KR20150022329A - Vehicle Failure Information Recording Apparatus and Method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for storing information on an automobile fault, and more particularly, to an apparatus for storing information on an automobile fault, comprising: at least one Failsafe function input unit for generating predetermined vehicle condition information when a vehicle fails; A Failsafe manager for generating a vehicle component control signal based on vehicle state information received from the Failsafe function input unit; And a failure trigger for storing vehicle state information for a predetermined time before a vehicle failure occurrence time input from the Failsafe manager.

Description

[0001] Vehicle Failure Information Recording Apparatus and Method [

More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle fault information storage device and method, and more particularly, to a vehicle fault information storage device and method for automatically storing a fault code associated therewith, an associated unique information of a predetermined fault code, And more particularly, to a vehicle fault information storage device and method

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on a vehicle receives various types of engine status information such as RPM (engine speed), cooling water temperature, TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) The idle speed actuator, the fuel injection device, and the exhaust gas control device are operated.

The electronic control unit stores a failure code when a vehicle failure occurs by information input from various sensors, and stores various vehicle state information at the time of occurrence of a failure in a nonvolatile memory.

The conventional technology stores a failure code for notifying a specific part of the controller when a problem occurs, and displays the code on an external diagnostic device such as a scan tool to show which part of the vehicle has a problem.

However, if the type of failure is not reproducible due to the inconsistency of the electronic control unit or the inconsistency of the condition at the time of failure, the data is stored only after the occurrence of the failure.

Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-0096715 discloses a method of storing and outputting data in the event of a failure. However, in the conventional technology, only a representative signal value is stored and displayed together with the failure code. Therefore, it is difficult to know which part of the failure code has a problem in the analysis of the cause of the failure code.

Korean Patent Publication No. 2002-0096715 (December 31, 2002)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for automatically generating a fault code, associated unique information of a predetermined fault code, And to provide a vehicle fault information storage device and method for storing the fault information.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automotive fault information storage apparatus comprising: at least one Failsafe function input unit for generating predetermined vehicle condition information when a vehicle fails; A Failsafe manager for generating a vehicle component control signal based on vehicle state information received from the Failsafe function input unit; And a failure trigger for storing vehicle state information for a predetermined time before a vehicle failure occurrence time input from the Failsafe manager.

The Failsafe manager may further include a Fail soft action unit for controlling the vehicle based on the vehicle control signal received from the Failsafe manager.

The Failsafe manager may further include a DTC updater to generate and update predetermined fault code information based on the vehicle condition information input to the Failsafe manager.

The vehicle fault information storage device may further include a volatile memory unit and a non-volatile memory unit. The failure trigger periodically stores vehicle status information in the volatile memory unit. The vehicle fault information may be stored in the volatile memory unit, And can be restored from the volatile memory unit to the nonvolatile memory unit.

Further, it may be stored for a predetermined time after the occurrence of the vehicle failure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for storing vehicle fault information, comprising the steps of: determining whether a failure occurs in a vehicle; and determining whether a failure trigger has occurred, In a non-volatile memory.

The vehicle state information stored in the nonvolatile memory may include vehicle state information for a predetermined time before a vehicle failure occurs.

In addition, the vehicle state information stored in the nonvolatile memory may further include vehicle state information for a predetermined time after a vehicle failure occurs.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the above-mentioned method.

Therefore, the method for storing vehicle fault information according to the present invention and the fault information storing apparatus using the same can automatically store the fault code related to the fault, the associated unique information of the predetermined fault code, and other vehicle state basic information The present invention can provide a vehicle fault information storage device and method.

1 is a block diagram for explaining a failure information storage apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the failure information storage apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram for explaining a failure information storage apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a nonvolatile memory unit of a failure information storage apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments and examples of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention.

It should be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments and examples described herein.

Throughout this specification, when a section includes a constituent element, it is to be understood that the same shall not be construed as excluding other elements unless specifically stated to the contrary.

Throughout this specification, when a step is located before or after another step, it includes not only when a step directly interacts with another step, but also when there is another step between the two steps.

The terms "substantially", "substantially" and the like used in the specification as used throughout the specification are used to refer to the numerical value in the numerical value or the numerical value when the manufacturing and material tolerance inherent in the meanings mentioned are presented, Or absolute numbers are used to prevent unauthorized exploitation by unauthorized intruders of the mentioned disclosure.

The term (or step) or steps used throughout the specification does not imply a step for.

1 is a block diagram for explaining a failure information storage apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the fault information storage apparatus 100 according to the present invention may include a sensing unit 110 and an electronic control unit 120.

The sensing unit 110 acquires information related to various states of the vehicle (RPM, cooling water temperature, battery voltage, battery current, battery resistance, impact, engine intake air amount, accelerator pedal information, etc.).

The sensing unit 110 may include an engine speed sensor 111, a fire sensor 113, a collision sensor 115, and a battery condition sensor 117. In addition to the sensors illustrated herein, various sensors may be further included. For example, an accelerator pedal sensor, a temperature sensor, and the like.

The electronic control unit 120 includes an engine, a transmission, an automatic transmission control unit (TCU), an electric power steering (EPS), an anti-lock brake system (ABS) In particular, the electronic control unit 120 according to the present invention generates an error code based on various vehicle state information input from the sensing unit 110, Type vehicle status information can be stored in an EEPROM (not shown).

In more detail, the electronic control unit 120 may include a control unit 121, a temporary memory unit 123, and a non-volatile memory unit 125.

The control unit 121 stores the data acquired by the sensing unit 110 in the temporary memory unit 123 and deletes the previously recorded data at a predetermined time period and stores the new data.

The control unit 121 generates an error code when an abnormal vehicle condition occurs based on various vehicle condition information input from the sensing unit 110 and outputs predetermined vehicle condition information to the nonvolatile memory unit 125 ). In particular, when a failure occurs in the electronic steering system power steering among the vehicle abnormality, the information about the previous vehicle state is stored in the nonvolatile memory unit 125 by a predetermined time longer than the time when the failure occurs.

Further, after the ignition switch of the vehicle engine (not shown) is turned off, data stored in the nonvolatile memory unit 125 may be copied and stored in an after-run state in which the engine idles.

The operation of the fault information storage device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the failure information storage apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic controller 120 temporarily stores various vehicle state information obtained in the sensing unit 110 in the temporary memory unit 123 (S310). If a failure code is not generated due to a vehicle abnormality occurring in step S310, the data recorded in the first-in first-out (FIFO) manner is deleted and the new data is stored .

When the vehicle abnormality occurs and a fault code is generated (S320-Y), the electronic control unit 120 generates the vehicle state information stored in the temporary memory unit 123 a predetermined time before the occurrence of the fault code, The vehicle state information stored in the temporary memory unit 123 is stored in the nonvolatile memory unit 125 for a predetermined period of time from the starting point of time (S330).

The previous RMP data and the subsequent RPM data are first stored in the non-volatile memory unit 125 on the basis of a time point at which it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the vehicle such as an engine stall or an electronic control system power steering failure, It is also possible to implement such that it is stored in the I-pill.

Meanwhile, in step S330, the vehicle state information stored in the non-volatile memory unit 125 may include only vehicle state information corresponding to a predetermined parameter in association with the corresponding failure code among various data.

Assuming that variables such as engine RPM, engine coolant temperature, oxygen sensor 1 output voltage, oxygen sensor 2 output voltage, engine status, atmospheric pressure, fuel injection time, throttle opening, vehicle speed, ignition angle, , Vehicle state information corresponding to the variable is stored in the nonvolatile memory unit 125. [

Also, the electronic control unit 120 may cause the EPROM to store the vehicle status information stored in the non-volatile memory unit 125, as described above, in an after-run state.

3 is a block diagram for explaining a failure information storage apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. I will refrain from explaining the contents already discussed in Figs. 1 and 2 above.

3, the fault information storage device according to the present invention includes Failsafe function input units 111 to 11n, a Failsafe manager 121, a DTIC (Dignostic Trobule Code) update unit 130, a Fails soft action unit 140, a failure trigger 150, a volatile memory unit 161, and a nonvolatile memory unit 163.

There are a plurality of Failsafe function input units 111, ..., 11n, and when a failure occurs in the vehicle, a signal for the fail input is received. Since there are various faults that can occur in the vehicle, it is desirable to place a plurality of Failsafe function input sections in preparation for this. In other words, the Failsafe function input is a kind of channel that accepts a specific fault signal. For example, the Failsafe function input unit receives a fault signal corresponding to a malfunction of the motor used for the steering wheel operation, an abnormal torque, or a malfunction of various devices in various electronic control units.

Next, the Failsafe manager 121 determines whether or not to take a countermeasure based on the signal received from the Failsafe function input unit. For example, when the Failsafe manager receives a signal input through the Failsafe function input unit as a signal indicating that a problem has occurred in the steering wheel, the signal is compared with previously stored data, and the warning light is turned on through the instrument panel. Whether or not the warning light is on and whether the steering wheel operation is stopped at the same time.

Next, the fail soft action unit 140 performs a corresponding action on the actual failure according to the control command of the Failsafe manager. For example, if the Failsafe manager generates a control signal for turning on the warning light on the instrument panel, the Fail soft action section illuminates the actual instrument panel accordingly.

The DTC updating unit 130 updates a code for finding a cause when a problem occurs in the vehicle. Through this, the user can check the predetermined code in the DTC update unit through a separate scanning device to identify the malfunctioning part and the cause.

The failure trigger 150 stores data obtained in the Failsafe manager in the volatile memory unit 161, and deletes previously recorded data at a predetermined time period and stores new data. In addition, when it is detected from the Failsafe manager that a failure situation has occurred in the vehicle, predetermined vehicle state information is stored in the nonvolatile memory unit 163. The failure trigger 150 stores information recorded in the volatile memory 163 in the nonvolatile memory unit 163 for a predetermined time before a failure situation if a failure situation occurs. The vehicle status information may also be stored in the nonvolatile memory for a predetermined time after the failure situation. This pre-cyclic storage process can significantly reduce memory usage.

4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a nonvolatile memory unit of a failure information storage apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the nonvolatile memory 163, vehicle state information is periodically recorded from a time N before the occurrence of the failure until a time when the failure occurs. It may be further recorded for a predetermined time after the time when the failure occurs as mentioned above. In the present embodiment, 1 ms is the memory storage period, but is not limited thereto.

Thereafter, the data stored in the nonvolatile memory unit can be read through the diagnostic device 200 outside the vehicle, so that the failure state of the vehicle can be grasped.

In the above, only the case of a certain failure is mentioned, but it is also applicable to the occurrence of other abnormal situation of the vehicle. For example, in a case where a vehicle collision occurs, not only the engine stall but also the airbag deployment signal, the vehicle speed, the impact amount, the brake signal, the accelerator pedal signal, Can be stored. In addition, predefined variables for various fault codes can be stored in this pipeline in the event of a vehicle anomaly.

Embodiments of the present invention include a computer-readable medium having program instructions for performing various computer-implemented operations. This medium records a program for executing the vehicle state information storing method described above. The medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., alone or in combination. Examples of such media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape, optical recording media such as CD and DVD, programmed instructions such as floptical disk and magneto-optical media, ROM, RAM, And a hardware device configured to store and execute the program. Or such medium may be a transmission medium, such as optical or metal lines, waveguides, etc., including a carrier wave that transmits a signal specifying a program command, data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

Thus, not only the occurrence of a fault but also the data before the occurrence of a fault can be stored in a nonvolatile memory, so that the vehicle state can be estimated and the time required for performing the accurate cause analysis can be greatly reduced.

In addition, it is possible to establish a fundamental countermeasure against a failure through the stored data.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, Of the right.

Claims (9)

At least one Failsafe function input section for generating predetermined vehicle condition information when a vehicle malfunction occurs;
A Failsafe manager for generating a vehicle component control signal based on vehicle state information received from the Failsafe function input unit;
And a Failure Trigger for storing vehicle status information for a predetermined time before a time when a vehicle failure occurred, which is input from the Failsafe Manager. The method according to claim 1,
And a Fail soft action unit for controlling the vehicle based on a vehicle control signal received from the Failsafe manager. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a DTC updater for generating and updating predetermined fault code information based on the vehicle condition information input to the Failsafe manager. The method according to claim 1,
The automotive fault information storage device further includes a volatile memory unit and a non-volatile memory unit,
Wherein the failure trigger periodically stores vehicle state information in the volatile memory unit and restores the vehicle state information from the volatile memory unit to the nonvolatile memory unit upon occurrence of a failure of the vehicle, . 5. The method of claim 4,
And further stores the vehicle malfunction information for a predetermined time after the occurrence of the vehicle malfunction. Determining whether a failure of the vehicle occurs; And
And storing the predetermined vehicle state information in the nonvolatile memory when a failure occurs in the vehicle. The method according to claim 6,
The vehicle state information stored in the nonvolatile memory is,
And vehicle status information for a predetermined time before a time when a vehicle failure occurs. 8. The method of claim 7,
The vehicle state information stored in the nonvolatile memory is,
Further comprising vehicle status information for a predetermined period of time after a vehicle failure has occurred.
A computer-readable medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 6 to 8.

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