Patent ID: 7346409
Filing Date: 2008-03-18
Classification: G06N,Y02P

Abstract:
1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a display device; a storage device; inferring means for inferring, when abnormality occurs in a product manufactured by manufacturing equipment and the abnormality is caused by stepwise accumulation of plural causes, a fundamental cause of the abnormality by specifying the causes stepwise and, at least at certain one stage, selectively specifying one cause out of two or more direct causes that cause a cause at the stage using at least inference data stored in the storage device in advance; reason data acquiring means for acquiring, assuming that n is a natural number equal to or larger than 2, i is an arbitrary natural number equal to or larger than 1 and equal to or smaller than n−1, the causes specified stepwise leading from the direct cause of the abnormality to the inferred fundamental cause are first to nth causes, a reason why the abnormality occurs from the first cause is a first reason and a reason why the ith cause occurs from the i+1th cause is an i+1th reason, data indicating, for each of certain causes at a certain stage, reasons why the certain causes occur from direct causes that cause the causes is reason data, the first cause and the abnormality are related causes concerning the first reason, and the i+1th cause and the ith cause are related causes concerning the i+1th reason, when the inferring means infers the fundamental cause, data concerning the first reason to the nth reason in the reason data from the storage device having the reason data stored therein; and display control means for causing the display device to display, for each of the reasons, the data concerning the first reason to the nth reason acquired in association with the related causes concerning the respective reasons.