Patent ID: 8068104

Claim:
An apparatus for graphically displaying analytical data, comprising: a generic model to graphically represent a complex set of physical characteristics potentially leading to catastrophic failure of a physical system as follows: a depiction of wedge shaped regions extending outward from a central region, each wedge shaped region distinguished from others by color or pattern or other distinguishing feature, where the wedge shaped regions represent predetermined subsystems of the physical system; a series of concentric ridges overlapping the wedge shaped regions and substantially centered about the central region, where distance of each ridge from the central region represents functioning level as to the subsystems represented by the wedge shaped regions intersecting the ridge, and where greater distance of ridges from the central region indicates greater respective functioning levels; an icon depicting by color code an overall functioning level of the physical system, said icon selected from the group consisting of: an orb pulsating within the central region; a rotating radar sweep extending from the central region, the sweep having an outer radius, said radius representative of a lowest failure bar for a subsystem with a lowest overall status level, said sweep rotating in a counter-clockwise direction when a most recent change in an overall status level is a decrease and rotating in a clock-wise direction at all other times; a ball rotating in an orbit defined by two ridges, the proximity of the ball's orbit to the central region being representative of an overall status level for the physical system, said ball rotating in a counter-clockwise direction when a most recent change in an overall status level is a decrease and rotating in a clock-wise direction at all other times; markers graphically depicting the functioning level of a subsystem by highlighting one or more of the ridges for a wedge shaped region; one or more mappings, each mapping correlating predetermined characteristics of the physical system with the following in the generic model: functioning level represented by the ridges, subsystems of the physical system represented by the wedge shaped regions, overall functioning of the physical system represented in the icon; a sensor interface to receive data including measurements of the physical characteristics of the physical system; and a graphics generator to prepare a presentation of the generic model according to the measurements of the physical characteristics as correlated to the generic model by a selected one of the mappings.