Arduino-based OBD-II

Interface and Data Logger

CS 497 Independent Study
Ryan Miller
Advisor: Prof. Douglas Comer
April 26, 2011

Arduino
Italy 2005
Arduino
Hardware
Automotive OBD
ISO Interface
Software
Data
Conclusions

ATmega328 microcontroller
14 digital I/O pins
16 MHz clock speed
32 KB memory
About $30 online

Arduino
Program sketches in

Multi-platform Javabased IDE

Code in C/C++
Serial Communication
(currently USB)

Hardware
Goals of this project:
Arduino
Hardware
Automotive OBD
ISO Interface
Software

Communicate with an automotive

engine control unit (ECU) via the

Arduino

Gather and record instantaneous

data that is reported by the vehicle

Data
Conclusions

Hardware
Vehicles produced in

the U.S. after 1996 are

required to have an
OBD-II (on-board
diagnostic) connector

Hardware
OBD-II Interface
Very simple connection

for most applications

Most important pins
K-Line
Ground
+12V

Hardware
Open-source project

called OBDuino
offered the interface
schematic
(which is fortunate,
because I am not an
EE major)

Hardware
Open-source project

called OBDuino
offered the interface
schematic
(which is fortunate,
because I am not an
EE major)

Hardware
Freescale MC33290 handles the tricky parts
K-Line, Ground, and +12V go in
Serial Tx/Rx come out

Hardware

OBD-II

Software
A few functions to perform:
Arduino

Initialize ISO connection

Hardware

Request data from vehicles ECU

Automotive OBD
ISO Interface
Software
Data
Conclusions

Display the result on the LCD and

record the value to retrieve later

Software
Initialization:
Starts by bit-banging 0x33 at 5 baud
i.e.

00110011
200ms pause = 1.6 seconds

Software
Initialization:
Starts by bit-banging 0x33 at 5 baud
Code:
byte b = 0x33;

for (byte mask = 0x01; mask; mask <<= 1)
{
if (b & mask) // Choose bit

digitalWrite(K_OUT, HIGH); // Send 1
else

digitalWrite(K_OUT, LOW); // Send 0

delay(200);
}

Software
Then you can start 10.4 kbps communication and

perform these steps to finish initialization:

Software
Parameter IDs (PIDs)
SAE J1979 standard
Examples:
PID

Bytes

Description

Formula

0x0C

Engine RPM

((A*256)+B)/4

0x0D

Vehicle Speed (km/h)

0x11

Throttle Position (%)

A*100/255

0x3F

Catalyst Temp (B2, S2)

((A*256)+B)/10 - 40

Software
Steps:
1. Request PID with hex value
2. Continuously read data from ISO until successful
checksum or timeout
3. Convert returned value with formula
4. Display / record value and repeat

Software
1. Request PID with hex value
byte message[6];
Index

Value

Description

0x68

SAE J1979 standard

0x6A

OBD-II request

0xF1

Off-board tool

0x01

Mode 1 PIDs

pid

Hex value for PID requested

Checksum Computed from message

for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++)

iso_write_byte(message[i]);

Software
2. Continuously read data from ISO until successful
checksum or timeout
byte buf[11];
Byte(s)

Description

Message Header 1

Message Header 2

Source Address

39

Data (up to 7 bytes)

Final byte

Checksum

Software
3. Convert returned value with formula
ie.:
PID

Bytes

Description

Formula

0x0C

Engine RPM

((A*256)+B)/4

double rpm;

rpm = ((double)buf[0] * 256) + (double)buf[1]) / 4.0;

Software
4. Record/display value and repeat
Displaying on an LCD screen:

LiquidCrystal lcd;

lcd.print(rpm);

Software
4. Record/display value and repeat
Writing to an SD card:

File log;

log.print(rpm);

Software
One last note on PIDs
PID

Bytes

Description

Formula

0x10

Mass Air Flow Rate

((A*256)+B)/100

This gives you the rate of air in grams / second

Software
You can convert g air into gal gasoline
s
h
And then use vehicle speed to convert to

miles
gal gasoline or MPG

Data
Scanned four PIDs over a
Arduino
Hardware
Automotive OBD
ISO Interface
Software
Data
Conclusions

20-minute interval every

1-2 seconds
Vehicle Speed
Engine RPM
Engine Coolant
Calculated MPG

Data

mph

Data

mph

rpm

Data

Data

mph

Conclusions
Embedded computing is
Arduino
Hardware
Automotive OBD
ISO Interface
Software
Data
Conclusions

ubiquitous

Massive amounts of data

generated by everyday
machines

Elec. Engineering and CS

can come together to make

some pretty cool things

Questions?