Intelligent integrated diagnostics

• US 8,086,423 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2010
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SeeByte Ltd. (General Dynamics Corporation), Heriot-Watt University
• Original Assignee: SeeByte Ltd. (General Dynamics Corporation), Heriot-Watt University
• Inventors: Hamilton, Kelvin, Brown, Keith, Taylor, Nick, Lane, David
• Primary Examiner(s): TSAI, CAROL S W
• Application Number:
  US12/852,126
• Publication Number:
  US 20100306588A1
• Time in Patent Office: 508 Days
• Field of Search: 702/183, 714/25, 714/26, 714/E11.029, 714/37, 714/31, 716/134, 716/102, 716/121, 716/122, 716/135, 716/139
• US Class Current: 702/183
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0251 Abstraction hierarchy, e.g. "complex systems", i.e. system is divided in subsystems, subsystems are monitored and results are combined to decide on status of whole system

Abstract

A diagnostic tools and methods are disclosed. The diagnostic tool is configured or operable to nominate a commonly connected component in a target system as being faulty if more than a pre-determined number of active components connected to the commonly connected component appear faulty.

Claims

1. A method for diagnosing faults in a target system comprising:

receiving sensor data for sensors in the target system;

using the received data to generate system specific data;

searching for potentially faulty components by applying a plurality of diagnostic tools to the received and/or generated data, which tools are operable to nominate components that are potentially faulty;

storing a fault suspicion indicator for each component that is nominated as being faulty;

focusing the search for potentially faulty components using details of the nominated faulty components, preferably component specific design information and

creating a list of potentially faulty components based on the results of the steps of searching and focusing.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of storing a fault suspicion indicator involves allocating a measure of suspicion to every potentially faulty component and changing this, typically increasing this, each time that component is nominated as faulty by one of the diagnostic tools.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising storing the sensor data and/or generated data as a function of time.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the step of focusing uses the time dependent data to determine if there is a correlation between the behaviour of a faulty component and any other components.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of focusing involves identifying commonly connected components associated with components that are suspected of being faulty.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein only active components are considered.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a step of analysing component specific data to determine whether components are faulty, preferably wherein the component specific data is provided in a knowledge database that has the same structure as the topological model.

8. A diagnostics system for detecting and/or diagnosing faults in a target system, the system being configured or operable to:

receive sensor data for sensors in the target system;

generate system specific data, using the received data;

search for potentially faulty components by applying a plurality of diagnostic tools to the received and/or generated data, which tools are operable to nominate components that are potentially faulty;

store a fault suspicion indicator for each component that is nominated as being faulty;

focus the search for potentially faulty components using details of the nominated faulty components and create a list of potentially faulty components based on the results of the steps of searching and focusing.

9. A system as claimed in claim 8 further comprising a knowledge store that has a structure that reflects or corresponds to that of the topological map, the store having a plurality of sections or libraries each of which is provided for storing data associated with one of the nodes defined in the topological map.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer program, for diagnosing faults in a target system, the computer program having code or instructions for:

processing data received from one or more sensors on the target system to generate system specific data;

searching for potentially faulty components by applying a plurality of diagnostic tools to the received and/or generated data, which tools are operable to nominate components that are potentially faulty;

storing a fault suspicion indicator for each component that is nominated as being faulty;

focusing the search for potentially faulty components using details of the nominated faulty components and

creating a list of potentially faulty components based on the results of the steps of searching and focusing.