Xref: utzoo sci.electronics:19532 rec.autos.tech:23549 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!apple!well!nagle From: nagle@well.sf.ca.us (John Nagle) Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.autos.tech Subject: Re: Hacking Car ECUs Message-ID: <24369@well.sf.ca.us> Date: 23 Apr 91 06:03:11 GMT References: <1991Apr14.224844.3126@coral.bucknell.edu> <02~_0R|@warwick.ac.uk> Lines: 38 khan@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (Scott Coleman) writes: >esupg@warwick.ac.uk (Andrew Bargery) writes: >This doesn't stop someone with a towtruck, however. :( >Speaking of hacking engine computers, what sort of development system would >one have to have in order to make such changes? Even with a long extension >cord, using a desktop PC as a development system is a little difficult. ;-) Some years ago, I worked with some of the people at Ford Motor who were dong software for the Ford EEC IV (which Intel sells as the 8061). They had several stages of development system. The first stage was a completely simulated system running on a PDP-10 mainframe. The simulation included not only the CPU, but a simulation of the vehicle electronics and the engine. This was used for the early stages of development. The next stage, where most of the work was done, consisted of a benchtop setup of all the engine control electronics, (including an ignition coil and spark plug!), connected to an analog computer simulating the engine. Here you could step on the gas and watch the tach wind up. This rig was usually used with an in-circuit emulator for the CPU. The next stage involved a real engine on a test stand, connected up to an in-circuit emulator. Remote controls allowed downloading programs and running the engine without having to program from the noisy dyno lab. A TV camera provided a view of the engine under test. Emissions measurement gear was used at this stage, and most of the emissions and mileage optimizations were debugged on the test stand. It was possible to debug code at this stage, but usually by this point only parameters were being changed. Vehicle testing involved a guy sitting in the right seat of the car with a keyboard, tweaking parameters that would eventually be placed in ROM. By this point the code was in PROM. John Nagle