Analyzing fault logs and continuous data for diagnostics for a locomotive

• US 6,634,000 B1
• Filed: 02/01/2000
• Issued: 10/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Jammu, Vinay Bhaskar, Varma, Anil, Schneider, William Roy, Bliley, Richard Gerald, Roddy, Nicholas Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chu, Gabriel L.
• Application Number:
  US09/495,696
• Time in Patent Office: 1,351 Days
• Field of Search: 714/25, 714/26, 714/37
• US Class Current: 714/37
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0081 On-board diagnosis or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/021 Measuring and recording of train speed
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/023 Determination of driving direction of vehicle or train
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/025 Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates

Abstract

The present invention discloses a system and computer-implemented method for analyzing a fault log from a malfunctioning machine. The method includes receiving, from the malfunctioning machine, at least one of at least one fault code and at least one data code, at least one fault code and at least one anomaly code, and at least one data code and at least one anomaly code, and determining at least one of a cause of and a repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one of the at least one fault code and the at least one data code, the at least one fault code and the at least one anomaly code, and the at least one data code and the at least one anomaly code. The method desirably includes receiving a fault log comprising at least one fault code and at least one data pack, parsing the at least one data pack, and generating at least one data pack code for a portion of the at least one parsed data pack. Desirably, the determining the at least one of the cause of and the repair for the malfunctioning machine is based on the at least one fault code and the at least one data pack code. Advantageously, the method includes using a belief network, or case-based reasoning.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for analyzing a malfunctioning machine, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from the malfunctioning machine comprising a locomotive engine, at least one of at least one fault code and at least one data code, at least one fault code and at least one anomaly code, and at least one data code and at least one anomaly code wherein each fault code is associated with an anomalous operating condition of a locomotive, each data code includes operating conditions of the locomotive at the time of the anomalous operating condition, and wherein each anomaly code is indicative of an anomalous operating condition based on continuous monitoring of a stream of data; and

determining at least one of a cause of and a repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one of the at least one fault code and the at least one data code, the at least one fault code and the at least one anomaly code, and the at least one data code and the at least one anomaly code.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the receiving comprises receiving a fault log comprising at least one fault code and at least one data pack, parsing the at least one data pack and generating at least one data pack code for a portion of the at least one parsed data pack, and wherein the determining comprises determining the at least one of the cause of and the repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one fault code and the at least one data pack code.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein the at least one data pack code is based on at least one fault code.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein the at least one data pack code is based on a plurality of fault codes.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the determining comprises determining the at least one of the cause of and the repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one fault code, the at least one data pack code, and the at least one anomaly code.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 wherein the at least one anomaly code is generated from a generally continuous data stream.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the determining comprises using a belief network.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the determining comprises using case-based reasoning.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein the determining comprises generating from the at least one fault code and the at least one data pack code at least one distinct fault code and data pack code cluster, and determining the at least one of the cause of and the repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one distinct fault code and data pack code cluster.

10. A computer-implemented method for enabling diagnosis of a fault log, the method comprising:

receiving the fault log comprising a plurality of fault codes and a plurality of data packs from a malfunctioning machine comprising a locomotive engine wherein each fault code is associated with an anomalous operating condition of a locomotive, and wherein each data pack includes operating conditions of the locomotive at the time of the anomalous operating condition;

parsing the plurality of data packs; and

generating at least one data pack code for the parsed data packs.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 wherein the at least one data pack code is based on at least one fault code.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 wherein the at least one data pack code is based on a plurality of fault codes.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 further comprising receiving at least one anomaly and generating at least one anomaly codes for the at least one anomaly.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 wherein the at least one anomaly code is generated from a generally continuous data stream.

15. A system for analyzing a malfunctioning machine, said system comprising:

means for receiving, from the malfunctioning machine comprising a locomotive engine, at least one of at least one fault code and at least one data pack code, at least one fault code and at least one anomaly code, and at least one data code and at least one anomaly code wherein each fault code is associated with an anomalous operating condition of a locomotive, each data pack code includes operating conditions of the locomotive at the time of the anomalous operating condition, and wherein each anomaly code is indicative of an anomalous operating condition based on continuous monitoring of a stream of data; and

means for determining at least one of a cause of and a repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one of the at least one fault code and the at least one data code, the at least one fault code and the at least one anomaly code, and the at least one data code and the at least one anomaly code.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein means for receiving comprises means for receiving a fault log comprising at least one fault code and at least one data pack, means for parsing the at least one data pack, and means for generating at least one data pack code for a portion of the at least one parsed data pack, and wherein said means for determining comprises means for determining the at least one of the cause of and the repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one fault code and the at least one data pack code.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the at least one data pack code is based on at least one fault code.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the at least one data pack code is based on a plurality of fault codes.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein said means for determining comprises means for determining the at least one of the cause of and the repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one fault code, the at least one data pack code, and the at least one anomaly code.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19 wherein the at least one anomaly code is generated from a generally continuous data stream.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein said means for determining comprises a belief network.

22. The system of claim 15 wherein said means for determining comprises case-based reasoning.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the means for determining comprises means for generating from the at least one fault code and the at least one data pack code at least one distinct fault code and data pack code cluster, and means for determining the at least one of the cause of and the repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one distinct fault code and data pack code cluster.

24. A system for enabling diagnosis of a fault log, said system comprising:

a processor adapted to receive the fault log comprising a plurality of fault codes and a plurality of data packs from a malfunctioning machine comprising a locomotive engine wherein each fault code is associated with an anomalous operating condition of a locomotive, and wherein each data pack includes operating conditions of the locomotive at the time of the anomalous operating condition;

said processor adapted to parse the plurality of data packs; and

said processor adapted to generate at least one data pack code for the parsed data packs.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein said at least on data pack code is based on at least one fault code.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein said at least on data pack code is based on a plurality of fault codes.

27. The system of claim 24 further comprising said processor adapted to receive at least one anomaly and generate at least one anomaly code.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein said at least one anomaly code is generated from a generally continuous data stream.

29. At least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for analyzing a malfunctioning machine, the method comprising:

receiving, from the malfunctioning machine comprising a locomotive engine, at least one of at least one fault code and at least one data code, at least one fault code and at least one anomaly code, and at least one data code and at least one anomaly code wherein each fault code is associated with an anomalous operating condition of a locomotive, each data code includes operating conditions of the locomotive at the time of the anomalous operating condition, and wherein each anomaly code is indicative of an anomalous operating condition based on continuous monitoring of a stream of data; and

determining at least one of a cause of and a repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one of the at least one fault code and the at least one data code, the at least one fault code and the at least one anomaly code, and the at least one data code and the at least one anomaly code.

30. The at least one program storage device of claim 29 wherein the receiving comprises receiving a fault log comprising at least one fault code and at least one data pack, parsing the at least one data pack and generating at least one data pack code for a portion of the at least one parsed data pack, and wherein the determining comprises determining the at least one of the cause of and the repair for the malfunctioning machine based on the at least one fault code and the at least one data pack code.

31. An article of manufacture, comprising:

at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for enabling diagnosis of a fault log, the computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to receive the fault log comprising a plurality of fault codes and data packs from a malfunctioning machine comprising a locomotive engine wherein each fault code is associated with an anomalous operating condition of a locomotive, and wherein each data pack includes operating conditions of the locomotive at the time of the anomalous operating condition;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to parse the plurality of data packs; and

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to generate at least one data pack code for the parsed data packs.