JP2007139478A - Vehicle diagnosis device and vehicle diagnosis system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle diagnosis device and vehicle diagnosis system capable of rapidly and easily executing a maintenance diagnostic processing and early obtaining the trend of occurrence of abnormality, by applying the maintenance diagnostic processing to a remote vehicle from an external management device via a radio circuit. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicle diagnosis device 1 has a maintenance control section 4 that forcibly operates an electronic control section 2 for electronically controlling the vehicle based on a forcible operation demand from the external management device 6 and obtains predetermined vehicle maintenance data. The vehicle diagnosis device 1 has a state determination section 41 for determining whether to execute the operation based on the vehicle state in response to the forcible operation demand input at a predetermined inspection interval. The maintenance control section 4 forcibly operates the electronic control section 2 when executability is determined. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention includes a maintenance control unit that acquires predetermined vehicle maintenance data by forcibly operating an electronic control unit that electronically controls a vehicle based on a forced operation request input from an external management device via a communication interface. The present invention relates to a vehicle diagnostic apparatus and a vehicle diagnostic system.

  Many of the devices mounted on each part of the vehicle are configured by an electronic control device that operates by electronic control. Such failure diagnosis and diagnosis data analysis of the electronic control device are executed by connecting an external diagnostic device to the electronic control device and linking the processing on the electronic control device side and the processing on the external diagnostic device side. For example, immediately after resetting the CPU of the electronic control device, the electronic control device checks the signal state of the mode determination control signal line output by the external diagnostic device in the processing on the CPU side, If not, the process proceeds to the activation of the built-in control program and the control operation of the electronic control device is started. On the other hand, if the signal state of the mode determination control signal line is in a diagnosable state, the electronic control device starts diagnosis processing according to the control program transmitted from the external diagnostic device.

  In the above-described diagnosis processing, in order to avoid the possibility that the diagnosis processing by the electronic control device is continuously executed due to a disconnection of the connector that connects the external diagnosis device and the electronic control device during the diagnosis. In the request message transmitted from the external diagnostic device to the electronic control unit that performs processing, diagnostic duration information that specifies the diagnostic duration of the diagnostic processing is incorporated in accordance with the content of the requested diagnostic processing. Techniques have been proposed.

  Further, in the technology related to the built-in program update, which is a process similar to the diagnosis process, when the vehicle is being driven by the drive device at the time of the built-in program update, the vehicle or the drive device is suddenly changed or out of control. In order to prevent the drive device from reaching an unexpected driving state, when there is an update command transmitted from the outside during the startup of the built-in program, the built-in program is operated under the condition that the vehicle is not driven. A technique has been proposed in which a part or all of the program is shifted to a process of updating to a new program transmitted from the outside.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-46676

JP-A-9-44216

  However, in the above-described prior art, since an external diagnostic device is connected to the electronic control device to be diagnosed for diagnosis, the vehicle owner or the like needs to bring the vehicle to the nearest service store at the time of diagnosis, There is a problem that the work is complicated for both the maintenance engineer who performs the diagnosis and the owner who brings the vehicle.

  In addition, vehicle abnormalities that occur in the market are recognized for the first time by the owner of the vehicle in which the abnormality has occurred, whether the vehicle is brought into the nearest service store, etc. Since the cause of the abnormality is to be investigated, there is also a problem that the response to the abnormality is delayed.

  In view of the above-described conventional drawbacks, the present invention performs the diagnostic process quickly and easily by performing a diagnostic process on a remote vehicle via a wireless line from an external management device installed in a service center or the like. It is possible to provide a vehicle diagnosis apparatus and a vehicle diagnosis system that can detect the tendency of occurrence of an abnormality at an early stage and can take an early action.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the first characteristic configuration of the vehicle diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention is as described in claim 1 of the claims, from an external management apparatus input via a communication interface. A vehicle diagnostic apparatus comprising a maintenance control unit for forcibly operating an electronic control unit for electronically controlling a vehicle based on a forcible operation request to obtain predetermined vehicle maintenance data, which is input at a predetermined inspection interval A state determination unit that determines whether or not the forced operation request can be executed based on a vehicle state; and when the maintenance control unit determines that the execution can be executed by the state determination unit, the electronic control unit Is to forcibly operate.

  According to the above-described configuration, the maintenance engineer who executes the diagnosis process does not need to be in a place where the vehicle exists, and the vehicle owner does not need to bring the vehicle to the maintenance engineer. Therefore, the complicated work as described above can be avoided. In addition, since a forced operation request is input at a predetermined inspection interval, the diagnosis process can be surely executed without forgetting, and the state determination unit determines whether the diagnosis process can be executed based on the vehicle state. The requested diagnostic process can be executed without sacrificing safety.

  According to the second feature configuration, in addition to the first feature configuration described above, when the maintenance control unit determines that the state determination unit can execute the electronic control, It is in the point provided with the alerting | reporting part which alert | reports the message to that effect before the forced operation of a part.

  For example, when there is a management center equipped with an external management device that transmits a forced operation request to the vehicle at a remote place away from the vehicle, and the forced operation request is transmitted from the external management device to the vehicle, the above-mentioned According to the configuration, the owner of the vehicle can confirm that the vehicle has received the forced operation request and that the diagnosis process is performed on the vehicle.

  In the third feature configuration, in addition to the first or second feature configuration described above, when the maintenance control unit determines that the state determination unit cannot execute the third feature configuration. A storage unit that primarily stores the forced operation request is provided, and then the electronic control unit is forcibly operated when the state determination unit determines that the request is executable.

  According to the above configuration, even when the forced operation request cannot be executed immediately depending on the vehicle state, when the forced operation request is stored in the storage unit, it is determined that the vehicle state changes and can be executed. In addition, the vehicle diagnosis process can be executed based on the forced operation request read from the storage unit, and the vehicle diagnosis apparatus can execute the diagnosis process as quickly as possible.

  In the fourth feature configuration, as described in claim 4, in addition to the first or second feature configuration described above, the maintenance control unit is determined to be inexecutable by the state determination unit. The vehicle state switching unit for shifting the vehicle state to an executable state is provided.

  According to the above-described configuration, even if the forced operation request cannot be executed immediately depending on the vehicle state, the vehicle state switching unit of the vehicle that has received the forced operation request shifts to a state in which the vehicle can be executed spontaneously. Therefore, the vehicle diagnosis apparatus can execute the diagnosis process as quickly as possible.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, a first characteristic configuration of the vehicle diagnosis system according to the present invention includes an external management device, a communication interface, and the communication interface as described in claim 5 of the claims. On the basis of the forced operation request from the external management device input via the electronic control unit, the electronic control unit that electronically controls the vehicle is forcibly operated to acquire predetermined vehicle maintenance data, and the acquired vehicle maintenance data is stored in the external management device A vehicle diagnosis system comprising a maintenance control unit that responds to the communication interface, wherein the communication interface is configured by a wireless communication interface, and the forced operation request input at a predetermined inspection interval is based on a vehicle state. A state determination unit that determines whether or not the state can be executed, and the maintenance control unit is determined to be executable by the state determination unit; There the electronic control unit in that force actuated come.

  In the second feature configuration, in addition to the first feature configuration described above, when the external management device transmits and outputs the forced operation request, the second feature configuration is the owner of the vehicle. There is a reporting means for reporting to the portable terminal that a forced operation request has been made.

  For example, when there is a management center equipped with an external management device that transmits a forced operation request to the vehicle at a remote place away from the vehicle, and the forced operation request is transmitted from the external management device to the vehicle, the above-mentioned According to the configuration, even if the owner of the vehicle is away from the vehicle, the fact that the forced operation request has been transmitted to the vehicle can be reliably notified through the portable terminal of the owner of the vehicle.

  In the third feature configuration, in addition to the first or second feature configuration described above, the external management device detects an abnormality based on vehicle maintenance data from an arbitrary vehicle. When this is done, a forced operation request is transmitted to other vehicles of the same vehicle type as the arbitrary vehicle regardless of the inspection interval.

  According to the above-described configuration, when an abnormality is detected in an arbitrary vehicle, it is detected by transmitting a forced operation request to another vehicle of the same vehicle type as the arbitrary vehicle regardless of an inspection interval. Since data for judging whether an abnormality is a problem of only the arbitrary vehicle or an entire vehicle type of the arbitrary vehicle can be quickly collected, the tendency of the abnormality can be grasped early. It becomes a vehicle diagnostic system that can.

  In the fourth feature configuration, as described in claim 8, in addition to any of the first to third feature configurations described above, the external management device adds vehicle maintenance data input from each vehicle. A failure determination unit for detecting a failure based on the above is provided.

  According to the above-described configuration, the external management device can perform failure detection based on a large amount of data in which the vehicle maintenance data input from each vehicle, that is, diagnostic data of each vehicle is databased. This is a vehicle diagnostic system that makes it possible to reliably detect faults while reducing the possibility of misrecognizing a characteristic that occurs only in the vehicle as a fault, and to grasp the abnormal tendency of the vehicle in advance and examine the response. It is.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the diagnosis processing is performed quickly and easily by performing diagnosis processing on a remote vehicle via a wireless line from an external management device installed in a service center or the like. Therefore, it is possible to provide a vehicle diagnostic apparatus and a vehicle diagnostic system capable of grasping a tendency of occurrence of an abnormality at an early stage and capable of early countermeasures.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a vehicle diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a vehicle as a system in which a plurality of ECUs (electronic control units) cooperate to perform control will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the functional block configuration related to the diagnosis process in the vehicle diagnostic apparatus 1 according to the present invention is a maintenance control connected to a plurality of ECUs (electronic control units) as the electronic control unit 2 and the communication control unit 3. The units 4 are connected to each other via a CAN (controller area network) bus 5. The plurality of ECUs include, for example, an engine control ECU 21, an automatic transmission (AT) control ECU 22, an antilock brake system (ABS) control ECU 23, and the like.

  Each of the plurality of ECUs is provided with an arithmetic processing unit having a CPU or the like, and is configured to realize a predetermined function based on a built-in program and built-in data that are repeatedly executed at a preset cycle. . For example, the engine control ECU 21 includes an intake air temperature sensor 210, a water temperature sensor 211, a sensor 212 for detecting a target valve timing in a variable valve timing mechanism, an accelerator pedal operation amount sensor 213, a battery voltage sensor 214, and the like. Based on the input signals from the sensors and communication data from other related ECUs such as the automatic transmission control ECU 22, the control state is transmitted to the other ECUs so as to realize a predetermined engine function.

  In addition, in other ECUs such as the automatic transmission control ECU 22 and the ABS control ECU 23, the accelerator pedal operation amount sensor 213 and the battery voltage sensor 214, which are also input to the engine control ECU 21, respectively. By controlling the input signals from the sensors 220, 221, 230, 231 and the like used in the control, the ECUs can cooperate to implement control as a system.

  The communication control unit 3 performs data communication with the external management device 6. The data communication includes reception of a forced operation request transmitted by the external management device 6 for forcibly operating an ECU that needs to be operated to execute diagnostic processing, and vehicle maintenance data as a result of execution of the diagnostic processing. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, data communication is performed via a relay station from a management center or the like that manages the vehicle maintenance data at a remote location using a mobile phone line. It is configured to be able to. The wireless line is not limited to a mobile phone line, and an existing communication infrastructure such as a wireless LAN or a satellite communication line can be used.

  The vehicle maintenance data is not only data as a result of executing the above-described diagnosis process, but also data obtained by a maintenance engineer performing a diagnosis process and information regarding the vehicle acquired from a vehicle user. Is included.

  The forced operation request transmitted from the external management device 6 includes a diagnostic program and the like, and diagnoses the control state of each ECU according to the procedure of diagnostic processing defined by the diagnostic program or the like.

  The maintenance control unit 4 outputs vehicle maintenance data after forcibly operating each ECU to execute diagnostic processing to the communication control unit 3 for transmission to the external management device 6, or the external management device 6, based on the forced operation request received via the communication control unit 3, the ECU is operated to execute diagnostic processing, and is received via the communication control unit 3. A forced operation request input unit 40 for inputting a forced operation request and temporarily storing it, and generating a vehicle state as vehicle state data based on communication data input from each of the ECUs. Based on the vehicle state data, the state determination unit 41 that determines whether or not the execution target ECU for the diagnosis process based on the operation is operable, and the state determination unit 41 determines that the execution target ECU is operable. A diagnosis execution unit 42 for operating the execution target ECU to execute diagnosis processing when the operation target ECU is operated, and the forced operation request when the state determination unit 41 determines that the execution target ECU is inoperable. A storage unit 43 for primary storage, a vehicle maintenance data generation unit 44 for generating a diagnosis processing result by the diagnosis execution unit 42 as vehicle maintenance data, and the vehicle maintenance data generated by the vehicle maintenance data generation unit 44 in the communication The vehicle maintenance data output unit 45 that outputs to the control unit 3 and the power supply control unit 46 that constantly maintains the power supply of the maintenance control unit 4 and maintains the power supply to the execution target ECU are configured. Yes.

  Based on the communication data input from each ECU, the state determination unit 41 determines the vehicle state such as the ignition switch on / off state, the engine starting / stopping, the vehicle running / stopping, etc. Based on the vehicle state data, it is determined whether or not the execution target ECU of the diagnostic process based on the forced operation request is operable after being generated as the state data.

  For example, in the state determination unit 41, when vehicle state data in which an ignition switch is off is generated, the state determination unit 41 determines that the execution target is not supplied with power to the execution target ECU. It can be configured to determine that the operation of the ECU is impossible. On the other hand, when the vehicle state data with the ignition switch turned on is generated in the state determination unit 41, the state determination unit 41 may be running the vehicle if the engine is started. A configuration may be adopted in which it is determined that the operation of the ECU is impossible and it is determined that the operation of the execution target ECU is possible if the engine is stopped. Note that the vehicle state for generating the vehicle state data described above is merely an example, and is actually generated in consideration of vehicle states other than those described above. Other vehicle states include, for example, the state of a sensor that determines the presence or absence of a person in the vehicle, the key lock state of the vehicle, whether or not the vehicle exists in a safe area such as a parking lot by a navigation system, maintenance Whether or not the engineer has connected the external diagnostic device to the electronic control device (when the external diagnostic device is connected, the maintenance work by the maintenance technician has priority).

  If the state determination unit 41 determines that the operation of the execution target ECU of the diagnosis process based on the forced operation request is possible, the diagnosis execution unit 42 operates the execution target ECU to execute the diagnosis process. . On the other hand, if the state determination unit 41 determines that the operation of the execution target ECU of the diagnosis process based on the forced operation request is impossible, the execution of the diagnosis process is reserved without operating the execution target ECU.

  If the state determination unit 41 determines that the ECU to be executed for the diagnosis process based on the forced operation request can be operated, the operation display of the car navigation system or the like is displayed before the execution target ECU is forcibly operated. It is good also as a structure provided with the alerting | reporting part 47 which notifies the driver | operator etc. of the vehicle via the part 7 that the forced operation | movement request | requirement with respect to said execution object ECU was received. In addition to the above, the notification unit 47 is configured to urge the driver of the vehicle via the operation display unit 7 to input that the diagnosis target operation is permitted by operating the execution target ECU. Further, when an allowable input is made by the driver, the diagnosis target process may be executed by operating the execution target ECU.

  The storage unit 43 is configured to primarily store the forced operation request when the state determination unit 41 determines that the ECU to be diagnosed based on the forced operation request is not operable. Yes. That is, as a result of determining that the state determination unit 41 cannot operate the execution target ECU, the diagnosis execution unit 42 reserves execution of the diagnosis process without operating the execution target ECU. The forced operation request is primarily stored in the storage unit 43. The diagnosis execution unit 42 constantly checks the vehicle state data and the storage unit 43, and when the vehicle state data becomes state data that can operate the execution target ECU, that is, the forced operation request. When the execution environment is ready, the execution target ECU is operated based on the forced operation request temporarily stored in the storage unit 43 to execute diagnosis processing.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the state determination unit 41 determines that the execution target ECU cannot be operated, the state of the vehicle is shifted to a state where the execution target ECU can be operated. It is good also as a structure provided with the vehicle state switching part 48 instead of the said memory | storage part 43. FIG.

  For example, when the state determination unit 41 is set to determine that the operation of the execution target ECU is impossible because the vehicle key is locked, the state determination unit 41 performs the execution for the reason. If it is determined that the operation of the target ECU is impossible, the vehicle state switching unit 48 may automatically release the key lock.

  As another example, when the state determination unit 41 is set to determine that the operation of the execution target ECU is impossible because the vehicle engine is started, the state determination unit 41 determines that the reason is If it is determined that the operation of the execution target ECU is impossible, the vehicle state switching unit 48 stores the determination temporarily, and the operation display unit 7 or the like is stored when the driver attempts to restart the engine. There is also a configuration that prompts an input to allow the execution of the diagnosis process by operating the execution target ECU before starting the engine. The primary storage of the determination may be other than the vehicle state switching unit 48, for example, the storage unit 43 or the like.

  In addition, the structure provided in addition to the said memory | storage part 43 may be sufficient as the said vehicle state switching part 48, as shown in FIG. For example, when the state determination unit 41 determines that the execution target ECU cannot be operated, if the state transition by the vehicle state switching unit 48 is impossible due to safety problems, the storage unit The forced operation request is temporarily stored in 43.

  Further, when the state determination unit 41 determines that the execution target ECU cannot be operated, the vehicle state switching unit 48 changes the state of the vehicle by the operation of a vehicle driver or the like. The configuration may be such that the diagnosis process can be executed by shifting to a state in which the operation can be performed. For example, when the driver of the vehicle learns via the operation display unit 7 that the state determination unit 41 has determined that the execution target ECU cannot be operated, the driver of the vehicle The diagnostic processing is executed after manually performing the processing necessary for the operation of the execution target ECU.

  The vehicle maintenance data generation unit 44 generates, as the vehicle maintenance data, diagnosis result data of a diagnosis process performed by the diagnosis execution unit 42 by operating an execution target ECU based on the forced operation request. It is configured. That is, the ECU to be subjected to the diagnostic process based on the forced operation request starts the operation according to the forced operation request, and then controls the vehicle system to be controlled based on the diagnosis procedure included in the forced operation request. When executed, the diagnostic data is output, and the diagnostic data is transmitted to the vehicle maintenance data generation unit 44. The vehicle maintenance data generation unit 44 receives the diagnosis data, diagnoses whether the execution target ECU is operating normally, and generates the diagnosis result as vehicle maintenance data.

  The power supply control unit 46 maintains the power supply of the maintenance control unit 4 at all times, so that the forced operation request can be always input regardless of the state of the vehicle, and the diagnosis based on the forced operation request is performed. By maintaining the power supply to the process execution target ECU, the diagnosis process can be performed.

  Hereinafter, the execution operation of the diagnosis process in the diagnosis control apparatus 1 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When a forced operation request is input from the external management device 6 to the forced operation request input unit 40 via the communication control unit 3 (SA1), the forced operation request input unit 40 temporarily stores the forced operation request. (SA2).

  The state determination unit 41 generates a vehicle state as vehicle state data (SA3), and based on the vehicle state data, whether or not the execution target ECU of the diagnosis process based on the forced operation request is operable. Judgment is made (SA4).

  When the state determination unit 41 determines that the execution target ECU can be operated (SA4), the power supply control unit 46 maintains the power supply of the execution target ECU for the diagnosis process based on the forced operation request. Control is started so as to be possible (SA5). In addition, the diagnosis execution unit 42 forcibly operates the ECU to be subjected to the diagnosis process and drives the actuator by the ECU, thereby executing the diagnosis process based on the drive data (SA6).

  The vehicle maintenance data generation unit 44 generates a diagnosis result of the diagnosis process as vehicle maintenance data (SA7). The vehicle maintenance data output unit 44 transfers the generated vehicle maintenance data to the external management device 6 via the vehicle maintenance data output unit 45 and the communication control unit 3 (SA8).

    On the other hand, when the state determination unit 41 determines that the execution target ECU cannot be operated (SA4), the diagnosis execution unit 42 operates the execution target ECU of the diagnosis process based on the forced operation request. The execution of the diagnosis process is reserved (SA9), and the forced operation request is temporarily stored in the storage unit 43 (SA10). The state determination unit 41 updates the vehicle state data in accordance with a change in the state of the vehicle (SA3), and the diagnosis execution unit 42 until the determination of the state determination unit 41 becomes operable for the execution target ECU. (SA4), the state determination unit 41 is constantly checked. In step SA4, when the determination by the state determination unit 41 becomes operable (SA4), the processing from step SA5 to SA8 is executed, and the determination by the state determination unit 41 is When the execution target ECU is not operable (SA4), the processes after step SA9 are repeated.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle diagnosis system including an external management device 6 that manages a vehicle group on which the above-described vehicle diagnosis device 1 is mounted will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the external management device 6 includes a forced operation request output unit 60 that transmits a forced operation request to the communication control unit 3 of the vehicle diagnostic device 1 at a predetermined inspection interval, and the forced operation request. And a notification means 61 for notifying that the forced operation request has been made to the portable terminal of the owner of the destination vehicle, and the result of the forced operation request from the communication control unit 3 of the vehicle diagnostic apparatus 1 Vehicle maintenance data input unit 62 for receiving vehicle maintenance data, vehicle maintenance data storage management unit 63 for storing the received vehicle maintenance data, and vehicle maintenance data stored in the vehicle maintenance data storage management unit 63 A failure determination unit 64 that detects a failure based on the failure is configured.

  The forced operation request output unit 60 transmits a forced operation request at a predetermined inspection interval. For example, in a vehicle that requires periodic inspection once every three months, the predetermined operation interval is set to three months, and the forced operation request is transmitted every three months. However, the forced operation request output unit 60 may transmit a forced operation request regardless of a predetermined inspection interval, and this case will be described in detail in the description of the vehicle maintenance data storage management unit 63 described later.

  When the forced operation request output unit 60 transmits the forced operation request, the notification means 61 notifies the mobile terminal of the owner of the destination vehicle that the vehicle has been forcedly operated. Make a report. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the forced operation request output 60 transmits a forced operation request to the vehicle, whereas the reporting means 61 transmits the forced operation request to the vehicle. The information is transmitted to the portable terminal of the vehicle owner.

  Further, the reporting means 61 may be configured not only to transmit information from the external management device 6 to the vehicle owner but also to receive information from the vehicle owner to the external management device 6. Good. For example, the owner of the vehicle that has received the information indicating that the forced operation request has been transmitted to the vehicle sends a reply permitting the forced operation to the external management device 6.

  The vehicle maintenance data input unit 62 receives vehicle maintenance data as a result of the forced operation request from the communication control unit 3 of the vehicle diagnostic apparatus 1.

  The vehicle maintenance data storage management unit 63 stores the vehicle maintenance data including information on the presence / absence of occurrence of abnormality, output values obtained by diagnosis, and the like in units of vehicles or vehicle types. That is, the vehicle maintenance data of a large number of vehicles received at the vehicle maintenance data input unit 62 is stored and managed as a database.

  Further, the vehicle maintenance data storage management unit 63, when abnormality information is included in the vehicle maintenance data from an arbitrary vehicle, allows other vehicles that are the same model as the arbitrary vehicle regardless of the inspection interval. On the other hand, a forced operation request is transmitted through the forced operation request output unit 60. For example, when an abnormality is detected based on the vehicle maintenance data from an arbitrary vehicle of the vehicle type A, the data of the vehicle of the vehicle type A is extracted from the data stored and managed in the vehicle maintenance data storage management unit 63. Then, a forced operation request similar to that performed for the arbitrary vehicle is transmitted to the extracted vehicle group via the forced operation request output unit 60.

  The failure determination unit 64 detects a failure based on vehicle maintenance data input from each vehicle. More specifically, other vehicles related to the vehicle stored in the vehicle maintenance data storage unit 63 with reference to the vehicle maintenance data returned from the vehicle that has issued the forced operation request or as necessary. With reference to the maintenance data, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is out of order.

  For example, when there is a device having a characteristic that the output decreases with time (this characteristic is not abnormal), and the diagnosis processing of the device is executed in a certain vehicle, the failure determination unit 64 performs the vehicle maintenance. By referring to other vehicle maintenance data on which the device is stored, which is stored in the data storage unit 63, a determination is made in consideration of the characteristic that the output decreases with the passage of time of the device.

  Further, the failure determination unit 64 analyzes the vehicle maintenance data from the past to the present stored and stored in the vehicle maintenance data storage management unit 63, so that it is a failure when a specific condition is met, or a failure It may be configured to determine that there is a tendency to occur. The specific condition is the vehicle type, the date of manufacture of the vehicle, or the malfunction or life of the device mounted on the vehicle. For example, as a result of analysis, in the X-year manufactured vehicle and Y-year manufactured vehicle of the same vehicle type, When many failures are detected only in the Y-year manufactured vehicle, the difference between the X-year manufactured vehicle and the Y-year manufactured vehicle is examined to determine the cause.

  Hereinafter, in the vehicle diagnosis system, an operation in which the external management device 6 executes vehicle diagnosis with a certain vehicle (hereinafter referred to as vehicle B) on which the vehicle diagnosis device 1 is mounted will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. .

  In the external management device 6, vehicle maintenance data such as data received from the vehicle B, data obtained by a maintenance engineer performing diagnostic processing of the vehicle B, and information about the vehicle B obtained from the owner of the vehicle B, etc. When abnormality information indicating that an abnormality exists in the vehicle B is included (SB1), the forced operation request output unit 60 transmits a forced operation request to the vehicle diagnostic apparatus 1 of the vehicle B, and at the same time, the reporting unit 61. Sends a notification to the mobile terminal of the owner of vehicle B that a forced operation request has been made (SB2).

  On the other hand, when abnormality information is not included in the vehicle maintenance data (SB1), is the timing when the external management device 6 transmits a forced operation request at a predetermined inspection interval set for the vehicle B? If it is time to transmit the forced operation request (SB3), the notification means 61 transmits the forced operation request to the vehicle diagnostic apparatus 1 of the vehicle B and at the same time the owner of the vehicle B The mobile terminal is notified that a forced operation request has been made (SB2). If it is not time to transmit the forced operation request (SB3), it is determined whether or not abnormality information is included in the vehicle maintenance data (SB1).

  When a reply to the forced operation request transmitted in step SB2 is input to the vehicle maintenance data input unit 62 (SB4), the failure determination unit 64 refers to the input vehicle maintenance data, and if necessary, the vehicle With reference to other vehicle maintenance data stored in the maintenance data storage unit 63, it is determined whether or not the vehicle B has failed (SB5), and the result is stored in the vehicle maintenance data storage unit 63 (SB6). ). Further, the result is notified to the owner of the vehicle B as necessary (SB7).

  Another embodiment will be described below. The maintenance control unit 4 determines that the operation of the execution target ECU of the diagnosis process based on the forced operation request is not executable according to the state of the vehicle state data, and reserves the execution of the diagnosis process. It may be configured to request the external management device 6 to resend the forced operation request when it becomes possible to determine that the execution target ECU can be operated due to a change in vehicle state data. When a plurality of forced operation requests are input to the maintenance control unit 4 and a diagnosis process based on the plurality of forced operation requests is reserved, execution of the diagnosis process is completed for all the input forced operation requests. This is preferable because the capacity of the storage unit 43 can be reduced.

  Further, each ECU as the electronic control unit 2 may be configured to reject the driver's operation input during execution of the diagnostic process based on the forced operation request by the maintenance control unit 4. By restricting the driver's operation input, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience caused by the operation of another ECU during execution of the diagnostic processing of any ECU, and to execute the diagnostic processing with certainty.

  In the above description, the communication control unit 3 is configured independently of the maintenance control unit 4. However, the communication control unit 3 may be included in the maintenance control unit 4.

  Note that the above-described embodiment is merely an example of the present invention, and it is needless to say that the specific configuration of each block can be changed and designed as appropriate within the scope of the effects of the present invention.

Functional block configuration diagram for diagnostic processing in a vehicle diagnostic apparatus Illustration of an example of data communication from a remote location Flowchart for explaining an execution operation of a diagnosis process in the vehicle diagnosis apparatus Functional block configuration diagram of external management device and vehicle diagnostic device in vehicle diagnostic system Explanatory drawing of an example in the case of transmitting data from an external management device to a vehicle and a portable terminal Flowchart for explaining execution operation of external management device in vehicle diagnosis system Functional block configuration diagram of a maintenance control unit having a vehicle state switching unit Functional block configuration diagram of a maintenance control unit including a storage unit and a vehicle state switching unit

Explanation of symbols

1: Vehicle diagnostic device 2: Electronic control unit 3: Communication control unit 4: Maintenance control unit 6: External management device 41: State determination unit 43: Storage unit 47: Notification unit 48: Vehicle state switching unit 61: Notification means 63: Vehicle maintenance data storage management unit 64: failure determination unit

Claims (8)

Vehicle diagnosis comprising a maintenance control unit for forcibly operating an electronic control unit for electronically controlling a vehicle based on a forced operation request input from an external management device input via a communication interface to obtain predetermined vehicle maintenance data A device,
A state determination unit that determines whether or not the forced operation request input at a predetermined inspection interval can be executed based on a vehicle state, and the maintenance control unit determines that the execution can be executed by the state determination unit. A vehicle diagnostic apparatus for forcibly operating the electronic control unit when being operated.   2. The vehicle diagnosis according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance control unit includes a notification unit that notifies a message to that effect before the electronic control unit is forcibly activated when the state determination unit determines that the maintenance control unit is executable. apparatus.   The maintenance control unit includes a storage unit that primarily stores the forced operation request when the state determination unit determines that the execution is impossible, and then when the state determination unit determines that the execution is possible, the electronic control unit The vehicle diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the controller is forcibly operated.   3. The vehicle diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance control unit includes a vehicle state switching unit that shifts the vehicle state to an executable state when the state determination unit determines that the vehicle state is not executable. . Based on an external management device, a communication interface, and a forced operation request input from the external management device via the communication interface, the electronic control unit for electronically controlling the vehicle is forcibly operated to obtain predetermined vehicle maintenance data. A vehicle diagnosis system comprising a maintenance control unit that acquires and returns acquired vehicle maintenance data to the external management device,
The maintenance interface includes a state determination unit configured to determine whether the communication interface is a wireless communication interface and whether the forced operation request input at a predetermined inspection interval can be executed based on a vehicle state. A vehicle diagnostic system that forcibly operates the electronic control unit when the state determination unit determines that the electronic control unit is executable.   The vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the external management device includes a reporting unit that reports to the portable terminal of the owner of the vehicle that a forced operation request has been made when transmitting and outputting the forced operation request. Diagnostic system.   When an abnormality is detected based on vehicle maintenance data from an arbitrary vehicle, the external management device transmits a forced operation request to another vehicle of the same vehicle type as the arbitrary vehicle regardless of the inspection interval. The vehicle diagnosis system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the vehicle diagnosis system outputs the vehicle diagnosis system.   The vehicle diagnosis system according to claim 5, wherein the external management device includes a failure determination unit that detects a failure based on vehicle maintenance data input from each vehicle.

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