Statistics-driven Development of OBD Systems: An Overview

Automotive on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems are designed to keep critical components under control during vehicle functioning, and to alert the driver in case of severe malfunctions. OBD systems aimed at reducing polluting emissions are mandatory on new motor vehicles. Some research projects conducted in cooperation between universities and the automotive industry have been quite successful in terms of knowledge advancement and industrial gain. An updated overview of the adopted methodologies and results obtained are given in this article. Such results can be valuable for both theorists and practitioners, since they witness the use of statistics as a powerful catalyst of technical progress, and give a possible line of action for further application in several scientific fields. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.