Battling the “ghost” in the ECU
July 5, 2010 by John Day
Filed under Safety, Viewpoints
California inventor says his inexpensive device prevents sudden unintended acceleration
Rob Weekley of Orange, California, believes an inexpensive new device he invented can defeat the “ghost” in the ECU that some blame for single-event upsets that result in unintended acceleration.
“An ECU has so many parts, it’s impossible to analyze every possible computational permutation under every possible circumstance,” Weekley says. “The pragmatic solution is to provide an inexpensive check on dangerous errant ECU actions – to render a vehicle safe from sudden unintended acceleration, even if the problem is the ECU itself.”
Weekley’s solution, which he calls “Ghost” Buster, does not prevent the ECU from attempting to accelerate suddenly, but instead prevents the vehicle’s engine from accelerating. “This is an entirely different approach,” he says.
He describes the Ghost Buster as a box about the size of a business card that contains an E-circuit (E for emergency), a user interface (UI), and two pairs of polarity insensitive wires. One pair is for the E-circuit, which controls the vehicle, and the other is for the UI, which decides when and how to activate the E-circuit. Weekley’s prototype device also has a LED to indicate E-circuit activity.
“Both circuits are small, simple, and robust, and they can be packaged together or separately; installed in the engine compartment or the passenger compartment, or split between the two.” He’ll leave those decisions to organizations that license the technology, since Weekley has no plans to market the invention himself.
Weekley says the electronics are immune to high energy ionizing radiation (cosmic rays) as well as to electromagnetic interference. He’s tested the Ghost Buster on several vehicles, and says it functions automatically, with no driver interaction required. It doesn’t set any trouble codes, and it’s compatible with other brake override systems.
Weekley is reluctant to say much more about his invention but is happy to show it to those willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement. He can be reached by phone (714) 244-8003 or email jd.rweekley@dfgh.net.
