Description & Purpose

HEM Data’s DAWN OBD Inspector™ is an inspection/maintenance (I/M) tool for heavy-duty, medium-duty and light-duty diesel vehicles. It consists of a suite of apps for various OBD diesel inspection applications:

• Clean Truck Check (CTC) for California is a medium and heavy-duty diesel vehicle inspection/maintenance (I/M) program. The California Air Resource Board (CARB) has approved a version of HEM Data’s DAWN OBD Inspector™ for use with their CARB Clean Truck Check.
• Pre-Check for users who want to know the overall condition of their vehicle (including DTCs) and whether it would pass an OBD emissions test. For example, CARB’s Clean Truck Check requires vehicles to be repaired within 30 days of a failed emissions test. The Pre-Check app provides the vehicle owners more time to have their vehicles repaired beyond the 30-day requirement.
• TamperDetect is designed for federal and state diesel I/M programs for compliance and enforcement (fraud, tampering), as well as vehicle resellers or buyers who want to identify vehicles with tampered / deleted emission equipment.
• Other Applications – any inspection requirement to perform OBD testing to determine the status of the vehicle. This includes service technicians and researchers. Another application is engine and vehicle manufacturers who want to prove to California and EPA that they are transmitting all of the required legislated data.

DAWN OBD Inspector uploads the data to HEM Data’s server to be analyzed. The only difference between these apps is the information reported to the user.

For Clean Truck Check, CARB creates a report on the vehicle status. For all other applications, HEM Data creates a report on the user’s iOS test device for immediate feedback.

DAWN OBD Inspector is valuable for state’s I/M OBD emission testing and anyone interested in the status of the vehicle whether it be resellers, buyers, service technicians, researchers, or fleets and Independent Owner Operators (IOOs).

Description

DAWN OBD Inspector is a small, easily portable solution and quick to install. It is ideal for the roaming inspector or test site. Just attach the hardware to the vehicle network connector, turn on the engine, and open the app. Complete the test and view the report all within 2 minutes!

OBD Inspector acquires all  available HD-OBD data to assess the vehicle’s condition including

• Parameters (temperature, speed, etc.) – both emission and non-emission related data
• Test Modes in J1979 and Diagnostic Messages (DMs) in J1939, that report Readiness of the OBD Monitors, DTCs (active, pending, permanent, historical), and more.

HD-OBD was phased in during the 2010-2013 model years for on-road trucks. For older models and off-road vehicles, whatever data is transmitted by the vehicle is reported in the app. DAWN OBD Inspector has been used to evaluate over 100,000 heavy and medium duty trucks and buses that have been acquired by hundreds of inspectors.

DAWN (Data Acquisition With Networks) is the umbrella name for HEM Data’s products. The DAWN OBD Inspector consists of three components

• CAN Mini Streamer™ hardware (dongle)
• iPad or iPhone (iOS 12.4 and up) – user provided
• DAWN OBD Inspector™ software
• DAWN OBD Inspector Dashboard™ (database of 100,000+ inspections)

CAN Mini Streamer™ Hardware

HEM Data’s CAN Mini Streamer™ hardware sends the vehicle data to the DAWN OBD Inspector app via WiFi. The Mini Streamer hardware conveniently fits directly on the 9-pin J1939 connector. An adapter cable works for the 16-pin J1979 connector or a non-standard connector. Baud rates of 250k, 500k, and 1000k are automatically detected.

CAN Mini Streamer™

Conveniently, data is wirelessly sent to your handheld iOS device, so test personnel don’t even need to climb into the cab. The Mini Streamer acquires all data for both J1939 and J1979 data within 2 minutes.

DAWN OBD Inspector™ Software

Currently, DAWN OBD Inspector is supported on both an iPad and iPhone. Check with HEM Data regarding the status of Android support. The app displays real-time information to the user as the test is progressing as seen below. The app sends the data to HEM Data’s Dashboard (and/or the customers) when the smart device has internet access. The analyzed results are conveniently displayed locally in the app for quick feedback. A progress bar at the bottom of the screen updates the test status.

Parameters table provides real-time feedback to the user

A key piece of information is the listing of the trouble codes as shown in the screenshot below that includes all active, previous, and pending trouble codes reported by the vehicle. An example of additional information is shown in the TamperDetect section below.

Active, previous, and pending trouble codes

TamperDetect

DAWN OBD Inspector™ with TamperDetect™ is extremely valuable because of its advanced, validated tampering algorithm that has been developed over a 5-year period. During this time, we were able to accumulate a database of 100,000 vehicle tests; at the current rate it will grow at 15,000 vehicle tests per year. Our algorithm is very thorough because it evaluates all emission-related data. In addition, we can see patterns for specific models with our extensive database.

TamperDetect acquires all available data and evaluates both J1939 and J1979 vehicles. In addition to detecting tampering, TamperDetect also reports which emission subsystems (EGR, DOC, DPF, SCR and software) were tampered.

TamperDetect is valuable since it provides immediate feedback regarding whether the vehicle was tampered. In addition, the tool can eventually be both a HD I/M tool tailored to specific HD I/M program criteria and a tamper detection tool. Below is a screenshot showing key information to the user immediately after the test. The data displayed can be modified for the application. The report states whether a vehicle’s emission system was tampered/deleted.

Part of a report showing a tampered vehicle

How do we know TamperDetect is accurate?

TamperDetect has been validated by our customers including the EPA. The validation testing of HEM Data’s tamper detection tool and EPA/ERG has shown an agreement/accuracy of 94%. Our tool is a 2-minute test while they did multiple, longer tests plus a visual inspection for each vehicle.

Our tool is certified by CARB for their Clean Truck Check I/M program after passing their rigorous certification requirements that requires testing a wide range of diesel vehicles.

HD-OBD Inspector Dashboard

HEM Data’s HD-OBD Inspection Dashboard analyzes and reports both J1939 and J1979 data. This is important since J1939 Diagnostic Message (DM) equivalents are reported very differently in J1979.

Using HEM Data’s TamperDetect™ algorithm, the dashboard analyzes whether the vehicle’s OBD system and emission control equipment have been tampered or deleted. The vehicle report is available directly from the app so the user feedback is nearly instantaneous on the iPad or iPhone.

Additional features of the Inspector Dashboard are

• Define pass/fail criteria for a HD I/M program
• Define normal/abnormal data for given models
• Compare vehicle models within a user-defined group (can be very specific or broad)
• Determine what parameters are commonly transmitted to thereby know what parameters will be available

Presentation to I/M Solutions Forum

HEM Data made a presentation at the I/M Solutions Forum introducing DAWN OBD Inspector. A copy of the presentation can be downloaded here.

Intermittent Problems

To help the service technician gain valuable data to document and fix a frustrating intermittent problem, HEM Data’s OBD Mini Logger should be temporarily installed to record vehicle operation. The technician selects the parameters of interest to log based on the problem. See examples showing intermittent problems that we were successfully diagnosed.

Consulting

HEM Data consults on acquiring and analyzing OBD data. HEM Data has an ongoing multi-year support contracts with EPA starting seven years ago. EPA and CARB have acquired over 800 HEM Data Mini Loggers. CARB has certified DAWN OBD Inspector for their Clean Truck Check after rigorous testing and conforming to CARB’s specifications

SAE has published two books written by HEM Data on acquiring OBD and other CAN data from LD and HD vehicles, and SAE has requested updated editions for these books.