On-road mobile phone based automobile safety system with emphasis on engine health evaluation and expert advice

There are numerous casualties caused by traffic accidents every year that are resulted from malfunctioning of automobile's components and human negligence. Undoubtedly, automobiles under frequent servicing are easily subjected to accidents once imminent defects have occurred when running on road. Automatic fault diagnosis system that can prevent accidents on a road but only require a reasonably low sensor price is highly demanded. To fulfill such need, an innovative system was designed. It can be installed in a passenger car or a truck that is running on road and provide instantaneous engine health evaluation and diagnosis. If the monitored car or truck has any sign of having any early defect, proper remedy can be prepared by a remote maintenance centre. With the latest technology in wireless communication, sensor data captured from the running car or truck can be transmitted to the maintenance centre. With the help of a built-in expert system, instant fault diagnosis can be performed automatically in the designated PC server located at the remote centre. Once a serious fault has been automatically identified, the centre will send warnings to the driver's mobile phone to inform the driver such damage and suggest proper remedy. Moreover, tracking the running conditions of the car/truck via our built-in GPRS technology helps the maintenance center in conducting effective fleet management. In future, this system not only prevents the occurrence of accidents that may cause catastrophe, but also minimize the improper consumption of expensive fuel through good fleet management. © 2012 IEEE.