Difference between revisions of "Project Advising: OBDII Vehicle Diagnostics"

Latest revision as of 23:42, 19 September 2013

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Abstract

On-board diagnostic (OBD) systems monitor the health of components of a car. This information can be used to detect a malfunction in the vehicle as soon as it occurs. OBD systems make use of multiple Electronic Control Units (ECUs), which receive data from sensors that measure speed, temperature and so on. In the event of a malfunction, the ECU is informed and turns on the “Check Engine Light” in the vehicle. Sensors and actuators communicate with the ECU over serial communication protocols such as Controller Area Network (CAN). CAN provides a means to link the various systems present in a car so that they can communicate effectively. CAN is a medium-speed multi-master bus where multicasting and broadcasting are supported and also handles error-detection. In this project, we plan to implement OBD-II compliant real time monitoring of car systems which tracks various parameters of a car. We plan to provide a wireless interface to the OBD system to transmit data using a wireless adapter so that the data can be accessed remotely. We plan to develop a diagnostic tool for processing OBD data which is an Android application for handheld devices. The OBD data can be retrieved from handheld devices remotely. This device is used to monitor real time data. The application will also alert the client in case of critical situations even when the person is not physically in the car. The client can grant permission to the technicians to access the diagnostic data remotely when required. The advantage of providing remote access of OBD data of vehicles saves a lot of time since it doesn’t require people taking their automobiles to a service station for routine diagnosis. This also allows the drivers to check the safety features of the car even before getting inside it. On the hardware side, we intend to use LPC1758 microcontroller to interface to the car sensors. On the software side, we plan to use FreeRTOS which gives several advantages over using a traditional operating system. Using RTOS provides better reliability for some time critical parameters, the failure of which could lead to catastrophic consequences.

My revision :
On-board diagnostic (OBD) systems monitor the health of car components. This information can be used to detect a malfunction in the vehicle as soon as it occurs. OBD systems make use of multiple Electronic Control Units (ECUs), which receive data from sensors that measure speed, temperature and so on. In the event of a malfunction, the ECU is informed and turns on the “Check Engine Light” in the vehicle. Sensors and actuators communicate with the ECU over serial communication protocols such as Controller Area Network (CAN). CAN provides a means to link the various systems present in a car so that they can communicate effectively.

This project will implement OBD-II compliant real time monitoring of car systems which tracks various parameters of a car. Wireless interface will link the car's OBD system to a mobile application. The user of the car can then allow a mechanic to remotely diagnose the car by allowing access through the mobile application. The OBD data can be retrieved from handheld devices remotely. This device is used to monitor real time data. The application will also alert the client in case of critical situations even when the person is not physically in the car. The client can grant permission to the technicians to access the diagnostic data remotely when required. The advantage of providing remote access of OBD data of vehicles saves a lot of time since it doesn’t require people taking their automobiles to a service station for routine diagnosis. This also allows the drivers to check the safety features of the car even before getting inside it.

The hardware will utilize a low powered controller with CAN interface, while the software will utilize a real-time operating system which would link to a mobile application based on Android OS.

Following is the final version of the abstract. ..........................................................................................................................................

On-board diagnostic (OBD) systems monitor the health of car components. This diagnostic information can be used to detect a malfunction in the vehicle as soon as it occurs. OBD systems make use of multiple Electronic Control Units (ECUs), which receive data from sensors that measure speed, temperature and so on. In the event of a malfunction, the ECU is informed and the “Check Engine Light” in the vehicle is turned on. The problem with the existing diagnosis method is that an OBD-II compliant scanning device, generally owned by a a car technician, has to be physically attached to the OBD interface. The driver needs to take his car to the technician's workshop, which results in a lot of time being lost. This project proposes a convenient way of accessing the OBD data remotely which obviates the need for a driver to take his car to the technician's workshop, thus saving time. An OBD-II compliant real-time monitoring of car systems which tracks various parameters of a car will be implemented in this project. A mobile application communicates with the OBD interface and retrieves information about the parameters of a car. This allows the driver to access the OBD information in a convenient way. The information can then be accessed remotely by a technician, if required, through an Android application on a smart device. This approach will result in a substantial amount of time being saved both for the car owner and technician. The hardware will utilize a low-powered controller with CAN interface, while the software will utilize a real-time operating system which would link to a mobile application based on Android OS.