Rule-Based Environmental Impact Assessment for Equipment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for adjusting operations based on environmental conditions, such as weather and astronomical factors, rely on intuition and lack a systematic approach to assess the impact on specific equipment and locations, leading to suboptimal decision-making.

Innovation Solution

A rule-based system that integrates weather model data with user-defined criteria to generate an environmental condition impact graphic, indicating favorable, marginal, or unfavorable operating conditions for equipment, allowing for location-specific and time-sensitive assessments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a rule-based system is implemented to systematically assess environmental condition impacts, then decision-making quality improves, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedecision-making qualityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments environmental assessment into distinct rule-based modules, each evaluating specific environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc.) against equipment-specific thresholds. This modular approach improves decision reliability through systematic evaluation while managing complexity by organizing assessments into discrete, manageable rule sets for different equipment types and environmental factors.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system transforms qualitative environmental conditions into quantitative assessments by defining specific parameter thresholds and rules. Environmental parameters such as temperature ranges, humidity levels, and wind speeds are converted into structured rules that systematically evaluate equipment operability, thereby improving decision-making quality through objective parameter-based analysis rather than intuition.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Measurement precision

If comprehensive environmental data is collected and analyzed, then assessment accuracy improves, but data processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveassessment accuracyVSAvoiddata processing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-defining equipment-specific environmental rules and thresholds before actual environmental assessments are conducted. These pre-established rules contain criterion data, parameter thresholds, and operability conditions that are prepared in advance, allowing the system to quickly match current environmental conditions against predetermined criteria without extensive real-time analysis, thus reducing processing time while maintaining accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses templates and standardized rule structures that can be copied and adapted for different equipment types. Once environmental assessment rules are established for one equipment type, they can be replicated and modified for similar equipment, reducing the time required to create comprehensive assessment frameworks while maintaining consistent accuracy standards across multiple assessments.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS11988804B2Rule-based environmental condition impact assessments
Publication Date: 2024.05.21 RAYTHEON CO
  • US11988804B2 patent drawing
  • US11988804B2 patent drawing
  • US11988804B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Discussed herein are devices, systems, and methods for rule-based weather impact assessment. A method can include receiving, by a user interface, a request for environmental condition impact data for specified equipment at a specified location, retrieving weather model data for the specified location, comparing the retrieved weather model data to user-defined rules associated with the specified equipment, and providing, by the user interface, a graphic depiction indicating whether the user-defined rule is satisfied in the specified location based on the comparison.