Posted on 14th September 2023

The Visual MOT app I created is now open source

My app for MOT testers to send photos and comments to their customers has now been open sourced!

You can find out more about the app here.

To get the code go to the GitHub repository here.

This was an experimental personal project carried out during 2021 / 2022. It didn't gain enough traction to be worth maintaining, though for now you can still visit VisualMot.co.uk and also download the Android version.

Image of app on Android phone showing MOT test advisory issues to do with coil springs of an Alfa Romeo with a photo included

Importantly it looks like the DVSA are looking to include some form of camera based features from their Matters of Testing blog. In fact this seems to already be being trialled. I think this is largely for reading number plates and possibly odometer mileage, which is one of the key parts of the test process I didn't include in my app (since I was focused on photos of defects being useful from a customer point of view). This would help speed up the process if they can include number plate recognition but also reduces the chance of MOT fraud.

I know when I did my research and gained feedback on the app the biggest concern of testers was the potential for it to add time to their already complex testing process (being further complicated by new EV and emissions checks looming). But I believe it could be a win for mechanics and their customers if it is done right.

In any case the Visual MOT project I created is now available as open source software under an Apache 2.0 Licence. To anyone interested in doing, please have a play around and if you get stuck or want to chat about it further drop me an email.