OpenOBD (yup another subproject)

**ws6vert** · 10-05-2009, 11:01 PM

Yeh, the subaru example would be great.

I think I got it figured out. I will certainly be working on this on my day off tomorrow.

**justchat_1** · 10-06-2009, 11:59 PM

I had a lot more on my schedule today then I thought. I'll throw this on the wiki with a writeup eventually but for now - Saturn attached.

Some things I might not have mentioned before:
* Digits which can be any character can be replaced with a '?' character. In Saturn for example, digits 4-5 represent model and digit 6 represent body style. Since most of the models came in only one body style I could use a ? for that digit. Same with trucks, I didn't want to have to lookup the cars weight, and digits 5-6 were descriptive enough so I replaced digit 4 with a ?.
* The example I attached shows the recommended level of detail, obviously it was a bit of work (took me a little over an hour) and could have been simplified to 20 or so lines if I had left out the "Edition" field. So if doing individual Editions takes too much work it would still be acceptable to just identify the models.

Feel free to ask any questions...or point out anything unclear. I'll probably be revising the documentation/How To section based on your experience.

**ws6vert** · 10-07-2009, 01:52 AM

Appreciate the example. I did alot of the GM cars today. Specifically Camaro, Corvette, Cobalt, Aveo, Impala, Lumina, Malibu, and MonteCarlo.

Just for better understanding, will this work kind of like a step process similar to below:

1) read the World Identifier to determine the Manufacturer
2) read the year
3) read the make based on the Manufacturer
3) read the model based on the make
4) read the body style/edition based on the make
5) read whatever else - restraint, engine, etc.

If that is the case, cant we just define the model based on just the first 2 digits in the model sequence, and let the app look at the next digit to compare it to a body style table, and then report the correct body style for the model. This would mean adding a body style table to the database, but would resolve the issue of looking up the weight and such for trucks, as well as difference in camaro coupes and convertibles.

I realize that different manufacturers define models with different series of digits, so I assume this would require different "look-up" processes and possibly different tables depending on the manufacturer, but this might assure the same level of detail reported for each manufacturer.

**justchat_1** · 10-07-2009, 03:05 AM

Originally Posted by ws6vert

Appreciate the example. I did alot of the GM cars today. Specifically Camaro, Corvette, Cobalt, Aveo, Impala, Lumina, Malibu, and MonteCarlo.

Just for better understanding, will this work kind of like a step process similar to below:

1) read the World Identifier to determine the Manufacturer
2) read the year
3) read the make based on the Manufacturer
3) read the model based on the make
4) read the body style/edition based on the make
5) read whatever else - restraint, engine, etc.

If that is the case, cant we just define the model based on just the first 2 digits in the model sequence, and let the app look at the next digit to compare it to a body style table, and then report the correct body style for the model. This would mean adding a body style table to the database, but would resolve the issue of looking up the weight and such for trucks, as well as difference in camaro coupes and convertibles.

I realize that different manufacturers define models with different series of digits, so I assume this would require different "look-up" processes and possibly different tables depending on the manufacturer, but this might assure the same level of detail reported for each manufacturer.

Wow you really got some work done.

Yea thats pretty much how we do it:
1) Read WMI -> Use to find Manufacturer and division
2) Read Year
3) Use division and year to read make, edition, transmission, engine, etc. (All in a single database query)

Yea it absolutely would make more sense to do things that way..and hopefully I didn't waste any of your time doing things the hard way. Up until now most other manufacturers body type tag couldn't be reliably used (s could mean coupe or convertible depending on the model for example). GM does things the right way so we should definitely take advantage of that.

You will need to keep the question marks in though -> because theres no good way to tell if its a truck or car (to know whether body style is character 6 or not listed). Technically we should be able to use the WMI to determine if its the car or truck division but there are a few cars that break the rule and it would be way too hard to account for that.

Edit:
Also, the system should be able to support either format. So if theres a question mark in digit 6 it will check the body style table but if theres all three digits and the body type in the edition field it can handle that too.

It automatically parses important terms out of the Edition field and puts them in the correct field. Things like: "A/T","M/T","Auto","Manual","Convertible","Coupe","Hatchbac k","Sedan","V6","V8","FWD","AWD", etc.

**ws6vert** · 10-08-2009, 01:49 AM

10-4 I will try to get more info done tomorrow and send it to you to check the format

**justchat_1** · 10-23-2009, 01:39 AM

AN UPDATE FOR ANYONE FOLLOWING:

The database and the lookup/maintenance tool have been updated and added to the SVN server along with the database license.

Whats new:
* Now detects all manufacturers and can retrieve trouble code descriptions for generic and manufacturer specific DTC's. Many descriptions were re-written from manufacturer spec to be easier to understand for the average person.
* Chevy and Pontiac Cars added to the database thanks to Ws6Vert

Whats next:
The tedious process of linking all the manufacturer specific DTCs to universal DTCs has begun and will be ready for the next version. The troubleshooting steps/common causes information is also being started. Finally, severity ratings for all DTC's are being added and should be finished in 2-3 more revisions.

Also, a decision on packaging has been made based on a number of factors. Future versions will include a standalone DLL for looking up vin info and retrieving DTC info. The dll will be licensed under the same terms as the database.

Any questions or comments about the future/direction of the project can be made here.

**ws6vert** · 10-23-2009, 02:15 AM

Buick and Cadillac will be on the way soon.

**l1nk** · 10-23-2009, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by justchat_1

UPDATE:
Manufacturer info for all the manufacturers is now in the database...this means we can now detect vehicle manufacturer and manufacturer specific codes needed. Model info is still lacking though.

Really interesting thread and project.

I already tried to integrate some obd software in my carputer in the past but got bad results!!
No good integration with frontend and little useful information from the software.

Do you think you'll add support for peugeot? I can't find it in your manufacturer list. May I help you in some way?

**justchat_1** · 10-23-2009, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by l1nk

Do you think you'll add support for peugeot? I can't find it in your manufacturer list. May I help you in some way?

Peugeot-Citroën added to the database-will be in the next release.

I will add the cars later today for what i can find but after that I will need your help for the other models. Once I post the model list, see what is missing and find vin numbers for those cars. One vin for each model is all that is needed. I use ebay but it seems that ebay.fr doesn't include vin numbers so maybe you can use local listings or french websites.

**justchat_1** · 10-23-2009, 04:38 PM

Ok the following have been added to the database:
106
206
307
309
405
605
306
406
607
I was unable to find info on the 107,207,308,1007,3008,5008,806,807,4007