Abstracts Category : Other

Using Consumer Accessible Mobile Devices To Collect Vehicle Emissions Compliance Data

by Joshua N Jensen

The emissions inspection procedure has been largely stagnate for the last 20 years. Vehicle owners in the United States spend approximately 1.7 billion dollars annually for a technician to perform the simple task of plugging an emissions inspection computer into their cars computer. Smart Emissions was developed as an Android application to provide a new procedure for emissions inspection utilizing consumer-accessible mobile devices and an ELM327 Bluetooth adapter. With Smart Emissions, vehicle owners utilize the Android devices they already own to connect to a Bluetooth adapter inserted into the diagnostic link connector port of their vehicle. The adapter communicates with the onboard diagnostic computer to gather the status of the vehicles emission compliance componentry. The data is collected and correlated according to industry standards and EPA rule EPA420-R-01-015. Results of the study showed that an Android device was capable of collecting emissions data with the same accuracy as existing OBD compliant methods. This study also examined the perception of study participants towards current emissions procedures and the proposed method of emissions collection via consumer accessible mobile devices. Of 115 survey respondents, 90% are in favor of a solution they can use from home in lieu of taking their vehicle to an inspection station. Inversely, 46% of survey respondents found it reassuring to have a certified technician conduct the inspection. Further research is needed to understand why having a technician perform the inspection is reassuring. Additionally changing emissions procedures to use to consumer accessible hardware presents new challenges in vetting the accuracy of the equipment used for the emissions inspection, and requires further research. Advisors/Committee Members: Dr. Kevin Pyatt.