Patent ID: 6868319
Filing Date: 2005-03-15
Classification: G05B

Abstract:
1. A method for constructing a diagnostic model for correlating at least one observed symptom with at least one suspect component that is capable of causing the at least one observed symptom upon failure, the method comprising: obtaining systemic information relating to the components and input-output relationships of the components; obtaining experiential information relating to direct relationships between component failures and the observed symptoms; obtaining factual information relating to component reliability; constructing the diagnostic model comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of arcs that interconnect the nodes in a manner defined by the systemic information and the experiential information, wherein the plurality of nodes include nodes representing the components and the observed symptoms, wherein each node has at least two states, and wherein constructing the diagnostic model comprises assigning a probability to each state of a node based upon at least one of the systemic information, the experiential information and the factual information; and associating additional information with at least one component that is selected from the group consisting of component availability, time to repair the component, cost to repair the component, time to replace the component and cost to replace the component.