Patent ID: 7600671

Claim:
A method of determining the cause of an error state for one or more components within an apparatus comprising a plurality of sensors arranged to monitor the operation of components of the apparatus and a control means arranged to receive information from said plurality of sensors, the method comprising: a) during operation of the apparatus, electronically analyzing said sensor information to ascertain sensor patterns from said sensor information; b) electronically comparing said sensor patterns with detectors comprising an adaptable error prediction system, each detector being a previously defined pattern, indicative of the condition of said one or more components within the apparatus and classifying a matching present state of the apparatus as being a precursor to a fatal state of as not being a precursor to a fatal state; c) upon detection during operation of the apparatus of a sensor pattern unable to be classified as indicating a precursor to a fatal or nonfatal state, electronically creating an immature detector to classify the sensor pattern, tolerizing the immature detector to evaluate if the detector correctly classifies a condition and discarding the immature detector if it fails to achieve tolerization existing detectors and known healthy states; d) upon validation of an immature detector, electronically adding the detector to the adaptable error prediction system; and e) electronically classifying said sensor patterns as being indicative of a precursor to a fatal or nonfatal state based upon a comparison of sensor patterns with said validated detectors comprising the adaptable error prediction system.