Patent ID: 7369948

Claim:
A method for detecting defects in a fluid delivery line, the method comprising: transmitting sensor data from a plurality of sensors disposed in said fluid delivery line, wherein each one of the plurality of sensors comprises a mote coupled to a plurality of sensing devices disposed in a film system, wherein said sensing devices comprise an array of pressure sensing devices configured to generate a plurality of signals, wherein the plurality of signals generated varies in response to variations in pressure, wherein a first mote associated with a first of said sensors is configured to receive sensor data from at least one other mote associated with another of said sensors, wherein the first mote is further configured to transmit data collected from the plurality of sensing devices associated with said first sensor and to transmit data received from said at least one other mote; collecting sensor data from said sensors using a communications hub configured to receive data from at least one of said sensors; and forwarding the collected sensor data to a processor coupled to the communications hub and predicting possible failures in said fluid delivery system by analyzing the collected sensor data using the processor, wherein said analysis comprises searching for one or more patterns in said collected data associated with said array of pressure sensing devices for at least a portion of said sensors disposed downstream to a component of said fluid delivery line, wherein at least a portion of said patterns are associated with a known type of failure in said component.