Intergrated qualitative/quantitative reasoning with enhanced core predictions and extended test procedures for machine failure isolation using qualitative physics

Claim 1

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor estimating a time for performance for each of a plurality of machine test procedures by providing a summation, for each test procedure, of estimated times for performing portions of each of said test procedures, wherein portions of said machine test procedures which are unnecessary due to a present test configuration of the machine are not included in said summation; the processor choosing a particular test procedure from said group of machine test procedures by selecting the one of said machine test procedures having a highest test score, said test score being inversely proportional to said summation; the processor prompting a user to perform said particular test procedure and provide results thereof to the processor; the processor generating a plurality of pending hypotheses wherein each hypothesis has associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor propagating values indicative of said test results through said confluences to produce a set of predictions for values of confluence variables; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; and the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components.

Claim 2

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor estimating a time for performance for each of a plurality of machine test procedures by providing a summation, for each test procedure, of estimated times for performing portions of each of said test procedures, wherein portions of said machine test procedures which are unnecessary due to a present test configuration of the machine are not included in said summation; the processor choosing a particular test procedure from said group of machine test procedures by selecting the one of said machine test procedures having a highest test score, said test score being inversely proportional to said summation; the processor prompting a user to perform said particular test procedure and provide results thereof to the processor; the processor generating a plurality of pending hypotheses wherein each hypothesis has associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor propagating values indicative of said test results through said confluences to produce a set of predictions for values of confluence variables; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; and the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components.

Claim 5

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor prompting a user to perform one of a plurality of machine test procedures and provide results thereof to the processor, said test procedure being created by applying a generic template to at least one of: a specific component and specific parameter; the processor generating a plurality of pending hypotheses having associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor propagating values indicative of said test results through said confluences to produce a set of predictions for values of confluence variables; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; and the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components.

Claim 6

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor prompting a user to perform one of a plurality of machine test procedures and provide results thereof to the processor, said test procedure being created by applying a generic template to at least one of: a specific component and specific parameter; the processor generating a plurality of pending hypotheses having associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor propagating values indicative of said test results through said confluences to produce a set of predictions for values of confluence variables; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; and the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components.

Claim 9

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor receiving machine signals indicative of machine test procedure results; the processor generating a first set of pending hypotheses having associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor propagating said machine signals through said confluences to produce a set of predictions for values of confluence variables of a particular hypothesis by the steps of: selecting a subset of said variables, said subset containing unrestricted and partially restricted confluence variables of said hypothesis; temporarily assigning possible qualitative values to each variable of said subset to determine if one or more of said possible qualitative values results in a consistent set of predictions for said particular hypothesis; and restricting each variable of said subset to values which produce a consistent set of predictions; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; and the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components.

Claim 10

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor receiving machine signals indicative of machine test procedure results; the processor generating a first set of pending hypotheses having associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor propagating said machine signals through said confluences to produce a set of predictions for values of confluence variables of a particular hypothesis by the steps of: selecting a subset of said variables, said subset containing unrestricted and partially restricted confluence variables of said hypothesis; temporarily assigning possible qualitative values to each variable of said subset to determine if one or more of said possible qualitative values results in a consistent set of predictions for said particular hypothesis; and restricting each variable of said subset to values which produce a consistent set of predictions; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; and the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components.

Claim 21

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor receiving machine signals indicative of machine test procedure results; the processor generating a first set of pending hypotheses having associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor assigning to confluence variables of a particular hypothesis values that correspond to said machine signals; the processor propagating values for fully restricted and partially restricted confluence variables through said confluences to further restrict values of other variables of said confluences; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; and the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components.

Claim 22

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor receiving machine signals indicative of machine test procedure results; the processor generating a first set of pending hypotheses having associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor assigning to confluence variables of a particular hypothesis values that correspond to said machine signals; the processor propagating values for fully restricted and partially restricted confluence variables through said confluences to further restrict values of other variables of said confluences; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; and the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components.

Claim 23

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor receiving machine signals indicative of machine test procedure results; the processor generating a first set of pending hypotheses having associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor propagating said machine signals through said confluences to produce a set of predictions for values of confluence variables of a particular hypothesis, wherein at least one of said values is a quantitative value; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components; and the processor accessing a global landmark ordering to correlate quantitative values and qualitative values of said confluence variables.

Claim 24

A method of using a processor to determine the presence of particular faults in a machine, comprising the steps of: the processor receiving machine signals indicative of machine test procedure results; the processor generating a first set of pending hypotheses having associated therewith a set of confluences using variables and equations to describe operation of components of the machine which are assumed not to have failed; the processor propagating said machine signals through said confluences to produce a set of predictions for values of confluence variables of a particular hypothesis, wherein at least one of said values is a quantitative value; the processor discarding hypotheses which produce an inconsistent set of predictions; the processor saving hypotheses which produce a consistent set of predictions; the processor indicating the presence of one or more particular machine faults in response to there remaining a single hypothesis corresponding to failure of one or more particular machine components; and the processor accessing a global landmark ordering to correlate quantitative values and qualitative values of said confluence variables.