Condition evaluation device, condition evaluation method and computer readable medium

A condition evaluation method used by a condition evaluation device to evaluate a condition of a multi-car vehicle comprised of a plurality of apparatuses, the condition evaluation method comprising:

• acquiring, via a vehicle data reception software module executed by processing circuitry, information for apparatus condition evaluation, for each apparatus, comprised of operation data sensed by an in-vehicle sensor or appearance examination data obtained by an external-appearance sensor;
• storing, by an information setting software module executed by the processing circuitry, within a dependence relation database, dependence relation information in the form of a directed graph whose edges represent dependence relations between the plurality of apparatuses, wherein importance degrees are assigned to the respective edges representing intensities of the dependence relations, wherein the multi-car vehicle is represented as a vertex in the directed graph:
• calculating, via an apparatus condition estimation software module within an apparatus evaluation software module executed by the processing circuitry, and based on the information for apparatus condition evaluation acquired from the sensors:
• a condition estimation value to represent a condition with respect to each of terminal apparatuses, which are apparatuses among the plurality of apparatuses whose operation state does not depend on any other one of the plurality of apparatuses according to the acquired dependence relation information;
• and
• a condition estimation value to represent a condition with respect to each of the apparatuses other than the terminal apparatuses among the plurality of apparatuses;
• and
• storing, via the apparatus condition estimation software module, the condition estimation value calculated for each of the terminal apparatuses and the other apparatuses among the plurality of apparatuses within an apparatus condition database of the apparatus evaluation software module;
• extracting, via a multi-car condition estimation module of a multi-car evaluation software module executed by the processing circuitry, the directed graph from the dependence relation database that is part of the multi-car evaluation software module;
• determining, via the multi-car condition estimation module, based on the directed graph, which of the plurality of apparatuses are terminal apparatuses and which are apparatuses other than the terminal apparatus;
• and
• designating each of the apparatuses other than the terminal apparatuses among the plurality of apparatuses as an evaluation target apparatus, and calculating a condition estimation value of each evaluation target apparatus using:
• the condition estimation value stored in the apparatus condition database for the evaluation target apparatus,
• the condition estimation value stored in the apparatus condition database for each terminal apparatus and each other apparatus to which the evaluation target apparatus has a dependence relation according to the directed graph, and
• the importance degrees assigned to the respective dependence relations the evaluation target apparatus has according to the directed graph
• when calculation of the condition estimation value is completed with respect to each of the plurality of apparatuses of which the multi-car vehicle is comprised, calculating a condition estimation value of the multi-car vehicle via the multi-car vehicle condition estimation module,
• wherein the method designates the apparatuses other than the terminal apparatuses as the evaluation target apparatus in an order such that a given apparatus is designated the evaluation target apparatus before each of the apparatuses having a dependence relation on the given apparatus.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a condition evaluation program used for a condition evaluation device to evaluate a condition of a multi-car vehicle formation comprised of a plurality of apparatuses, the condition evaluation program making the condition evaluation device being a computer execute:

• a vehicle data reception module to acquire information for apparatus condition evaluation, for each apparatus, comprised of operation data sensed by an in-vehicle sensor or appearance examination data obtained by an external-appearance sensor;
• an information setting module to store, within a dependence relation database, dependence relation information in the form of a directed graph whose edges represent dependence relations between the plurality of apparatuses, wherein importance degrees are assigned to the respective edges representing intensities of the dependence relations, wherein the multi-car vehicle is represented as a vertex in the directed graph;
• an apparatus evaluation module comprising:
• an apparatus condition estimation module to calculate, based on the information for apparatus condition evaluation acquired by the sensors:
• a condition estimation value to represent a condition with respect to each of terminal apparatuses, which are apparatuses among the plurality of apparatuses whose operation state does not depend on any other one of the plurality of constituting apparatuses according to the acquired dependence relation information;
• and
• a condition estimation value to represent a condition with respect to each of the apparatuses other than the terminal apparatuses among the plurality of apparatuses, and
• an apparatus condition database to store the condition estimation value calculated for each of the terminal apparatuses and the other apparatuses among the plurality of apparatuses;
• a multi-car vehicle evaluation module comprising:
• the dependence relation database, and
• a multi-car vehicle condition estimation module:
• to extract the directed graph from the dependence relation database;
• to determine, based on the detected graph, which of the plurality of apparatuses are terminal apparatuses and which are apparatuses other than the terminal apparatuses;
• to designate each of the apparatuses other than the terminal apparatus an evaluation target apparatus, and calculate a condition estimation value of each evaluation target apparatus using:
• the condition estimation value stored in the apparatus condition database for the evaluation target apparatus,
• the condition estimation value calculated for each terminal apparatus and each other apparatus to which the evaluation target apparatus has a dependence relation according to the directed graph, and
• the importance degrees assigned to the respective dependence relations the evaluation target apparatus has according to the directed graph;
• and
• when calculation of the condition estimation value completed with respect to each of the plurality of apparatuses of which the multi-car vehicle is comprised, to calculate a condition estimation value of the multi-car vehicle,
• wherein the multi-car vehicle condition estimation module designates the apparatuses other than the terminal apparatuses as the evaluation target apparatus in an order such that a given apparatus is designated the evaluation target apparatus before each of the apparatuses having a dependence relation on the given apparatus.