Method and system for autonomously resolving a failure

• US 20040164206A1
• Filed: 02/20/2003
• Published: 08/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Bharadwaj, Raj Mohan, Jammu, Vinay Bhaskar
• Granted Patent: US 6,886,472 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 246/167R
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0023 Detecting, eliminating, remedying or compensating for drive train abnormalities, e.g. failures within the drive train
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0081 On-board diagnosis or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0286 Modifications to the monitored process, e.g. stopping operation or adapting control

Abstract

In a railroad locomotive having a plurality of systems which collectively are used for locomotive operations, a method of self-healing a system of the plurality of systems comprising monitoring operational conditions of the system, detecting at least one of a pending and a current failure, determining a self-healing procedure to correct the failure, and applying the self-healing procedure comprising at least one of a safe mode technique, a redundancy technique, and an automatic configuration technique.

Claims

1. In a railroad locomotive having a plurality of systems which collectively are used for locomotive operations, a method of self-healing a system of said plurality of systems comprising:

a. monitoring operational conditions of said system;

b. detecting at least one of a pending and a current failure;

c. determining a self-healing procedure to correct said failure; and

d. applying said self-healing procedure comprising at least one of a self-healing control technique, a redundancy technique, and an automatic fix technique.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising verifying that said self-healing procedure corrected said failure.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said self-healing control technique comprises using a control strategy that uses an alternate control strategy that bypasses said failure.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said self-healing control technique comprises operating said system in a safe mode condition.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said safe-healing control technique comprises operating said system at a less than an optimal operating condition.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said self-healing control technique comprises providing a control algorithm in a controller and operating said controller at less than an optimal level while using an alternate control algorithm to perform said controller functions.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said self-healing control technique comprises using a hardware and software redundancy technique.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said hardware and software redundancy technique further comprises ceasing use of said system experiencing said failure and using a redundant system.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein said hardware and software redundancy technique further comprises ceasing use of a software program associated with said system experiencing said failure and using a redundant copy of said software program.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein said hardware and software redundancy technique further comprises reprogramming said redundant system to replace said system experiencing said failure.

11. The method of claim 6 wherein said hardware and software redundancy technique further comprises applying an analytical model to estimate a measurable value generated by said system when said value can not be measured due to said failure.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said self-healing procedure comprises using an automatic fix technique.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said automatic fix technique comprises automatically resetting said system when a pending fault is detected.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said automatic fix technique comprises automatically upgrading a software version.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein automatically upgrading a software version further comprises at least one of maintaining a repository of various versions of software, maintaining a matrix identifying a software version to use with said system and determining said software version based on said matrix.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein at least two of said self-healing control technique, said redundancy technique and said automatic fix technique are applied simultaneously.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting a failure further comprising detecting an impending failure.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a self-healing procedure further comprises determining a level of confidence as to a cause of said failure.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said level of confidence is greater than 51 percent.

20. The method of claim 18 further comprising requiring a user to answer questions specific to said locomotive when said level of confidence is below said desired threshold.

21. The method of claim 2 further comprising logging an alert if at least one of said self-healing techniques did not correct said failure and said level of confidence does not exceed said desired threshold.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein determining said self-healing technique further comprises evaluating said failure with a matrix comprising a list of failures fixable with said self-healing technique.

23. In a railroad locomotive having a plurality of systems which collectively are used for locomotive operations, a system for self-healing a system of said plurality of systems comprising:

a. a sensor connected to at least one of said systems to monitor and collect operating condition data;

b. a diagnostics system that receives said data and isolates at least one of a pending and a current failure;

c. a processor connected to said diagnostics system to determine a self-healing technique for said failure; and

d. wherein said self-healing technique comprising at least one of a self-healing control technique, a redundancy technique, and an automatic fix technique.

24. The system of claim 23 further comprising a memory device connected to said processor.

25. The system of claim 23 wherein said diagnostics system uses at least one of a rule-based reasoning, case-based reasoning, and a belief network to isolate said fault.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein said processor is integrated in said diagnostics system.

27. The system of claim 23 wherein said self-healing control technique comprises at least one of a technique comprising operating in a safe mode, operating in at a less than optimal operating condition, and operating with an alternate control algorithm.

28. The system of claim 23 wherein said redundancy technique comprises using at least one of a redundant hardware and a redundant software program when a fault is associated with at least one of another piece of hardware and another software program.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein said redundant hardware is programmed to replace a function of said hardware associated with said fault.

30. The system of claim 23 wherein said automatic fix technique comprises at least one of automatically resetting at least one of a component and a subsystem and automatically upgrading a software version.