Intelligent Integrated Diagnostics

• US 20100306588A1
• Filed: 08/06/2010
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SeeByte Ltd. (General Dynamics Corporation), Heriot-Watt University
• Original Assignee: SeeByte Ltd. (General Dynamics Corporation), Heriot-Watt University
• Inventors: Brown, Keith, Hamilton, Kelvin, Taylor, Nick, Lane, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,086,423 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/26
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0251 Abstraction hierarchy, e.g. "complex systems", i.e. system is divided in subsystems, subsystems are monitored and results are combined to decide on status of whole system

Abstract

A diagnostic tools and methods are disclosed. The diagnostic tool is configured or operable to nominate a commonly connected component in a target system as being faulty if more than a pre-determined number of active components connected to the commonly connected component appear faulty.

Claims

1. A diagnostic tool that is configured or operable to nominate a commonly connected component in a target system as being faulty if more than a pre-determined number of active components connected to the commonly connected component appear faulty.

2. A diagnostic tool as claimed in claim 1 that is configured to interrogate a database or store to determine which components in the target system are designated as being faulty.

3. A diagnostic tool as claimed in claim 2, wherein the database or store is a topological map of a target system that has nodes that correspond to components and links that correspond to connections between the components, and fault data and/or information is stored in association with the component nodes, preferably within the component nodes.

4. A diagnostic method that involves nominating a commonly connected component in a target system as being faulty if more than a pre-determined number of active components connected to the commonly connected component appear faulty.

5. A computer program, preferably on a data carrier or a computer readable medium, the computer program having code or instructions for nominating a commonly connected component in a target system as being faulty if more than a pre-determined number of active components connected to the commonly connected component appear faulty.

6. A method for diagnosing faults in a target system comprising:

receiving sensor data for sensors in the target system;

using the received data to generate system specific data, for example modelled data;

searching for potentially faulty components by applying a plurality of diagnostic tools to the received and/or generated data, which tools are operable to nominate components that are potentially faulty;

storing a fault suspicion indicator for each component that is nominated as being faulty;

focussing the search for potentially faulty components using details of the nominated faulty components, preferably component specific design information and

creating a list of potentially faulty components based on the results of the steps of searching and focussing.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the step of storing a fault suspicion indicator involves allocating a measure of suspicion to every potentially faulty component and changing this, typically increasing this, each time that component is nominated as faulty by one of the diagnostic tools.

8. A method as claimed in claim 6 comprising storing the sensor data and/or generated data as a function of time.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the step of focusing uses the time dependent data to determine if there is a correlation between the behaviour of a faulty component and any other components.

10. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the step of focusing involves identifying commonly connected components associated with components that are suspected of being faulty.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein only active components are considered.

12. A method as claimed in claim 6 further comprising a step of analysing component specific data to determine whether components are faulty, preferably wherein the component specific data is provided in a knowledge database that has the same structure as the topological model.

13. A diagnostics system for detecting and/or diagnosing faults in a target system, the system being configured or operable to:

receive sensor data for sensors in the target system;

generate system specific data, for example modelled data, using the received data;

search for potentially faulty components by applying a plurality of diagnostic tools to the received and/or generated data, which tools are operable to nominate components that are potentially faulty;

store a fault suspicion indicator for each component that is nominated as being faulty;

focus the search for potentially faulty components using details of the nominated faulty components and create a list of potentially faulty components based on the results of the steps of searching and focussing.

14. A system as claimed in claim 13 further comprising a knowledge store that has a structure that reflects or corresponds to that of the topological map, the store having a plurality of sections or libraries each of which is provided for storing data associated with one of the nodes defined in the topological map.

15. A computer program, preferably on a data carrier or a computer readable medium, for diagnosing faults in a target system, the computer program having code or instructions for:

processing data received from one or more sensors on the target system to generate system specific data, for example modelled data;

searching for potentially faulty components by applying a plurality of diagnostic tools to the received and/or generated data, which tools are operable to nominate components that are potentially faulty;

storing a fault suspicion indicator for each component that is nominated as being faulty;

focussing the search for potentially faulty components using details of the nominated faulty components and

creating a list of potentially faulty components based on the results of the steps of searching and focussing.

16. A diagnostics system comprising:

a topological map of a target system that has component nodes that correspond to components of the target system, parameter nodes for storing data relating to an associated component node and links that correspond to connections between the components;

means for receiving component data from one or more sensors on the target system;

means for up-dating a relevant parameter node of the topological map as and when new sensor data is received, and diagnostics means operable to use the data in the parameter nodes to diagnose faults.

17. A system as claimed in claim 16 that is configured to store a fault suspicion index in each component node, and change that index for a given component, typically increase the index, in the event that it is suspected that the given component is fault.

18. A system as claimed in claim 16 a knowledge store that has a structure that reflects or corresponds to that of the topological map, the store having a plurality of sections or libraries each of which is provided for storing data associated with one of the nodes defined in the topological map.

19. A diagnostics method that uses a topological map of a target system that has component nodes that correspond to components of the target system, parameter nodes for storing sensor data relating to an associated component node and links that correspond to connections between the components, the method comprising:

receiving component data from one or more sensors on the target system;

up-dating a relevant parameter node of the topological map as and when new sensor data is received, and using the data in the topological map to diagnose faults.

20. A method as claimed in claim 19 comprising storing a fault suspicion index in each component node, and changing that index for a given component, typically increase the index, in the event that it is suspected that the given component is fault.

21. A computer program, preferably on a data carrier or a computer readable medium, for diagnosing faults in a target system that is represented by a topological map that has component nodes that correspond to components of the target system, parameter nodes for storing sensor data relating to an associated component node and links that correspond to connections between the components, the computer program having code or instructions for:

receiving component data from one or more sensors on the target system;

up-dating a relevant parameter node of the topological map as and when new sensor data is received, and using the data in the topological map to diagnose faults.