Determining defective devices which generate sound during operation

• US 20030061034A1
• Filed: 07/17/2002
• Published: 03/27/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Gupta, Ajay
• Granted Patent: US 7,059,191 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/14 using acoustic emission techniques echo of particles G01N29/046; measuring mechanical vibrations or acoustic waves in solids in general G01H1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/46 by spectral analysis, e.g. Fourier analysis or wavelet analysis spectral signal processing per se G06F17/14
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/48 by amplitude comparison

Abstract

Determining whether a device is defective by analyzing the sound signals generated by the device. Digital samples are generated to represent the sound signals. Digital samples are transformed from the time domain to the frequency domain to generate a frequency spectrum. By comparing the levels of intensity at a corresponding frequency to the threshold levels of intensity, defective devices can be determined.

Claims

1. A method for determining whether a device is defective, said method comprising:

generating a plurality of digital samples representing a plurality of sound signals generated by said device; and

examining said plurality of digital samples to determine whether said device is defective.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of noise components representing noise present in testing environment, wherein said plurality of noise components are generated by sources other than said device;

receiving a plurality of incident sound signals generated by a microphone located close to said device during operation; and

subtracting said plurality of noise components from said plurality of incident sound signals to generate said plurality of sound signals.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said examining comprises:

processing said digital samples to convert said plurality of sound signals to frequency domain, wherein said processing generates a frequency spectrum; and

analyzing said frequency spectrum to determine said defects in said device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said processing comprises using a fast fourier transform (FFT) to generate said frequency spectrum.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said frequency spectrum comprises a plurality of frequencies and a corresponding plurality of levels of intensity, said method further comprises maintaining a threshold number associated with each of said plurality of frequencies, wherein said analyzing comprises:

comparing each of said threshold numbers with a corresponding one of said plurality of levels of intensity; and

determining whether said device is defective according to said comparing.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said determining comprises concluding that said device is defective if any of said threshold numbers is different from said corresponding one of said plurality of levels of intensity.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining values corresponding to said threshold numbers based on inputs provided by an expert, wherein said expert determines whether each one of a plurality of test devices is defective or not by hearing to the sounds generated by each of said plurality of test devices and provides said inputs.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising replacing said threshold numbers with a new set of threshold of numbers to test a different type of device.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising enabling a person to indicate whether said device is defective or not, and updating said threshold numbers according to whether said device is defective or not.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said device corresponds to a motor, wherein said motor comprises a shaft, a casing, an electromagnet and a coil.

11. A computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for causing a system to determine whether a device is defective, wherein execution of said one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in said system causes said one or more processors to perform the actions of:

receiving a plurality of digital samples representing a plurality of sound signals generated by said device; and

examining said plurality of digital samples to determine whether said device is defective.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of noise components representing noise present in testing environment, wherein said plurality of noise components are generated by sources other than said device;

receiving a plurality of incident sound signals generated by a microphone located close to said device during operation; and

subtracting said plurality of noise components from said plurality of incident sound signals to generate said plurality of sound signals.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein said examining comprises:

processing said digital samples to convert said plurality of sound signals to frequency domain, wherein said processing generates a frequency spectrum; and

analyzing said frequency spectrum to determine said defects in said device.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein said processing comprises using a fast fourier transform (FFT) to generate said frequency spectrum.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein said frequency spectrum comprises a plurality of frequencies and a corresponding plurality of levels of intensity, said computer readable medium further comprises maintaining a threshold number associated with each of said plurality of frequencies, wherein said analyzing comprises:

comparing each of said threshold numbers with a corresponding one of said plurality of levels of intensity; and

determining whether said device is defective according to said comparing.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said determining comprises concluding that said device is defective if any of said threshold numbers is different from said corresponding one of said plurality of levels of intensity.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving from an expert a plurality of inputs representing whether each one of a plurality of test devices is defective or not; and

determining values corresponding to said threshold numbers based on said plurality of inputs.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising replacing said threshold numbers with a new set of threshold of numbers to test a different type of device.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising enabling a person to indicate whether said device is defective or not, and updating said threshold numbers according to whether said device is defective or not.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein said device corresponds to a motor, wherein said motor comprises a shaft, a casing, an electro-magnet and a coil.

21. A digital processing system for determining whether a device is defective, said digital processing system comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of digital samples representing a plurality of sound signals generated by said device; and

means for examining said plurality of digital samples to determine whether said device is defective.

22. The digital processing system of claim 21, further comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of noise components representing noise present in testing environment, wherein said plurality of noise components are generated by sources other than said device;

means for receiving a plurality of incident sound signals generated by a microphone located close to said device during operation; and

means for subtracting said plurality of noise components from said plurality of incident sound signals to generate said plurality of sound signals.

23. The digital processing system of claim 21, wherein said examining comprises:

means for processing said digital samples to convert said plurality of sound signals to frequency domain, wherein said processing generates a frequency spectrum; and

means for analyzing said frequency spectrum to determine said defects in said device.

24. The digital processing system of claim 23, wherein said means for processing uses a fast fourier transform (FFT) to generate said frequency spectrum.

25. The digital processing system of claim 23, wherein said frequency spectrum comprises a plurality of frequencies and a corresponding plurality of levels of intensity, said digital processing system further comprises means for maintaining a threshold number associated with each of said plurality of frequencies, wherein said means for analyzing comprises:

means for comparing each of said threshold numbers with a corresponding one of said plurality of levels of intensity; and

means for determining whether said device is defective according to said comparing.

26. The digital processing system of claim 25, wherein said means for determining concludes that said device is defective if any of said threshold numbers is different from said corresponding one of said plurality of levels of intensity.

27. The digital processing system of claim 25, further comprising means for determining values corresponding to said threshold numbers based on inputs provided by an expert, wherein said expert determines whether each one of a plurality of test devices is defective or not by hearing to the sounds generated by each of said plurality of test devices and provides said inputs.

28. The digital processing system of claim 21, wherein said device corresponds to a motor, wherein said motor comprises a shaft, a casing, an electro-magnet and a coil.