best computer software and adapter for reading obd codes

Soooo many manufacturers have used alternative pins for obscurity over the years and some even use the same pin. That to me would be a true open source OBD-II adapter that I would “do a Fry” and yell “Shut up and take my money!” The next rev should have the ability to repurpose any pin that isn’t 4, 5 and 16 (grounds and +VE) to any method of communication. Posted in ARM, car hacks, Slider Tagged can-bus, elm327, Flash Magic, ISO 14230-4, ISO 15765-4 CAN, ISO 9141-2, LPC1517, LPCXpresso IDE, MC33660, odb, ODB-2, odb-ii, SAE J1850 PWM, SAE J1850 VPW, TJF1051 Post navigation We featured ’s inexpensive PIC based ODB-II interface way back in 2007, so he’s been working on this for a while and has a good grip on what he’s doing.

He’s got instructions if you’d like to build the firmware from source, or if you’d like to program the adapter via Flash Magic. The software is written in C++ for the LPCXpresso IDE – a GNU tool chain for ARM Cortex-M processors, but can also be compiled using a couple of other toolchains. The serial output from the adapter board is connected to a computer using a serial to USB adapter. Also included is the TJF1051, a high-speed CAN transceiver that provides an interface between the micro controller and the physical two-wire CAN lines on the ODB-II connector. The MC33660 ISO K Line Serial Link Interface device is used to provide bi-directional half-duplex communication interface with the micro-controller.

Here’s the PDF schematic, and a set of Gerber files ( ZIP archive) for the PCB layout, if you’d like to dig in to it’s internals.

The hardware is built around the LPC1517 Cortex-M3 microprocessor and can accept a couple of different versions. has built an open source OBD-II Adapter which provides a serial interface using the ELM327 command set and supports all OBD-II standards. While the hardware interface is fairly standardized now, manufacturers use one of several different standards to encode the data. The current version of the on-board diagnostics (OBD) protocol provides real time data as well as fault diagnostics, thanks to the numerous sensors connected to the data network in the modern vehicle. Automotive diagnostics have come a long way since the “idiot lights” of the 1980s.

Best computer software and adapter for reading obd codes