Enhanced diagnostic fault detection and isolation
First Claim
1. A fault detection and isolation apparatus for detecting and isolating faults in a helicopter comprising:
- an interface coupled to at least one helicopter subsystem and a processor, wherein said interface is a stand-alone module and comprises means for transferring data between the helicopter subsystem and the processor, and wherein the interface comprises a character conversion module comprising means for converting characters transferred between the helicopter subsystem and the processor, a data conversion module comprising means for converting data transferred between the helicopter subsystem and the processor and a format conversion module comprising means for converting a format of data transferred between the helicopter subsystem and the processor;
wherein the processor includes a memory having software instructions embodied thereon for a test program sequence adapted to cause the processor to perform the steps of;
identifying at least one subsystem of the apparatus for testing;
generating a test sequence defining an order of testing of the at least one subsystem identified for testing and an order of individual tests to be performed on each subsystem identified for testing;
skipping subsystem tests from a previous test program sequence that have been successfully completed within a predetermined period of time prior to beginning another test program sequence, wherein skipping is performed when a variable is a first state;
generating periodic built-in-test commands;
generating interface test commands;
generating initiated built-in-test commands;
generating manual test promptsreceiving test result data from a periodic built-in-test, an interface test, an initiated built-in-test and a manual test;
processing the test result data, wherein processing test result data comprises conversion of built-in-test codes from numeric values into text messages;
detecting and isolating any faults to one or more candidate components associated with the detected faults; and
storing a result of the detecting and isolating in a database,wherein the processor detects and isolates faults in the helicopter.
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Abstract
A system and method for enhanced diagnostic fault detection and isolation is provided, wherein COTS/MOTS subsystems of a system under test are evaluated in a hierarchical manner providing improved test coverage and a reduction in ambiguity group size. The enhanced diagnostic fault detection and isolation method may proceed from automatic built-in-test to initiated built-in-test and finally to manual tests. At each stage of the testing, results may be evaluated to determine which, if any, components need replacing. The diagnostic system may report the results of testing in a fault log and/or a look-up table structure. The systems and methods of the present invention are suited to testing systems that incorporate COTS or MOTS subsystem components, and for use with an interactive electronic technical manual (IETM). Further, the diagnostic system is adaptable to a variety of subsystem interface protocols.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A fault detection and isolation apparatus for detecting and isolating faults in a helicopter comprising:
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an interface coupled to at least one helicopter subsystem and a processor, wherein said interface is a stand-alone module and comprises means for transferring data between the helicopter subsystem and the processor, and wherein the interface comprises a character conversion module comprising means for converting characters transferred between the helicopter subsystem and the processor, a data conversion module comprising means for converting data transferred between the helicopter subsystem and the processor and a format conversion module comprising means for converting a format of data transferred between the helicopter subsystem and the processor; wherein the processor includes a memory having software instructions embodied thereon for a test program sequence adapted to cause the processor to perform the steps of; identifying at least one subsystem of the apparatus for testing; generating a test sequence defining an order of testing of the at least one subsystem identified for testing and an order of individual tests to be performed on each subsystem identified for testing; skipping subsystem tests from a previous test program sequence that have been successfully completed within a predetermined period of time prior to beginning another test program sequence, wherein skipping is performed when a variable is a first state; generating periodic built-in-test commands; generating interface test commands; generating initiated built-in-test commands; generating manual test prompts receiving test result data from a periodic built-in-test, an interface test, an initiated built-in-test and a manual test; processing the test result data, wherein processing test result data comprises conversion of built-in-test codes from numeric values into text messages; detecting and isolating any faults to one or more candidate components associated with the detected faults; and storing a result of the detecting and isolating in a database, wherein the processor detects and isolates faults in the helicopter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A diagnostic method for detecting and isolating faults in a complex system comprising:
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identifying at least one subsystem of the complex system for testing; generating a test sequence defining an order of testing of the at least one subsystem identified for testing and an order of individual tests to be performed on each subsystem identified for testing; and performing a subsystem fault detection and isolation test for each subsystem of the complex system identified for testing using a stand-alone interface module, wherein the subsystem fault detection and isolation test comprises; checking prerequisite conditions; requesting periodic built-in-test results if available, if periodic built-in-test results are not available, then requesting periodic built-in-test be performed and requesting the results of the periodic built-in-test; receiving periodic built-in-test result data; testing interfaces; requesting execution of initiated built-in-test; requesting the results of the initiated built-in-test once it has completed; receiving initiated built-in-test result data; indicating any detected faults and isolating and indicating one or more components that are associated with the detected faults; and displaying a report indicating faults detected and components isolated for corrective action according to test results, wherein the report comprises a fault log listing a fault code, a time the fault code occurred, and a subsystem or assembly where the fault occurred for each fault, and wherein the report is generated in response to at least one result code from one of the following group;
a prerequisite test, a periodic built-in-test, a interface test, an initiated built-in-test and a manual test, in combination with a variable indicating the scope of the test that is being performed. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A fault detection and isolation apparatus for detecting and isolating faults in a complex system comprising:
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an interface coupled to at least one subsystem of the complex system and a processor, wherein said interface is a stand-alone module and comprises means for transferring data between the subsystem and the processor, and wherein the interface further comprises a character conversion module comprising means for converting characters transferred between the subsystem and the processor, a data conversion module comprising means for converting data transferred between the subsystem and the processor and a format conversion module comprising means for converting a format of data transferred between the subsystem and the processor; wherein the processor includes a memory having software instructions embodied thereon for a test program sequence that cause the processor to perform the steps of; identifying at least one subsystem of the complex apparatus for testing; generating a test sequence defining an order of testing of the at least one subsystem identified for testing and an order of individual tests to be performed on each subsystem identified for testing; skipping subsystem tests from a previous test program sequence that have been successfully completed within a predetermined period of time prior to beginning another test program sequence, wherein skipping is performed when a variable is a first state; generating periodic built-in-test commands; generating interface test commands; generating initiated built-in-test commands; generating manual test prompts; receiving test result data from the periodic built-in-test, the interface test, the initiated built-in-test and the manual test; processing the test result data; detecting and isolating any faults to one or more candidate components associated with the detected faults; and storing the test result data in a database, wherein the database may be organized by one of the following group;
error code, time of occurrence, and subsystem reporting a fault;wherein the processor detects and isolates faults in the complex apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification