Reverse failure analysis method and apparatus for diagnostic testing

• US 20070294003A1
• Filed: 06/14/2006
• Published: 12/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: SPX Corporation
• Inventors: Underdal, Olav M., Portyanko, Oleksiy, Mayes, Randy L., Gilbert, Harry M., Fountain, Gregory J., Wittliff, William W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,765,040 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A reverse failure analyzer determines a group of diagnostic test procedures related to a particular vehicle component from a pool of diagnostic procedures, and then identifies the specific failure modes of each of the diagnostic test procedures. The reverse failure analyzer further associates the specific failure modes with the respective vehicle component associated with each of the diagnostic test procedures, and the symptoms associated with each of the diagnostic test procedures to the correlated vehicle components and failure modes. In addition, the reverse failure analyzer can cross-reference various vehicle components that can be the root cause of a particular symptom or a vehicle operational problem. Furthermore, the reverse failure analyzer can receive observed symptoms regarding a particular test subject vehicle and correlate the observed symptoms to the vehicle components that can cause the symptoms based on the results of reverse failure analyses.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of reverse failure analysis, comprising:

selecting a first diagnostic test related to a first component of a vehicle from a pool of diagnostic tests; and

associating a first symptom with the first component based on the first diagnostic test.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a plurality of related diagnostic tests related to the first component from the pool, the related diagnostic tests including the first diagnostic test; and

associating a plurality of symptoms with the first component based on the related diagnostic tests, the plurality of symptoms including the first symptom.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of failure modes of the first component based on the related diagnostic tests; and

associating the failure modes with the first component.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising associating at least one of the symptoms with each of the failure modes based on the related diagnostic tests.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting at least one related diagnostic test related to each of a plurality of components of the vehicle from the pool, the plurality of components including at least the first component and a second component;

associating at least one of a plurality of symptoms with each of the components based on the related diagnostic tests, the plurality of symptoms including the first symptom, wherein the first symptom is associated with at least the first component and the second component; and

cross-referencing the first component with at least the second component based on the first symptom being associated with at least the first component and the second component.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an observed symptom regarding a test subject vehicle; and

correlating the observed symptom to the first component based on the observed symptom corresponding to the first symptom.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a second diagnostic test related to the first component from the pool;

associating a second symptom with the first component based on the second diagnostic test;

receiving a plurality of observed symptoms regarding a test subject vehicle; and

correlating the observed symptoms to the first component based on the observed symptoms corresponding to at least the first symptom and the second symptom.

8. A computer program product for performing a reverse failure analysis, including a computer-readable medium encoded with instructions configured to be executed by a processor in order to perform predetermined operations comprising:

selecting a first diagnostic test related to a first component of a vehicle from a pool of diagnostic tests; and

associating a first symptom with the first component based on the first diagnostic test.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the predetermined operations further comprise:

selecting a plurality of related diagnostic tests related to the first component from the pool, the related diagnostic tests including the first diagnostic test; and

associating a plurality of symptoms with the first component based on the related diagnostic tests, the plurality of symptoms including the first symptom.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the predetermined operations further comprise:

identifying a plurality of failure modes of the first component based on the related diagnostic tests; and

associating the failure modes with the first component.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the predetermined operations further comprise associating at least one of the symptoms with each of the failure modes based on the related diagnostic tests.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the predetermined operations further comprise:

selecting at least one related diagnostic test related to each of a plurality of components of the vehicle from the pool, the plurality of components including at least the first component and a second component;

associating at least one of a plurality of symptoms with each of the components based on the related diagnostic tests, the plurality of symptoms including the first symptom, wherein the first symptom is associated with at least the first component and the second component; and

cross-referencing the first component with at least the second component based on the first symptom being associated with at least the first component and the second component.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the predetermined operations further comprise:

receiving an observed symptom regarding a test subject vehicle; and

correlating the observed symptom to the first component based on the observed symptom corresponding to the first symptom.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the predetermined operations further comprise:

selecting a second diagnostic test related to the first component from the pool;

associating a second symptom with the first component based on the second diagnostic test;

receiving a plurality of observed symptoms regarding a test subject vehicle; and

correlating the observed symptoms to the first component based on the observed symptoms corresponding to at least the first symptom and the second symptom.

15. A diagnostic tool for performing a reverse failure analysis, comprising:

means for selecting a first diagnostic test related to a first component of a vehicle from a pool of diagnostic tests; and

first association means for associating a first symptom with the first component based on the first diagnostic test.

16. The diagnostic tool of claim 15, wherein the selecting means is further configured to select a plurality of related diagnostic tests related to the first component from the pool, the related diagnostic tests including the first diagnostic test, and the first association means is further configured to associate a plurality of symptoms with the first component based on the related diagnostic tests, the plurality of symptoms including the first symptom.

17. The diagnostic tool of claim 16, further comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of failure modes of the first component based on the related diagnostic tests;

second association means for associating the failure modes with the first component; and

third association means for associating at least one of the symptoms with each of the failure modes based on the related diagnostic tests.

18. The diagnostic tool of claim 15, further comprising means for cross-referencing the first component with at least a second component based on the first symptom being associated with at least the first component and the second component, wherein the selecting means is further configured to select at least one related diagnostic test related to each of a plurality of components of the vehicle from the pool, the plurality of components including at least the first component and the second component, and the first association means is further configured to associate at least one of a plurality of symptoms with each of the components based on the related diagnostic tests, the plurality of symptoms including the first symptom, wherein the first symptom is associated with at least the first component and the second component.

19. The diagnostic tool of claim 15, further comprising:

means for receiving an observed symptom regarding a test subject vehicle; and

means for correlating the observed symptom to the first component based on the observed symptom corresponding to the first symptom.

20. The diagnostic tool of claim 15, further comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of observed symptoms regarding a test subject vehicle; and

means for correlating the observed symptoms to the first component based on the observed symptoms corresponding to at least the first symptom and a second symptom, wherein the selecting means is further configured to select a second diagnostic test related to the first component from the pool and the first association means is further configured to associate the second symptom with the first component based on the second diagnostic test.

21. A diagnostic tool for performing a reverse failure analysis, comprising:

a diagnostic test selection module configured to select a first diagnostic test related to a first component of a vehicle from a pool of diagnostic tests; and

a first association module configured to associate a first symptom with the first component based on the first diagnostic test.

22. The diagnostic tool of claim 21, wherein the diagnostic test selection module is further configured to select a plurality of related diagnostic tests related to the first component from the pool, the related diagnostic tests including the first diagnostic test, and the first association module is further configured to associate a plurality of symptoms with the first component based on the related diagnostic tests, the plurality of symptoms including the first symptom.

23. The diagnostic tool of claim 22, further comprising:

a failure mode identification module configured to identify a plurality of failure modes of the first component based on the related diagnostic tests;

a second association module configured to associate the failure modes with the first component; and

a third association module configured to associate at least one of the symptoms with each of the failure modes based on the related diagnostic tests.

24. The diagnostic tool of claim 21, further comprising a cross-reference module configured to cross-reference the first component with at least a second component based on the first symptom being associated with at least the first component and the second component, wherein the diagnostic test selection module is further configured to select at least one related diagnostic test related to each of a plurality of components of the vehicle from the pool, the plurality of components including at least the first component and the second component, and the first association module is further configured to associate at least one of a plurality of symptoms with each of the components based on the related diagnostic tests, the plurality of symptoms including the first symptom, wherein the first symptom is associated with at least the first component and the second component.

25. The diagnostic tool of claim 21, further comprising:

an observed symptom receiver module configured to receive an observed symptom regarding a test subject vehicle; and

a correlation module configured to correlate the observed symptom to the first component based on the observed symptom corresponding to the first symptom.

26. The diagnostic tool of claim 21, further comprising:

an observed symptom receiver module configured to receive a plurality of observed symptoms regarding a test subject vehicle; and

a correlation module configured to correlate the observed symptoms to the first component based on the observed symptoms corresponding to at least the first symptom and a second symptom, wherein the diagnostic test selection module is further configured to select a second diagnostic test related to the first component from the pool and the first association module is further configured to associate the second symptom with the first component based on the second diagnostic test.