System and method for monitoring and detecting faults in a closed-loop system

• US 8,700,360 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2010
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cummins Industries Incorporated (Cummins Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cummins Industries Incorporated (Cummins Incorporated)
• Inventors: Garimella, Phanindra, Bishop, Howard
• Primary Examiner(s): Charioui, Mohamed
• Assistant Examiner(s): KUAN, JOHN CHUNYANG
• Application Number:
  US12/983,260
• Publication Number:
  US 20120167665A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 702/190, 701/29.1, 701/33.7, 701/102, 701/103, 701/108
• US Class Current: 702/190
• CPC Class Codes: F01N 2900/0408 using a feed-back loop
• CPC Class Codes: F01N 2900/0418 using integration or an accumulated value within an elapsed period
• CPC Class Codes: F02B 29/0406 Layout of the intake air cooling or coolant circuit
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2041/1432 the system including a filter, e.g. a low pass or high pass filter
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2041/288 for performing a transformation into the frequency domain, e.g. Fourier transformation
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/0072 Estimating, calculating or determining the EGR rate, amount or flow sensors in EGR systems F02M26/45
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/1401 characterised by the control or regulation method F02D41/1473, F02D41/1477 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/22 Safety or indicating devices for abnormal conditions in air/fuel ratio feedback systems F02D41/1495, in electric control linkage F02D11/107, in purge control systems F02M25/0809
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 26/05 High pressure loops, i.e. wherein recirculated exhaust gas is taken out from the exhaust system upstream of the turbine and reintroduced into the intake system downstream of the compressor
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 26/23 Layout, e.g. schematics
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 26/47 the characteristics being temperatures, pressures or flow rates
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 26/49 Detecting, diagnosing or indicating an abnormal function of the EGR system
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 15/10 by monitoring exhaust gases or combustion flame
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 23/165 using filters
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0205 by means of a monitoring system capable of detecting and responding to faults
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0218 characterised by the fault detection method dealing with either existing or incipient faults
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0221 Preprocessing measurements, e.g. data collection rate adjustment; Standardization of measurements; Time series or signal analysis, e.g. frequency analysis or wavelets; Trustworthiness of measurements; Indexes therefor; Measurements using easily measured parameters to estimate parameters difficult to measure; Virtual sensor creation; De-noising; Sensor fusion; Unconventional preprocessing inherently present in specific fault detection methods like PCA-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems

Abstract

A closed-loop system having a controllable variable is monitored to detect the off-nominal behavior and raise an alert when fault is detected. The faults show up in such a way that the tracking error signal is impacted and this impact manifests itself as a change in the frequency components. A filter isolates a band of frequency components of the tracking error signal that are more impacted than others by deviation caused by a fault to be detected. The filter can effectively amplify the section of the error tracking signal that contains the frequency components having impact. In addition, the filter will also have the characteristics to attenuate the impact of other frequency components. An accumulated error signal is generated from the filtered tracking error signal, compared with a predetermined fault threshold characteristic, and a fault alert is provided if a predetermined threshold is satisfied.

Claims

1. A method of detecting fault in a closed-loop system, comprising:

monitoring a tracking error signal indicative of a difference between a reference value of a variable of the closed-loop system to be controlled and a measured value of the variable being controlled;

filtering the tracking error signal to isolate a band of frequency components impacted by deviation in the tracking error signal caused by a fault to be detected, said isolated band being a subband having less frequency components than a band of frequency components corresponding to the tracking error signal, the subband present in a bandwidth of a tracking error signal of a corresponding predetermined nominal version of the closed-loop system, and the subband having a cutoff frequency toward a lower end of the band of frequency components corresponding to the tracking error signal;

generating an accumulated error signal from the filtered tracking error signal;

comparing, using a processor, the accumulated error signal with a predetermined fault threshold characteristic, said comparison based on a difference between spectral power of the subband of the filtered tracking error signal and spectral power of the subband present in the bandwidth of the tracking error signal of the corresponding predetermined nominal version of the closed-loop system; and

providing an indicator of fault in the closed-loop system if the accumulated error signal meets the predetermined threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining whether an enable condition has been satisfied before allowing the filtering, generating, comparing and providing steps to commence.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein generating an accumulated error signal includes providing the filtered tracking error signal to a moving average filter.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the moving average filter is a cusum filter.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of filtering the tracking error signal comprises providing the tracking error signal to a low pass filter having a stop-band frequency less than about 0.5 Hz.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of generating an accumulated error signal includes adjusting the accumulated error using a bleed-off factor.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the closed-loop control system is part of an internal combustion engine system.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the closed-loop system is at least one of an air-handling system that controls and regulates an amount of fresh air-flow and EGR flow sent into a cylinder, a fuel system that controls a timing of fuel injection and an amount of fuel that is injected into the cylinder, and a control system of an exhaust aftertreatment system of the internal combustion engine system.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the indicator of fault is provided as output from an on-board diagnostic (OBD) system of the internal combustion engine system.

10. A system for monitoring a tracking error signal indicative of a difference between a reference value of a variable of a closed-loop system to be controlled and a measured value of the variable being controlled and detecting faults in the closed-loop system, comprising:

a first filter module adapted to receive the tracking error signal and filter the tracking error signal to isolate a band of frequency components impacted by deviation in the tracking error signal caused by a fault to be detected, said isolated band being a subband having less frequency components than a band of frequency components corresponding to the tracking error signal, the subband present in a bandwidth of a tracking error signal of a corresponding predetermined nominal version of the closed-loop system, and the subband having a cutoff frequency toward a lower end of the band of frequency components corresponding to the tracking error signal;

a second filter module communicatively coupled with the first filter module and adapted to receive the filtered tracking error signal and generate an accumulated error signal from the filtered tracking error signal; and

a fault processing module communicatively coupled with the second filter module and adapted to receive the accumulated error signal and compare the accumulated error signal with a stored predetermined fault threshold characteristic and provide an indication of fault in the closed-loop system if the accumulated error signal meets the predetermined fault threshold characteristic, said comparison based on a difference between spectral power of the subband of the filtered tracking error signal and spectral power of the subband present in the bandwidth of the tracking error signal of the corresponding predetermined nominal version of the closed-loop system.

11. The system according to claim 10, further comprising an enable condition module adapted to determine whether an enable condition has been satisfied before allowing the filtering, generating, comparing and providing steps to commence.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein the second filter module is a moving average filter.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the moving average filter is a cusum filter.

14. The system according to claim 10, wherein the first filter module is a low pass filter having a stop-band frequency less than about 0.5 Hz.

15. The system according to claim 10, wherein generating an accumulated error signal includes adjusting the accumulated error using a bleed-off factor.

16. The system according to claim 10, wherein the closed-loop control system is part of an internal combustion engine system.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the closed-loop system is at least one of an air-handling system that controls and regulates an amount of fresh air-flow and EGR flow sent into a cylinder, a fuel system that controls a timing of fuel injection and an amount of fuel that is injected into the cylinder, and a control system of an exhaust aftertreatment system of the internal combustion engine system.

18. The system according to claim 16, wherein the indication of fault is provided to as output of an on-board diagnostic (OBD) system of the internal combustion engine system.

19. An internal combustion engine system, comprising:

an engine;

an intake manifold connected to the engine;

an intake body fluidly connected to the intake manifold, said intake body including a chamber through which charge air flows;

an exhaust manifold connected to the engine;

an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) passage fluidly connected at one end thereof to the exhaust manifold and at another end thereof to the chamber of the intake body, wherein exhaust gas flow through said EGR passage is controlled by an EGR closed-loop system as a function of an exhaust flow tracking error signal; and

a monitor for detecting faults in the EGR closed-loop system, said monitor including;

a first filter element that receives the exhaust tracking error signal and filters the tracking error signal to isolate a band of frequency components impacted by deviation in the error signal caused by a fault to be detected and provide a filtered tracking error signal having the isolated frequency band, said isolated band being a subband having less frequency components than a band of frequency components corresponding to the tracking error signal, the subband present in a bandwidth of a tracking error signal of a corresponding predetermined nominal version of the closed-loop system, and the subband having a cutoff frequency toward a lower end of the band of frequency components corresponding to the tracking error signal;

a second filter element communicatively coupled with the first filter element and adapted to receive the filtered tracking error signal and generate an accumulated error signal from the filtered tracking error signal; and

a fault processing element communicatively coupled with the first filtering module and adapted to receive the accumulated error signal, compare the accumulated error signal with a stored predetermined fault threshold characteristic, and provide an indicator of fault in the closed-loop system if the accumulated error signal meets the predetermined threshold, said comparison based on a difference between spectral power of the subband of the filtered tracking error signal and spectral power of the subband present in the bandwidth of the tracking error signal of the corresponding predetermined nominal version of the closed-loop system.

20. The internal combustion engine system of claim 19, wherein the monitor is part of an on board diagnostic system of the internal combustion engine system.