Systems and methods to monitor seats for diagnostics, prognostics and degradation

A method for detecting a fault in a gear system for repositioning a seat assembly in an automotive vehicle, wherein the gear system includes a gear train operatively coupled to a motor, the method comprising the steps of:

• measuring a current drawn by the motor to reposition the seat assembly;
• recording the current over time as a current waveform;
• using a continuous wavelet transformation process to calculate a signature of the current waveform;
• and
• determining whether the signature is greater than a predetermined signature threshold.

A method for detecting a fault in a gear system for repositioning a seat assembly in an automotive vehicle, wherein the gear system includes a gear train operatively coupled to a motor, the method comprising the steps of:

• applying a voltage pulse to the motor;
• measuring a current drawn by the motor while the voltage pulse is applied to the motor;
• recording the current over time as a current waveform;
• determining a rise time in the current waveform for the current to reach a predetermined current amplitude;
• and
• determining whether the rise time is greater than a predetermined rise time threshold.

A method for detecting a fault in a gear system for repositioning a seat assembly in an automotive vehicle, wherein the gear system includes a gear train operatively coupled to a motor having a drive shaft, the method comprising the steps of:

• measuring a hall effect signal from the drive shaft indicating a rotational position and a rotational speed of the drive shaft over time;
• comparing the hall effect signal to an expected hall effect signal for the motor;
• and
• determining whether the hall effect signal is different from the expected hall effect signal.