SIUC automotive professor Dr. David Gilbert used “careful and deliberate manipulation,” to obtain “unnatural” sudden unintended acceleration in his experiment with a Toyota vehicle, representatives from Toyota Motor Corp. and Exponent Research, Inc. said Monday.
Relying on testimony from the independent research firm, Toyota attempted to prove in several demonstrations in front of reporters Monday at its national headquarters in Torrance, Calif., that its electronics systems were not at fault for instances of SUA in its vehicles.
The manufacturer, which has donated vehicles and money to SIUC’s automotive technology department during a 25-year partnership, has recalled more than 8 million vehicles since October because of SUA-related incidents in more than a dozen models.
The demonstrations mimicked the one done by Gilbert in his research on SUA in Toyota vehicles, which began Feb. 11. In a Feb. 23 broadcast, Gilbert showed ABC News’ Brian Ross he could introduce a “fault,” an instance of SUA, to a Toyota vehicle without the computer reporting it as an error. The day after the broadcast aired, Gilbert testified in the first of three congressional hearings in Washington, D.C., in which members of Congress criticized Toyota’s handling of the SUA problem.
Professor of automotive technologies Dr. David Gilbert poses for a portrait Wednesday at the school of automotive technology in Carterville. Gilbert recently testified in front of the Subcommittee of Oversight and Investigations in Washington D.C., about the Toyota recall under investigation. Gilbert began teaching at SIUC’s school of automotive technology in 1996. – Isaac Smith | Daily Egyptian
Gilbert “re-engineered and rewired” the accelerator pedal circuit on the Toyota Avalon used in the ABC broadcast, said Exponent electronics expert Shukri Souri.
With a complete alteration of the pedal circuit, including the addition of a resistor, an instance of SUA could go undetected by Toyota’s computer, but Gilbert failed to provide evidence that such an alteration could occur naturally, Souri and other Exponent researchers said at the news conference.
Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said in a separate interview Monday that Gilbert “may have been taken advantage of by ABC.”
“We have no issues with the university. I think our position is that Dr. Gilbert meant well but didn’t dive deep enough into it,” Michels said. “He may have not the proper point of view to interpet what he did in a real scenario.”
In a Feb. 25 interview, Gilbert told the Daily Egyptian he applied the same tests to a Buick during his research and the GM computer system caught the artificial “fault” every time.
In Monday’s demonstrations, Exponent researchers applied Gilbert’s test to several other vehicles, including a Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu, Chrysler Crossfire and a Subaru Outback.
Each of the cars reacted the same way the Avalon did in Gilbert’s Feb. 23 demonstration: the vehicle accelerated instantly upon application of the fault, and no error was reported by the on-board computer.
Stanford automotive technology professor Chris Gerdes also testified that he spoke with Toyota and Gilbert. Based on his individual research, Gerdes said Gilbert’s findings warrant further investigation but do not provide a reason to doubt the fault-finding ability of Toyota’s computers.
Gilbert’s demonstration did not acknowledge that it was a simulation, Gerdes said at the conference.
After viewing Exponent’s evaluation of his research, Gilbert said in a statement he plans to visit the firm’s California facilities next week.
“I am pleased that further examination of these safety and acceleration issues is taking place and I look forward to participating in this process,” Gilbert said.
Toyota will continue to support SIUC’s automotive technology program as it has in the past, Michels said.
Nick Johnson can be reached at njohnson@dailyegyptian.com
Over the next several days, I will examine their expanded results and conclusions along with my own. I will visit Exponent next week to get a first-hand look at the information presented today and discuss their methods and procedures I hope to complete my review all the information within the next few weeks
I am pleased that further examination of these safety and acceleration issues is taking place and I look forward to participating in this process.
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