METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING A PIECE OF DEFECTIVE EQUIPMENT IN AN AIRCRAFT

• US 20150088363A1
• Filed: 09/19/2014
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus, Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Original Assignee: Airbus, Airbus Operations (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV)
• Inventors: BESSEAU, Stphane, HUET, Jean-Max, MAILLARD, Bruno, MICHAUD, Fran?ois, BEN HAMOU, Eric, JOFFRE, Loc
• Granted Patent: US 9,834,317 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29.6
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0085 Devices for aircraft health monitoring, e.g. monitoring flutter or vibration
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method of assistance for troubleshooting. A purpose is to prioritize identifiers each associated with a piece of equipment the failure of which can be the cause of a fault within an aircraft. The method is based on transmitting to an expert system, a list of identifiers, and receiving, for each identifier, a family of pertinent parameters, with each pertinent parameter being associated with at least one sensor of the aircraft and taking measurements of the pertinent parameters. Knowing these measurements, it is possible to deduce therefrom, for each identifier, a priority corresponding to the probability that the associated equipment is effectively defective. The disclosure also relates to a system for implementing this method.

Claims

1. A method of assistance in troubleshooting for an aircraft, the method comprising:

receiving a message transmitted by the aircraft and reporting a fault; and

transmitting to an equipment identifying device, a query formed using the message, and obtaining in response a list of identifiers each associated with a piece of equipment the failure of which can be the cause of the fault;

wherein these steps are implemented by a troubleshooting assistance server, with the troubleshooting assistance server then;

transmitting to an expert system, a query formed using the list of identifiers, and receiving a response that gives, for each identifier, a family of pertinent parameters, with each pertinent parameter being associated with at least one sensor of the aircraft;

transmitting, to a data acquisition device on board the aircraft, an acquisition order and receiving in return the measurements of the pertinent parameters;

and in that the expert system implements the following steps, for each family of pertinent parameters;

comparing measurements of the pertinent parameters of the family, with a predetermined criterion associated with the family;

according to the results of the comparison, assigning a priority, to the identifier corresponding to the family.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the priority of an identifier corresponds to how the corresponding piece of equipment is likely to be defective.

3. The method according to claim 1, comprising consulting the expert system in order to obtain, for each family of pertinent parameters, the predetermined criterion associated with the family.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a pertinent parameter comprises at least one element from among a Boolean, an integer, a floating point number, a sequence of numerical values that corresponds to a portion of a curve, a sequence of characters.

5. The method according to claim 1, comprising a step, referred to as an initial step, of determining, for each identifier, a family of pertinent parameters and a predetermined criterion that are associated.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the initial step comprises a storage:

of measurements of parameters, associated with preceding flights of aircraft; and

fault information associated with these flights and coming from a post flight report and/or a logbook of the aircraft.

7. The method according to claim 6, comprising:

for each preceding flight of aircraft, defining a basic set that groups together the measurements of at least one parameter referred to as a useful parameter;

ranking the basic sets into clusters defined by at least one common characteristic;

using the fault information, assigning, to the preceding flights and to the basic sets that correspond to these preceding flights, information according to which a predetermined piece of equipment is defective.

8. The method according to claim 7, comprising an adjustment of a choice of the at least one common characteristic and of the at least one useful parameter, in such a way as to form a cluster, referred to as a useful cluster:

wherein a portion of the basic sets associated with the defective predetermined piece of equipment, is higher than a predetermined accuracy threshold,

with the at least one useful parameter corresponding to the family of pertinent parameters associated with an identifier of the predetermined piece of equipment, and the at least one common characteristic corresponding to the predetermined criterion associated with the family.

9. The method according to claim 7, comprising an adjustment of a choice of the at least one common characteristic and of the at least one useful parameter, in such a way as to form a cluster, referred to as a useful cluster:

wherein a portion of the basic sets associated with the defective predetermined piece of equipment, is higher than a predetermined accuracy threshold, and

receiving a portion of the basic sets associated with the defective predetermined piece of equipment, higher than a predetermined coverage threshold,

with the at least one useful parameter corresponding to the family of pertinent parameters associated with an identifier of the predetermined piece of equipment, and the at least one common characteristic corresponding to the predetermined criterion associated with the family.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the accuracy threshold is at least 60%.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the accuracy threshold is at least 90%.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the coverage threshold is at least 60%.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the coverage threshold is at least 90%.

14. The method according to claim 8, comprising an adjustment of the choice of the at least one useful parameter, such that the basic sets of the useful cluster group together the measurements of a minimum number of useful parameters.

15. The method according to claim 8, comprising a calculation of an accuracy of the useful cluster, defined by the ratio of a number of basic sets of the useful cluster associated with the defective predetermined piece of equipment, over a total number of basic sets of the useful cluster, with the assigned priority being equal to the accuracy.

16. The method according to claim 1, comprising testing the pieces of equipment the failure of which can be the cause of the fault, in the descending order of the priorities assigned to their respective identifiers.

17. A system for assistance in troubleshooting for an aircraft, comprising a troubleshooting assistance server and an expert system in communication with the server, wherein:

the expert system hosts a database that stores a plurality of triplets, each triplet comprising;

an identifier associated with a piece of equipment of the aircraft,

a family of pertinent parameters, with each pertinent parameter being associated with at least one sensor of the aircraft, and

a predetermined criterion in order to assign a priority or a non-priority nature to the identifier;

the troubleshooting assistance server is configured to;

receive from a warning device of the aircraft a message reporting a fault of the aircraft;

transmit to an equipment identifying device a query formed using the message, and obtain in response a list of identifiers each associated with a piece of equipment the failure of which can be the cause of the fault;

transmit to the expert system a query formed using the list of identifiers, and receive a response that gives, for each identifier, the family of pertinent parameters stored within the same triplet;

transmit to a data acquisition device on board the aircraft an acquisition order and receive in return measurements of the pertinent parameters;

the expert system being configured to compare, for each family of pertinent parameters, the received measurements with a predetermined criterion and to deduce therefore a priority of the identifier.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein priority of an identifier corresponds to how the corresponding piece of equipment is likely to be defective.