13. Sniffing Out Car Trouble

Small, embedded computers and microcontrollers are ubiquitous in many societies. When you look around a room, the number of devices you see that have some kind of controller or microprocessor is stunning. Unless you are driving a car that is now considered “classic,” chances are your car has a computer in it, too. Generally called the Engine Control Module (ECM) or Engine Control Unit (ECU), this computer can do everything from monitoring systems in cars, to turning on the “Check Engine” light should there be a problem, to controlling the engine systems and making the car run. In this chapter, you explore how to use a BeagleBone Black to interface with a car’s computer and get a look at some of this collected information. ...

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