Method to restore the functional state of an automatic machine for the production or the packaging of consumer products

A method to restore the functional state of at least part (3) of an automatic machine (1) for the production or the packaging of consumer products;

• the automatic machine (1) comprises a plurality of movable operating members, a control unit (4), a data processing system (5), a writable memory (6) connected to the data processing system (5), and a user interface device (7) connected to the data processing system (5);
• the method comprises the steps of:
• identifying, for one time only, a list of all the operating variables (8) characterizing the operation of the automatic machine (1);
• storing, for one time and inside the writable memory (6), a first knowledge base (9) containing a plurality of problematic operating conditions (10), each consisting of a set of values associated with the operating variables (8) and of at least one corresponding known fault (11);
• storing, for one time and inside the writable memory (6), a second knowledge base (13) containing a corresponding solution (12) for each known fault (11) of the first knowledge base (9);
• identifying, through the control unit (4) and following or prior to an unknown fault (15) of the automatic machine (1), a current operating condition (14) consisting of a set of current values of the operating variables (8);
• searching, among all the problematic operating conditions (10) stored in the first knowledge base (9), for the problematic operating condition (10) that is the most similar to the current operating condition (14);
• and
• communicating, in case inside the first knowledge base (9) there is at least one problematic operating condition (10) matching the current operating condition (14), to an operator (O) the solution (12) associated with the matching problematic operating condition (10) and stored inside the second knowledge base (13);
• wherein the data processing system (5) asks the operator (O) for a confirmation of the effectiveness of the communicated solution (12);
• if the communicated solution (12) is not decisive and there are no alternative solutions (12) for the unknown fault (15) inside the second knowledge base (13), the data processing system (5) actively interacts with the operator (O), through the user interface device (7), obtaining additional information and processing one or more additional alternative solutions (12);
• the method also comprises a machine learning step (30) performed by the data processing system (5) on the basis of the interaction between the data processing system (5) and the operator (O), performed through the user interface device (7).