IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, 2004
Prognostic and Health Management for Avionics
Chris Wilkinson
Dave Humphrey
Bert Vermeire
Jim Houston
Prognostics Health Management Group
Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Abstract:
This paper describes methodologies and tools to anticipate in real-time, the onset of failures in electronic equipment. Currently developed techniques for prognostics and health management (PHM), depend on the observation of precursor variables and an imputation from them of impending failure. In electronic systems such variables are difficult, impossible or expensive to obtain, so we propose a novel model-based technique utilizing embedded life models and environmental information obtained from aircraft mounted sensors that measure those parameters that most significantly accelerate failure in electronics, i.e. temperature, temperature variation, vibration and shock. This technology will be referred to throughout this paper as electronics Prognostics and Health Management (ePHM).