Reducing nuisance fault indications from a vehicle using physics based and data driven models

A method for reducing nuisance fault indications from a vehicle equipped with line replaceable units (LRUs) including electronic hardware using an advance fault indication system, the advanced fault indication system being communicably coupled to a vehicle health monitoring (VHM) system, or one or more vehicle systems for at least collecting and communicating data thereto, the method comprising:

• receiving, by at least one communications interface coupleable with the VHM, data including a fault indication generated by a LRU of the LRUs in response to a built-in test (BIT) in which a BIT signal having a corresponding validity score is output from a signal path through the electronic hardware in a current operational environment, the at least one communications interface also being coupleable with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) configured to store data that describes a historical condition and maintenance of the vehicle;
• determining, by the processing circuitry, a condition indicator for the signal path based on the current operational environment, and a transformation of operational environment to condition indicator derived from a computer model of the LRU that describes structural mechanics of the LRU, and mechanical and thermal stress on the LRU, for a plurality of operational environments;
• determining a probability of validity or invalidity of the fault indication based on an analysis of the fault indication, data from the one or more vehicle systems other than the fault indication, data from the CMMS, and the condition indicator;
• multiplying the condition indicator by the probability of validity or invalidity of the fault indication to create a BIT signal validity score;
• setting, by the processing circuitry, a threshold based on the probability and the maintenance data;
• determining, by the processing circuitry, if the fault indication is valid or invalid based on a comparison of the BIT signal validity score and the threshold;
• and
• generating, by the processing circuitry, a notification, or output the fault indication for generation of a notification, only in an instance in which the fault indication is valid, or otherwise discarding the fault indication.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for reducing nuisance fault indications from a vehicle equipped with line replaceable units (LRUs) including electronic hardware using an advance fault indication system, the advanced fault indication system being communicably coupled to a vehicle health monitoring (VHM) system, or one or more vehicle systems for at least collecting and communicating data thereto, the computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code stored therein that, in response to execution by processing circuitry, cause an apparatus to at least:

• receive, by at least one communications interface coupleable with the VHM, data including a fault indication generated by a LRU of the LRUs in response to a built-in test (BIT) in which a BIT signal having a corresponding validity score is output from a signal path through the electronic hardware in a current operational environment, the at least one communications interface also being coupleable with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) configured to store data that describes a historical condition and maintenance of the vehicle;
• determine a condition indicator for the signal path based on the current operational environment, and a transformation of operational environment to condition indicator derived from a computer model of the LRU that describes structural mechanics of the LRU, and mechanical and thermal stress on the LRU, for a plurality of operational environments;
• determine a probability of validity or invalidity of the fault indication based on an analysis of the fault indication, data from the one or more vehicle systems other than the fault indication, data from the CMMS, and the condition indicator;
• multiply the condition indicator by the probability of validity or invalidity of the fault indication to create a BIT signal validity score;
• set a threshold based on the probability and the maintenance data;
• determine if the fault indication is valid or invalid based on a comparison of the BIT signal validity score and the threshold;
• and
• generate a notification, or output the fault indication for generation of a notification, only in an instance in which the fault indication is valid, or otherwise discarding the fault indication.