Vehicle State Tracker Eliminates Redundant Diagnostic Steps
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing diagnostic systems often require technicians to repeat unnecessary test preparation steps between diagnostic procedures, leading to wasted time and effort due to a lack of state tracking during diagnostic test sequences.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle state tracker that determines and verifies preconditions for subsequent diagnostic tests, providing instructions to reconfigure the vehicle accordingly, thereby eliminating redundant steps and maintaining an accurate vehicle state across procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If technicians perform diagnostic procedures sequentially without state tracking, then each procedure can be performed independently, but test preparation steps are repeated unnecessarily between procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines and tracks the state of the vehicle in advance of each diagnostic procedure, identifying which test preparation steps are already complete and which need to be performed. This preliminary state assessment eliminates the need for technicians to repeat unnecessary setup steps between procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to the technician about the current vehicle state and which preparation steps have been completed. This feedback mechanism allows the technician to understand what has been done and avoid redundant actions, streamlining the transition between diagnostic procedures.
2Reliability
If the vehicle is returned to default starting configuration after each diagnostic procedure, then the diagnostic system is reset, but subsequent procedures require redundant test preparation steps
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of resetting the entire vehicle configuration to default, the system tracks and manages only the specific test preparation steps that are relevant to each diagnostic procedure. This localized approach maintains reliability for the current procedure while preserving useful configurations from previous procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the vehicle configuration state based on the requirements of each diagnostic procedure. Rather than static resetting, the configuration is dynamically maintained and updated, allowing the vehicle to remain in an optimized state for subsequent procedures.
3Manufacturing precision
If diagnostic procedures are authored by technical experts, then complex diagnostic procedures can be developed, but the sequence dependency on expert knowledge reduces ease of use for less experienced operators
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically determines the vehicle state and identifies required test preparation steps without requiring manual input from the operator. This self-service capability allows less experienced operators to perform complex diagnostic procedures by simply following the system's automated guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
The diagnostic procedure is segmented into discrete test preparation steps with clear state requirements. This segmentation makes the complex procedure more manageable and easier to follow, as the system breaks down the requirements into actionable items that can be completed sequentially.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle state tracker tracks the state of a vehicle during a diagnostic test sequence to eliminate redundant steps between diagnostic procedures. The vehicle state tracker maintains a list of preconditions required for each diagnostic procedure, reads a current vehicle state from a memory register and verifies the current setting of the vehicle state corresponding to a specific precondition. If the precondition is required and the current setting is not valid, the state tracker further formats a test preparation step corresponding to the precondition for display to instruct a vehicle technician to satisfy the precondition. Otherwise, if the precondition is not required and the corresponding setting is valid, the state tracker formats an instruction to reverse the corresponding vehicle condition. The state tracker additionally receives feedback indicating when a precondition has been satisfied or the corresponding vehicle condition has been reversed, and updates the vehicle state in memory.