Abstract: A method for monitoring and controlling an environment of an indoor space within a building includes obtaining a future weather data for an area where the building is located, the building including a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system configured to control the environment within the indoor space; receiving at least one of a current temperature and a current humidity within the indoor space; receiving at least one of a temperature range and a humidity range for the indoor space; determining an operation schedule for the HVAC system based on at least the future weather data and the at least one of the temperature range and the humidity range; and controlling operation of the HVAC system in accordance with the operation schedule.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described to create a comprehensive model from multiple input data sources in distributed manner for performing diagnostics and/or prognostics of a complex system/platform having its modules/parts implemented independent of each other. In an embodiment, the proposed system for creating a comprehensive connected model of a complex platform includes a input data receive module configured to receive data/content/information from one or more input data sources associated with different modules of the complex platform in a distributed manner, a dependency determination module configured to analyze a plurality of entities/variables retrieved from the data and determine dependency relationships between the plurality of entities by creating a edge list, and a connected model creation module configured to create a comprehensive connected model (connected graph) from the edge list.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described to create a comprehensive model from multiple input data sources in distributed manner for performing diagnostics and/or prognostics of a complex system/platform having its modules/parts implemented independent of each other. In an embodiment, the proposed system for creating a comprehensive connected model of a complex platform includes a input data receive module configured to receive data/content/information from one or more input data sources associated with different modules of the complex platform in a distributed manner, a dependency determination module configured to analyze a plurality of entities/variables retrieved from the data and determine dependency relationships between the plurality of entities by creating a edge list, and a connected model creation module configured to create a comprehensive connected model (connected graph) from the edge list.

Abstract: Environmental control systems and techniques for monitoring heat exchanger fouling are provided herein. In an embodiment, a technique for monitoring heat exchanger fouling includes providing a correlation of heat exchanger fouling to an operating variable. The correlation is programmed into a maintenance system that includes a processor that is adapted to receive data regarding the operating variable. The operating variable is chosen from inlet temperatures of input streams into the heat exchanger and outlet temperatures of output streams out of the heat exchanger, heat exchanger pressure drop, overall heat transfer coefficient value, speed of rotation of an air conditioning machine that includes the heat exchanger, and combinations thereof. Data regarding the operating variable is gathered via a sensor that is adapted to measure the operating variable. The measured operating variable is determined to correspond to excessive heat exchanger fouling in accordance with the correlation using the processor.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for building and executing reconfigurable algorithms in on-board environments which require pre-certification of the compiled code, such as avionics, flight control, and military applications. The code execution architecture includes a library of reusable function modules in the form of pre-compiled code blocks; an algorithm execution utility (AEU) for processing a user-assembled string of code blocks; and a customer interface for selecting code blocks, defining their associated parameters and sequence (execution order), structuring inputs and outputs, and for providing the integrated, machine readable application to the AEU at run time.

Abstract: A system and method for supplying a corrective maintenance plan for a system includes supplying diagnostic data to a processor. The diagnostic data are representative of a set of two or more potential independent faults within the system, and each of the potential independent faults in the set has a unique corrective maintenance plan associated therewith. The diagnostic data are processed, in the processor, to select only one of the corrective maintenance plans. Maintenance plan data representative of the selected corrective maintenance plan are generated in the processor. For identical sets of two or more potential independent faults, the selected maintenance plan is not always the same.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for determining a lowest total cost maintenance plan. The method comprises receiving a sequence of maintenance actions in an order of a waiting time for each maintenance action, wherein one of the maintenance actions is likely to repair the failure mode. Each maintenance action has an associated cost equal to a waiting time cost, an execution time cost and a material cost, wherein the waiting time of each maintenance action is the time required to requisition and receive material required to perform the maintenance action. The method also constructs a maintenance plan comprising a primary requisition and a secondary requisition by assigning each of the sequence of maintenance actions to one of the primary and secondary requisition.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for optimizing parameters of a plurality of selected diagnostic and/or prognostic algorithms in a tunable diagnostic algorithm library. A plurality of sensed data sets having an actual diagnostic label associated therewith is supplied to each of the diagnostic algorithms. A value for each parameter of each of the algorithms that are to be optimized is supplied. A computed diagnostic label is generated for each of the sensed data sets using each of the selected algorithms, a fault model, and the values for each parameter, each of the computed diagnostic labels and each of the actual diagnostic labels are supplied to a generic objective function, to thereby calculate an objective function value, and the value of one or more of the parameters is varied using an optimization routine that repeats certain of these steps until the objective function value is minimized.

Abstract: A system and method for supplying a corrective maintenance plan for a system includes supplying diagnostic data to a processor. The diagnostic data are representative of a set of two or more potential independent faults within the system, and each of the potential independent faults in the set has a unique corrective maintenance plan associated therewith. The diagnostic data are processed, in the processor, to select only one of the corrective maintenance plans. Maintenance plan data representative of the selected corrective maintenance plan are generated in the processor. For identical sets of two or more potential independent faults, the selected maintenance plan is not always the same.

Abstract: Environmental control systems and techniques for monitoring heat exchanger fouling are provided herein. In an embodiment, a technique for monitoring heat exchanger fouling includes providing a correlation of heat exchanger fouling to an operating variable. The correlation is programmed into a maintenance system that includes a processor that is adapted to receive data regarding the operating variable. The operating variable is chosen from inlet temperatures of input streams into the heat exchanger and outlet temperatures of output streams out of the heat exchanger, heat exchanger pressure drop, overall heat transfer coefficient value, speed of rotation of an air conditioning machine that includes the heat exchanger, and combinations thereof. Data regarding the operating variable is gathered via a sensor that is adapted to measure the operating variable. The measured operating variable is determined to correspond to excessive heat exchanger fouling in accordance with the correlation using the processor.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for determining a lowest total cost maintenance plan. The method comprises receiving a sequence of maintenance actions in an order of a waiting time for each maintenance action, wherein one of the maintenance actions is likely to repair the failure mode. Each maintenance action has an associated cost equal to a waiting time cost, an execution time cost and a material cost, wherein the waiting time of each maintenance action is the time required to requisition and receive material required to perform the maintenance action. The method also constructs a maintenance plan comprising a primary requisition and a secondary requisition by assigning each of the sequence of maintenance actions to one of the primary and secondary requisition.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for optimizing parameters of a plurality of selected diagnostic and/or prognostic algorithms in a tunable diagnostic algorithm library. A plurality of sensed data sets having an actual diagnostic label associated therewith is supplied to each of the diagnostic algorithms. A value for each parameter of each of the algorithms that are to be optimized is supplied. A computed diagnostic label is generated for each of the sensed data sets using each of the selected algorithms, a fault model, and the values for each parameter, each of the computed diagnostic labels and each of the actual diagnostic labels are supplied to a generic objective function, to thereby calculate an objective function value, and the value of one or more of the parameters is varied using an optimization routine that repeats certain of these steps until the objective function value is minimized.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for selecting a maintenance plan such that the cost of the maintenance plan is the lowest or near the lowest. The method comprises receiving a set of maintenance actions, wherein one of the repair actions is likely to repair the failure mode. The set of maintenance actions is sequenced in the increasing order of their waiting times. Each maintenance action has an associated cost equal to a waiting time cost, an execution time cost and a material cost, wherein the waiting time of each maintenance action is the time required to requisition and receive material required to perform the maintenance action. The method also constructs a maintenance plan comprising a first requisition and a second requisition by assigning each of the sequence of maintenance actions to one of the first or the second requisition.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for adaptively detecting trend changes in data. An initial set of data points is collected and a curve fit thereof is computed. A set of new data points is collected, and whether or not a trend change has occurred is detected. If a trend change has not occurred, the set of new data points is made part of the initial set of data points, and the steps of computing a curve fit, collecting new data points, and detecting whether or not a trend change has occurred are repeated. If, however, a trend change has occurred, a determination is made as to where the trend change was initiated, a curve fit for all data collected from where the detected trend change was initiated is computed, and the steps of collecting new data points and detecting whether or not a trend change has occurred are repeated.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for building and executing reconfigurable algorithms in on-board environments which require pre-certification of the compiled code, such as avionics, flight control, and military applications. The code execution architecture includes a library of reusable function modules in the form of pre-compiled code blocks; an algorithm execution utility (AEU) for processing a user-assembled string of code blocks; and a customer interface for selecting code blocks, defining their associated parameters and sequence (execution order), structuring inputs and outputs, and for providing the integrated, machine readable application to the AEU at run time.

Abstract: A system and method for reducing or eliminating built-in tests and diagnostic trouble codes that are set as a result of improper parameter values. The method includes collecting field failure data that identifies diagnostic trouble codes and parameters of the system that are used to set diagnostic trouble codes. The method transforms the collected data into a format more appropriate for human analysis and pre-processes the transferred data to identify and remove information that could bias the human analysis. The method includes plotting linear and nonlinear combinations of operation parameters, performing data mining and analysis for detecting inappropriate settings of fault codes in the pre-processed data and providing the mined data to a subject matter expert for review to determine whether a diagnostic trouble code has been issued because of improper parameters.