Water Heater Error Diagnosis Through User-Guided Questioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional equipment management systems find it difficult to diagnose errors caused by human operation in specific-equipment, such as a hot water heater, as these systems typically analyze errors at a central observation center, making it challenging to comprehend human-related errors.
Innovation Solution
A specific-equipment management system that includes a question generator, display unit, and input unit to prompt users with questions about the state of the equipment and human operation, allowing for the understanding of error causes through iterative questioning and response input, with the option to start a diagnostic program manually or automatically when errors are detected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If error diagnosis is performed at a central observation center, then equipment management can be centralized, but the ability to comprehend human operation errors deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary diagnostic program that acts as a bridge between the automated observation center and the user. This program collects detailed operational information directly from the user through structured questioning, preserving human error information that would otherwise be lost in centralized automated diagnosis.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service error diagnosis by allowing the user to interact with the diagnostic program locally. The user provides operational information and receives diagnostic results without needing to physically visit the observation center, combining centralized management with localized information collection.
2Productivity
If automated diagnostic programs are used, then diagnosis efficiency is improved, but the ability to understand human-related errors worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The diagnostic program implements feedback mechanisms where the system asks follow-up questions based on user responses. This iterative questioning process refines the diagnosis by gathering progressively more specific information about human operations, maintaining high accuracy while preserving efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The diagnostic program dynamically adapts its questioning based on initial responses. The system adjusts the depth and direction of inquiry according to the specific error symptoms and user inputs, optimizing the balance between diagnosis speed and accuracy for different error types.
Data Source
AI summary
A specific-equipment management system is equipped with a question generator, a display unit and an input unit and manages a water heater. The water heater is equipment that requires human operation in the vicinity when used. The question generator generates question information. The question information is information regarding a question for specifying a specific-error. The “specific-error” is an error regarding the water heater and includes an error regarding the human operation. The display unit displays the question information. Response information is then inputted to the input unit by the user based on the question information displayed at the display unit. The response information is information regarding the state of the water heater or the state of the human operation. The question generator generates next question information based on the response information. The display unit then displays the next question information.