SymBtELM by Owen Brotherwood (Last edit: Oct 2009)

Introduction

This project allows one to use a Nokia Symbian Series 60 telephone to communicate with the computer in your car. This allows one to have a handy "OBD-II terminal" without taking a Laptop out to the car (the Laptop runs out of battery anyway)

My reason for creating this application is that if one is travelling on holiday, and the red engine light goes on, one can use the phone to see if one has to find the nearest garage (that is 2 hours away) or if it is OK to keep travelling. A red light could mean that the catalyst isn't working efficiently which could be a silly thing to worry about. So now you can use your Nokia to Navigate and solve problems with the car when on holiday or at home.

If you didn't know your car may have a computer that one can communicate with, you may want to see these videos as an introduction.

In text, What is OBD-II and why could I need it is also "a good read"

Here are some screen shots from a Nokia e61i using demo data (I now have a e71):

Progress

A short break in SIS release while I:

• prepare for multi-language support
• ensure that I can debug under windows
• break in my new ELM

Update: I was trying to see how to get my Vectra from 2000 to work but no docs :( So I continue development based on road map and reported bugs in the hope of one day having enough money for an OBD-II compliant car ...

Look at:

• the log : past
• Active tickets : present
• roadmap : future

Getting started

Oct 2009: This has to be rewritten and represh rapidshare ...

Quickly read the UserGuide and then install using the following information:

• SymBtELM SIS's
  • contains SysBtElm?, PyS60 runtime SIS files (and a lot of other things)

You need to install Python and then a SymBtELM SIS. These are in the SIS folder. PyS60 1.9.x is what I use on a Nokia e61i and is the version that supports Symbian V5 devices. Note: only for Symbian Series 60

Open Source: Open Project

The project is also "open": if it goes to slow and you are a proficient Python programmer and need "functions": feel free to join

Reference

• ELM - an OBD-II to serial converter to interface to the car computer
• ProgrammersGuide to SymBtELM
• OpelVectra my notes found on the internet so that at some stage I can get trouble codes out of the engine...

Contact

You can use:

• New Ticket (prefered for bug reports etc)
• Forums
  • Howard Forums as oxo-oxo
  • mp3car.com forum as oxo

-> I generally don't answer "Will it work with ..." or "I cannot find out how to install ..." questions. Post in forum and see if someone will help <-

Donate

One of the steps in this project is graphics (when wx or Qt is available), donate to help me buy a Nokia N97 so that this happens (Nokia sensor technology also gives access to incline ~ load information).

Thank you

for donation of a BT ELM device (multi-language site)

• this is the only hardware I will bug fix for. It the only hardware I have and SymBtELM has to work for it.

Diverse

Right to Repair Bill

• Right to Repair Bill : the best thing since OBD-II ...
• H2057 Motor Vehicle Owners Right to Repair Act of 2009

OBDScope

For Symbian looks good ... and works with obd-2.de bluetooth device. It is simpler to install and has more features but is not open source (yet ...) It basically means that my program may not be needed, but I keep my application as it is portable and I will probably improve mine at some stage (but I don't feel like reinventing the wheel: when I started, I couldn't find a free Symbian application).

For a complete list of local wiki pages, see TitleIndex.