Wireless diagnostic system and method for monitoring vehicles

A system for characterizing a vehicle's performance comprising:

• a data collector/router comprising:
• an electrical connector configured to connect to the vehicle's OBD or OBD-II connector;
• a microprocessor in electrical contact with the electrical connector, the microprocessor configured to retrieve data generated by the vehicle at a predetermined time interval;
• and
• a wireless transmitter configured to receive the data from the microprocessor and wirelessly transmit it to a network;
• a first computer system comprising a processor configured to receive the data from the network;
• and
• a second computer system configured to analyze the data.

A system for characterizing a vehicle's performance comprising a data collector/router comprising:

• an electrical connector configured to connect through the vehicle's OBD or OBD-II connector;
• a microprocessor in electrical contact with the electrical connector, the microprocessor configured to retrieve data generated by the vehicle at a predetermined time interval;
• and
• a wireless transmitter configured to receive the data from the microprocessor and wirelessly transmit it to a network.

A system for characterizing a vehicle's performance comprising a data collector/router comprising:

• an on-board diagnostic connector configured to connect to a serial connector located in the vehicle's interior;
• a microprocessor in electrical contact with the on-board diagnostic connector, the microprocessor configured to retrieve data generated by the vehicle at a predetermined time interval;
• a wireless transmitter integrated in the data collector/router configured to receive the data from the microprocessor and wirelessly transmit it to a network;
• and
• a housing containing the microprocessor and the wireless transmitter.

A method for sending data to an electrical system in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

• generating with a host computer data that affects at least one microcontroller disposed within the electrical system of the vehicle;
• wirelessly transmitting the data from the host computer to a wireless communications system and then to a data collector/router disposed in the vehicle, the data collector/router comprising:
• i) an electrical connector that connects to an OBD or OBD-II connector and comprises electrical connections for multiple vehicle models;
• ii) a microprocessor, and
• iii) a wireless transmitter in electrical contact with the microprocessor;
• receiving the data with the wireless transmitter;
• sending the data from the wireless transmitter to the microprocessor;
• processing the data with the microprocessor to generate processed data;
• and
• transmitting the processed data through the electrical connector to the microcontroller disposed within the vehicle's electrical system.

A method for characterizing a vehicle's performance, comprising the steps of:

• retrieving data representative of the vehicle's performance through an OBD or OBD-II connector at a predetermined time interval with a data collector/router comprising:
• i) an electrical connector that connects to the OBD or OBD-II connector and comprises electrical connections for multiple vehicle models;
• ii) a microprocessor, and
• iii) a wireless transmitter in electrical contact with the microprocessor;
• generating data representative of the vehicle's location with a global positioning system disposed within the vehicle;
• wirelessly transmitting a first set of data representative of the vehicle's performance with the wireless transmitter to a wireless communications system and then to a host computer;
• wirelessly transmitting a second set of data representative of the vehicle's location with the wireless transmitter to a wireless communications system and then to a host computer;
• analyzing the first and second sets of data with the host computer to generate analyzed data;
• and
• displaying the analyzed data on one or more web pages accessible on the internet.