Prognostic rules for predicting a part failure

• US 10,452,062 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2017
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Aviation Systems Limited (GE Aerospace)
• Original Assignee: GE Aviation Systems Limited (GE Aerospace)
• Inventors: Smit, Johan Arnold, Butterley, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Berona, Kimberly S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kerrigan, Michael V
• Application Number:
  US15/644,971
• Publication Number:
  US 20180011481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 834 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0085 Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

A device may receive equipment information, associated with a first equipment, including information associated with anomalies identified based on operational information collected during operation of the first equipment, and messages generated during the operation of the first equipment. The device may receive maintenance information, associated with the first equipment, that identifies one or more part failures associated with one or more equipment parts. The device may identify associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information. The device may receive equipment information, associated with a second equipment, including information associated with anomalies identified based on operational information collected during operation of the second equipment, and messages generated during the operation of the second equipment. The device may generate and provide a prediction, associated with a future failure of an equipment part of the second equipment, based on the second equipment information and the associations.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by one or more devices, first equipment information associated with first equipment, wherein receiving the first equipment information comprises obtaining the first equipment information from a device onboard the first equipment, the first equipment information including information associated with first anomalies identified based on first operational information collected during operation of the first equipment, and the first equipment information including information associated with first messages, associated with the operation of the first equipment, that are generated during the operation of the first equipment;

receiving, by the one or more devices, first maintenance information from a maintenance device separate from the device onboard the first equipment, associated with the first equipment, that identifies one or more part failures associated with one or more equipment parts;

identifying, by the one or more devices, a first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information;

receiving, by the one or more devices, second equipment information associated with second equipment, the second equipment information including information associated with second anomalies identified based on second operational information collected during operation of the second equipment, and the second equipment information including information associated with second messages, associated with the operation of the second equipment, that are generated during the operation of the second equipment;

generating, by the one or more devices and based on the second equipment information and the first set of associations, a prediction associated with a future failure of a part of the second equipment; and

providing, by the one or more devices, information associated with the prediction.

2. The method of claim 1, where identifying the first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information comprises:

analyzing the first equipment information and the first maintenance information using at least one of;

a market basket analysis technique, an association rules technique, or a collaborative filtering technique; and

identifying the first set of associations based on a result of analyzing the first equipment information and the first maintenance information.

3. The method of either of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining the first operational information, collected during the operation of the first equipment, from a device onboard the first equipment, the first operational information including quick access recorder data collected during the operation of the first equipment; and

identifying the first anomalies based on the quick access recorder data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining the first operational information, collected during the operation of the first equipment, from a device onboard the first equipment, the first operational information including engine monitoring unit data collected during the operation of the first equipment; and

identifying the first anomalies based on the engine monitoring unit data.

5. The method of claim 1, where receiving the first equipment information comprises:

obtaining the information associated with the first messages, associated with the operation of the first equipment, from a device onboard the first equipment, the first messages being included in post flight report data collected during the operation of the first equipment.

6. The method of claim 1, where the first maintenance information is associated with maintenance, repair, and overhaul data collected during maintenance or inspection of the first equipment, and where identifying the first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information comprises:

identifying the first set of associations further based on the maintenance information received from the maintenance device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving environmental information associated with the first equipment or an operation of the first equipment from the environmental device separate from the maintenance device and the device onboard the first equipment; and

where identifying the first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information comprises;

identifying the first set of associations further based on the environmental information received from the environmental device associated with the first equipment or the operation of the first equipment.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein providing information associated with the prediction comprises communicating the information associated with the prediction to at least one of an aircraft device, a prognostic platform, or a user device.

9. A device, comprising:

one or more processors to;

receive first equipment information associated with one or more first items of equipment, the first equipment information including information associated with anomalies identified based on operational information collected during operation of the one or more first items of equipment, and the first equipment information including information associated with messages, associated with the operation of the one or more first items of equipment, that are generated during the operation of the one or more first items of equipment;

receive maintenance information, associated with the one or more first items of equipment, that identifies one or more part failures of one or more equipment parts of the one or more first items of equipment, where the maintenance information is associated with maintenance, repair, and overhaul data collected during maintenance or inspection of the first equipment;

identify a first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information based at least in part on the maintenance information and the first equipment information; and

store information, regarding the first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information, to permit a prediction to be made regarding a future failure of an equipment part of a second item of equipment.

10. The device of claim 9, where the one or more processors, when identifying the first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information, are to:

identify the first set of associations based on an association detection algorithm that implements at least one of a market basket analysis technique, an association rules technique, or a collaborative filtering technique.

11. The device of claim 9, where the one or more processors are further to:

obtain the operational information, collected during the operation of the one or more first items of equipment, from one or more devices onboard the one or more first items of equipment, the operational information including quick access recorder data collected during the operation of the one or more first items of equipment, or the operational information including engine monitoring unit data collected during the operation of the one or more first items of equipment; and

identify the anomalies based on the quick access recorder data or the engine monitoring unit data.

12. The device of claim 9, where the one or more processors, when receiving the first equipment information, are to:

obtain the information associated with the messages, associated with the operation of the one or more first items of equipment, from one or more devices onboard the one or more first items of equipment, the messages being included in post flight report data collected during the operation of the one or more first items of equipment.

13. The device of claim 9, where the one or more processors are further to:

receive environmental information associated with the one or more first items of equipment or an operation of the one or more first items of equipment; and

where the one or more processors, when identifying the first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information, are to;

identify the first set of associations further based on the environmental information associated with the one or more first items of equipment or the operation of the one or more first items of equipment.

14. The device of claim 9, where the maintenance information, associated with the one or more first items of equipment, further includes information associated with preventative maintenance, routine maintenance, or an inspection of the one or more first items of equipment, and where the one or more processors, when identifying the first set of associations between the one or more part failures and the first equipment information, are to:

identify the first set of associations further based on the information associated with the preventative maintenance, the routine maintenance, or the inspection of the one or more first items of equipment.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive first equipment information associated with first equipment, the first equipment information including information associated with first anomalies identified based on first operational information collected during operation of the first equipment, and the first equipment information including information associated with first messages, associated with the operation of the first equipment, that are generated during the operation of the first equipment;

access a first set of associations identified based on information associated with one or more equipment part failures and second equipment information, the one or more equipment part failures being associated with second equipment and being identified based on maintenance information associated with the second equipment, the maintenance information associated with the second equipment associated with maintenance repair, and overhaul data collected during maintenance or inspection of the second equipment, the second equipment information including information associated with second anomalies identified based on second operational information collected during operation of the second equipment, and the second equipment information including information associated with second messages, associated with the operation of the second equipment, that are generated during the operation of the second equipment;

generate, based on the first equipment information and the first set of associations, a prediction associated with a future failure of an equipment part of the first equipment; and

provide information associated with the prediction.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

obtain the first operational information, collected during the operation of the first equipment, from a device onboard the first equipment, the first operational information including quick access recorder data collected during the operation of the first equipment; and

determine the information associated with the first anomalies based on the quick access recorder data.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, where the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

obtain the first operational information, collected during the operation of the first equipment, from a device onboard the first equipment, the first operational information including engine monitoring unit data collected during the operation of the first equipment; and

determine the information associated with the first anomalies based on the engine monitoring unit data.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, where the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to receive the first equipment information, cause the one or more processors to:

obtain the information associated with the first messages, associated with the operation of the first equipment, from a device onboard the first equipment, the first messages being included in post flight report data collected during the operation of the first equipment.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, where the first equipment information further includes first maintenance information associated with the first equipment, the first maintenance information, associated with the first equipment, being associated with maintenance, repair, and overhaul data collected during maintenance or inspection of the first equipment.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, where the first equipment information further includes environmental information associated with the first equipment or an operation of the first equipment, the environmental information including weather data, climate data, or route data associated with the first equipment or the operation of the first equipment.