FR2877750A1 - Control function e.g. automatic locking function, activation/deactivation method for vehicle, involves storing tool signature and inhibition function code in volatile memory and default memory, respectively - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves storing a tool signature and an inhibition function code received from an inhibition request in a volatile memory (4) and default memory (6), respectively for inhibiting a control function. A flag of inhibited stat function is established in a non-volatile memory after verifying the presence of the signature. An elimination request for inhibition of the function is emitted by the tool for activating the function. The alarm unit (7) of an operator is activated and deactivated to indicate the inhibition and activation of the function, respectively.

Description

The present invention relates to a method of activating / deactivating a

  driving function of a functional body of a motor vehicle, from a tool external to it.

  More particularly, the invention relates to such a method for activating / deactivating a function implemented by an on-board information processing unit on a vehicle and associated with a volatile memory, a memory non-volatile and a 'fault memory'.

  In recent years, there has been a very significant increase in the number of onboard computers on board motor vehicles.

  These computers also called electronic control units or information processing units, contribute in particular to reinforce the comfort and safety of the vehicle and its occupants, by offering a multitude of new software functions.

  Designed to improve the performance of the vehicle sold to the customer, these functions can sometimes be complex to implement when it comes to ensuring the production conformity of the vehicle.

  Indeed, as it moves forward on the assembly line and at the end of the production plant, the vehicle undergoes a series of operations and treatments specific to the production unit.

  By their exceptional nature in the life of the vehicle, these particular situations are hardly taken into account during the design. Their main consequences are the untimely triggering of certain software functions along the production line.

  These are so many disruptions that operators must neutralize at the cost of additional gestures. Production is then considerably slowed down as more time is needed for each vehicle.

  In addition, the discomfort and fatigue of operators are significantly increased. Finally, an omission of the Peul operator: also lead to the deterioration of the installations for example of the production unit.

  For example, if we take the automatic parking brake application function that is a function hosted in an electric parking brake computer, also called FSE computer, it automatically locks the parking brake when the engine of the parking brake vehicle moves from the running state to the non-running state. Loosening then requires an intervention of an operator (pressing on one of the pedals and / or on a push-button). This function improves the comfort of the driver of the vehicle, by avoiding him to manually apply the parking brake when his vehicle stops. It also responds to a regulatory constraint that forces the system to keep the vehicle stationary on a slope of 8%, while the manual brake control is defective.

  However, this function causes certain problems that can be encountered for example in a manufacturing plant.

  The first problem concerns a risk of blockage of the production line. Indeed, in the sealing zone and in the outer protection zone, a vehicle is driven only by two wheels.

  If the parking brake is applied, this vehicle can not be moved.

  Another risk concerns the premature wear of the treadmills of the plant. If the parking brake is applied, the vehicle applies an exceptionally high effort to the treadmill junctions, jeopardizing the drive motors of the treadmills.

  Similarly, problems of conveying non-functional vehicles in the production unit may also appear.

  Indeed, trolleys are provided for towing vehicles in this unit, by their front wheels. A vehicle with a parking brake is therefore not movable.

  It is therefore conceivable that during each of the production steps mentioned above, it is necessary to operate a manual release of the parking brake in order to allow the vehicle to continue to advance on the production line.

  Various solutions have already been proposed to try to solve these problems.

  The first solution is to create, from the design of the computer software, a particular mode of operation reserved for the factory.

  However, the creation of a new operating mode requires defining the behavior of each of the functions of the software when the mode is active. This amounts to doubling the work of specification, coding and validation of the software. However, the need expressed above concerns only a very limited number of functions and does not justify such a work overload, especially since the problem and therefore the activation of the additional functions developed are only encountered only once in the life of the vehicle, that is to say during its manufacture.

  Moreover, if a specific mode of operation is used at the factory, it is necessary to leave this mode before the vehicle is put on the market, ie to pass it into an after-sales mode at the exit of the vehicle. factory. There is a risk of finding a vehicle that remains in factory mode among those delivered to customers.

  Finally, the routines associated with the factory mode are resident in non-volatile memory of the computers. Therefore, an accidental passage in this mode remains possible throughout the life of the vehicle, as for example following a diversion of a program caused by an electromagnetic disturbance. This can then lead to risks for the safety of people and / or the vehicle.

  A second solution is to load the computer software to automatically activate the function when the vehicle has traveled a certain number of kilometers, for example determined in advance.

  However, when leaving the factory, all functions must be available in the vehicle. It is not possible to deliver to the customer, a vehicle that is not fully functional.

  The challenge is to determine in advance the right number of kilometers knowing that not all vehicles travel the same distance in the plant.

  Indeed, some pass through the retouching tray, others are taken by sample at the output of the assembly stream to undergo tests on the track, etc.

  In addition, the same vehicle can be assembled in different factories of a group and today all the factories of a group are not necessarily made according to the same model. Indeed, despite a strong desire to converge towards a common target, there are disparities in the layout of workstations.

  These disparities are most often due to historical reasons or constraints related to the available surface of the site.

  In summary, it can be seen that it is not possible to freeze during the design of the software nor the time or the place where the function will have to be neutralized.

  These parameters are indeed directly dependent on the factory where the vehicle is manufactured.

  The object of the invention is therefore to solve these problems.

  For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method for activating / deactivating a steering function of a functional component of a motor vehicle, from a tool external to it, in which the function is put into operation. implemented by a vehicle information processing unit, associated with a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory and a fault memory, characterized in that it comprises, for the deactivation of the function, steps of: emission by the external tool of a request for inhibition of the function, further containing a signature of the tool; volatile storage of the tool signature; - storage in memory of faults of a fault code function inhibited; - Non-volatile memory establishment of a function flag in the inhibited state after verification of the presence of a tool signature; - return to the tool of an acquittal; and activating alert means of an operator to indicate that the function is inhibited; and for activating the function, the steps of: sending by the tool a request to suppress the inhibition of the function; setting in non-volatile memory the function flag in the activated state; - deactivation of the operator's warning means; clearing the fault code in the fault memory; and - return to the tool of an acquittal.

  According to other characteristics of the invention: - at each initialization of the information processing unit, the volatile memory zone intended to receive the signature of the tool is reset to zero and the alerting means are activated if the flag is in the inhibited function state; the external tool is a vehicle assembly line edge tool; - the tool is connected to the vehicle through the diagnostic socket of it; and the tool is connected to the vehicle via a line K or a multiplexed information transmission bus thereof.

  The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 represents a schematic diagram illustrating the connection of a tool external to an information processing unit on board a motor vehicle; and - Figs.2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 illustrate an activation / deactivation method according to the invention.

  The method according to the invention is implemented by using a tool external to a vehicle and connecting it to an information processing unit on board the vehicle and ensuring the implementation of the function that is appropriate to enable or disable.

  Thus, for example in FIG. 1, there is illustrated the connection of an external tool to the vehicle designated by the general reference 1, to an on-board information processing unit designated by the general reference 2.

  The tool external to the vehicle is. for example connected through the diagnosis socket 3 of the vehicle to the information processing unit.

  A K line or a multiplexed information transmission bus can be used in a conventional manner.

  In fact, the information processing unit 2 is connected to a volatile memory intended to store a signature of the tool and designated by the general reference 4, to a non-volatile memory for storing a flag. state of the function designated by the general reference 5, to a fault memory designated by the general reference 6 and finally to an operator's warning means making it possible to indicate to the latter the state of the function, these warning means being designated by the general reference 7 and comprising, for example, light warning means such as a light or means for displaying any message on a multifunction display on board the vehicle; .

  The external tool, such as the tool 1, is for example formed by a diagnostic tool located at the edge of the vehicle assembly line, at different locations in the factory or the production line.

  These tools can then be used to activate / deactivate a function implemented by an on-board information processing unit such as unit 2.

  For this purpose, this external tool 1 is adapted to send to the information processing unit 2, a request for inhibition of the function or on the contrary a request to suppress this inhibition of the function.

  These requests then make it possible to inhibit or reactivate the corresponding function from a line edge tool installed along the production line and connected to the vehicle.

  This then allows to inhibit the function only during the time strictly necessary, that is to say the one where this function may interfere with assembly operations of the vehicle. It may actually be useful for the function to be available the rest of the time and for example not to deprive testers of functions such as the ABS or ESP function for testing.

  Thus, the method according to the invention is of great flexibility in adapting to all the factories of a manufacturer for example, regardless of their configuration.

  In addition, it does not require the implementation of a particular communication protocol, since it advantageously reuses the one already implemented in the on-board computers for the diagnostic and download functions.

  Since a mechanism is resident in a non-volatile memory of a computer, there is a risk that this software routine is activated by accident. To avoid any risk, it is proposed to implement a tool-signature mechanism that forces the computer to check that a tool is well connected before allowing for example the inhibition of a function.

  In addition, to ensure that no vehicle will be marketed with the inhibited function, it is proposed to set up a specific fault code stored in the fault memory of the computer when the function is inhibited.

  Ultimately, during compliance testing, if the diagnostic tool reveals the presence of this fault code in the computer's fault memory, then the vehicle is returned to the retouch tray.

  In addition, any visual alert, such as a light for example, is lit in the handset where a message is displayed on an embedded multifunction display, to indicate to an operator that the function is for example inhibited. By a simple visual check, the operator can then check that the function has been reactivated when the vehicle leaves the factory, the light or the message to be deactivated.

  For example, FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate, for example, the processing of a request for the inhibition of a function, sent by the external tool 1 to the vehicle to the information processing unit 2.

  The first step of the processing of this request by the information processing unit then consists in writing, in step 10, the signature of the tool in volatile memory 4 associated with the information processing unit 2 .

  Then at 11, the information processing unit 2 checks whether a function status flag, set in the non-volatile memory 5, is in an inhibited state or not.

  If this is the case, in step 12, a positive acknowledgment is returned by the information processing unit to the tool external to the vehicle.

  If it is not the case, in step 13, the information processing unit stores an inhibited function fault code in fault memory 6 associated with the information processing unit.

  Then at 14, the unit activates the operator's warning means 7 to indicate that the function is inhibited.

  As indicated above, these warning means can for example include an alert indicator or a particular message to be displayed on a multifunction screen of the vehicle.

  Then at 15, the state flag of the function is positioned by the unit, on the inhibited state in the non-volatile memory 5. The detail of this step 15 is given in FIG. 3, where one sees before proceeding with this establishment, the information processing unit verifies the presence of a tool signature in the volatile memory 4, during step 16.

  If a tool signature is present, the flag is well positioned in the inhibited state at 17. By cons, if no signature is present at 16, a write error is reported in step 18.

  After these operations and if we return to Figure 2, a check is made at 19 to control the writing of the flag. If this writing is correct, the acknowledgment 12 previously described is sent to the external tool.

  If the writing did not proceed correctly, a negative acknowledgment is sent in 20.

  It is then conceivable that if the function Fx is already inhibited when the computer receives the inhibition request request, it responds positively to the tool external to the vehicle. In fact, a negative response could cause the vehicle to be rerouted to the retouching board when this is not necessary.

  A request for deletion of faults sent by the external tool must not delete the inhibition flag of the Fx function.

  This inhibition of the function Fx must persist even after a reset of the computer, whether it is software or hardware. The only way to disinhibit this function is then to send a request to suppress the inhibition of this function, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

  Thus, at 21, a test is performed by the information processing unit to determine whether the status flag indicates an inhibited or activated state of the function.

  If the state indicated by the flag is not the inhibited function state, then the function is active and a positive acknowledgment is sent to the tool during step 22.

  On the other hand, if the test at 21 indicates that the flag corresponds to an inhibited function, then during step 23, the function flag in the activated state is established in nonvolatile memory 5. Then, at 24, disabling the alert means 7 of the operator, for example by cutting the corresponding indicator or removing the corresponding message on the multifunction display embedded.

  Finally, at 25, the fault code is erased in the fault memory 6 of the computer. Following these various operations, the unit sends the positive acknowledgment at 22 to the tool.

  If the function Fx is already active when the calculator receives the request, it responds positively to the tool external to the vehicle. Indeed, a negative response could cause the vehicle to divert to the retouching board when this is not necessary.

  Whenever the Fx function is called, the application software must then check that this function has not been inhibited before allowing it to be executed.

  This is done as illustrated in FIG. 5 by checking the state of the flag. For example, in step 26, if the flag is not set to the inhibited function state, then this function can be executed at 27, while this is not the case if the function is inhibited, the function is not executed.

  As indicated above, the tool sends its signature in the form of parameters in the request sent to the information processing unit.

  Upon receipt of this signature, the information processing unit then stores it at a predefined RAM address in the program. The presence in the RAM memory of the exact value of the tool signature guarantees this information processing unit that a diagnostic tool is well connected.

  To effectively protect against the risks mentioned above, the function should be placed in a particular sector of the memory and a test of this tool signature memory inserted into the component's unlock sequences.

  The application program can then call the microprocessor write routine only after verifying that the expected tool signature is the RAM address provided for this purpose.

  Likewise, at each initialization of the computer, the application software must perform various operations as shown in FIG. 6.

  Indeed, at each initialization of the information processing unit 2, the volatile memory zone intended to receive the signature of the tool is reset to zero for example in step 28, while test is performed at 29 to determine whether the function status flag indicates an inhibited function or not.

  If this is the case, at 30, the warning means are activated, for example by lighting the indicator or triggering the display of the corresponding message on the multifunction display.

  It goes without saying of course that other embodiments can be envisaged. 1'1

Claims (5)

REVENDICATIONfi   1. A method for activating / deactivating a steering function of a functional element of a motor vehicle, from an external tool (1) thereto, in which the function is implemented by a information processing unit (2) of the vehicle, associated with a volatile memory (4), a non-volatile memory (5) and a fault memory (6), characterized in that it comprises, for the deactivation of the function, steps of: - transmission by the external tool (1) of a request for inhibition of the function, further containing a signature of the tool; storage (10) in volatile memory (4) of the signature of the tool; storing (13) in the fault memory (6) an inhibited function fault code; - establishment (15) in non-volatile memory (5) of a function flag in the inhibited state after verification of the presence of a tool signature; - forwarding (12) to the tool of an acknowledgment; and activating (14) alert means (7) of an operator to indicate that the function is inhibited; and for activating the function, steps of: sending by the tool (1) a request to suppress the inhibition of the function; setting (23) in the non-volatile memory (5) of the function flag in the activated state; deactivation (24) of the alert means (7) of the operator; erasing (25) the fault code in the fault memory (6); and - returning (22) to the tool an acknowledgment.   2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that at each initialization of the information processing unit (2), the volatile memory area (4) intended to receive the signature of the tool is reset to zero. (28) and the warning means (7) are activated (30) if the flag is in the inhibited function state (29).   3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the external tool (1) is a vehicle assembly line edge tool.   4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tool (1) is connected to the vehicle through the diagnosis socket thereof (3).   5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the tool (1) is connected to the vehicle through a line K or a multiplexed information transmission bus thereof.