Data analytics for more-informed repair of a mechanical or electromechanical system

A method of repair of a mechanical or electromechanical system of a machine, the method comprising executing a knowledge-based system including an inference engine and a knowledge base, the inference engine:

• receiving indication of a failure mode of the mechanical or electromechanical system that occurred during an operation of the machine, and a time series of measurements of a plurality of operating conditions of the machine recorded during the operation;
• identifying a pattern in the time series of measurements;
• defining a current problem including (a) the failure mode of the mechanical or electromechanical system, and (b) the pattern in the time series of measurements;
• accessing the knowledge base including a set of historical cases describing historical problems and respective solutions, the historical problems including (a) failure modes of systems of the machine that occurred during previous instances of operation of the machine, and (b) patterns in time series of measurements of the plurality of operating conditions of the machine recorded during respective ones of the previous instances of operation, and the respective solutions including (c) repair actions performed to address the respective ones of the failure modes;
• searching the knowledge base for a historical case describing a respective solution to a historical problem of the historical problems most similar to the current problem, the respective solution inferred as a solution to the current problem, the respective solution to the historical problem and thereby the solution to the current problem including a repair action;
• and
• generating an output display indicating the repair action to address the failure mode of the mechanical or electromechanical system.

A computer-readable storage medium for repair of a mechanical or electromechanical system of a machine, the computer-readable storage medium being non-transitory and having computer-readable program code for a knowledge-based system stored therein, the knowledge-based system including an inference engine and a knowledge base, the computer-readable program code, in response to execution by processing circuitry, causing the inference engine and thereby an apparatus to at least:

• receive indication of a failure mode of the mechanical or electromechanical system that occurred during an operation of the machine, and a time series of measurements of a plurality of operating conditions of the machine recorded during the operation;
• identify a pattern in the time series of measurements;
• define a current problem including (a) the failure mode of the mechanical or electromechanical system, and (b) the pattern in the time series of measurements;
• access the knowledge base including a set of historical cases describing historical problems and respective solutions, the historical problems including (a) failure modes of systems of the machine that occurred during previous instances of operation of the machine, and (b) patterns in time series of measurements of the plurality of operating conditions of the machine recorded during respective ones of the previous instances of operation, and the respective solutions including (c) repair actions performed to address the respective ones of the failure modes;
• search the knowledge base for a historical case describing a respective solution to a historical problem of the historical problems most similar to the current problem, the respective solution inferred as a solution to the current problem, the respective solution to the historical problem and thereby the solution to the current problem including a repair action;
• and
• generate an output display indicating the repair action to address the failure mode of the mechanical or electromechanical system.