N132-144 TITLE: Development of Novel and Emerging Technology for the Enhancement of Fault Diagnostics

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Electronics, Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Strategic Weapons Systems: Trident II D5 (ACAT I)

OBJECTIVE: The overall objective is to develop innovative methods and tools to optimize maintenance by determining the most effective maintenance path considering history, likelihood of success for corrective actions, time constraints, and likelihood of future failures and then provide corrective action data.

DESCRIPTION: The current submarines are using aging Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), and maintenance for the INS is increasing. As a result of the increasing need for maintenance of the INS, and the reduction of maintenance support, a need for maintenance to be optimized is increasing. However, only traditional means for troubleshooting exists.

To reduce the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), an innovative tool is desired to optimize maintenance. This tool should be capable of determining the most likely corrective action to take when maintenance is required. The tool should at a minimum take into account past failures and their corrective actions, likelihood of success for corrective actions, time constraints to determine the optimal corrective action. The tool should also factor into account potential future failures. It is desired for this tool to be able to predict future failures which may or may not have occured in the past.

PHASE I: 1) Develop enhanced diagnostics tool approach containing the above-mentioned attributes. Development of a minimal proof of concept to evaluate feasibility would be beneficial, but is not required provided sufficient documentation is made available. 2) Develop metrics and a strategy for measuring the effectiveness of the proposed approach. 3) Produce a detailed research report outlining the concept of the tool, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approach.

PHASE II: 1) Based on the results from Phase I, develop a fully functioning proof of concept solution. 2) Provide experiment results that evaluates effectiveness of the overall system. 3) Develop a final report completely describing the concept

PHASE III: Develop and evaluate a fully packaged enhanced diagnostic tool that is suitable for use in a multitude of military and commercial applications. If successful, this device would transition into a future SP24 Shipboard Systems Integration Development Program and/or the ESGN Sustainment Program.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: This technology would be able to be used in any advanced system that requires maintenance, such as a commerical Autonomous Underwater Vehicle's (AUV).

REFERENCES: None

KEYWORDS: Maintenance; Inertial; Navigation; Diagnostics; Faults; Submarine

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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