Concepts for holistic interpretation and validation of vehicle diagnostics

Abstract

In today’s development processes of motor vehicles, the dynamics with which the software and hardware process passes the necessary iterative loops is very high. The influence on the reliability of the vehicle diagnosis is particularly great because of the combination of increasing networking and increasing diversity of variants. The resulting complex fault images have their origin both in on-board diagnostics and in offboard diagnostics. Error identification and analysis cannot be carried out absolutely and not reliably due to prototypical implementations or missing error experiences in the early phase of development. This paper presents two new and complementary concepts for analyzing, interpreting and stopping diagnostic-related faults in the powertrain in the early development phase. The first concept includes the safeguarding of complex and generic script-based off-board diagnostics. For this purpose, an adaptive framework is used, based on the standardized script language OTX (Open Test Sequence Exchange) according to ISO 13209. The second concept involves several methods for pattern recognition that form the framework for a heuristic knowledge base for DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code) errors. The combination of the two concepts enables a holistic interpretation and safeguarding of the off-board diagnostics as well as the advanced analysis of the error memory entries in the on-board diagnostics.