Patent ID: 6950782

Claim:
A method of utilizing model based intelligent agents for diagnosing and isolating malfunctions in a computer-controlled machinery comprising the steps of: disposing a plurality of intelligent agents in the computer controlled machinery, wherein the plurality of agents are disposed in a plurality of hierarchical levels and each intelligent agent has diagnostic capability relative to the hierarchical level the intelligent agent is disposed in, and the plurality of intelligent agents are in data communication with a plurality of computer controllers disposed within the machinery and with each other; collecting data from the plurality of computer controllers disposed within the computer controlled machinery via at least one intelligent agent disposed in a first hierarchical level, wherein the collected data is analyzed to obtain a first level of diagnostic information and the first level of diagnostic information is communicated to at least one intelligent agent disposed in a second hierarchical level; employing at least one intelligent agent disposed in the second hierarchical level to perform a second level of diagnostic tasks on the first level of diagnostic information to obtain a second level of diagnostic information, and the second level of diagnostic information is communicated to at least one intelligent agent disposed in a third hierarchical level; employing the at least one intelligent agent disposed in the third hierarchical level to perform a third level of diagnostic tasks using the second level of diagnostic information, wherein the third level of diagnostic tasks includes analyzing the second level of diagnostic information relative to reference information obtained from a remotely located knowledge database, to accomplish fault isolation within the computer controlled machinery.