Portfolios :: The MDS2/DRBIII Project

Overview

MDS2/DRBIII Diagnostic System

The MDS2 is a set of PC based equipment that is used to aid dealer technicians in diagnosing Chrysler vehicles. It supercedes the MDS1 Diagnostic System. Each Chrysler dealership has at least one MDS system. In addition to equipment including gas and engine analyzers, the MDS2 has the ability to communicate to a vehicle through the DRBIII. The DRBIII is a hand held scan tool based off of a MC68332 microprocessor. This tool can communicate with vehicle control modules by itself or in conjunction with an MDS2. Together these tools create a powerful platform capable of diagnosing all major and most minor systems on all Chrysler vehicles.

Project Inception
In early 1997 the MDS2 project had reached a point of retrograde that forced Chrysler Corporation to seek outside help. Thirteen Scribes Inc. (TSI) was contacted and a team was sent to assess the project.

Project Involvement
Crisis Management and Project Evaluation
TSI co-lead a project assessment effort. It was quickly determined that a clearly defined project did not exist. It was also determined that the software for the DRBIII was structured poorly and was not close to providing the required functionality. After examining the code base in great detail, TSI was the only company willing to stay on and assist the project without insisting on a total rewrite. Chrysler could not accept a total rewrite because of an upcoming required release of diagnostic software. A small team was formed lead by TSI and staffed by TSI and Chrysler personnel to eliminate the immediate crisis and then continue on with the project after a proper course of action was determined.

Software Design and Development
The DRBIII software architecture was deemed insufficient to handle the large functionality base required by the new MDS2 system. A decision was made to remodel the software and move from a functionally decomposed design to an object oriented design. The restructuring began at the Boot ROM level. The new model would allow for a plug and play environment to support the ever-expanding feature set of the DRBIII. The result was a pseudo-windows environment that ran on an embedded system.

This new system allowed for the easy addition of new vehicle equipment diagnostics and new communications protocols. Furthermore, the new software was designed to be platform independent, capable of being ported easily when the DRBIII becomes obsolete.