Abstract: A system and method for predicting the occurrence of an event in a vehicle. The method includes monitoring a data stream including multi-dimensional tokens having information about one or more vehicle operating parameters. Further, the method includes the identification of a pattern of values of the one or more operating parameters in the data stream by mining the data stream using a temporal data miner, and predicting the occurrence of the event based on the correlation between the detected pattern and a pre-recorded pattern.

Abstract: A system and method for determining the root cause of a fault in a vehicle system, sub-system or component using models and observations. In one embodiment, a hierarchical tree is employed to combine trouble or diagnostic codes from multiple sub-systems and components to get a confidence estimate of whether a certain diagnostic code is accurately giving an indication of problem with a particular sub-system or component. In another embodiment, a hierarchical diagnosis network is employed that relies on the theory of hierarchical information whereby at any level of the network only the required abstracted information is being used for decision making. In another embodiment, a graph-based diagnosis and prognosis system is employed that includes a plurality of nodes interconnected by information pathways. The nodes are fault diagnosis and fault prognosis nodes for components or sub-systems, and contain fault and state-of-health diagnosis and reasoning modules.

Abstract: A system and method for converting text related to vehicle service to symptom codes. The method includes typing into work orders and service reports statements that describe the various symptoms and problems of a vehicle that is being serviced. The work orders and service reports are then transmitted to a database facility where they are analyzed. Prior to the reports being analyzed, the text in the work order and service reports is read by a machine reader that converts the text to symptom codes that describe particular vehicle conditions and symptoms. A processor analyzes the codes for patterns and other relationships, and can provide a display of such patterns. Further, the codes and reports are stored in a memory.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for automatic measurement of strain in a formed sheet metal sample. Prior to the forming operation, a grid of circles is imprinted on the sample and during the forming operation the circles are stretched to ellipses. The formed sample is exposed to an instrumentation camera and a digitized image of the pattern on the sample is stored in a digital computer. The computer is programmed to segment the image to distinguish the elliptical patterns from the background; to extract boundary points on an elliptical pattern and fit these points to an ellipse. Strain is determined as a function of the diameters of the fitted ellipse as well as the chord lengths of the actual pattern along the axes of the fitted ellipse.

Abstract: In order to determine the position and orientation of an object on a conveyor, two planes of light intersect at a single transverse line on the conveyor surface, the planes of light each being at an acute angle to the conveyor. A linear diode array aligned with the single line of light on the conveyor detects light from that line. An object on the conveyor moving through the line of light intercepts the light above the conveyor at positions spaced laterally from the line of light. The linear array senses only the line segments on the conveyor beyond the object boundaries. By electronic sampling of the illumination of the linear array, the object boundaries are determined and the object shape and orientation are thus detected.