Devices, methods, and systems for a distributed rule based automated fault detection

Abstract

Devices, methods, and systems for distributed rule based automated fault detection are described herein. One system includes a data extractor engine configured to: extract configuration data relating to an environment based on a number of defined rules, and receive monitored data relating to the environment, an AFD engine configured to evaluate the monitored data in view of the configuration data to determine a state of the environment, and a fault generation engine to determine whether the state of the environment is outside a range defined by the number of defined rules.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method for fault detection in a building management system that includes equipment operating in an environment, the method comprising:
 collecting data from equipment of the building management system, wherein the collected data is based on an ontology of the equipment within the environment;   conditioning the collected data;   determining equipment faults based on the conditioned collected data;   aggregating the determined equipment faults into groups of faults based on a time of occurrence of each of the determined equipment faults;   generating a fault description for at least some of the determined equipment faults; and   reporting at least some of the determined equipment faults with the corresponding fault description.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising aggregating the determined equipment faults into groups of faults based on a type of equipment that generated each of the determined equipment faults. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein aggregating equipment faults further comprises marking a number of continuous fault segments. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 determining which of the determined equipment faults need repair and/or maintenance based on the marked continuous fault segments.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein aggregating the determined equipment faults into groups of faults based on the time of occurrence of the determined equipment faults includes aggregating the determined equipment faults into groups of faults based on a user definable fault detection window. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the collected data is collected based on one or more points of interest specified by a user. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fault description for at least some of the determined equipment faults identifies a particular piece of equipment that is associated with the equipment fault. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, which when executed, cause one or more processors to:
 collect data corresponding to equipment within an environment;   determine one or more equipment faults based on the collected data;   aggregate equipment faults into groups of faults;   mark a number of continuous fault segments;   generate a fault description for at least some of the equipment faults; and   report at least some of the equipment faults with the corresponding fault description.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein aggregating the equipment faults into groups of faults is based at least in part on a time of occurrence of each of the equipment faults. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein aggregating the equipment faults into groups of faults based on the time of occurrence of each of the equipment faults includes aggregating the equipment faults into groups of faults based on a user definable fault detection window. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein aggregating the equipment faults into groups of faults is based at least in part on a type of equipment that generated each of the equipment faults. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause one or more processors to determine which of the equipment faults need repair and/or maintenance based on the marked continuous fault segments. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause one or more processors to collected data based on one or more points of interest specified by a user. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause one or more processors to generate a fault description for at least some of the equipment faults that identifies a particular piece of equipment that is associated with the equipment fault. 
     
     
         15 . A system for fault detection in a building management system that includes equipment operating in an environment, the system comprising:
 a data collector, the data collector collecting data from equipment of the building management system, wherein the collected data is based on an ontology of the equipment within the environment;   a data conditioner, the data conditioner conditioning the collected data;   a fault detector, the fault detector determining one or more equipment faults based on the conditioned collected data;   an aggregator, the aggregator aggregating equipment faults into groups of faults and marking a number of continuous fault segments;   a fault description generator, the fault description generator generating a fault description for at least some of the equipment faults; and   a reporter, the reporter reporting at least some of the equipment faults with the corresponding fault description.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the aggregator aggregates the equipment faults into groups of faults based at least in part on a time of occurrence of each of the equipment faults. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the aggregator aggregates the equipment faults into groups of faults based on a user definable fault detection window. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the aggregator aggregates the equipment faults into groups of faults based at least in part on a type of equipment that generated each of the equipment faults. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , further comprising a fault generator, the fault generator identifying which of the equipment faults need repair and/or maintenance based at least in part on the marked continuous fault segments. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the fault description generator generating a fault description for at least some of the faults that identifies a particular piece of equipment that is associated with the fault.