Patent Document ID: 9969507
Application ID: 13933964
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. System for performing diagnostics of an aircraft structure subject to loads, comprising: a sensor arrangement associated with said structure and designed to detect at least one state of the structure and which comprises a matrix of sensors located in relevant points of the structure and each of which is capable of detecting a physical parameter indicative of the local state of the structure and of emitting a respective electrical response signal correlated to the value assumed by said parameter; and electronic processing means of the neural network type, configured for: in a learning step: (a) based on a plurality of training data indicative of a state of the structure at a plurality of relevant detection points by association with at least one load condition, establishing an associative relationship between the values assumed by said parameter indicative of the state of the structure in a subset of said plurality of relevant detection points and the values of the state parameter in at least a residual relevant detection point; and in an operating step: (b) detecting the values assumed by said parameter indicative of the state of the structure in a plurality of relevant detection points in said at least one load condition; (c) based on the pre-established associative relationship, using the values assumed by said parameter indicative of the state of the structure in a subset of said plurality of detection points, estimating the values of the state parameter in at least one residual detection point; (d) comparing the estimated values and the detected values of the state parameter in said at least one residual detection point; and (e) determining an intact state of the structure if the detected and the estimated values of the state parameter substantially match, taking into consideration predetermined tolerances, or determining a defective state of the structure if said values of the state parameter differ, taking into consideration the predetermined tolerances; wherein said electronic processing means comprise a plurality of neural networks respectively associated with said relevant detection points, wherein each neural network is a network with Q levels, with d Q nodes per level, for each node a respective correlation parameter C being defined, a crossed correlation function ϕ associating a crossed correlation parameter K with each pair of correlation parameters C a , C b , with K a,b =ϕ(C a , C b ), a hyperbolic function f determining a correlation between each node of a level X i+1,j and the nodes of the preceding level X i,j as a function of said crossed correlation parameter, as: 
 X i+1,j =f (( x i,1 ,K (i,1)(i+1,J) ),( x i,2 ,K (i,2)(i+1,J) ),. .. ,( x i,N ,K (i,N),(i+1,J) ), the training of the network including determining the parameters C that minimize the difference between the calculated output value and its actual value.