Methods and systems for diagnosing a vehicle using sound

• US 10,360,740 B2
• Filed: 01/17/2017
• Issued: 07/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH, Robert Bosch LLC (Robert Bosch GmbH)
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Kapoor, Rahul, Vetter, Sascha, Cinar, Goktug Tankut, Cunha, Carlos Eduardo, Thompson, Jeffrey Keating
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramesh, Krishnan
• Application Number:
  US15/407,915
• Publication Number:
  US 20170206718A1
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• Field of Search: 701 314
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

Systems and methods for diagnosing a vehicle using sound data. One system includes a server storing a plurality of models and a communication device including a microphone. The communication device is configured to receive sound data received through the microphone associated with the vehicle and wirelessly transmit a diagnosis request to the server. The server is configured to receive the diagnosis request and select a model based on the vehicle data. The server is also configured to apply the selected model to the sound data to generate a response to the diagnosis request and wirelessly transmit the response to the diagnosis request to the communication device. The communication device is further configured to output at least a portion of the response on an output mechanism of the wireless communication device, the response including at least one diagnosis of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A system for diagnosing a vehicle, the system comprising:

a diagnostic tool including a microphone for recording first sound data associated with a first vehicle; and

a server having a memory for storing instructions and an electronic processor for executing the instructions stored in the memory to

receive training data, the training data including the first sound data and diagnostic data associated with the first vehicle,

develop a first model based on the training data,

receive a diagnosis request including second sound data and vehicle data associated with a second vehicle,

select a model from a plurality of models based on the vehicle data, and

determine a diagnosis for the second vehicle based on the second sound data and the selected model.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the training data further includes vehicle data for the first vehicle.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the training data for the first vehicle includes at least one selected from the group consisting of mileage of the first vehicle and a repair history of the first vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic data includes at least one selected from the group consisting of an error code for the first vehicle and a repair history of the first vehicle.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic tool includes an interface for reading the diagnostic data from a communication bus of the first vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic processor executes the instructions stored in the memory to develop the first model using a machine learning function.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic tool includes an interface for wirelessly communicating the first sound data to the server.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic tool includes an interface for communicating the first sound data to a computing device, wherein the computing device communicates the first sound data to the server over a communication network.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the models include different models for different ages of vehicles, and wherein the models are developed by the electronic processor using a machine learning function.

9. A system for diagnosing a vehicle, the system comprising:

a server storing a plurality of models based on training data that includes sound data and diagnostic data from other vehicles; and

a communication device including a microphone, wherein the communication device is configured to

receive sound data received through the microphone associated with the vehicle, and

wirelessly transmit a diagnosis request to the server over a communication network, the diagnosis request including the sound data and vehicle data,

wherein the server is configured to

receive the diagnosis request,

select a model from the plurality of models based on the vehicle data,

apply the model to the sound data to generate a response to the diagnosis request, and

wirelessly transmit the response to the diagnosis request to the communication device over the communication network,

wherein the communication device is configured to output at least a portion of the response on an output mechanism of the communication device, the response including at least one diagnosis of the vehicle.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the communication device is further configured to output an instruction for recording the sound data.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the instruction includes at least one selected from the group consisting of an instruction of where to position the communication device with respect to the vehicle, an instruction of a duration for recording the sound data, and an instruction for operating the vehicle while recording the sound data.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the vehicle data includes at least one selected from the group consisting of mileage of the vehicle and a repair history of the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the response includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a ranking of diagnoses for the vehicle and an identification of malfunctioning part of the vehicle.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein the models include different models for different vehicles and the server is configured to use machine learning to develop the model based on the sound data and diagnostic data from the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the models are different for different ages of vehicles.

14. A method of diagnosing a vehicle, the method comprising:

providing a vehicle diagnostic application for installation on a communication device including an electronic processor;

receiving, via the vehicle diagnostic application executed by the electronic processor of the communication device, vehicle data;

receiving, via the vehicle diagnostic application executed by the electronic processor of the communication device, sound data associated with the vehicle received through a microphone of the communication device;

transmitting, via the vehicle diagnostic application executed by the electronic processor of the communication device, a diagnosis request to a server over a wireless communication network, the diagnosis request including the sound data and the vehicle data;

at the server, selecting a model from a plurality of models based on the received vehicle data, wherein the plurality of models are based on training data that includes sound data and diagnostic data from other vehicles;

applying the model to the received sound data to generate a response to the diagnosis request;

receiving, via the vehicle diagnostic application executed by the electronic processor of the communication device, the response to the diagnosis request from the server over the wireless communication network; and

outputting, via the vehicle diagnostic application executed by the electronic processor of the communication device, at least a portion of the response on an output mechanism of the communication device, wherein the response includes a diagnosis of the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing, via the vehicle diagnostic application executed by the electronic processor of the communication device, an instruction, the instruction including at least one selected from the group consisting of an instruction of a duration for recording the sound data and an instruction for operating the vehicle while recording the sound data.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the diagnosis request including the vehicle data includes transmitting the diagnosis request including at least one selected from the group consisting of mileage of the vehicle and a repair history of the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein outputting at least the portion of the response includes outputting at least one selected from the group consisting of a ranking of diagnoses for the vehicle and an identification of malfunctioning part of the vehicle.