Service diagnostic trouble code sequencer and method

• US 9,563,492 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2015
• Issued: 02/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deere & Company
• Original Assignee: Deere & Company
• Inventors: Bell, Joseph A, Carpenter, Kelly R, Shamrell, Brigham R, Friedrich, Mark A, Ritter, Curtis Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Troost, Aaron L
• Application Number:
  US14/593,400
• Publication Number:
  US 20160203657A1
• Time in Patent Office: 760 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0739 in a data processing system embedded in automotive or aircraft systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

A service diagnostic trouble code sequencer and method is disclosed that includes receiving multiple diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs), determining which DTCs to diagnose first, and recommending which DTC(s) to diagnose first. The sequencer can recommend a category of DTCs to diagnose first, where the category of DTCs includes one or more DTCs. The sequencer can prioritize the DTCs in the category of DTCs. The sequencer can separate the DTCs into multiple categories of DTCs, and prioritize the multiple categories of DTCs. The sequencer can prioritize the DTCs in an ordered category of the multiple categories of DTCs. The sequencer can receive the plurality of DTCs locally or remotely over a network. The sequencer can output the one or more DTCs to diagnose first locally or remotely over a network. The sequencer can be resident on the machine generating the DTCs.

Claims

1. A service diagnostic trouble code sequencing method for a work vehicle, the method comprising:

acquiring data associated with one or more components of a work vehicle via an electronic control unit (ECU) in communication with the one or more components of the work vehicle, the acquired data including data from one or more sensors in communication with the ECU;

logging, via the ECU, a plurality of diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) associated with the acquired data;

querying, via a processor, the ECU for the logged DTCs;

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs related to a first of the components of the work vehicle;

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the first component;

prioritizing the logged DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the first component as being a higher priority than other DTCs relating to the first component;

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the first component which are in an active state; and

prioritizing, via the processor, the active DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the first component as being a higher priority than other DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the first component.

2. The sequencing method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs indicating that a second range condition has been detected for the first component; and

prioritizing the logged DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the first component as being a higher priority than the DTCs indicating that a second range condition has been detected for the first component.

3. The sequencing method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs related to a second of the components of the work vehicle; and

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs indicating that a second range condition has been detected for the second component; and

prioritizing the logged DTCs indicating that a second range condition has been detected for the second component as being a higher priority than other DTCs relating to the second component.

4. The sequencing method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the second component which are in an active state; and

prioritizing, via the processor, the active DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the second component as being a higher priority than other DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the second component.

5. The sequencing method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs indicating that a second range condition has been detected for the second component; and

prioritizing the logged DTCs indicating that a second range condition has been detected for the second component as being a higher priority than the DTCs indicating that a second range condition has been detected for the second component.

6. The sequencing method of claim 5, wherein the first range condition is an out of range failure condition and the second range condition is an in range failure condition.

7. The sequencing method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining, via the processor, the logged DTCs indicating an in range failure condition determined by a virtual sensor.

8. The sequencing method of claim 7, wherein, when multiple of the logged DTCs indicating in range failure conditions are for a common path with flow from upstream to downstream, the prioritizing step includes prioritizing the DTCs from upstream failure DTCs to downstream failure DTCs.

9. The sequencing method of claim 3, further comprising:

categorizing, via the processor, the logged DTCs based on their relation to the first component and the second component; and

prioritizing, via the processor, a first category of logged DTCs relating to the first component as being a higher priority than a second category of logged DTCs relating to the second component.

10. The sequencing method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting to a display, via the processor, a recommendation to diagnose first one or more of the active DTCs indicating that a first range condition has been detected for the first component.

11. The sequencing method of claim 1, wherein the one or more components of the work vehicle include an engine.

12. The sequencing method of claim 11, wherein the one or more components of the work vehicle include a battery coupled to the engine.