A method, system and computer program product for assisting a user in handling a vehicle service issue. A profile is created by a navigation system that stores preferences of the user, such as vehicle and vehicle service preferences (e.g., tire brands). The navigation system polls the vehicle sensors in the automobile diagnostic system periodically to interpret a status. If there has been a change in the status of a sensor (e.g., change in tire pressure) and if the change represents a service issue to be addressed, then a service issue has been identified. The navigation system then determines a change in the route the vehicle is currently traveling to reach a service destination (e.g., Discount Tire store) to address the service issue (e.g., low tire pressure) taking into consideration the user's preferences (user's profile specified the Discount Tire chain to handle all service issues relating to tires).

A method for checking an isolation valve of a braking system of a vehicle includes the steps of: operating at least one pump of a brake circuit of the braking system which is hydraulically connected via the isolation valve to a brake master cylinder of the braking system for a predefined pump running time; measuring at least one value regarding a pressure present in the brake circuit; and determining, in consideration of the at least one measured value, whether the isolation valve is mechanically blocked.

According to one example embodiment, a method of assessing use of an aircraft component installed on an aircraft includes receiving, from one or more sensors installed on the aircraft, one or more measurements representative of at least one load applied against the aircraft component; selecting at least one usage model from a plurality of usage models, each usage model of the plurality of usage models relating aircraft loads with received sensor data; determining at least one load value based on the selected at least one usage model and the received one or more measurements; and calculating, based on the determined at least one load value, an amount of change in probability of failure caused by application of the at least one load against the aircraft component.

A system for diagnosing vehicle problems that may include a client device and central device. The client device may include a connector to connect to a vehicle and a vehicle interface to send and receive information from the vehicle. The client may also include an input/output system, a processor, and a communication system to communicate with the central device. The client device may capture a vehicle identification number (VIN) and may transmit the captured VIN along with geographic information to the central device. In response to received instructions from the central device, the client device may passively capture diagnostic information from the vehicle and transmit the diagnostic information to the central device. In response to the diagnostic information, the central device may transmit further instructions to the client device.

A software and method for updating a scan tool with limited memory are provided. An available diagnostic software database is located remotely from the scan tool. The diagnostic software database is vastly larger than the available memory on the scan tool. The technician can access the database and download the software modules he needs based on the vehicle or vehicles he is servicing and the available scan tool memory.

A graphical user interface is provided that can be used on a diagnostic tool. The graphical user interface allows a technician to operate various functions of the diagnostic tool including searching for additional information on the Internet, receiving weather information that is relevant to certain diagnostic tests, and displaying in certain formats the retrieved vehicle data and when certain vehicles were last scanned or diagnosed.

A hole detection method of a vehicle and a system performing the same may include positioning an air injection nozzle at a predetermined position of a vehicle body and positioning a sound sensor at a position corresponding to the air injection nozzle, injecting an air jet from the air injection nozzle, detecting a sound wave from the sound sensor, and calculating a characteristic of a water leakage hole formed on the vehicle body by using the sound wave detected from the sound sensor.

Embodiments are directed to obtaining data based on samples of a vibration signal, processing, by at least one processor, the data to obtain a qualitative and quantitative assessment of a health of the one or more components based on an application of the data to at least one model, and outputting the assessment. Embodiments of the disclosure may be applied to one or more components of a drive shaft of an aircraft.

Embodiments are directed to obtaining data based on samples of a vibration signal, processing, by at least one processor, the data to obtain a qualitative and quantitative assessment of a health of the one or more components based on an application of the data to at least one model, and outputting the assessment. Embodiments of the disclosure may be applied to one or more components of a drive shaft of an aircraft.

A method for testing a component part of an aircraft comprises the steps of determining at least one first test value of the component part of the aircraft and/or at least one first test value of a comparable component part of a further aircraft for at least one test parameter, inputting the first test parameter and the first test value into a pattern recognition system, which produces an inner correlation between the first test parameter and the first test value. The method further comprises the steps of defining at least one second test parameter, inputting the second test parameter into the pattern recognition system in order to determine a second test value by means of the inner correlation, checking whether the second test value falls within the predefined value range, and determining a third test value of the component part of the aircraft for the second test parameter if the second test value falls within the predefined value range. The invention further relates to a device for testing a component part of an aircraft.