System and method for qualitative indication of cumulative wear status

Abstract

A method for the determination and qualitative indication of cumulative wear status of a complex system having a plurality of individual components, comprises the following steps: measuring a plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status of a plurality of individual components in a system; storing the values of the measured parameters; weighting the values of the measured parameters according to a predetermined formula; calculating a single value from the predetermined formula; and displaying a single indicator indicative of the qualitative wear status of the overall system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for the determination and qualitative indication of cumulative wear status of a complex system having a plurality of individual components, the method comprising the following steps:
 measuring a plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status of a plurality of individual components in a system, wherein each particular one of the plurality of parameters corresponds to the usage status of a particular one of the plurality of individual components;   storing the values of the measured plurality of parameters;   weighting the values of the measured plurality of parameters according to at least a first predetermined formula to create a plurality of weighted values;   calculating a single wear value from the plurality of weighted values using another predetermined formula, which is different from the predetermined formulas used to create the plurality of weighted values; and   displaying a single indicator indicative of the qualitative wear status of the overall system.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the single indicator indicative of the qualitative wear status of the overall system is a numeric value with the range from V min  to V max , where V min  is an arbitrarily selected minimum value and V max  is an arbitrarily selected maximum value. 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 2 , wherein neither V min  nor V max  directly correlates to any actual cumulative quantitative value of use or wear for the plurality of individual components. 
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 2 , wherein neither V min  nor V max  directly correlates to any actual cumulative quantitative number of activations or cycles for the plurality of individual components. 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the single indicator indicative of the qualitative wear status of the overall system is a displayed color selected from a predetermined finite set of colors. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 5 , wherein the displayed color is a color selected from the set consisting of green, orange and red. 
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 5 , wherein the displayed color is a color selected from the set consisting of green, yellow and red. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the individual component is an accelerometer and the particular one of the plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status is the occurrence of either (i) 80% of peak measured acceleration or (ii) 100% of accelerometer scale. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the individual component is a hull and the particular one of the plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status is the occurrence of a large difference in accelerometer measurements between a bow portion of the hull to a stern portion of the hull. 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the individual component is an engine having a variable engine oil temperature and a variable engine oil pressure and the particular one of the plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status is the occurrence of (i) a high engine oil temperature at the same time as (ii) a low engine oil pressure. 
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the individual component is an engine having a variable engine RPM value and a maximum engine RPM redline value and the particular one of the plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status is the occurrence of (i) the engine RPM value being at or above (ii) the maximum engine RPM redline value. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the individual component is an engine having an engine temperature and the particular one of the plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status is the occurrence of (i) a significant number of engine temperature fluctuations. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the complex system is a boat or ship. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the complex system is an automobile. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the complex system is an airplane. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the system transmits parameter values via a data network between the system and a remote device; and   the qualitative indication of cumulative wear status is displayed on the remote device.   
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 7 , wherein the remote device is a mobile device. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 8 , wherein the mobile device is a smartphone or tablet device. 
     
     
         19 . A method for execution on a computing device for the determination and qualitative indication of cumulative wear status of a complex system having a plurality of individual components, the computing device having a processor, a display device operatively coupled to the processor, a memory operatively coupled to the processor, and a signal interface operatively coupled to the processor for receiving signals from sensors in the complex system, the method comprising the following steps:
 measuring, using a processor and a signal interface operatively coupled to the processor for receiving signals from sensors in a complex system, a plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status of a plurality of individual components in a system, wherein each particular one of the plurality of parameters corresponds to the usage status of a particular one of the plurality of individual components;   storing, using a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the values of the measured plurality of parameters;   weighting, using the processor and the memory, the values of the measured plurality of parameters according to at least a first predetermined formula to create a plurality of weighted values;   calculating, using the processor, a single wear value from the plurality of weighted values using another predetermined formula, which is different from the predetermined formulas used to create the plurality of weighted values; and   displaying, using a display device operatively coupled to the processor, a single indicator indicative of the qualitative wear status of the overall system.   
     
     
         20 . A system for the determination and qualitative indication of cumulative wear status of a complex system having a plurality of individual components, the system comprising:
 a computing device having a processor, a display device operatively coupled to the processor, a memory operatively coupled to the processor, and a signal interface operatively coupled to the processor for receiving signals from sensors in a complex system,   the processor and the signal interface being operable to measure a plurality of parameters corresponding to the usage status of a plurality of individual components in a system, wherein each particular one of the plurality of parameters corresponds to the usage status of a particular one of the plurality of individual components;   the memory being operable to store the values of the measured plurality of parameters;   the processor and the memory being operable to weight the values of the measured plurality of parameters according to at least a first predetermined formula to create a plurality of weighted values;   the processor being operable to calculate a single wear value from the plurality of weighted values using another predetermined formula, which is different from the predetermined formulas used to create the plurality of weighted values; and   the display device being operable to display a single indicator indicative of the qualitative wear status of the overall system.