this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2023
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Technology
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I understand this but still think it’s bullshit. A car isn’t like some shitty little app. They cost tens of thousands of dollars, weigh tons, move at insane speeds inches away from one another, and are expected to last decades with daily use and minimal maintenance. I’m a mechanical engineer in product development. Pushing broken shit to production will destroy a company. Just because software updates are easier and cheaper than mechanical recalls shouldn’t excuse releasing broken shit out into the world.
Ok, but you won't know your product is broken in certain ways unless it's tested in every possible ways imaginable and that's impossible to do. As a mechanical engineer you should know that, the end user will always find a way to incorrectly use the product you developed.
But we do though. Maybe not exactly test every possible scenario. Typically when we make a design decision we plan for the worst theoretical condition the part will be exposed to. Then we plan for 5-10 times that. Think about the cost and effort added to everything with that level scrutiny. We design for fringe cases. That’s the point I’m trying to make. It’s insane to me that because it’s software, companies get a free pass on that level of scrutiny. As software takes over more car functions that becomes more concerning. It’s bullshit that I’m part of their beta test.
You'll probably never test every possible way that a user might interact with a given piece of software, but for embedded control software, like what's responsible for managing charging and starting the car, it literally is quite feasible to test every possible input and use case.