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Anyone concerned about Touch Screens failure after a few years?

gombater

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ajdelange

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Be sure you read the whole article and understand the nature of the problem before you lie awake at night worrying about this. The problem with the Touch Screen wasn't with the Touch Screen at all but rather with a flash RAM in that assembly that was used for logging. As their software evolved Tesla found themselves logging much more data than they had originally thought they would be doing and this resulted in many more writes to the flash RAM than was anticipated. Flash RAM fails after it has been overwritten too many times. The component failed.

The solution is pretty simple. Don't use flash RAM for logging. Or if you do socket the part so it can be popped out and replaced if it does fail. This is not a new problem. They knew about it in Normal a couple of years back. No question in my mind that Rivian is smart enough to learn from Tesla's mistake. They won't be using flash for this function. Don't worry about it.
 

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Be sure you read the whole article and understand the nature of the problem before you lie awake at night worrying about this. The problem with the Touch Screen wasn't with the Touch Screen at all but rather with a flash RAM in that assembly that was used for logging. As their software evolved Tesla found themselves logging much more data than they had originally thought they would be doing and this resulted in many more writes to the flash RAM than was anticipated. Flash RAM fails after it has been overwritten too many times. The component failed.

The solution is pretty simple. Don't use flash RAM for logging. Or if you do socket the part so it can be popped out and replaced if it does fail. This is not a new problem. They knew about it in Normal a couple of years back. No question in my mind that Rivian is smart enough to learn from Tesla's mistake. They won't be using flash for this function. Don't worry about it.
 

ajdelange

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Actually there was a problem with the screen itself too. It turned yellow around the edges after a few months. This was easily corrected by shining UV light on it.
 
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sevengroove

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Actually there was a problem with the screen itself too. It turned yellow around the edges after a few months. This is was easily corrected by shining UV light on it.
I remember this happening with a new cell phone a few years ago - something to do with the adhesive, if I recall correctly.
 

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gombater

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Be sure you read the whole article and understand the nature of the problem before you lie awake at night worrying about this. The problem with the Touch Screen wasn't with the Touch Screen at all but rather with a flash RAM in that assembly that was used for logging. As their software evolved Tesla found themselves logging much more data than they had originally thought they would be doing and this resulted in many more writes to the flash RAM than was anticipated. Flash RAM fails after it has been overwritten too many times. The component failed.

The solution is pretty simple. Don't use flash RAM for logging. Or if you do socket the part so it can be popped out and replaced if it does fail. This is not a new problem. They knew about it in Normal a couple of years back. No question in my mind that Rivian is smart enough to learn from Tesla's mistake. They won't be using flash for this function. Don't worry about it.
Well thanks for the explanation and snarky response. Yes i can read.., a potential 158,000 vehicle recall also. I hope we do not have any related issues as these vehicles roll out; I do think Rivian has put more thought into this but I wonder how either Telsa or Rivian have completed their functional safety analysis on what looks to be classified as a electronic safety component due to vehicle controls.
 

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Well thanks for the explanation and snarky response. Yes i can read.., a potential 158,000 vehicle recall also. I hope we do not have any related issues as these vehicles roll out; I do think Rivian has put more thought into this but I wonder how either Telsa or Rivian have completed their functional safety analysis on what looks to be classified as a electronic safety component due to vehicle controls.
The eMMC is not the only issue the Tesla touch screens have experienced. There are also multiple reports of oozing/leaking screens (usually air bubbles in the display are the first sign).

As to whether or not the screen is a functional safety device, it really depends on what functions are only available there. In the Model 3/Y the speedo is there so a definite yes. In the refreshed Model S/X the override of the cars choice of forward or reverse "gears" is there. Tesla has also put things like defrost as only available in the touch screen which can make the car undriveable/unsafe if those settings are not accessible.

We have no idea what will be only available on the Rivian touch screen/Alexa interface, and what will be available with knobs/buttons/etc. One of the things the NHTSA is flagging is the back-up camera which would impact virtually all new vehicles if the screen failed.
 

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Tesla has also put things like defrost as only available in the touch screen which can make the car undriveable/unsafe if those settings are not accessible.
Are those accessible by voice at all? Would be a huge bummer if not.
 

ajdelange

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Well thanks for the explanation and snarky response.
I explained the problem and the solution in simple, concise terms. Can you please point out which part(s) are (were) "snarky"?
 

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One of the things the NHTSA is flagging is the back-up camera which would impact virtually all new vehicles if the screen failed.
How did we drive “safely” for nearly 100 years without backup cameras? ?‍♂ :p
 

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How did we drive “safely” for nearly 100 years without backup cameras? ?‍♂ :p
Well, truth be told, we didn’t. Sure, we drove without cameras, but it was hardly “safe”. Look at all the safety innovations over the years: seatbelts, crumple zones, airbags — and yes — cameras!

Also, I should point out that thanks to other safety innovations, such as crash testing, thickening of A/B/C pillars for strength, and the raising of the belt line to improve side-impact protection, modern vehicles have worse natural visibility than older models. So adding cameras is a way to gain back (and exceed) lost visibility.
 

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Well, truth be told, we didn’t. Sure, we drove without cameras, but it was hardly “safe”. Look at all the safety innovations over the years: seatbelts, crumple zones, airbags — and yes — cameras!

Also, I should point out that thanks to other safety innovations, such as crash testing, thickening of A/B/C pillars for strength, and the raising of the belt line to improve side-impact protection, modern vehicles have worse natural visibility than older models. So adding cameras is a way to gain back (and exceed) lost visibility.
I’m not at all against safety innovations, and do appreciate a backup camera, but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say that driving without one is “unsafe.”
 

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How did we drive “safely” for nearly 100 years without backup cameras? ?‍♂ :p
I didn't offer an opinion either way. Only reported what the NHTSA was citing as one of the reasons Tesla needed to do a recall for the flash memory issue. Tesla's response so far has been to lower the cost of the replacement/upgraded MCU (from $2,500 to $1,500).
 

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I’m not at all against safety innovations, and do appreciate a backup camera, but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say that driving without one is “unsafe.”
Some statistics from 2010 indicated that in the US roughly 50 children per week were backed over by vehicles. In 2015, NHTSA reported 284 fatalities and 12,000 injuries occurred due to backovers. That sounds pretty unsafe to me. Sure, you can say the odds are low that you or your chiildren would be involved in such an incident given there are well over 200 million drivers in the US but that is still a lot people being needlessly injured/killed. Regardless of where you draw the line before considering something "unsafe", it seems we at least agree that backup cameras do improve safety.
 
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gombater

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Well, truth be told, we didn’t. Sure, we drove without cameras, but it was hardly “safe”. Look at all the safety innovations over the years: seatbelts, crumple zones, airbags — and yes — cameras!

Also, I should point out that thanks to other safety innovations, such as crash testing, thickening of A/B/C pillars for strength, and the raising of the belt line to improve side-impact protection, modern vehicles have worse natural visibility than older models. So adding cameras is a way to gain back (and exceed) lost visibility.
Good comments above... the issue my industry has to deal with is just because you provide a backup camera/monitor does not imply the driver uses it, which is why the next step is object detection/auto stop... sort of a never ending scenario. Designing out all 'potential misuse' is a real requirement in some regions of the world [not US yet - we still litigate to improve safety]. Sometimes adding such technologies gives a false sense of security or adds new safety concerns not originally considered. Electronics related to such functions require a much higher level of redunancy that I am hoping Rivian has considered. Only time will tell.
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