Patent ID: 11972692
Assignee: TEXTRON INNOVATIONS INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A method of operating an unmanned vehicle comprising a vehicle management system (VMS), comprising:
receiving, by the VMS, a travel plan identifying one or more critical elements along a travel route;
receiving, by the VMS, statistical failure data related to one or more components comprising the unmanned vehicle;
collecting, by the VMS, sensor data from one or more sensors comprising the unmanned vehicle, the sensor data related to operational variables affecting the unmanned vehicle;
calculating, by the VMS, a health state assessment, the health state assessment comprising a probability of failure related to the one or more critical elements and calculated with the statistical failure data and the sensor data;
comparing, by the VMS, the probability of failure to a specified probability;
if the probability of failure does not satisfy the specified probability, activating a contingency plan and returning to the travel plan after the contingency plan, and if the probability of failure satisfies the specified probability, continuing the travel plan; and
diagnosing one or more problems in the one or more components based on the sensor data, wherein the probability of failure is calculated by multiplying together one or more component failure rates of the one or more components, wherein the sensor data indicates a change in a pitch angle of the unmanned vehicle, and wherein the diagnosing comprises diagnosing that the change in the pitch angle is caused by a partial or whole loss of power in a rotor assembly comprising the unmanned vehicle.