As of at least 6 years ago (when I was last involved in it), the only way to program the Bosch ECU of your $250k Porsche factory-built race car was via a DOS app that was only in German. You also needed a $3k special cable that authorized access to the ECU. You had a few things you could change without using it, but if you wanted to access ALL the parameters, you needed that app. It came on a floppy.
It's very likely that they are running a virtualized OS on modern hardware. If that's the case, it's probably pretty reliable, actually. Insecure as shit, so I hope/assume they have these things air-gapped. But it doesn't mean it's unreliable.
They're probably relying on the security strategy of hoping their tech is so old no one will know to even know to look for it.
AT&T widespread mobile network failures. Their recommendation is "use WiFi calling" except WiFi calling keeps giving "bad gateway errors" Good times!
Change Healthcare, which serves millions of patients for billing, etc. is also down due to a cyber attack. Sounds like it could be exploitation of the ScreenConnect vulnerability.
The Tesla Robovan and the robot companions are likely coming. Automated driving vehicles are definitely in the future. And, I know they're going to look futuristic. But, man it's all weird. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a62579519/tesla-robovan-revealed/
Uhhhhh....the fucking thing has no clearance. How the hell would it survive a pot hole or a speed bump?
That demo / prototype? Hell, I have no idea. But Tesla builds other cars that survive them, so I guess they'll get there? (Even though the Cybertruck looks dumb.) Driverless cabs are coming. (I was behind a driverless Tesla demo car in Atlanta awhile back. It was weird.) Driverless vans can't be far behind. Having my independence totally taken away when my tumor caused seizures, and knowing there are others facing similar situations? I am definitely interested in how this goes. If you think it's not coming, especially in metro areas, you're not paying attention.
I'm all for self-driving vehicles, but there's no way anything looking like the prototype will ever be on the roads. All other Tesla vehicles have clearance like every other vehicle on the road. Plus, no windows? Not a chance.
It definitely has windows. You can see them in the interior picture in the Car&Driver article. Also, I think (think) it's not actually that close to the ground? I think that's a flexible skirt or brushes or something?
Gotcha on the windows. Musk quote on the ground clearance: "The unusually low ground clearance is achieved by having an automatic load-leveling suspension that raises or lowers, based on smooth or bumpy road conditions" We'll see how that works out. I have doubts.
Just found out that the low clearance will probably be a requirement, at least while parked, as it only charges by induction, so it will need to be close to the charging wire/pad beneath it. Odds are that the mechanics to raise the car to normal ride height didn't make it in in time for the demo.
Ahh. That's interesting. I mean, a few years ago, Musk said they were going to catch a reusable rocket and I was like, right . . . so, maybe?
The car has no charge port. So no fast charge, only induction, so I could see it almost sitting on the ground to maximize the inductive charge rate.
Both induction car charging and adjustable ride height/adaptive leveling are existing tech so it's not much of a stretch. @Nettdata would probably know better but I thought one of the problems with ride height adjustment was that it screwed with the car's alignment. That's not an issue here if the ride height is primarily there to do parked charging, though. Frankly, I am excited for robots to take over driving entirely. There are far too many morons on the road.