Method for storing data for subsequent analysis of malfunctions of motor vehicle components occurring during the operation of a motor vehicle

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods for storing data for the subsequent analysis of malfunctions of motor vehicle components occurring during the operation of a motor vehicle. The motor vehicle or an external backend comprises a data logger and several data sources connected to the data logger via signals, wherein the data sources are components of control units for monitoring and / or controlling states and / or functions of motor vehicle components, wherein the data logger is configured to continuously acquire data from the several data sources connected to the data logger via signals and to temporarily store it in a buffer memory, wherein the data logger is configured toUpon receiving a trigger signal, the data temporarily stored in the buffer memory (with a variable lead time before the trigger signal is received) and / or the data temporarily stored in the buffer memory (with a variable follow-up time after the trigger signal is received) are transmitted to an error memory, the transmitted data are permanently stored in the error memory and made available for subsequent analysis, with the trigger signal being activated when a fault occurs.

Description

The present invention relates to methods for storing data for the subsequent analysis of a malfunction of motor vehicle components of the motor vehicle that occurs during operation of a motor vehicle.The fault analysis of a malfunction of motor vehicle components during operation of the motor vehicle represents a significant process, in particular during test operation of the motor vehicle, but also during regular operation of the motor vehicle, in order to analyze malfunctions or malfunction and to take corresponding measures. It is essential here that a fault analysis is based on a targeted data basis that is relevant for the fault or the malfunction. Although a plurality of data sources are present in the motor vehicle, these data sources being frequently coupled to control units and / or sensors and supplying a plurality of data during operation, this also has the disadvantage that a large amount of data is constantly generated, so that holding or continuous storage of all these data is not possible and is also not meaningful on account of limited storage capacity.Against this background, it is an object of the invention to specify an improved method for storing data for subsequent analysis of a malfunction of motor vehicle components of the motor vehicle which occurs during operation of a motor vehicle.The method according to the invention for storing data for the subsequent analysis of a malfunction of motor vehicle components of the motor vehicle occurring during operation of the motor vehicle has the following features: the motor vehicle or a backend external to the motor vehicle has a data logger and a plurality of data sources connected by signal technology to the data logger, wherein the data sources are components of control units for monitoring and / or for controlling states and / or functions of motor vehicle components. The motor vehicle components can be, for example, power train components, such as an electric drive, a high-voltage battery and / or a pulse inverter. The control units can be, for example, an engine control unit. However, it is also quite conceivable for the motor vehicle component to be a transmission. The data sources can also be a component of sensors, for example temperature sensors or torque sensors. The data logger is configured to continuously acquire data from the plurality of data sources signal-connected to the data logger and temporarily store it in a buffer memory. The data logger is configured to transmit, upon receipt of a trigger signal, the data temporarily stored in the buffer memory by one variable lead time before the receipt of the trigger signal and / or the data temporarily stored in the buffer memory by one variable lead time after the receipt of the trigger signal to a fault memory, to permanently store the transmitted data in the fault memory and to keep it ready for subsequent analysis, wherein the trigger signal is triggered when a fault occurs.The lead / lag time can be configurable per error. The fault memory can be, for example, a data memory or back end or a cloud memory.The determination as to whether a fault behavior is present can also be carried out by the driver of the motor vehicle. Accordingly, the driver can trigger the trigger signal by a corresponding operating action. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the assessment as to whether a malfunction occurs is carried out by means of an AI algorithm. For this purpose, the AI algorithm can evaluate sensor data of the motor vehicle.This design has the advantage that the data logger has a pre-trigger option, so that those data which were present in the system before the actual occurrence of the fault behavior and thus before the trigger signal can also be used for fault analysis. In this way, an improved analysis can be carried out since the restriction of the fault cause and its boundary conditions can take place during or during and before the occurrence of the fault behavior and after the occurrence of the fault behavior on the basis of the data permanently stored in the fault memory.Because the data are temporarily stored in the buffer memory first, for example in the form of a volatile buffer memory, in particular in the form of a volatile ring memory, storage space is saved since, if no trigger signal is received from the data logger, the data are continuously deleted from the buffer memory and / or continuously overwritten with new data, preferably after a programmable, variable hold time. The buffer memory can be designed, for example, in such a way that data around a programmable, variable time window around the current point in time are always stored in the buffer memory. Thus, there is always a quantity of data in the buffer memory for the same time interval, this time interval migrating with continuous time. Depending on the lead time and / or lag time, this time period may be different.It is considered to be particularly advantageous if at least one of the data sources has a rebound counter, which can be used as trigger information when the defined rebound counter value of an applied fault symptom is reached, for rebounding a symptom signal associated with a fault, and wherein the rebound counter is configured to output a fault signal if the symptom signal occurs for longer than a defined threshold value, for example a defined fault rebound time, wherein the trigger signal is output temporally before the output of the fault signal. Normally, an error signal is only output when a symptom signal is present for a certain time and is debouncing. The output of the error signal can be used, for example, to produce an acoustic and / or optical output to the driver of the motor vehicle. Frequently, a control device of the motor vehicle is also configured to store the temperature or other state variables when an error signal occurs, insofar as a symptom signal is present for longer than the predefined decompression time, such as the data present in the system, for example the current rotational speed, but not the profile, since only the value at the time of the debouncing or the error storage entry is entered into the respective control device / gateway. The advantage of the method according to the invention compared to such a storage of the data now consists in that, on the one hand, data are also recorded and kept ready before the debouncing of the symptom signal and, on the other hand, when the conditions for emitting a trigger signal are set accordingly, data are permanently stored in the data logger even without the presence of an error signal. This has the advantage that data relating to a malfunction of vehicle components can be stored and evaluated even if the corresponding malfunction does not lead to an error signal, e.g. a check engine (MIL) / error entry into the respective control device / gateway or warning / error message, for example if the malfunction can be corrected or attenuated by suitable measures in the system or the symptom signal is not present until the symptom is completely debouncing until an error memory entry is triggered in the respective control device or relevant control devices (e.g. in the case of a function or function parts distributed over a plurality of control devices). Even if the measures of the system have led to a fault behavior being corrected or compensated for, a fault behavior nevertheless exists, thus a deviation from a setpoint behavior. Therefore, data that are not associated with a final error signal / error memory entry are also relevant in order to detect defects or potential malfunctions in the system at an early stage and counteract corresponding countermeasures, for example by replacing defective or wear-free motor vehicle components. Furthermore, on the basis of the subsequent analysis, a diagnostic function of the components or the function monitoring of unwanted system states can be improved, for example, as to whether and in what form physical states (e.g., temperature, viscosity, component tolerances or component properties,... ), in particular in field or customer operation. This makes it possible to achieve an improvement in the robustness of the respective diagnostic function, for example as to whether specific states are relevant in the generation of a fault symptom. Based on the subsequent analysis, the corresponding diagnostic function can then be extended, for example to the effect that a hydraulic valve is slower in its reaction at cold and therefore a different debouncing time is necessary at cold.The debouncing phase can also be used to additionally record fault- or symptom-specific signal values, for example by an adaptive signal list of the corresponding data logger function, and thus to enable a better and targeted fault analysis.It is considered to be particularly advantageous if the trigger signal is output when the symptom signal is present for a defined, in particular, usable time duration, this time duration being less than the error debouncing time of the debouncing counter.It is considered to be particularly advantageous if the lead time is a fixed, in particular manageable, percentage of the error debouncing time, for example 60% of the error debouncing time. The percentage is preferably dependent on a diagnosis and / or on the fault or the symptom.With regard to the data stored in the error memory or the buffer memory, it is quite conceivable that the data relate to physical states of the control units and / or also operating sequences of the control units, which possibly lead to a debouncing of the symptom signal.In a particularly preferred embodiment, it is provided that, in the presence of a fault, a display and operating device of the motor vehicle outputs an indication of the data stored in the fault memory and wherein the display and operating device has an operating element, wherein, in order to keep ready and / or use the data stored in the fault memory, the driver of the motor vehicle has to carry out a corresponding operating action on the operating element when the indication is output in order to agree on the data storage and data use. If the driver of the motor vehicle does not perform the corresponding operating action or performs an operating action on the operating element assigned to rejection, the data stored in the error memory are deleted. This ensures that the driver of the motor vehicle can have the stored data and the data cannot be processed without consent. It is considered to be advantageous if agreement on the part of the driver is required before processing of the data, in particular processing of the data by third parties, such as a workshop or an after-sales area, can take place.It is considered to be particularly advantageous if the buffer memory is designed as a ring memory, in particular as a configurable ring memory. The ring accumulator is preferably designed as a continuous ring accumulator.In a preferred embodiment, it is provided that the trigger signal is manually triggered by the driver of the motor vehicle by an operating action on an operating element. This design has the advantage that the driver can trigger data storage in the event of a malfunction experienced by him. This is advantageous in particular if the driver of the motor vehicle subjectively perceives a malfunction of the motor vehicle, but this malfunction does not necessarily lead to a malfunction and / or the relevant or affected vehicle component or components do not provide a symptom signal or even a fault signal. In addition, for example, the workshop or the aftersales area can set up the configuration of the logger after the description of the customer or after the pronunciation with the responsible development department and thus configure it in a targeted manner.The lead time and / or the lag time may be shorter or longer depending on the error. It is considered to be particularly advantageous if the lag time and / or the lead time is up to 10 seconds. In particular, it is provided that the lag time and / or the lead time is at least 50 milliseconds.In a particularly preferred embodiment, it is provided that the buffer memory is a volatile memory and the fault memory is a nonvolatile memory. The fault memory can be provided by a back-end external to the motor vehicle or a cloud server. The fault memory can also be a motor vehicle internal data memory, in particular in that the data memory is implemented in the respective control device.In a particularly preferred embodiment, it is provided that the motor vehicle has a configurable monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device communicates with the plurality of data sources, wherein the configurable monitoring device is configured to output the trigger signal in the event of a deviation of the states and / or of the functions of the motor vehicle components from configurable setpoint states and / or in the event of a deviation of the states of sensors of the motor vehicle from configurable setpoint states. This design has the advantage that a very variable setting of the data logger with regard to its storage behavior is made possible. In particular in the case of sporadic faults of the motor vehicle, which the customer, for example, perceives as faulty behavior, the data logger can be activated in a targeted manner by a corresponding configuration or programming of the monitoring device if the boundary conditions perceived or described by the customer are present. This allows data to be acquired for the analysis if the boundary conditions described by the driver of the motor vehicle are present. The programming or configuration of the monitoring device can be carried out in a contract shop or in the after-sales area. The design has the advantage that incorrect behavior perceived by the driver can be investigated in a targeted manner, in particular data can be recorded even if no symptom signals are present at all in the system.

Claims

Method for storing data for the subsequent analysis of a malfunction of motor vehicle components of the motor vehicle occurring during operation of a motor vehicle, wherein the motor vehicle or a backend external to the motor vehicle has a data logger and a plurality of data sources connected by signal technology to the data logger, wherein the data sources are components of control units for monitoring and / or for controlling states and / or functions of motor vehicle components, wherein the data logger is configured to continuously record data from the plurality of data sources connected by signal technology to the data logger and to temporarily store it in a buffer memory, wherein the data logger is configured to record data from the plurality of data sources connected by signal technology to the data logger, upon receipt of a trigger signal, to transmit the data temporarily stored in the buffer memory one variable lead time before the receipt of the trigger signal and / or the data temporarily stored in the buffer memory one variable lead time after the receipt of the trigger signal to a fault memory, to permanently store the transmitted data in the fault memory and to keep it ready for subsequent analysis, wherein the trigger signal is triggered upon the occurrence of a fault behavior.The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the data sources comprises a debouncing counter for debouncing a symptom signal associated with an error, wherein the debouncing counter is configured to output an error signal or to make an error storage record if the symptom signal occurs for longer than a predetermined error debouncing time, wherein the trigger signal is output prior in time to the output of the error signal or the error storage record.Method according to Claim 2, wherein the driver of the motor vehicle is informed about the presence of a fault by means of an acoustic and / or optical output.Method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the trigger signal is output when the symptom signal is present for a defined period of time, wherein this period of time is less than the error debouncing time.Method according to one of Claims 2 to 4, wherein, in the event of a fault, a display and operating device of the motor vehicle outputs an indication of the data stored in the fault memory, and wherein the display and operating device has an operating element, wherein, in order to keep ready and / or use the data stored in the fault memory, the driver of the motor vehicle has to carry out a corresponding operating action on the operating element of the motor vehicle when the indication is output, in order to agree on the data storage and data use.Method according to one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the buffer store is designed as a ring store, in particular as a continuous ring store.Method according to one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the trigger signal is triggered manually by the driver of the motor vehicle by an operating action on an operating element.Method according to one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the lag time and / or the lead time are different depending on the error.Method according to one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the buffer memory is a volatile memory and the fault memory is a nonvolatile memory, in particular the fault memory is provided by a back end external to the motor vehicle or a cloud server, or the fault memory is a data memory internal to the motor vehicle, in particular the data memory is implemented in the respective control device.Method according to one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the motor vehicle has a configurable monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device communicates with the plurality of data sources, wherein the configurable monitoring device is configured to output the trigger signal in the event of a deviation of the states of the motor vehicle components from configurable setpoint states and / or in the event of a deviation of the states of sensors of the motor vehicle from configurable setpoint states.