SATELLITE ENABLED VEHICLE PROGNOSTIC AND DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A vehicle prognostic and diagnostic system, comprising:
- a vehicle maintenance computer (VMC) for prognosis and diagnosis of faults;
a vehicle operations network, wherein the vehicle operations network provides a communications link between the VMC and a plurality of vehicle related processors;
a plurality of sensors communicatively coupled to the vehicle operations network, wherein the plurality of sensors provide sensor data relating to operations of a plurality of vehicle sub-systems;
a vehicle maintenance database communicatively coupled to the VMC, wherein the vehicle maintenance database provides vehicle maintenance information to the VMC; and
a transceiver coupled to the VMC, wherein the transceiver selects at least one data link from a plurality of data links for communication with a ground station;
wherein the VMC detects when a fault occurs based on the sensor data and the vehicle maintenance data;
wherein the VMC detects when a fault is likely to occur based on the sensor data and the vehicle maintenance data;
wherein the VMC queries the vehicle maintenance database for a mitigating action when the VMC detects that either a fault occurs or a fault is likely to occur; and
wherein the transceiver uploads a maintenance message to the ground station when the vehicle maintenance database cannot provide the mitigating action.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, a vehicle prognostic and diagnostic system comprises: a vehicle maintenance computer (VMC) for prognosis and diagnosis of faults; a vehicle operations network (VON) providing a communications link between the VMC and vehicle related processors; sensors communicatively coupled to the VON providing sensor data relating to operations of vehicle sub-systems; a vehicle maintenance database communicatively coupled to the VMC providing vehicle maintenance information to the VMC; a transceiver coupled to the VMC, the transceiver selecting at least one data link from a plurality of data links for communication with a ground station. The VMC detects when a fault occurs or is likely to occur based on sensor data and the vehicle maintenance data. The VMC queries the database for mitigating action when it detects a fault occurs or is likely to occur. The transceiver uploads a message to the ground station when the database cannot provide mitigating action.
86 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A vehicle prognostic and diagnostic system, comprising:
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a vehicle maintenance computer (VMC) for prognosis and diagnosis of faults; a vehicle operations network, wherein the vehicle operations network provides a communications link between the VMC and a plurality of vehicle related processors; a plurality of sensors communicatively coupled to the vehicle operations network, wherein the plurality of sensors provide sensor data relating to operations of a plurality of vehicle sub-systems; a vehicle maintenance database communicatively coupled to the VMC, wherein the vehicle maintenance database provides vehicle maintenance information to the VMC; and a transceiver coupled to the VMC, wherein the transceiver selects at least one data link from a plurality of data links for communication with a ground station; wherein the VMC detects when a fault occurs based on the sensor data and the vehicle maintenance data; wherein the VMC detects when a fault is likely to occur based on the sensor data and the vehicle maintenance data; wherein the VMC queries the vehicle maintenance database for a mitigating action when the VMC detects that either a fault occurs or a fault is likely to occur; and wherein the transceiver uploads a maintenance message to the ground station when the vehicle maintenance database cannot provide the mitigating action. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of vehicle prognostics and diagnostics, comprising:
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collecting vehicle maintenance data from a plurality of sensors, wherein each of the plurality of sensors monitors at least one of a plurality of vehicle systems; combining vehicle maintenance data with trend data stored in a memory, wherein the trend data is derived from previously collected vehicle maintenance data; processing the vehicle maintenance data to determine when a fault has occurred; processing the vehicle maintenance data with the trend data to determine when a trigger point is exceeded; querying the vehicle maintenance database for a mitigating action to take when the vehicle maintenance data indicates either that the fault has occurred or the trigger point is exceeded; when querying the vehicle maintenance database does not provide the mitigating action, querying a ground station for the mitigating action, wherein querying the ground station includes creating a maintenance message comprising information related to at least one of the fault and the exceeded trigger point, uploading the maintenance message to the ground station and receiving a response from the ground station; and performing the mitigating action. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A vehicle prognostic and diagnostic system, comprising:
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a vehicle, comprising; a vehicle maintenance computer configured to determine at least one of when a fault has occurred and a trigger point has been exceeded based on vehicle maintenance data and trend data; one or more vehicle sub-system processors; one or more vehicle sensors communicatively coupled to the vehicle maintenance computer, wherein the one or more vehicle sensors detect the sensor data related to the one or more vehicle sub-system processors; a vehicle maintenance database communicatively coupled to the vehicle maintenance computer, wherein the vehicle maintenance database stores vehicle maintenance data; at least a first transceiver; when the vehicle maintenance computer determines at least one of when a fault has occurred and a trend exceeds a trigger point, the vehicle maintenance computer determines a mitigating action to take; and a ground system configured to receive a maintenance message comprising the vehicle maintenance information when the vehicle maintenance computer can not determine a mitigating action to take. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification