this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
37 points (63.5% liked)
Showerthoughts
29851 readers
1234 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- Avoid politics
- 3.1) NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out
- 3.2) Political posts often end up being circle jerks (not offering unique perspective) or enflaming (too much work for mods).
- 3.3) Try c/politicaldiscussion, volunteer as a mod here, or start your own community.
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Everything digital in a car is often handled by the "entertainment" system. Like a glorified radio. Manufacturers like to keep that as separate system from the car, so it's replaceable and upgradable and fail safe from the actual operation of the car.
Also, many car designs (of the cars on the road today) are 20 years old, when digital screens in cars had yet to prove reliability. Nobody wanted to risk having to replace screens just to show the speed. Some brands have had digital speedometers for ten years or so.
Anyway, digital speedometers also calculate the speed by magnets, so the GPS and speedometer might still show different speeds depending on the size of wheels just as badly as an analogue one. Again, it has to, because the operation of a car should not be dependent on a satellite system, f.i. in tunnels.
So in short: Digital speedometers are not more accurate and they're introducing points of potential failure.
I'm sorry but this is just wrong. Cars are very much digital for years now. Everything is connected together using CAN bus and handled by a computer. This computer is completely seperate from the entertainment system, which often isn't even connected to the CAN bus.
My car is 10 years old, not expensive and almost everything is digital on it. For example the gas pedal is simply a pedal connected to a sensor and a motor. The motor allows for force feedback and automatic actuation, whilst the sensor let's the computer know what I intend to do. Depending on what mode the car is in and what it sensors are saying, it'll interpret the signal differently.
All of the parts of the car communicate digitally and without this the car wouldn't be able to run. This has been the case for decades now. If you have a fuel injected car, it needs a computer to run at all, it needs things like a lambda sensor to run properly. Things like ABS and collision detection is handled through a computer, etc.
The speed as displayed on the analog speedometer is almost certainly read by a digital sensor and communicated through the bus as a digital signal. The computer then puts that signal into the actuator to move the needle. It's not like a belt and pulley system connected to the dash. Other systems in the car need to know the speed as well, for example the variable power steering needs to know if you are parking, driving through town or on the highway. This is all done digitally.
Yup, my old 1999 BMW had analog gauges and a lcd screen for other information like the Odometer, temp, maintenance information, etc. but you were able to enter a “secret” menu where it displayed the actual speed, there was also information like fuel tank levels and battery voltage as well!