Maintenance Schedule Risk Assessment Using Total Float Feedback

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing industrial control systems face challenges in effectively assessing and mitigating schedule disruptions during automated maintenance processes, which can lead to delays and inefficiencies in industrial facilities.

Innovation Solution

A system comprising processing circuitry that assesses the risk of schedule disruption by monitoring task progress, updating total float values, and calculating a degree of schedule disruption risk. This system can raise alerts or revise maintenance process plans when the calculated risk meets a predetermined threshold.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If automated maintenance processes are implemented to improve efficiency, then productivity increases, but the risk of schedule disruptions increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemaintenance efficiencyVSAvoidschedule adherence

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system calculates and stores total float values for maintenance tasks before execution begins. By pre-determining the float (time buffer) for each task and sequence, the system prepares contingency measures in advance, allowing it to absorb delays without schedule disruption while maintaining automated maintenance efficiency

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors actual task progress against the maintenance process plan and dynamically updates total float values. This real-time feedback mechanism detects deviations from the schedule and triggers alerts or automatic plan revisions, ensuring schedule adherence is maintained despite automation-induced variability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Measurement precision

If real-time monitoring of task progress is implemented to reduce schedule disruptions, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetask progress monitoring accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The processing circuitry performs multiple functions: it monitors task progress, calculates total float values, compares actual vs. scheduled progress, and triggers alerts or revisions. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional system rather than separate dedicated devices, the patent achieves precise monitoring without proportionally increasing overall system complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS20250103041A1Assessing schedule disruption risk in an automated industrial maintenance process

Publication Date: 2025.03.27 MOBIDEO AEROSPACE

AI summary

There is provided a system of assessing risk of schedule disruption in executing an automated maintenance process plan in an industrial facility, the maintenance process plan comprising sequences of maintenance tasks, the system comprising: a first processing circuitry configured to, repeatedly: receive, from monitoring units (MUs), data indicative of progress of a maintenance task of a sequence, and determine, in accordance with the received task progress data, data indicative of an updated scheduled start time of a subsequent maintenance task of the sequence, thereby giving rise to an updated total float value (TFV) of the sequence; and a second processing circuitry configured to, repeatedly: store data indicative of an updated TFV of the maintenance task sequence; calculate a degree of schedule disruption risk from the updated TFV history, and responsive to the calculated degree of schedule disruption risk meeting a threshold: raise an alert, or revise the maintenance process plan.