System and method for vehicle diagnostics with synchronized vehicle acoustic and vibration data with on-board diagnostic data

Abstract

A system and method for ΔI-powered engine diagnostics combine OBD-II data, high-frequency sound, and vibration analysis to detect engine wear and mechanical faults. A detachable puck sensor in the engine bay captures sound and vibration signals, while an OBD-II module collects engine performance metrics. A smartphone app collects and uploads data to a backend AI engine, where Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) aligns event-driven or asynchronous data and time series data from multiple sources, ensuring accurate feature fusion. Machine learning models then detect engine wear, belt degradation, knocking, and bearing faults, generating a diagnostic report with severity assessments and predictive maintenance recommendations. By integrating multi-modal sensor data, this system enhances early-stage fault detection beyond traditional OBD-II diagnostics, offering greater accuracy in assessing physical wear conditions and optimizing vehicle maintenance.