AUTOMOTIVE
Google knows it has to find growth beyond smartphones for its mobile OS, and to that end, it joined with carmakers Audi, General Motors, Hyundai, Honda and technology maker Nvidia to launch the Open Automotive Alliance, with the aim to bring Android to the global car market ( openautoalliance.net). Today, you can add just about every major car manufacturer to that list, from Chrysler to Citroen, Land Rover to Lamborghini, Volkswagen to Volvo.
From Google’s side, it launched Android Auto ( www.android.com/intl/ en_au/auto), an automotive add-on to the Android OS that plugs your phone into your car’s compatible dashboard system. But in mid-November 2016, Google released an update enabling Android Auto to work on any compatible phone with at least Android 5.0/Lollipop, by using the device’s own screen instead ( tinyurl.com/apc437update). Essentially, it simplifies the user interface with big buttons — this way, even if your car doesn’t have a compatible dashboard screen, you can dock the phone and still use Android Auto-enabled apps.
The problem is, touching your smartphone while driving is illegal in all Australian states and territories and it must be operated completely hands-free, so there’s an issue there. Adding Google Home-like voice capabilities to Android Auto is one likely way forward and, rumours are, this feature could be available by the time you read this.
ON-BOARD DIAGNOSTICS
However, Android Auto is still what you’d call a ‘consumer-facing’ use of Android. For something more hardcore, Android devices are increasingly able to plug into a car’s engine control unit (ECU) and grab some of the same info you’ll often see on pit telemetry screens during V8 Supercars or Formula-One racing coverage. It’s called On-Board Diagnostics Generation 2 (OBD2/OBDII), a compact version of ‘Unified Diagnostic Services’ (UDS), the system used by mechanics to understand what caused the ‘check engine’ light to flip up on your dashboard.
OBD2 is available on just about every car made in or imported into Australia since at least 2006 and on many makes and models going further back, some to 1999. The key to OBD2 is standardisation, in terms of a universal connector, as well as universal data parameters. This enables a single auto scanner device to read the ECU codes from many vehicles and know what’s going on (some older vehicles require proprietary systems).
OBD2 features a 16-pin SAE J1962M data link connector that looks a bit like an oversized parallel printer port connector — you should find the link socket under the steering column on most vehicles just to the driver’s door-side. Most OBD2 scanners, themselves, are stubby smartphonesize devices and you can buy a wired standalone scanner from auto shops in