Full Project – Design and implementation of automobile fault analysis system

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In present time most households own at least one car. This figure shows that a car is very important to people’s lives as it completes the cycle of living. Having that we are in the era of computer age and internet application, it would be nice if a web-based expert system can be developed to diagnose mechanical and other related faults in our vehicles. Software for car faults diagnosis is a system that detects information about car faults and provides possible solutions to fixing the problem. It works by entering the type of fault your car is giving you, and then it will retrieve the information of the possible fault and also display the result of how you can solve the problem without the presence of an expert (Williams et al., 2017).

Vehicle fault detection has always been done by manual method. This process simply involves trial and error processes where a mechanical engineer or auto technician is called in to diagnose automotive device (vehicle) to detect the fault(s). So, this web-based software is hoped to help those who are in need of guides to deal with their cars problems. Although it might not give a complete guide and help as a human expert, namely mechanics, at least it can give temporary assistance to those who are in need of instant help, as a result of the limitation of time and distance. Faults occur in vehicles or automobiles very often than not. This can be due to several reasons. The ability to detect and isolate these faults in complex technical systems such automobile is important in order to fulfill dependability requirements. Fault detection and isolation in automobiles is very important because it helps to maintain high vehicle operational efficiency, low exhaust emissions, high vehicle uptime, fuel consumption reduction or fuel economy, high vehicle safety and it guarantees efficient repair (Theodore, 2017). These factors are very important because they help to reduce overall life-cycle cost of a vehicle.

Faults occur in vehicles or automobiles very often than not. This can be due to several reasons. Faults can range from simple to complex problems such as radiator leakage or overheating, tyre pressure problems etc. to gearbox problem, electrical, clutch, turbo, brakes, alternator, cylinder head gasket, air-conditioner condenser problems, etc. The ability to detect and isolate these faults in complex technical systems such automobile is important in order to fulfill dependability requirements. Fault detection and isolation in automobiles is very important because it helps to maintain high vehicle operational efficiency, low exhaust emissions, high vehicle uptime, fuel consumption reduction or fuel economy, high vehicle safety and it guarantees efficient repair. These factors are very important because they help to reduce overall life-cycle cost of a vehicle (Miller, 2011).

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

With the help of a car, movement from one place to another has been made easy especially for those who are always mobile in their jobs. Cars simplify our lives and make time to be more valuable as we can save more time using the car. But at the same time, people who own cars definitely don’t want to have a problem with their cars as the troubleshooting of a car can be a nightmare to them, especially women (Ribose, 2018). Some of those own a car individually don’t know how to deal with their cars whenever it has a problem. All they know is to start the engine, drag the clutch if it is not automatic, press the paddle and break when they need to. An even the worse situation is that they don’t even know how to fill the fuel tank, and that is not good. They won’t know what to do when something happens to their cars. All they can do at best is, call the automobile repairer for help.

Though there have being recent developments in the fault detection system (FDS) which involves the use of an application displayed in a digital device to detect faults but this cannot send report online to mechanics or auto technicians. The manual method involves trial and error processes with involves series of rigorous processes before troubleshooting is completed. Although it might not give a complete guide and help as a human expert, namely mechanics, at least the expert system can give temporary assistance to those who are in need of instant help, as a result of the limitation of time and distance (Daniel and Wiggos, 2018).

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In dealing with problems of a car and troubleshooting, automobile mechanics are those who can help to solve them. The use of a computer expert system is beneficial in different ways. It gives a temporary and instant guide to car owners in different situations like:

Assistance in the absence of automobile mechanics.
Being an alternative considering the distance of automobile mechanics.
Situations where automobile mechanics diagnosis wrongly, etc.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to design and implement an automobile fault analysis system to aide fault troubleshooting and management in cars.

The specific objectives are as follows:

Developing a system for car maintenance and troubleshooting that is capable of assisting car owners in dealing with their cars problems and troubleshooting them whenever time is limited and the human experts, also known as mechanics is not available at that very time.
Providing recommendations in cases of automobile break down.
Providing maintenance advice to users in order to avoid future fault from occurring.
Helping automobile mechanics diagnose serious faults and repair vehicles at a faster rate through the pre-diagnosis and advice a web-based software.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The proposed system can help inexperienced automobile mechanics or drivers in diagnosing the fault of the car.

In addition, the system has the following benefits:

Improvement of productivity: Having this system will enable mechanics to do more work in less time.
Reduces the need for skilled mechanics: The repairs of a car require a high level of expertise. With this system, inexperienced mechanics can be guided to find the fault.
Places expert knowledge into machine readable form, where it can be summoned at any time.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This software may contain certain limits and flaws, as it is only a prototype. We commonly know that a car has many parts on its body and even in the body itself. However, the system will only deal with problems that are commonly found in the engine part of the car as the system is just a prototype, which means the function will be expanded through time. The system will also deal with only cars produced from the year 2000 till date.

1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Time and financial constraints has constrained this research work to the above scope.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

FAULT: a defect or imperfection or flaw or failing

DETECTION: detection is the action of accessing information without specific cooperation from with the sender.

ANALYSIS: Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it.

AUTOMOBILE: A car (or automobile) is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transportation. Most definitions of cars say that they run primarily on roads, seat one-to-eight people, have four wheels and mainly transport people rather than goods

FAULT DETECTION: Fault detection and diagnosis is an active field of research that has stimulated the development of a broad range of methods and heuristics.

TROUBLESHOOTING: Trouble – shooting is the ac of detecting and mending faults be it a hardware or software facility.

MAINTENANCE: Maintenance is the performance of “prevention or remedial maintenance in order to prevent incipient hardware faults or to correct a hardware fault that has occurred”.

HEURISTIC: In general, the experience a human being acquires in any are of human endeavour are often in the form of rules of thumb which the human experts falls upon when confronted with a new but related situation.

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