Methods and systems for diagnosing a vehicle

• US 8,880,277 B2
• Filed: 01/24/2013
• Issued: 11/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Catsburg, Thomas M. P., Julson, Timothy D., Taraski, Gary W., Will, Kimberley R., Pratt, Khara D.
• Primary Examiner(s): EL CHANTI, HUSSEIN A
• Application Number:
  US13/749,380
• Publication Number:
  US 20130226393A1
• Time in Patent Office: 649 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29.1, 701/29.6, 701/33.1
• US Class Current: 701/29.6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for generating a vehicle specific configuration file. The method includes: determining a vehicle identification number; retrieving, based on the vehicle identification number, from at least one data storage device a bus topology, module information, at least one message identification number, and at least one message length; and generating a configuration file based on the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length.

Claims

1. A method of generating a vehicle specific configuration file, comprising:

determining a vehicle identification number;

retrieving, by a processor, based on the vehicle identification number, from at least one data storage device a bus topology, module information, at least one message identification number, and at least one message length; and

generating, by the processor, a configuration file based on the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising diagnosing a fault of a vehicle using the configuration file.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating a graphical user interface that displays a vehicle map of the vehicle and a fault location relative to the vehicle map based on the configuration file and the fault of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the graphical user interface is a two dimensional graphical user interface.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the graphical user interface is a three dimensional graphical user interface.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the configuration file comprises formatting the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length based on a predetermined format.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the configuration file comprises formatting the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length based on a user provided format.

8. A system for generating a vehicle specific configuration file, comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising;

a first module that determines a vehicle identification number;

a second module that retrieves, based on the vehicle identification number, from at least one data storage device a bus topology, module information, at least one message identification number, and at least one message length; and

a third module that generates a configuration file based on the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a fourth module that diagnoses a fault of a vehicle using the configuration file.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the fourth module generates a graphical user interface that displays a vehicle map of the vehicle and a fault location relative to the vehicle map based on the configuration file and the fault of the vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the graphical user interface is a two dimensional graphical user interface.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the graphical user interface is a three dimensional graphical user interface.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the third module generates the configuration file by formatting the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length based on a predetermined format.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the third module generates the configuration file by formatting the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length based on a user provided format.

15. A diagnostic system for a vehicle, comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising;

a configuration module that determines a vehicle identification number, that retrieves, based on the vehicle identification number, from at least one data storage device a bus topology, module information, at least one message identification number, and at least one message length, and that generates a configuration file based on the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length; and

a diagnostic module that diagnoses a fault of a vehicle using the configuration file.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the diagnostic module generates a graphical user interface that displays a vehicle map of the vehicle and a fault location relative to the vehicle map based on the configuration file and the fault of the vehicle.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the graphical user interface is a two dimensional graphical user interface.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the graphical user interface is a three dimensional graphical user interface.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the configuration module generates the configuration file by formatting the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length based on a predetermined format.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the configuration module generates the configuration file by formatting the vehicle identification number, the bus topology, the module information, the at least one message identification number, and the at least one message length based on a user provided format.