Aircraft monitoring system and maintenance work setting method

Abstract

This aircraft monitoring system includes a control unit that monitors a state of an aircraft and sets maintenance work required for the aircraft. The control unit executes: a step of acquiring monitoring information obtained by monitoring the state of the aircraft; and a step of acquiring component information that is information on a state of a component used in the aircraft, and extracting and setting an item of the maintenance work required for the aircraft on the basis of the monitoring information and the component information.

Description

Aircraft monitoring system and maintenance operation setting method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an aircraft monitoring system and a method for configuring maintenance operations.

[0002] Conventionally, a maintenance work support system is known that acquires information related to the status of an equipment, determines whether the acquired status of the equipment is normal or not, and if the status is not normal (abnormal), outputs maintenance work associated with the status of the equipment (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-145052

[0004] However, because aircraft that are the subject of maintenance work have a large number of parts, if maintenance work items are selected based solely on monitoring information obtained by monitoring the aircraft, the number of maintenance work items to be selected will be large, or unnecessary maintenance processes will be performed in a given maintenance work. For this reason, it has been difficult to plan efficient aircraft maintenance work by setting maintenance work based solely on monitoring information.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an aircraft monitoring system and a method for setting maintenance work that can set appropriate and efficient maintenance work.

[0006] The aircraft monitoring system of the present disclosure is an aircraft monitoring system that includes a control unit that monitors the condition of an aircraft and sets maintenance work required for the aircraft, and the control unit executes the steps of acquiring monitoring information obtained by monitoring the condition of the aircraft, acquiring part information that is information on the condition of parts used in the aircraft, and extracting and setting the items of maintenance work required for the aircraft based on the monitoring information and the part information.

[0007] The maintenance work setting method disclosed herein is a maintenance work setting method executed by an aircraft monitoring system that monitors the condition of an aircraft and sets the maintenance work required for the aircraft, and executes the steps of the aircraft monitoring system acquiring monitoring information obtained by monitoring the condition of the aircraft, acquiring part information which is information on the condition of parts used in the aircraft, and extracting and setting the maintenance work items required for the aircraft based on the monitoring information and the part information.

[0008] According to the present disclosure, appropriate and efficient maintenance work can be set.

[0009] Fig. 1 is a diagram of a monitoring system according to this embodiment. Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the functionality of the monitoring system according to this embodiment. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a method for setting maintenance work according to this embodiment.

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, this disclosure is not limited to these embodiments. Furthermore, the components in the following embodiments include those that are easily replaceable by those skilled in the art, or those that are substantially identical. Furthermore, the components described below can be combined as appropriate, and when there are multiple embodiments, the respective embodiments can also be combined.

[0011] [Present Embodiment] A monitoring system (aircraft monitoring system) 15 according to this embodiment is a system for monitoring the status of an aircraft. The monitoring system 15 also sets maintenance work required for the aircraft based on monitoring information obtained as a result of the monitoring. The aircraft monitored by the monitoring system 15 may be a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft, and is not particularly limited. The monitoring system 15 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 .

[0012] (Monitoring System) Fig. 1 is a diagram of a monitoring system according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, a monitoring system 15 is connected to a BOM (Bill of Materials) system 17 and a work record database 18 via a communication network 27, and performs information communication between them.

[0013] The monitoring system 15 has a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, a display unit 23, and an input unit 24. In addition, an administrator terminal 29 is connected to the monitoring system 15 via a communication network 27. Although not shown, the administrator terminal 29 has a display unit and an input unit, similar to the monitoring system 15, and is capable of displaying monitoring information and setting maintenance work.

[0014] The control unit 21 includes an integrated circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 21 executes data processing for monitoring the aircraft and for setting maintenance work based on monitoring information. The storage unit 22 is any storage device such as a semiconductor storage device or a magnetic storage device. This storage unit 22 stores information acquired from various systems, information generated by various processes, etc. The display unit 23 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display, for example. The input unit 24 is an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, for example.

[0015] When the monitoring system 15 acquires the monitoring information, it determines whether or not an abnormality or a sign of an abnormality has occurred based on the monitoring information and the component information acquired from the BOM system 17 (described later), and sets the maintenance work items based on the determination result. Furthermore, the monitoring system 15 determines whether or not a regular inspection is required based on the component information acquired from the BOM system 17 (described later), and sets the maintenance work items based on the determination result.

[0016] The BOM system 17 accumulates information for managing aircraft parts used in maintenance work. The BOM system 17 includes a parts database DB1 that stores part information, which is information about parts, and a master database DB2 that stores maintenance work information associated with the parts. The part information includes the aircraft as an asset, the part type, the part use location, the number of times the part has been used, and the part use time, which are associated with each other. The work master includes the asset type associated with the asset in the part information, the part type, the range of part use history and maintenance history, a periodic work master, and an abnormality / sign response work master, which are associated with each other. The periodic work master associates conditions (periodic work occurrence conditions) including timing requirements for periodic maintenance work with maintenance work items associated with the conditions. The abnormality / sign response work master associates conditions (abnormality / sign conditions) for maintenance work to be performed when an abnormality or sign occurs with maintenance work items associated with the conditions. The abnormality / sign means at least one of an abnormality and a sign of an abnormality.

[0017] The work record database 18 accumulates work record data of maintenance work. The work record database 18 records information acquired during maintenance work as work record data, such as information on maintenance locations entered by workers and image information acquired by imaging devices.

[0018] Next, an overview of the functions of the monitoring system 15 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram functionally illustrating the monitoring system according to this embodiment. In FIG. 2 , an aircraft is treated as an asset. As shown in FIG. 2 , the monitoring system 15 acquires monitoring information from the asset. The monitoring system 15 reflects the status of the asset's components acquired based on the monitoring information in the BOM system 17. The monitoring system 15 determines the status of the asset based on the acquired asset monitoring information. The monitoring system 15 then identifies the asset in the component database DB1 of the BOM system 17 and the asset type corresponding to the asset in the master database DB2. Based on the identified asset type, the monitoring system 15 extracts periodic work occurrence conditions and abnormality / sign conditions for the asset type from the periodic work master and the abnormality / sign response work master. Furthermore, the monitoring system 15 extracts periodic work occurrence conditions and abnormality / sign conditions for the components from the periodic work master and the abnormality / sign response work master based on the usage history and maintenance history of the asset's components. The monitoring system 15 sets the items of maintenance work that are required based on the type of asset and the conditions for regular work to occur for the parts, and also sets the items of maintenance work that are required based on the type of asset and the conditions for abnormalities and precursors of the parts.

[0019] (Maintenance Work Setting Method) Next, a maintenance work setting method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a maintenance work setting method according to this embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 3 as well, an aircraft is treated as an asset. The control unit 21 of the monitoring system 15 acquires monitoring information from each asset (step S1). Based on the acquired monitoring information, the control unit 21 reflects the usage history of the parts that make up the asset in the BOM system 17 (step S2). In step S2, the control unit 21 calculates the number of times and usage time of each part of the asset from the monitoring information, and adds the calculated number of times and usage time to the number of times and usage time of the part in the BOM system 17, thereby updating the part information in the BOM system 17.

[0020] The control unit 21 then sets maintenance work based on abnormalities and signs and maintenance work that will be periodic events. To set maintenance work based on abnormalities and signs, after executing step S2, the control unit 21 acquires part information from the parts database DB1 and master database DB2 of the BOM system 17 and extracts abnormality and sign conditions from the abnormality and sign response work master according to the part's usage history and maintenance history (step S3). The control unit 21 also extracts abnormality and sign conditions from the abnormality and sign response work master according to the type of asset corresponding to the monitoring information (step S4). The control unit 21 determines whether an abnormality or sign exists based on the abnormality and sign conditions extracted in steps S3 and S4 (step S5). If the control unit 21 determines that an abnormality or sign exists in step S5 (step S5: Yes), it acquires and sets maintenance work corresponding to the abnormality or sign from the abnormality and sign response work master (step S6), and proceeds to step S10 (described later). On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines in step S5 that there is no abnormality or sign of an abnormality (step S5: No), the control unit 21 proceeds to step S10 (described later) without executing step S6.

[0021] On the other hand, after executing step S2, the control unit 21 acquires part information from the parts database DB1 and the master database DB2 of the BOM system 17 to set the maintenance work as a periodic event, and extracts periodic work occurrence conditions from the periodic work master according to the part's usage history and maintenance history (step S13). The control unit 21 also extracts periodic work occurrence conditions from the periodic work master according to the asset type corresponding to the monitoring information (step S14). The control unit 21 determines whether periodic work will occur based on the periodic work occurrence conditions extracted in steps S13 and S14 (step S15). If the control unit 21 determines that periodic work will occur in step S15 (step S15: Yes), it acquires and sets maintenance work corresponding to the periodic event from the periodic work master (step S16) and proceeds to step S10 (described later). On the other hand, if the control unit 21 determines that periodic work will not occur in step S15 (step S15: No), it skips step S16 and proceeds to step S10 (described later).

[0022] After executing steps S6 and S16, the control unit 21 creates a list of necessary maintenance works in order of priority for the set maintenance works (step S10), and ends the process of setting the maintenance works.

[0023] In step S10, if the part is a part that requires maintenance work in the early stages of use and the control unit 21 determines that the timing requirement of the part is in the early stages of use, the control unit 21 sets the priority of the maintenance work associated with the part to be high. Also, in step S10, if the part is a consumable item and the control unit 21 determines that the timing requirement of the part is in the stable operation period, the control unit 21 sets the priority of the maintenance work associated with the part to be high before the allowable wear of the part.

[0024] In step S10, the control unit 21 may set a higher priority for the maintenance work set in both step S6 and step S16. In step S10, the control unit 21 may set a higher priority for the maintenance work based on the abnormality / predictive conditions extracted in both step S3 and step S4. In step S10, the control unit 21 may set a higher priority for the maintenance work based on the periodic work occurrence conditions extracted in both step S13 and step S14.

[0025] In this embodiment, the control unit 21 sets the maintenance work based on the monitoring information and the parts information, but the maintenance work may also be set so as to omit unnecessary work steps in the maintenance work process based on the monitoring information and the parts information.

[0026] As described above, the aircraft monitoring system (monitoring system 15) and the method for setting maintenance work described in this embodiment can be understood, for example, as follows.

[0027] The aircraft monitoring system according to the first aspect includes a control unit 21 that monitors the condition of an aircraft and sets maintenance work required for the aircraft. The control unit 21 executes steps S1 of acquiring monitoring information obtained by monitoring the condition of the aircraft, and steps S3 and S13 of acquiring part information that is information on the condition of parts used in the aircraft, and extracting and setting items of maintenance work required for the aircraft based on the monitoring information and the part information.

[0028] This configuration allows for setting maintenance work items based on monitoring information and component information, and by taking the component status into consideration, it is possible to set highly accurate maintenance work. This makes it possible to eliminate unnecessary maintenance work settings and unnecessary work processes, and to set appropriate and efficient maintenance work.

[0029] As a second aspect, in the aircraft monitoring system according to the first aspect, in step S3 of extracting and setting the maintenance work items, the control unit 21 extracts the maintenance work to be performed in response to the abnormality or sign associated with the part based on the part information, determines whether the abnormality or sign has occurred based on the monitoring information, and if it determines that the abnormality or sign has occurred, sets the maintenance work associated with the abnormality or sign.

[0030] With this configuration, appropriate maintenance work can be set to deal with abnormalities and signs of abnormalities depending on the condition of the parts.

[0031] As a third aspect, in the aircraft monitoring system according to the first or second aspect, in step S13 of extracting and setting the maintenance work items, the control unit extracts the maintenance work that is performed periodically and associated with the part based on the part information, determines whether the timing requirements for the maintenance work that is performed periodically have been met, and if it determines that the timing requirements have been met, sets the maintenance work that is performed periodically.

[0032] According to this configuration, appropriate maintenance work to be performed periodically can be set according to the condition of the parts.

[0033] As a fourth aspect, in the aircraft monitoring system according to the third aspect, if the part is a part that requires the maintenance work in the early stages of use, when the control unit 21 determines that the timing requirement is in the early stages of use, it sets the priority of the maintenance work associated with the part to be high.

[0034] According to this configuration, it is possible to set appropriate maintenance work according to the initial stage of use of the part.

[0035] As a fifth aspect, in the aircraft monitoring system according to the third aspect, when the control unit 21 determines that the timing requirement is a stable operation period in the case where the part is a consumable item, it sets the priority of the maintenance work associated with the part to be high before the part is allowed to be worn out.

[0036] According to this configuration, it is possible to set appropriate maintenance work according to the stable operation period of the part.

[0037] The method for setting maintenance work according to the sixth aspect is a method for setting maintenance work executed by an aircraft monitoring system (monitoring system 15) that monitors the condition of an aircraft and sets the maintenance work required for the aircraft, in which the aircraft monitoring system executes step S1 of acquiring monitoring information obtained by monitoring the condition of the aircraft, and steps S3 and S13 of acquiring part information that is information on the condition of parts used in the aircraft, and extracting and setting the items of maintenance work required for the aircraft based on the monitoring information and the part information.

[0038] This configuration allows for setting maintenance work items based on monitoring information and component information, and by taking the component status into consideration, it is possible to set highly accurate maintenance work. This makes it possible to eliminate unnecessary maintenance work settings and unnecessary work processes, and to set appropriate and efficient maintenance work.

[0039] 15 Monitoring system 21 Control unit 22 Storage unit 23 Display unit 24 Input unit DB1 Parts database DB2 Master database

Claims

1. An aircraft monitoring system including a control unit that monitors the condition of an aircraft and sets maintenance work required for the aircraft, wherein the control unit executes the steps of: acquiring monitoring information obtained by monitoring the condition of the aircraft; acquiring parts information which is information on the condition of parts used in the aircraft; and extracting and setting items of the maintenance work required for the aircraft based on the monitoring information and the parts information.

2. The aircraft monitoring system of claim 1, wherein, in the step of extracting and setting the maintenance work items, the control unit extracts the maintenance work to be performed for the abnormality or sign associated with the part based on the part information, determines whether the abnormality or sign has occurred based on the monitoring information, and if it determines that the abnormality or sign has occurred, sets the maintenance work associated with the abnormality or sign.

3. The aircraft monitoring system of claim 1, wherein, in the step of extracting and setting the maintenance work items, the control unit extracts the maintenance work that is performed periodically and associated with the part based on the part information, determines whether or not the timing requirements for the maintenance work that is performed periodically are met, and sets the maintenance work that is performed periodically if it is determined that the timing requirements are met.

4. The aircraft monitoring system of claim 3, wherein when the control unit determines that the timing requirement is for the early stages of use of the part, the control unit sets the priority of the maintenance work associated with the part to be high if the part is a part that requires the maintenance work in the early stages of use.

5. The aircraft monitoring system of claim 3, wherein, when the part is a consumable item, the control unit determines that the timing requirement is a period of stable operation and sets the priority of the maintenance work associated with the part to be high before the part is allowed to wear out.

6. A method for setting maintenance work performed by an aircraft monitoring system that monitors the status of an aircraft and sets maintenance work required for the aircraft, the method comprising the steps of: acquiring monitoring information obtained by monitoring the status of the aircraft, acquiring parts information which is information on the status of parts used in the aircraft, and extracting and setting the items of the maintenance work required for the aircraft based on the monitoring information and the parts information.

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