MECHANIC CERTIFICATION TRACKING VALIDATION

• US 20120179331A1
• Filed: 03/16/2012
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boss, Gregory J., Finn, Peter G., Hamilton, Rick A. II, O'Connell, Brian M., Seaman, James W., Walker, Keith R.
• Application Number:
  US13/421,907
• Publication Number:
  US 20120179331A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Embodiments receive information indicative of a certification of a mechanic performing a service on a vehicle, and responsively determine whether the certification is validated. If validated, service on the vehicle by the mechanic is facilitated by placing the vehicle in a service state and generates a signal that causes an unlocking of a vehicle door, hood, or trunk. If not validated, service on the vehicle is inhibited by disabling a vehicle electrical sub-system and generating a signal that causes a locking of the vehicle door, hood, or trunk, wherein a vehicle owner authorization of the mechanic may supersede and facilitate service by instead placing the vehicle in a service state for executing diagnostic software and generating a signal that causes unlocking of the vehicle door, hood, or trunk.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a certification validator that;

determines whether mechanic certification information received for a mechanic is validated by stored authorized mechanic certification information;

if determined that the mechanic certification information is validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information, facilitates service on a vehicle by the mechanic by placing the vehicle in a service state for executing diagnostic software via a vehicle computer, and by generating a signal that causes unlocking of at least one of a door, a hood, and a trunk of the vehicle;

if determined that the mechanic certification information is not validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information;

inhibits service on the vehicle by the mechanic by disabling at least one electrical sub-system of the vehicle and by generating a signal that causes locking of at least one of the vehicle door, hood, and trunk; and

enables a vehicle owner authorization of the mechanic to supersede a manufacturer rejection of the mechanic via the stored authorized mechanic certification information and facilitate the service on the vehicle by the mechanic by placing the vehicle in the service state for executing the diagnostic software via the vehicle computer, and by generating the signal that causes the unlocking of at least one of the vehicle door, hood, and trunk.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a storage component of the vehicle that stores a signal from the certification validator that is indicative of a service performed on the vehicle by the mechanic and whether the mechanic is validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information to perform the service or is authorized to perform the service on the vehicle by the superseding vehicle owner authorization, wherein the signal is stored along with at least one of the received certification information or a service performed on the vehicle.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the received mechanic certification information includes one or more of certification indicia, a mechanic'"'"'s name, a service station'"'"'s name, a service station'"'"'s location, and a service identifier.

4. The system of claim 3, further including at least one radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader that receives the mechanic certification information from an RFID tag.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the RFID tag is part of one or more of an article of the mechanic or a service station at which the mechanic works.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the article is one or more of clothing, an identification badge of the mechanic, or a bracelet worn by the mechanic.

7. The system of claim 3, further including at least one global positioning system (GPS) receiver that receives a signal indicative of a location of a service station.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the location of the service station is indicative of the certification of a mechanic employed at the service station.

9. The system of claim 3, further including an input component that receives a service unique identifier that is indicative of an authorized mechanic.

10. The system of claim 1, further including a service event generator that generates a service unique identifier for authorized mechanics, wherein a received service unique identifier is compared with a stored service unique identifier to determine whether the mechanic is an authorized mechanic.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the stored information is part of a service history for the vehicle that is stored in the vehicle.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the system operates in conjunction with a computer of the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is part of a computing system of the vehicle.

14. A method, comprising:

receiving by a processing unit information indicative of a certification of a mechanic performing a service on a vehicle;

the processing unit generating a signal indicative of whether the certification is validated by stored authorized mechanic certification information;

if determined that the mechanic certification information is validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information, the processing unit facilitating service on a vehicle by the mechanic by placing the vehicle in a service state for executing diagnostic software via a vehicle computer, and by generating a signal that causes an unlocking of at least one of a door, a hood, and a trunk of the vehicle; and

if determined that the mechanic certification information is not validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information, the processing unit;

inhibits service on the vehicle by the mechanic by disabling at least one electrical sub-system of the vehicle and generating a signal that causes a locking of at least one of the vehicle door, hood, and trunk; and

enables a vehicle owner authorization of the mechanic to supersede a manufacturer rejection of the mechanic via the stored authorized mechanic certification information and facilitate the service on the vehicle by the mechanic by placing the vehicle in the service state for executing the diagnostic software via a vehicle computer, and by generating the signal that causes the unlocking of at least one of the vehicle door, hood, and trunk.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

the processing unit storing indicia indicative of a service performed on the vehicle by the mechanic and whether the mechanic is validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information to perform the service or is authorized to perform the service on the vehicle by the superseding vehicle owner authorization, wherein the indicia is stored with information indicative of a type of service performed.

16. The method of claim 15, further including generating a service history that includes the service and the indicia.

17. The method of claim 16, further including using the stored indicia to determine whether the service was performed by an authorized person pursuant to the manufacturer'"'"'s warranty.

18. The method of claim 16, further including determining vehicle warranty compliance based on the stored indicia.

19. The method of claim 14, further including:

obtaining authorized mechanic certification information from a plurality of different information sources; and

using an information source priority to resolve authorization conflicts between the sources.

20. The method of claim 14, further including comparing the first information with authorized mechanic certification information local to the vehicle by a computing system of the vehicle or remote from the vehicle by the manufacturer of the vehicle or a trusted third party.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the disabling the at least one electrical sub-system of the vehicle comprises disabling an ignition of the vehicle.

22. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a computer readable tangible storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the program code comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer system, cause the computer system to;

receive information indicative of a certification of a mechanic performing a service on a vehicle;

generate a signal indicative of whether the certification is validated by stored authorized mechanic certification information;

if determined that the mechanic certification information is validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information, facilitate service on a vehicle by the mechanic by placing the vehicle in a service state for executing diagnostic software via a vehicle computer, and generate a signal that causes an unlocking of at least one of a door, a hood, and a trunk of the vehicle; and

if determined that the mechanic certification information is not validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information;

inhibit service on the vehicle by the mechanic by disabling at least one electrical sub-system of the vehicle and generating a signal that causes a locking of at least one of the vehicle door, hood, and trunk; and

enable a vehicle owner authorization of the mechanic to supersede a manufacturer rejection of the mechanic via the stored authorized mechanic certification information and facilitate the service on the vehicle by the mechanic by placing the vehicle in the service state for executing the diagnostic software via the vehicle computer, and by generating the signal that causes the unlocking of at least one of the vehicle door, hood, and trunk.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 22, wherein the program code instructions, when executed on the computer system, further cause the computer system to store indicia indicative of a service performed on the vehicle by the mechanic and whether the mechanic is validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information to perform the service or is authorized to perform the service on the vehicle by the superseding vehicle owner authorization.

24. A method for providing a service for vehicle maintenance, the method comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure that;

receives information indicative of a certification of a mechanic performing a service on a vehicle;

generates a signal indicative of whether the certification is validated by stored authorized mechanic certification information;

if determined that the mechanic certification information is validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information, facilitates service on the vehicle by the mechanic by placing the vehicle in a service state for executing diagnostic software via a vehicle computer, and generates a signal that causes an unlocking of at least one of a door, a hood, and a trunk of the vehicle; and

if determined that the mechanic certification information is not validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information;

inhibits service on the vehicle by the mechanic by disabling the at least one vehicle electrical sub-system and generating a signal that causes a locking of at least one of the vehicle door, hood, and trunk; and

enables a vehicle owner authorization of the mechanic to supersede a manufacturer rejection of the mechanic via the stored authorized mechanic certification information and facilitate the service on the vehicle by the mechanic by placing the vehicle in the service state for executing the diagnostic software via the vehicle computer, and by generating the signal that causes the unlocking of at least one of the vehicle door, hood, and trunk.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the computer infrastructure further stores indicia indicative of a service performed on the vehicle by the mechanic and whether the mechanic is validated by the stored authorized mechanic certification information to perform the service or is authorized to perform the service on the vehicle by the superseding vehicle owner authorization.