Diagnostics at the roadside

On-board vehicle diagnostics is here to stay. It only remains to get a little commonality in the way in which it is implemented. Many manufacturers have a number of approaches in service from flashing lights with a variety of sequences to high-speed data links using any number of connectors and locations for them, protocols, electrical interfaces and Baud rates. No one manufacturer of hand held testers covers the whole range and for those which cater for any variety the patrol must carry a plethora of harnesses and software pods. The author discusses the UK Government proposal to adopt OBD2 in Europe. The author then discusses tail-pipe emissions testing, data access hierarchy and actuators