Towards an Integrated COTS Toolset for IVHM Design

This paper describes an end-to-end Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) development process with a strong emphasis on the automation in creating functional models from 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) system’s representation, throughout the implementation of this process. It has been demonstrated that functional analysis enhances the design and development of IVHM but this approach is not widely adopted by industry and the research community as it carries a significant amount of subjectivism. This paper is meant to be a guideline that supports the correctness through construction of a functional representation for a complex mechatronic system. The knowledge encapsulated in the 3D CATIA™ System Design environment was linked with the Maintenance Aware Design environment (MADe™) with the scope of automatically creating functional models of the geometry of a system. The entire process is documented step by step and it is demonstrated on a laboratory fuel system test rig. The paper is part of a larger effort towards an integrated COTS toolset for IVHM design. Another objective of the study is to identify the relations between the different types of knowledge supporting the health management development process when used together with the spatial and functional dimensions of an asset. The conclusion of this work is that a 3D CAD model containing the topological representation of a complex system can automate the development of the functional model of such a system.