Parametrizable system for centralized maintenance intended for an aircraft

• US 9,471,407 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2013
• Issued: 10/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales SA
• Original Assignee: Thales SA
• Inventors: Laval, Laurent, Marestin, Pascal, Subelet, Michel
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsai, Carol S
• Application Number:
  US13/891,048
• Publication Number:
  US 20130304420A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• Field of Search: 702/184, 701/1, 701/3, 701/14, 701/31.4, 701/32.1, 340/948, 340/425.5
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00

Abstract

A system for centralized maintenance, intended for an aircraft comprising a set of devices necessary for the flight and able to issue fault messages or alert messages, the maintenance system being able to communicate with this set of devices, comprises a software kernel parametrizable by means of a database of parameters, the software kernel comprising at least four elementary cells: a first cell for acquiring the fault messages and alert messages originating from the set of devices of the aircraft, a second cell for formulating a maintenance diagnosis defined by means of the fault messages and alert messages, a third cell for formulating and displaying a maintenance report to a maintenance operator of the aircraft, defined on the basis of the maintenance diagnosis, a fourth cell for communicating between the maintenance operator and the set of devices of the aircraft.

Claims

1. A system for centralized maintenance, intended for an aircraft comprising a set of devices necessary for flight and configured to issue fault messages or alert messages, said centralized maintenance system configured to communicate with the set of devices, comprising a certified software kernel parameterizable by means of a database of parameters, said certified software kernel comprising at least four elementary cells:

a first cell for acquiring the fault messages and alert messages originating from the set of devices of the aircraft,

a second cell for formulating a maintenance diagnosis defined by means of the fault messages and alert messages,

a third cell for formulating and displaying a maintenance report to a maintenance operator of the aircraft, defined on a basis of the maintenance diagnosis, and

a fourth cell for communicating between the maintenance operator and the set of devices of the aircraft,

wherein each of the cells comprising a certified software engine parameterizable by the database of parameters.

2. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 1, wherein the first cell for acquiring the fault messages and alert messages, further comprises means for broadcasting general parameters to the set of devices, said general parameters comprising at least, the date and the time, a flight number, a departure and destination airport, or a serial number of the aircraft.

3. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 1, wherein the second cell for formulating a maintenance diagnosis comprises means for:

filtering the fault messages and the alert messages, by means of criteria defined in the database of parameters,

establishing consistency between the fault messages and/or the alert messages,

formulating a maintenance diagnosis.

4. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 1, comprising means for storing aboard the aircraft one or more databases of parameters, and means for selecting a database used to parameterize each of the elementary cells of the software kernel.

5. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 1, comprising means for verifying compatibility between the database of parameters and each of the elementary cells of the certified software kernel.

6. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 1, comprising a qualified configuration tool making it possible to convert a configuration file describing an operational requirement of the system for centralized maintenance by means of a set of parameters structured in accordance with a configuration domain, into a database of parameters able to parameterize the certified software kernel of the system for centralized maintenance.

7. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 6, wherein the configuration domain comprises the definition of at least:

the set of devices of the aircraft, of their communication protocols, and of the physical interfaces of the device in the aircraft,

the fault messages associated with each device,

criteria for filtering and consistency analysis of the fault messages and/or alert messages,

criteria for sorting the fault and alert messages, able to define a tree of the maintenance report,

or interactive sequences between a maintenance operator and a device.

10. A method for developing a system for centralized maintenance according to claim 1, comprising a step of defining a configuration domain, said configuration domain being able by parameterization to cover a wide spectrum of operational requirements of the system for centralized maintenance, and a step of programming and certifying several generic software engines.

8. A method of centralized maintenance of an aircraft carried out by a centralized maintenance system, said centralized maintenance system comprising a set of devices necessary for flight and configured to issue fault messages or alert messages and

said centralized maintenance system being configured to communicate with the set of devices and comprising a certified software kernel parameterizable by means of a database of parameters,

the method, comprising calculation steps, each of the calculation steps comprise implementation with a certified software engine, parameterizable by means of a database of binary parameters for:

acquisition of the fault messages and alert messages issued by the set of devices of the aircraft,

formulation of a maintenance diagnosis determined on a basis of the fault messages and alert messages,

formulation and display of a maintenance report on a graphical interface destined for a maintenance operator of the aircraft, determined on a basis of the maintenance diagnosis, and

communication between the maintenance operator and the set of devices of the aircraft.

9. A program product comprising code instructions making it possible to perform the steps of the method of centralized maintenance according to claim 8.

11. A system for centralized maintenance implemented for an aircraft comprising a set of devices necessary for flight and configured to issue fault messages or alert messages, said centralized maintenance system configured to communicate with the set of devices, said centralized maintenance system comprising a certified software kernel parameterizable by a database of parameters, said certified software kernel comprising at least four elementary cells, said centralized maintenance system comprising:

a first cell implemented by a centralized maintenance computer for acquiring the fault messages and alert messages originating from the set of devices of the aircraft,

a second cell implemented by the centralized maintenance computer for formulating a maintenance diagnosis defined by means of the fault messages and alert messages,

a third cell implemented by the centralized maintenance computer for formulating and displaying a maintenance report to a maintenance operator of the aircraft, defined on a basis of the maintenance diagnosis, and

a fourth cell implemented by the centralized maintenance computer for communicating between the maintenance operator and the set of devices of the aircraft,

wherein each of the cells comprising a certified software engine parameterizable by the database of parameters.

12. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 11, wherein the first cell for acquiring the fault messages and alert messages, further comprises means for broadcasting general parameters to the set of devices, said general parameters comprising at least, the date and the time, a flight number, a departure and destination airport, or a serial number of the aircraft.

13. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 11, wherein the second cell for formulating a maintenance diagnosis comprises means for:

filtering the fault messages and the alert messages, by means of criteria defined in the database of parameters,

establishing consistency between the fault messages and/or the alert messages, and

formulating a maintenance diagnosis.

14. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 11, comprising means for storing aboard the aircraft one or more databases of parameters, and means for selecting a database used to parameterize each of the elementary cells of the software kernel.

15. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 11, comprising means for verifying compatibility between the database of parameters and each of the elementary cells of the certified software kernel.

16. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 11, comprising a qualified configuration tool making it possible to convert a configuration file describing an operational requirement of the system for centralized maintenance by means of a set of parameters structured in accordance with a configuration domain, into a database of parameters able to parameterize the certified software kernel of the system for centralized maintenance.

17. The system for centralized maintenance according to claim 16, wherein the configuration domain comprises the definition of at least:

the set of devices of the aircraft, of their communication protocols, and of the physical interfaces of the device in the aircraft,

the fault messages associated with each device,

criteria for filtering and consistency analysis of the fault messages and/or alert messages, and

criteria for sorting the fault and alert messages, able to define a tree of the maintenance report, or interactive sequences between a maintenance operator and a device.