METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING THE STATUS OF AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE EQUIPMENT AND SIGNALING THE STATUS BY A WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY TO THE OPERATOR

Automotive service equipment and method of servicing an automotive vehicle use an automotive service machine having at least one automatic mode of operation during which an operator is not required to be present. A first, stationary communication module connected to the service machine receives first signals from the machine indicating the status of an automatic mode of operation of the machine and wirelessly transmits second signals communicating when an operator's attention to the machine is required. A second, portable communication module remotely receives the second signals and in response activates a signaling device in the second module for signaling an operator that attention to the machine is required. Thereby, during vehicle servicing the operator can perform other tasks within the workshop, thus being more productive and efficient.