Project Advising: OBDII Vehicle Diagnostics

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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.

• Do not use "i" "us" "we" etc.
• I think 2nd paragraph needs more revision
• In general, I would describe high level objectives and avoid low level details.

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.

Status

Roadblocks & Problems

• Item 1
• Item 2

Next Goals

• Learn Development Environment
• Put together a prototype board for MCP2551 interfaced to our controller

September 16

• TODO

September 9

• Finish Abstract