Robot Fault Diagnosis Using Time-Grouped Problem Messages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Diagnosing the origin of technical problems in multi-robot systems is difficult and time-consuming due to the complexity of problem messages generated, where many messages may not relate to the actual failure, especially in systems with multiple robots.
Innovation Solution
A method that groups problem messages based on time thresholds, identifying frequent descriptive data elements within these groups to assign names that can indicate the common cause of the issues, reducing the data a practitioner needs to inspect and facilitating the identification of recurring problems through a user-friendly interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If problem messages are collected from all robots in the system, then the completeness of problem information is improved, but the time and effort required to diagnose the actual failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complete set of problem messages into multiple subsets based on temporal proximity. Messages that occur within a threshold time window are grouped together, creating smaller, more manageable segments that can be analyzed independently. This segmentation reduces the diagnostic scope from all messages to only relevant temporal clusters.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes messages that fall outside the time threshold from each subset, eliminating irrelevant information. By taking out messages that do not meet the temporal criterion, the method focuses diagnostic effort only on messages that are likely related to the same underlying issue, reducing unnecessary analysis time.
2Productivity
If the number of robots in the system increases, then the system's productivity is improved, but the complexity of diagnosing technical problems increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the large volume of messages from multiple robots into smaller temporal subsets. This reduces the complexity of analysis by handling manageable groups rather than the entire message set from all robots, making the diagnostic process scalable to systems with any number of robots.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of message grouping from static (all messages from all robots) to dynamic (messages grouped by time threshold). This parameter change allows the system to adapt to varying numbers of robots and message volumes, maintaining manageable complexity regardless of system scale.
3Measurement precision
If all problem messages are analyzed in detail, then the accuracy of identifying the actual failure cause is improved, but the efficiency of the diagnosis process deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments messages into temporal subsets, allowing detailed analysis to be applied only to relevant groups rather than all messages. This maintains diagnostic accuracy for actual failures while improving overall efficiency by limiting detailed examination to manageable, time-proximate message clusters.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by analyzing only the necessary subset of messages (those within the time threshold) rather than performing excessive analysis on all messages. This partial approach achieves sufficient diagnostic accuracy for identifying actual failures while avoiding the productivity loss that would result from analyzing every single message in detail.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for problem diagnosis in a robot system having one or more robots includes the steps of: a) receiving (S1) a first problem message from a robot of the robot system, the first problem message including one or more data elements descriptive of a problem experienced by the robot; b) receiving (S1) a subsequent problem message from a robot of the robot system; c) if a time elapsed between receipt of the subsequent problem message and receipt of an immediately preceding problem message is shorter than a predetermined threshold (S2), adding the subsequent problem message to a message set which comprises the immediately preceding problem message (S3); and d) if the time elapsed is longer than the predetermined threshold (S2), terminating (S4) the message set of the immediately preceding problem message without adding the subsequent problem message, and establishing (S5, S6) a new message set.