[southerntofu]

> Car makers arent putting computers in for funsies.

There's a bit of everything. Some parts are due to regulations. Some parts are due to providing fancy options (LCD screens, seat heaters..), some parts are useful for diagnostics.

Still, some designs are overly complex because during production it's easier to use a hundred MCUs assigned to a specific task. But for durability purposes, it would be better to have clear circuitry with only a handful of MCUs running open source software.

I'm guessing there's an interesting middle ground to explore between "raw motor + wheels" and "FSD car".