design and implementation of automobile diagnosis and repair system.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of Study

Automobiles need maintenance from time to time. Like human beings are required to keep hygiene, in a similar fashion motors additionally want to be stored clean. Automobiles have to run on soiled roads and in a polluted environment. They run on uneven roads with potholes and different obstructions, and are consequently subjected to masses which injury them. Therefore, there is a want for normal preservation and servicing of automobiles, which is typically carried out in auto workshops or auto provider stations. Every new car comes with a car protection manual. The proprietor of the automobile is anticipated to examine and use this manual, as it mentions car preservation pointers at some stage in driving. It has been observed that after getting an auto or vehicle, the proprietors do no longer care a good deal about a normal vehicle or automobile maintenance. Even if the proprietors often carrier their vehicle, the automobile protection recommendations given in the automobile preservation guide will increase the sturdiness or lifestyles of the automobile to a super extent. Vehicle protection and servicing is carried out when the car completes sure kilometers on its ordinary going for walks or when the car does no longer provide appropriate performance. It is counseled that the car proprietors raise out ordinary and periodical exams on their vehicle, some of which are referred to under (Bulgakov et. al., 2019). Most service companies offer new services and benefits to continuously maintain relationships with existing customers or create higher customer satisfaction according to the individualization of customer needs and differentiated service demand increase. Since service has intangible characteristics, broader customer contacts are made in the process of meeting customer expectations, and interactions with customers produce a positive impression or trust, which works as a key factor for relationship continuity. In the end, relationship benefits revealed through interactions between companies and customers play a pivotal role in retaining customers. The after-sales service, one of the methods for achieving customer satisfaction in auto maintenance and repair service, is most valuable, and efficient after-sales service becomes the highest priority of auto maintenance and repair service companies (Jain et. al., 2019).

Thanks to new digital technologies, it is possible to interconnect, in industrial processes, production machines with their software. This technological progress has several
advantages, including accelerating processes related to digital data collection, optimizing
production process times, producing higher quality goods at lower costs, and having all the
necessary information to implement strategic decisions to support the business (Redondo et. al., 2020).

With the rapid advancement in technology, the auto-mechanic job has evolved from purely mechanical to include electronic technology. Because vehicles today possess complex computer and electronic systems, auto-mechanics need to have a broader base of knowledge than in the past. Due to the increasingly labyrinthine nature of the technology that is now incorporated into automobile, most automobile dealership and independent workshop now provide sophisticated diagnostic computers to each technician, without which they would be unable to diagnose or repair and maintain a vehicle (Ngure, 2013). In the modern era, the automobile has become increasing difficult to repair without basic technical and computer-based knowledge. The computer and electronic driven elements of the vehicles have changed the nature of the automobile mechanics. Expert system is ought to give a temporary assistance to those users who are in urgent need of an instant help.

This work aims to provide an alternative to the human expert method in automobile maintenance and repair for more effectiveness and convenience by modeling an expert system for automobile repair and maintenance through the use of an artificial intelligence programming. However, this application is limited to recognizing and diagnosing five broad groups or classes of car faults for repair and maintenance – engine induced faults, power transmission train faults, clutch-related faults, battery faults and brake induced faults.

1.2     Statement of the Problem

There are many problems concerned with the existing method of automobile maintenance and repair such as;

1. Unavailability of Road Side mechanics at all time
2. Delay in diagnosing car problems by inexperienced mechanics
3. Unavailability of database to store reports on history of maintenance
4. Inability to retrieve information on methods used in diagnosing car faults in the past

1.3    Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this research is the design and implementation of automobile diagnosis and repair system.

The specific objectives are:

1. To develop a car diagnosis system that will be available to car owners at all times.
2. To make the process of car diagnosis faster and easier.
3. To create a database that can keep records of maintenance and repairs regarding automobile machines
4. To create a system that can enable retrieval of information in an easy way

1.4     Significance of the Study

The proposed system can help inexperienced mechanics or drivers in diagnosing the fault of the car.

In addition, the system has the following benefits:

• It helps in the improvement of productivity: Having this system will enable mechanics to do more work in less time.
• It reduces the need for skilled mechanics: The repairs of a car require a high level of expertise. With this system, inexperienced mechanics can be guided to find the fault.
• The system captures the knowledge of company experts who someday will retire, resign or die.
• Expert systems train newly lived employees to solve problem the way experienced professionals do.
• It is not vulnerable to problems such as fatigue, emotion and overwork, all of which plaque human experts.
• It place expert knowledge into machine readable form, where it can be summoned at any time.
• It gives consistent result.
• The system can complete some tasks quicker them a human.

1.5 Contributions to IT Practice

This project work “Design and Implementation of an expert management system for automobile fault detection” will certainly foster the use of computerized systems in car diagnosis and maintenance. It will produce a system that will be able to eradicate the problem of manual fault detection in cars. This expert system will also give room to further expansion through time making it possible to produce a more fastest and accurate means of diagnosing cars using computer technology.

Another impact is that it will help the ICT body of knowledge to know the best experts system for the detecting faults in cars and also determine common problems usually found in cars. This will help in improvement of cars by manufactures.

1.6 Scope of the Study     

This study aims to provide an alternative to the human expert method in automobile maintenance and repair at Innoson Nig Plc. It can only serve the automobile engineers in fault detection.

1.7 Assumptions

Assumption is any project factor that is considered to be true, real, or certain without empirical proof or demonstration. Realistically speaking, it is impossible to plan a project without making a few assumptions (Boogaard, 2020).

The following assumptions were made in the course of this study

• Knowledge base being a storage area of data, facts, rules and other information structures acquired from the human expert.
• User interface being the medium through which the user interacts with the machine
• Expert Systems having the capacity of completing some tasks quicker than a human.

1.8 Limitations

• Time constraint: time frame for this work is short
• Lack of power supply: there was unstable electric power supply to enable consistent development of the system and in carrying out research online.
• Limited literature: Not much work has been done in this area of computer science
• Unavailability of materials: lack of access to research materials on the topic was also a major constraint in the cause of this project.
• Fund: as a student there was limited fund to take care of the research property and training resources for fish farming.

1.9 Delimitations

Delimitations are those characteristics that limit the scope and define the boundaries of your study (Simon, 2011).

The delimitation of my study is;

• Cars produced from the year 2000 till date

1.10 Definition of Terms

Actuator: This is a device in a car that uses electricity to do sort of automated mechanical movement such as power door locks or a remote trunk opener (Andreas, 2013).

Computer Programming: is the process of designing and building an executable computer program to accomplish a specific computing result (Bebbington, 2014).

Car Sensor: intelligent systems that control different aspects such as temperature, coolant levels, oil pressure, emission levels and so much more (Dan, 2018).

Expert System: Is a computer system that emulates the decision-making ability of a human expert (Jackson, 2008).

Information Technology: is the use of computers to store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data or information (Daintith, 2009).

DOWNLOAD THE FULL WORK

DISCLAIMER: All project works, files and documents posted on this website, UniProjectTopics.com are the property/copyright of their respective owners. They are for research reference/guidance purposes only and some of the works may be crowd-sourced. Please don’t submit someone’s work as your own to avoid plagiarism and its consequences. Use it as a reference/citation/guidance purpose only and not copy the work word for word (verbatim). The paper should be used as a guide or framework for your own paper. The contents of this paper should be able to help you in generating new ideas and thoughts for your own study. UniProjectTopics.com is a repository of research works where works are uploaded for research guidance. Our aim of providing this work is to help you eradicate the stress of going from one school library to another in search of research materials. This is a legal service because all tertiary institutions permit their students to read previous works, projects, books, articles, journals or papers while developing their own works. This is where the need for literature review comes in. “What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.” - Austin Kleon. The paid subscription on UniProjectTopics.com is a means by which the website is maintained to support Open Education. If you see your work posted here by any means, and you want it to be removed/credited, please contact us with the web address link to the work. We will reply to and honour every request. Please notice it may take up to 24 – 48 hours to process your request.