Application of the LabVIEW environment in testing automotive thermoanemometric flow meters

With the advancement in technology in the automotive industry and with the continuous development of electronics there is a problem related to the diagnostics of components and electronic circuits used in today's automotive technology. One example of this type of system is the new generation air flow meters that are responsible for the composition of the air/fuel mixture. The purpose of the flow meter is to accurately measure the mass of the air stream drawn by the engine, depending on the load on the motor and the rotational speed and to convert that value into an electrical signal that is transmitted to the control unit [5, 16]. An on-board computer based on the flow meter characteristics stored in the controller memory and current measurements from an air flow meter, shaft position sensor and temperature sensor determines the fuel dose that is responsible for the proper operation of the drive unit. In order to optimise as well as quickly and accurately diagnose the whole system or an element, specialised structures and information systems are used. Examples of such systems are various diagnostic testers and interfaces that, by working with appropriate software, can exclude or identify a defective component. We can also use the LabVIEW environment for the diagnostics of vehicle electronics. With this program we can perform system simulations and compare and analyse the obtained characteristics and results of measurements. Thanks to this solution and the cooperation of devices with a computer we can examine a number of systems without having to dismantle them.