Vehicle monitoring and reporting system and method

• US 7,065,433 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2003
• Issued: 06/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Basu, Sabyasachi, Maggiore, John B., Frans, William R., Iverson, R. Eugene
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thu V.
• Application Number:
  US10/360,295
• Publication Number:
  US 20040158367A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,229 Days
• Field of Search: 701 8- 9, 701/24, 701 29- 36, 701/117, 701119-120, 340/425.5, 340/438, 340/439, 340/945, 340/961
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/006 Indicating maintenance

Abstract

The system and associated method for monitoring a vehicle receives data, which may be fault data and/or prognostic data, associated with operation of the vehicle, such as via a data gathering element. In addition, at least one user preference is applied to the data, such as via a customization element, and at least a portion of the data is presented, such as via a display element. The user preference(s) may be an alerting preference, which includes alerting the user one the data reaches a predetermined threshold, a prioritization preference, which includes prioritizing the data based upon historical data, and/or a data delivery preference, which includes delivering the data to one or more locations.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for a vehicle comprising a plurality of components, wherein the monitoring system comprises:

a data gathering element capable of receiving data associated with operation of the vehicle and indicative of an occurrence of at least one event;

a processing element for determining, prior to a vehicle failure, a probability of vehicle failure based upon the prior occurrence of an event as indicated by the data received by said data gathering element and further based upon a passage of time following the occurrence of the event, wherein the probability of vehicle failure determined by said processing element increases over time following the occurrence of the event;

a customization element for applying at least one user preference to the data, wherein the at least one user preference comprises prioritization preferences including directions to prioritize the data based upon historical data related to at least one of the vehicle and a type of the vehicle, and wherein said customization element is capable of applying alerting preferences, which include directions to alert the user beginning some time after the occurrence of an event when said processing element has determined that the probability of vehicle failure has increased over time after the occurrence of the event to at least a predetermined value; and

a display element for presenting at least a portion of the data received by said data gathering element after said customization element applies the at least one user preference to the data.

2. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said data gathering element is capable of receiving at least one of fault data and prognostic data associated with operation of the vehicle.

3. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said data gathering element is located in the vehicle, and said customization element is located outside the vehicle, and further comprising a communication link between said data gathering element and said customization element for transmitting data between said data gathering element and said customization element.

4. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said data gathering element comprises said customization element.

5. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said data gathering element is located outside of the vehicle, and further comprising a communication link between the vehicle and said data gathering element for transmitting data between the vehicle and said data gathering element.

6. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said data gathering element is capable of integrating the data received from the vehicle with other data associated with at least one of a design of the vehicle, a maintenance history of the vehicle, a maintenance supply list for the vehicle, and an aggregate performance of the type of vehicle, and wherein said display element is capable of receiving and displaying the integrated data.

7. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the data comprises events associated with operation of the vehicle, and wherein said customization element is capable of applying alerting preferences, which include directions to alert the user once the data indicates that a maximum number of events have occurred.

8. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the data comprises events associated with operation of the vehicle, and wherein said customization element is capable of applying prioritization preferences, which include directions to prioritize the data based upon a probability of vehicle failure after the occurrence of an event, and wherein data associated with a higher probability of vehicle failure has a higher priority than data associated with a lower probability of vehicle failure.

9. The monitoring system according to claim 8, wherein said customization element is capable of applying prioritization preferences, which include directions to display the data via said display element based upon the priority of the data.

10. The monitoring system according to claim 8, wherein said customization element is capable of applying data delivery preferences, which include directions to immediately deliver the data to the user when the probability of vehicle failure after the occurrence of an event in the data is at least a predetermined value.

11. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said display element comprises at least one of a pager, an electronic mail display device, and a terminal, and wherein said customization element is capable of applying data delivery preferences, which include directions to deliver data to the user via at least one of the pager, an electronic email display device, and a terminal.

12. The monitoring system according to claim 1 wherein the alerting preferences applied by said customization element include directions to alert the user when said processing element determines that the probability of vehicle failure has reached the predetermined value.

13. The monitoring system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element determines the probability of vehicle failure at different times following receipt of the data by said data gathering element.

14. A method for monitoring a vehicle comprising a plurality of components, wherein the method comprises:

receiving data associated with operation of the vehicle and indicative of an occurrence of at least one event;

determining, prior to a vehicle failure, a probability of vehicle failure based upon the prior occurrence of an event as indicated by the received data and further based upon a passage of time following the occurrence of the event, wherein the probability of vehicle failure that is determined increases over time following the occurrence of the event;

applying at least one user preference to the data that has been received by applying at least one prioritization preference governing prioritizing the data based upon historical data related to at least one of the vehicle and a type of the vehicle, wherein applying at least one user preference comprises applying alerting preferences that provide directions to alert the user beginning some time after the occurrence of an event when the probability of vehicle failure is determined to have increased over time after the occurrence of the event to at least a predetermined value; and

presenting at least a portion of the data after applying the at least one user preference to the data.

15. The method for monitoring a vehicle according to claim 14, wherein said receiving data comprises receiving at least one of fault data and prognostic data associated with operation of the vehicle.

16. The method for monitoring a vehicle according to claim 14, further comprising integrating the data regarding the operation of the vehicle with other data associated with at least one of a design of the vehicle, a maintenance history of the vehicle, a maintenance supply list for the vehicle, and an aggregate performance for the type of vehicle, and wherein presenting at least a portion of the data comprises presenting at least a portion of the integrated data.

17. The method for monitoring a vehicle according to claim 14, wherein presenting at least a portion of the data comprises displaying at least a portion of the data via a display element.

18. The method for monitoring a vehicle according to claim 14, wherein the data comprises events associated with operation of the vehicle, and wherein applying at least one user preference comprises applying alerting preferences so as to alert the user once a maximum number of events occur in the data.

19. The method for monitoring a vehicle according to claim 14, wherein the data comprises events associated with operation of the vehicle, and wherein applying at least one user preference comprises applying prioritization preferences based upon a probability of vehicle failure after the occurrence of an event, wherein data associated with a higher probability of vehicle failure has a higher priority than data associated with a lower probability of vehicle failure.

20. The method for monitoring a vehicle according to claim 19, wherein applying at least one user preference comprises applying prioritization preferences that provide directions for presenting the data based upon the priority of the data.

21. The method for monitoring a vehicle according to claim 19, wherein applying at least one user preference comprises applying data delivery preferences that provide directions to immediately deliver the data to the user when the probability of vehicle failure after the occurrence of an event in the data is at least a predetermined value.

22. The method for monitoring a vehicle according to claim 14, wherein presenting at least a portion of the data comprises transmitting the data to at least one of a pager, an electronic mail display device, and a terminal, for display thereon, and wherein applying at least one user preference comprises applying data delivery preferences that provide directions to deliver data to the user via at least one of the pager, the electronic email display device, and the terminal.

23. The method according to claim 14 wherein applying the alerting preferences comprises applying alerting preferences that include directions to alert the user when the probability of vehicle failure is determined to have reached the predetermined value.

24. The method according to claim 14 wherein determining the probability comprises determining the probability of vehicle failure at different times following receipt of the data.

25. A system for reporting vehicle monitoring data, comprising:

a data gathering element capable of receiving data representative of events associated with operation of a vehicle and indicative of an occurrence of at least one event;

a processing element capable of consolidating the gathered data and determining, prior to vehicle failure, a probability of failure of the vehicle based upon the prior occurrence of an event as indicated by the data received by said data gathering element and further based upon a passage of time following the occurrence of the event, wherein the probability of vehicle failure determined by said processing element increases over time following the occurrence of the event; and

a customization element capable of receiving and applying at least one user preference that provides directions to alert the user regarding the data at the time when said processing element has determined that the probability of failure of the vehicle for the event associated with the data has increased over time after the occurrence of the event to at least a predetermined value.

26. The system according to claim 25, further comprising a storage element capable of storing at least one predetermined value representing at least one probability of failure of the vehicle for at least one event.

27. The system according to claim 25, further comprising a display element for displaying at least the data associated with events that cause the predetermined value to at least be met by the probability of failure of the vehicle.

28. The system according to claim 27, wherein said display element comprises at least one of a pager, an electronic email display device, and a terminal, and wherein said customization element is capable of applying delivery preferences, which include directions to deliver data to the user via at least one of the pager, the electronic email display device, and the terminal.

29. The system according to claim 25, wherein said customization element is also capable of assigning a user-defined status to data associated with an event based upon the probability of failure of the vehicle for the event.

30. The system according to claim 25, wherein said data gathering element is capable of receiving at least one of fault data and prognostic data associated with operation of the vehicle.

31. The system according to claim 25, wherein said data gathering element is located in the vehicle, and said customization element is located outside the vehicle, and further comprising a communication link between said data gathering element and said customization element for transmitting data between said data gathering element and said customization element.

32. The system according to claim 25, wherein said data gathering element comprises said customization element.

33. The system according to claim 25, wherein said data gathering element is located outside the vehicle, and further comprising a communication link between the vehicle and said data gathering element for transmitting data between the vehicle and said data gathering element.

34. The system according to claim 25 wherein the at least one user preference applied by said customization element includes directions to alert the user when said processing element determines that the probability of vehicle failure has reached the predetermined value.

35. The system according to claim 25 wherein said processing element determines the probability of vehicle failure at different times following receipt of the data by said data gathering element.

36. A method for reporting vehicle monitoring data, comprising:

receiving data comprising events associated with operation of a vehicle and indicative of an occurrence of at least one event;

consolidating the data and determining, prior to a vehicle failure, a probability of failure of the vehicle based upon the prior occurrence of an event as indicated by the received data and further based upon a passage of time following the occurrence of the event, wherein the probability of vehicle failure that is determined increases over time following the occurrence of the event; and

applying at least one user preference that provide directions to alert the user regarding the data at the time when the probability of failure of the vehicle for the event associated with the data is determined to have increased over time after the occurrence of the event to at least a predetermined value.

37. The method according to claim 36, further comprising storing at least one predetermined value representing at least one probability of failure of the vehicle for at least one event.

38. The method according to claim 36, further comprising displaying at least the data associated with events that cause the predetermined value to at least be met by the probability of failure of the vehicle.

39. The method according to claim 38, wherein displaying comprises transmitting the data to at least one of a pager, an electronic email display device, and a terminal, and wherein applying at least one user preference comprises applying delivery preferences, which include directions to deliver data to the user via at least one of the pager, the electronic email display device, and the terminal.

40. The method according to claim 38, wherein consolidating the data comprises integrating the data regarding the operation of the vehicle with other data associated with at least one of a design of the vehicle, a maintenance history of the vehicle, a maintenance supply list for the vehicle, and an aggregate performance for the type of vehicle, and wherein displaying the data comprises displaying at least a portion of the integrated data.

41. The method according to claim 36, wherein applying at least one user preference comprises assigning a user-defined status to data associated with an event based upon the probability of failure of the vehicle for the event.

42. The method according to claim 36, wherein receiving data comprises receiving at least one of fault data and prognostic data associated with operation of the vehicle.

43. The method according to claim 36 wherein applying the at least one user preference comprises applying at least one user preference that includes directions to alert the user when the probability of vehicle failure is determined to have reached the predetermined value.

44. The method according to claim 36 wherein determining the probability comprises determining the probability of vehicle failure at different times following receipt of the data.