and genious. Uh. They make 205 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: use of a structure called a venturi. And essentially a 206 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: venturi is a pathway. So just think of like a 207 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: pipe and that this pipe narrows at one point and 208 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: then widens out again. And so when fluid flows through 209 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: a venturi and it starts to encounter that narrow section, 210 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:34,359 Speaker 1: the static pressure within the tube decreases. This creates a vacuum. 211 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: So if you have air, which is a fluid, flowing 212 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: through a venturi as it passes that narrow section, it 213 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: creates this area of low pressure. So if you were 214 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: to connect a line with fuel in it to this venturi, 215 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: that low pressure would kind of act the same way 216 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: we do when we use a straw to drink from 217 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: a sody pop or whatever. The low pressure draws up 218 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: the fuel which then can mix with the air in 219 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: the venturi and then head on to some other element, 220 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: in this case, the cylinders and an internal combustion engine. 221 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: Now there's a lot more to carburetors than that, but 222 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:09,839 Speaker 1: I'll have to do a full episode on that at 223 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: some point. Anyway, you can adjust carburetors with stuff like 224 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: a choke, which refers to how much air you're allowing 225 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: to pass through the system. So if you close the choke, 226 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:22,439 Speaker 1: then you have essentially shut off the air and it's 227 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 1: gonna make the engine die because there won't be any 228 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: air to mix with fuel and you won't be able 229 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: to have ignition anymore. Now, that's not a precise way 230 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 1: to control the mixture of air and fuel going to 231 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:35,200 Speaker 1: an engine. And you know, if you were driving a 232 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: very old car, it often meant that you actually would 233 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: have to manually adjust the choke on the engine several 234 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:43,559 Speaker 1: times as you were going through different you know, speeds 235 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: and everything, just so that you can make sure that 236 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: the engine was firing smoothly and that you had a 237 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: good smooth ride. Obviously, in later days, all that was 238 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: smoothed out quite a bit. You didn't have to, you know, 239 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: ride the choke as it were. Also, if your car 240 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: has more than one cylinder, and once you get past 241 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: the earliest cars, they pretty much all did well a 242 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: carburetor wasn't the best way to get fuel and air 243 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: to those cylinders because the cylinders weren't getting the same 244 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: mixture of air and fuel due to being different distances 245 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: from the carburetor. Right, So, like a cylinder that was 246 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: further away from the carburetor was getting probably a little 247 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: less fuel than the ones that were closer. So a cylinder, 248 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: you know, you wanted to you wanted to have all 249 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: the same amounts that you would have the smooth operation 250 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: of your vehicle, but it just wasn't easy to do 251 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: with the carburetor based system. Uh, some vehicles would actually 252 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: have twin carburetors which would be paired to different cylinders 253 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: to reduce this, but then that required frequent tuneups to 254 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,479 Speaker 1: make sure that the two pair, that the two carburetors 255 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: were working well together so that you had this smooth 256 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: engine operation. Fuel injection would change all that, but we'll 257 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: talk about that more after we come back from this 258 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: quick break. Okay, So, fuel injection systems, they use essentially 259 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 1: a nozzle that sprays fuel as like a very fine 260 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: missed into a flow of air, and some cars use 261 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: a single nozzle for all the cylinders, and so it 262 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: provides the source of fuel to all cylinders and an engine. Effect. 263 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: A lot of cars use this. Uh, some vehicles actually 264 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: have an injector for every cylinder, or they might use 265 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: a single injector for a pair of cylinders. So if 266 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: it's like a four cylinder engine, you might have to 267 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: fuel injectors, but the principle remains the same. The injector 268 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: shoots out a fine mist of fuel which then mixes 269 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: with air and that then goes on to the combustion 270 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: chamber a k a. The cylinders. Now, the first fuel 271 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: injection systems were mechanical in nature. That meant that they 272 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: used actual mechanical operations of the vehicle to work. There 273 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: were no electronic components to them. But in the late 274 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: nineteen five d s, a company called Bendix developed an 275 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: electronic fuel injection system. Now, Bendix was a company that 276 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: made parts that car manufacturers would then incorporate into their vehicles. 277 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: So Bendix typically made stuff like brake pads and that 278 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: kind of thing, and then car manufacturers would order those 279 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: from Bendix and then put them into their cars. So 280 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: in the mid to late nineteen fifties, Bendix developed a 281 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: fuel injection system that used transistors to control the system 282 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: itself so that it would inject the right mix of 283 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: fuel and air at the right time in the cylinder cycle. 284 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: Is to make it as efficient as possible, and this 285 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: was intended to be an upgrade option on a vehicle 286 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: called the Rambler Rebel, which came out of American Motors 287 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: Corporation or a mc UH. There was also supposed to 288 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 1: be included in a few Chrysler cars, and Bendix called 289 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: this the electrojector I guess for injector. There was really 290 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: just one issue. It didn't work so well. In fact, 291 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: it caused so many problems and was so difficult to 292 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: install and to tune that both AMC and Chrysler abandoned it. 293 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: Chrysler actually built a few production vehicles fewer than three dozen, 294 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: I think, using this system, but then ended up retrofitting 295 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: all of those with carburetors and you know, just essentially 296 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: ripped out the fuel injection systems because they were causing 297 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:30,159 Speaker 1: so many problems. So we almost got the first transistorized 298 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 1: electronic system in a car as early as around n seven, 299 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: but in truth it would take another decade to work 300 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 1: out all the kinks, and it was a German company 301 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,919 Speaker 1: that did it. Bosch, refined the approach and produced an 302 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:49,360 Speaker 1: electronic fuel injection system that that company called jet Tronic. Man, 303 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:52,440 Speaker 1: you getta love the fifties and sixties and their their 304 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: ip names. So the first car manufacturer to use the 305 00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: jetronic system was Volkswagen, which incorporated the Jetronic into the 306 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: company's Type three fast Back and square Back nine models. 307 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: So this wasn't the Volkswagen bug. You should look at 308 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:11,679 Speaker 1: pictures of the fast back and square back if you 309 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:16,359 Speaker 1: are unfamiliar with what those look like. Now, this electronic 310 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: system was a big leap forward for the car industry, 311 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: but you probably wouldn't call it a computer chip. Still, 312 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: it was a move toward using electronics and then later 313 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: computers to control specific functions in the car in order 314 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:35,479 Speaker 1: to improve performance and efficiency. The unintended consequence was, of course, 315 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 1: that should something go wrong with the electronics, it became 316 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: a lot more challenging for the average car owner to 317 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:46,920 Speaker 1: do their own maintenance and repairs. Now, if you're really cynical, 318 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 1: you could argue that maybe that consequence wasn't so unintended 319 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:54,680 Speaker 1: because that move would end up having a huge benefit 320 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: to car dealerships down the road pun intended because if 321 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: you have no option but to seek out repairs from 322 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: an authorized dealer of a specific car, make well, then 323 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 1: what you got there is a closed ecosystem and a 324 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: guaranteed revenue stream for the dealership. Right. But I would 325 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: like to think that at least early on, that wasn't 326 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: a huge factor that went into the development of electronic 327 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: car systems. It definitely feels that way now, like it 328 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,679 Speaker 1: feels like it falls into that realm of things like 329 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: planned obsolescence and and making sure people have to go 330 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: through a specific channel in order to get any repairs done. 331 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: It's one of the big uh foundational points in the 332 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:42,719 Speaker 1: right to repair movement. It's it's something that that that 333 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: movement opposes because it locks customers into a closed system 334 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: and gives the customer and no other options when it 335 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 1: comes to maintenance and repair. But that's another matter. Anyway, 336 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: back to our history of the computerization of cars. Up 337 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 1: until the early nineteen seventies, the main focus on car 338 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: performance wasn't so much on fuel efficiency, but rather on 339 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: performance and power. Fuel was considered to be plentiful, and 340 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: you know, car pollution was definitely a thing that concerned 341 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: some folks, but it hadn't reached a point where governments 342 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: were really stepping in in a big way. Uh. Fun fact, 343 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: I looked to see when smog first became a real 344 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 1: issue in Los Angeles, a city that became famous for smog, 345 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,119 Speaker 1: and it turns out that it was first really considered 346 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: a major issue as early as nineteen forty three. Now, 347 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 1: at that point, the general belief was that the smog 348 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:44,160 Speaker 1: was largely the result of pollution belching factories and production plants, which, 349 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,880 Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, We're certainly contributing to the problem. 350 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: But the weird thing was that even as you know, 351 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,119 Speaker 1: the state of California was passing restrictions and regulations on 352 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: companies that would cut way back on those emissions, they 353 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: still had a smog problem. And it wasn't until the 354 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties that folks started to connect that to the 355 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: fact that cars also amant a lot of pollution. So 356 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: I don't mean to say that cars are the one 357 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: and only source of air pollution, that is not what 358 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: I'm saying, but they are a significant source. Um. So 359 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: that was something that really wasn't evident until the nineteen fifties. Anyway, 360 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,679 Speaker 1: my point is that car manufacturers didn't really have a 361 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: huge incentive to focus on systems to improve fuel efficiency 362 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: up through the nineteen sixties. But some you know, air 363 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,640 Speaker 1: cleanliness regulations, emissions restrictions as well as the oil crisis 364 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: of the early nineteen seventies would change things dramatically. At 365 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: that point, you then had regions like California creating tighter 366 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:55,400 Speaker 1: emissions standards to cut back on air pollution. And California 367 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: is the most populated state in the US UH these days, 368 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: it has ten million more people than Texas, which is 369 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: in second place. So you know, if you're a car manufacturer, 370 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: you couldn't just right off California, right That's that's a 371 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: huge market. So the car manufacturers had to adapt and 372 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: create vehicles that met California's stricter standards, and then other 373 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: states and the federal government would follow California's lead, and 374 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: that really necessitated a change in focus and to make 375 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 1: sure that cars became more efficient and admitted less pollution. 376 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: Those changes pushed electronic systems forward in the automotive industry. 377 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: With electronics, car companies could boost efficiency and reduce waste 378 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: and pollution, and customers could benefit from this as well, 379 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: they could purchase vehicles that had better mileage, so you 380 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: didn't have to refill the tank quite so frequently. And 381 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: during an era of fuel shortages, that really became important. 382 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,960 Speaker 1: I mean, this was the same era that saw the 383 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: rise of things like the compact and subcompact ours in 384 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: the United States, because suddenly fuel efficiency became more important 385 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 1: than performance. So necessity really drove innovation at this point. Now, 386 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: in addition to fuel injection, an early system that received 387 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,959 Speaker 1: the electronic overhaul was the ignition system. Now, as that 388 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: name indicates, the ignition system's purpose is to provide the 389 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: ignition or spark that ignites the mixture of fuel and 390 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,399 Speaker 1: air in the combustion chamber. So you have one electronic 391 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: system that's controlling the injection process, so it's mixing the 392 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: fuel and air together and timing those injections into the 393 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 1: combustion chamber precisely. Then you had another system that would 394 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: have very precise timing for igniting that mixture to get 395 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: the maximum amount of out of it and to use 396 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: you know, to use the maximum efficiency of fuel use. 397 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,040 Speaker 1: Uh So, yeah, igniting at just the right point the 398 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: process gives the optimal amount of output. Also, even up 399 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: through the early nineteen eighties, a lot of cars that 400 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,600 Speaker 1: were being sold we're still relying on carburetors rather than 401 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:14,440 Speaker 1: fuel injection. There were electronic ignition systems designed to work 402 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: with carburetor based vehicles, but that pairing wasn't ideal uh 403 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: and computer controlled carburetors frequently needed tricky repairs, so fuel 404 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,159 Speaker 1: injection ended up becoming the way to go, So we 405 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: pretty much said goodbye to carburetors by the mid eighties. 406 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:36,119 Speaker 1: A computer controlled fuel injection system could handle situations that 407 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,240 Speaker 1: carburetors just weren't good for. For example, let's say you 408 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,360 Speaker 1: were taking a trip up to the mountains and you 409 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: drive from like a low area up the mountain, and 410 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:52,200 Speaker 1: as you're climbing those mountain roads moving into higher altitudes, 411 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:56,639 Speaker 1: your carburetor might encounter issues in pulling the right amount 412 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: of air to mix with fuel. The air's thinner and 413 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,360 Speaker 1: the car brat might struggle a bit, and so car 414 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: engine performance would suffer as you would go further up 415 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: the mountain. Computer controlled fuel injection systems could measure the 416 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: change in air mixtures and trigger the intake system to 417 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: pull in more air in order to compensate for that. 418 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 1: Over time, the industry began to refer to these types 419 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: of electronic systems as engine control units or e c USE, 420 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: and what followed was an era of systems dedicated to 421 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:33,680 Speaker 1: very specific, singular purposes. So it wasn't like cars had 422 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: hundreds of general purpose computers installed in them, right. Like 423 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,199 Speaker 1: sometimes when we say you could think of thousands of 424 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,920 Speaker 1: computers being inside a single car, we're not talking about 425 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: the same thing like a laptop or desktop computer that's 426 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: meant to do pretty much any program you run on it, right, 427 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: or any program that it's hardware can support. Now, we're 428 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: talking about very specific computers that that do one thing 429 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: and that's all they have to do. Uh. They started 430 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 1: off with dozens and then later hundreds and now thousands 431 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: of individual electronic systems that can control or monitor one 432 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: specific function within the vehicle. Something else that developed largely 433 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: in the late seventies and into the eighties. We're onboard 434 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,160 Speaker 1: diagnostic systems or o b d s. So these are 435 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: electronic systems that can diagnose issues with a car and 436 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: give repair technicians information they need to address specific issues. 437 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: So let's say that your car has a problem with 438 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: the fuel injection system, then the o b D getting 439 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: feedback from the e c U that controls the fuel 440 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 1: injection system, would log that as a problem. UH. The 441 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,919 Speaker 1: I often think of these these as sort of the 442 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: check engine light situations because that's typically how the driver 443 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: would be alerted to the issue. Like if it wasn't 444 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: something that was overtly obvious as you drove the vehicle, 445 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,080 Speaker 1: but it still was going wrong and the check engine 446 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: light comes on, you might think, well, it can't be 447 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,639 Speaker 1: that serious and don't feel anything. But it could just 448 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: be that there is one system that is important to 449 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,960 Speaker 1: the operation of the vehicle that has indicated there's a 450 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: problem and sent that message to the O b D. 451 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 1: So the indicator of the check engine light tells you 452 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: you need to take your car in for service. And 453 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 1: at that point a technician would connect their computer system 454 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: to your car in order to see what was wrong. Uh. 455 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: And frequently the O b D will output a result 456 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: in a numeric code, and you then have to, you know, 457 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,679 Speaker 1: look at a document that has a whole list of 458 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: codes in it, match the code that came up in 459 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: the computer system, and then find out what the diagnosis is, 460 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,679 Speaker 1: what's the problem. In other words, and there's a bigger 461 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: picture element to O b d s as well as 462 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,840 Speaker 1: technicians accessed car O b d s and they logged problems. 463 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,640 Speaker 1: That data could then go back to car manufacturers themselves, 464 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: and the car companies would get real time, real world 465 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: feedback on vehicle performance across a fleet of cars. And 466 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: that might mean that a company sees that there's a 467 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:17,240 Speaker 1: particular make and model that requires more frequent servicing than 468 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 1: other cars, and that could indicate a flaw in the 469 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,400 Speaker 1: vehicle's design, which would be something that a car company 470 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 1: would probably want to get on top of an engineer 471 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,199 Speaker 1: out of future models. Might even necessitate a recall in 472 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: some cases, something that companies would prefer to avoid. Um 473 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:37,159 Speaker 1: And you know, the data could also indicate things like 474 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 1: driving behaviors, like you might be able to make some 475 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 1: pretty broad conclusions about how people are driving those vehicles 476 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: that in turn, when analyzed, might give you enough information 477 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: to tell you what customers are really valuing, Like what's 478 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: what's important to customers based upon the way they drive. 479 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,959 Speaker 1: That might mean that you build that in to future 480 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: car designs. You might say, well, shows here that people 481 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: like cars that have a lot of aggressive pickups, So 482 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 1: let's focus on that for the next generation of this vehicle, 483 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: because that's how the customers are driving it now. Now. 484 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: In the early days, companies have their own proprietary O 485 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: B D systems, and this made it really tricky for 486 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 1: independent repair shops because they would need specific tools and 487 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: specific computer systems to handle the different types of cars 488 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: that might come into the shop. I mean there could 489 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: be different connectors for example, so you know, you couldn't 490 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 1: have a universal computer to diagnose every car that came 491 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: into the shop because you have different connectors to work with. 492 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: You had different UH proprietary languages working, and you had 493 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: different codes error codes as well, so you could get 494 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: an error code from one company that means something specific 495 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: and for a different company it means something totally different. 496 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: In fact, sometimes you could get very creations from model 497 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: to model within the same car manufacturer. So it was 498 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:10,040 Speaker 1: a real chaotic mess, very complicated. Over time, the industry 499 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: settled on a standard which simplified things a great deal, 500 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: and a large part of that came due to the 501 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: participation of the Society of Automotive Engineers, an independent organization 502 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,719 Speaker 1: that recommended companies in the industry adopt standardized connectors and 503 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: diagnostic sets, but it took a while, Like it wasn't 504 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: until the late eighties that we really started to see 505 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: progress on that front. So there was a lot of 506 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: competing standards is the wrong word, but competing technologies in 507 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 1: the space up to that point. By the early ninety nineties, 508 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: the introduction of O b D two simplified things further. 509 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: California passed a law that required all vehicles sold in 510 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:52,920 Speaker 1: the state to incorporate O b D two in them, 511 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:57,640 Speaker 1: which again essentially forced the automotive industry to go with 512 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 1: a widespread adoption plan, because I mean, if you're gonna 513 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:02,479 Speaker 1: do that for California, you might as well do it 514 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: for everywhere in the United States. Right in Europe, the 515 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,240 Speaker 1: standard is not called O b D two, it's e 516 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 1: o b D, but it's largely I mean, it's based 517 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: on the same principles. We'll talk more about O b 518 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 1: D two as well as computerized cars after this quick break. 519 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,840 Speaker 1: So the O b D two interface, it's not just 520 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: for figuring out why your cars making that weird noise 521 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: or whatever. It's not just for diagnosing problems. It's also 522 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: used during emissions testing. During those tests and engineer logs 523 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 1: your car's performance against legal restrictions on emissions. So you 524 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: might remember that Volkswagen, the company that really got the 525 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:52,680 Speaker 1: ball rolling with electronic systems and cars, got into major 526 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,040 Speaker 1: trouble several years ago when investigators discovered that the company 527 00:31:56,080 --> 00:32:00,640 Speaker 1: had installed a system meant to full emissions testing equipment 528 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: for their diesel vehicles. Volkswagon was claiming that their diesel 529 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: vehicles were very efficient, very clean, and it turned out 530 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:14,040 Speaker 1: they weren't really living up to that that claim. Essentially, 531 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: the cars computer system would detect when it was being 532 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 1: put into test mode and it would go into a 533 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:24,400 Speaker 1: more efficient, less powerful operational mode so that it wouldn't 534 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: produce as many emissions while it was being tested, So 535 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 1: essentially it wasn't really performing the way it went on 536 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: the road, and once it detected that it was disconnected 537 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: from the testing system, the car would switch back into 538 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: its normal operational parameters, which meant that it was also 539 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 1: generating more emissions while putting out more power. And once 540 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:50,280 Speaker 1: that was discovered, Volkswagen had some really tough questions to 541 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 1: answer and a whole lot of money to pay back. 542 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,040 Speaker 1: By the late ninety nineties, another major development in the 543 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:02,080 Speaker 1: industry was the installation and of telematics systems and cars. 544 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: Now these include a transceiver capable of transmitting data to 545 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: a car manufacturer's network, kind of like a little cell 546 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: phone inside the car that has you know, a direct 547 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: line to the car company, um the bat line, if 548 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: you will. Now the car companies didn't even have to 549 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,320 Speaker 1: wait to get data from repair centers. Once they use this, 550 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 1: the cars on the road could actually share information about 551 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:30,000 Speaker 1: their performance and driver behaviors directly to car companies. The 552 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: early incorporation of transceivers was a little rocky. It was 553 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:37,160 Speaker 1: hard for car companies to you know, actually handle all 554 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: the data and to respond in a timely fashion, so 555 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: stuff like remote diagnostics wasn't always feasible. But over time 556 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: the industry developed better analytics and data management practices, and 557 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,440 Speaker 1: you often will hear of car companies Tesla in particular, 558 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 1: using these systems not just to receive data but also 559 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: to transmit updates to car systems over the air. And 560 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: these over the air updates can address issues that otherwise 561 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,480 Speaker 1: might be difficult or impossible for a driver to detect 562 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,080 Speaker 1: before they become a serious problem. And then sometimes it's 563 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:14,360 Speaker 1: just a tweak to improve, you know, some quality of 564 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,320 Speaker 1: life aspect to the car. But it's kind of interesting 565 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,960 Speaker 1: that you can have updates sent to your car without 566 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 1: having to, you know, bring it in to a dealership 567 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: or repair shop. Today we've got so many different computer 568 00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:32,359 Speaker 1: systems and vehicles that you could probably say it's more 569 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:38,240 Speaker 1: computer now than car twisted and evil. U sorry, prepareaphrasing 570 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:41,920 Speaker 1: obi Wan there anyway. Everything from door locks to climate control, 571 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: to entertainment suites to navigation systems, all of them have 572 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:49,759 Speaker 1: their own dedicated computer systems and subsystems. Chip design and 573 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:55,400 Speaker 1: manufacturing companies produce chips specifically for the automotive industry, like 574 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: designed specifically for car systems, and so the global chip 575 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:04,799 Speaker 1: short has really hit automakers particularly hard, and it will 576 00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:08,840 Speaker 1: likely take some time to recover. Even as production increases 577 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,839 Speaker 1: and supply chain smooth out, there will likely be a 578 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:14,960 Speaker 1: gap while car manufacturing facilities are able to get these 579 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,320 Speaker 1: components and get back to installing them into new vehicles. 580 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,680 Speaker 1: On the one hand, these systems have completely transformed the 581 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: experience we have with our personal vehicles. They help make 582 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:28,640 Speaker 1: our cars safer and more efficient. They give us a 583 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,759 Speaker 1: lot of features that we end up liking. On the 584 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,759 Speaker 1: manufacturing side, they create lots of options to market cars 585 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,799 Speaker 1: to different demographics. So in other words, they can, you know, 586 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,319 Speaker 1: create a lot of different price points for different types 587 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:47,160 Speaker 1: of vehicles and thus maximize profit for dealerships and manufacturers. 588 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: But they also create the obstacles we've seen over the 589 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,760 Speaker 1: last couple of years. A shortage creates a market where 590 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 1: car prices skyrocket, and you see that even in the 591 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:00,800 Speaker 1: used market, and the work computerized the car, the harder 592 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,719 Speaker 1: it is to tackle d I Y projects. So that's 593 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: the big trade off. I think on the whole, it's 594 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 1: a good thing to have these computerized systems, at least 595 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,800 Speaker 1: in the ones that genuinely make a difference when it 596 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,839 Speaker 1: comes to things like car safety and efficiency. It would 597 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:23,600 Speaker 1: be very hard to achieve those same outcomes relying purely 598 00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:27,840 Speaker 1: on mechanical systems and people being good drivers. Whenever you 599 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 1: have to rely on the people doing stuff, that's where 600 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,080 Speaker 1: you really run into a lot of problems, right, Because 601 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:37,000 Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure you all know someone that you 602 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 1: can think of as the person you would rather not 603 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:41,920 Speaker 1: be in the driver's seat whenever you have to go 604 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:45,960 Speaker 1: on a trip, right. Not not throwing any shade, not 605 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:49,720 Speaker 1: cast calling any judgments out, just that there are people 606 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:53,319 Speaker 1: who are not great drivers, and so you kind of 607 00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 1: want all the systems that you can have that will 608 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:01,759 Speaker 1: help boost that person's driving cape abilities in order to 609 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:06,399 Speaker 1: you know, maybe prevent accidents from happening. So yeah, there 610 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,560 Speaker 1: definitely is a trade off. Um. I definitely feel for 611 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 1: the gear heads who absolutely love to get their hands 612 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:15,000 Speaker 1: dirty and work on systems, because it gets increasingly more 613 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:19,239 Speaker 1: difficult as cars getting more computerized. Not saying it's impossible, 614 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,480 Speaker 1: but you might not be able to do everything. You 615 00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:26,480 Speaker 1: might be limited to a subset of basic maintenance and 616 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,400 Speaker 1: repair that you can do. I know a lot of 617 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:31,319 Speaker 1: people have called me out in the past for saying this, 618 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:34,000 Speaker 1: but I also think that those people are old and 619 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,440 Speaker 1: they've been working on cars that are from like the 620 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: seventies or earlier, and so they don't necessarily appreciate how, um, 621 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:47,919 Speaker 1: how how obtuse, how opaque some of these systems can 622 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 1: get when they are so heavily reliant on computers. Anyway, 623 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,719 Speaker 1: I thought that that would be an interesting thing to 624 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:58,640 Speaker 1: look at sort of the history of the computerization of 625 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:01,960 Speaker 1: the car. Uh, and of course, as we shift more 626 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:07,680 Speaker 1: towards electric vehicles, we're seeing even more computerization, things like 627 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:12,160 Speaker 1: being able to monitor battery life and recharging and all 628 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:17,319 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. It's it's creating even more of 629 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:22,600 Speaker 1: a computerized future for our cars. So here's the hope 630 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:26,200 Speaker 1: that the right to repair allows for more options when 631 00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:29,400 Speaker 1: it comes to repairing cars. I do think the days 632 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:32,640 Speaker 1: of the d I Y approach to maintenance and repair 633 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:37,440 Speaker 1: are going to be severely limited with future vehicles. Not 634 00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:39,719 Speaker 1: to say that it will be completely gone, but a 635 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,040 Speaker 1: lot of it will be restricted to the point where 636 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 1: you will have to take it in two perhaps uh 637 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,880 Speaker 1: and authorized dealership or something along those lines. But the 638 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,640 Speaker 1: right to repair hopefully will mean that you'll have more options, 639 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:54,120 Speaker 1: like you'll be able to take it to an independent 640 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:57,680 Speaker 1: repair shop that has access to the correct tools to 641 00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,600 Speaker 1: be able to do that work. But I do see 642 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:01,600 Speaker 1: that that's just a trend that's going to continue. I 643 00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:05,759 Speaker 1: don't see that going backward anytime soon. Anyway. If you 644 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,280 Speaker 1: have any suggestions for topics I should cover on future 645 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:10,600 Speaker 1: episodes of tech Stuff, I welcome you to reach out 646 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:12,520 Speaker 1: to me and let me know. The best way to 647 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,720 Speaker 1: do that is on Twitter. The handle for the show 648 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,440 Speaker 1: is tech Stuff H s W. And I'll talk to 649 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Y tex Stuff is an I 650 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:31,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 651 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:35,200 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 652 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:36,800 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.