GPMS’ Predictive HUMS Foresight MX Gains Patent Protection For Novel Remaining Useful Life RUL Algorithm
Cornwall, VT (April 6, 2021) – A category disruptor in HUMS, GPMS International, Inc has gained patent protection for its novel Remaining Useful Life (RUL) algorithm. GPMS Co-founder and CEO, Dr. Eric Bechhoefer, developed the proprietary algorithm to calculate and display component health as an RUL measure, giving operators and maintainers the data they need to ‘know it before it matters.’
This is the sixth patent underlying GPMS’s flagship product, Foresight MX, advancing the company’s IP protection and effort to provide never-before-possible insights on rotorcraft, ground vehicles, and complex machines.
Remaining Usage Life estimates are critical for asset availability and safety. But the validity and accuracy of the diagnostic data rely on the quality of both the sensor hardware and the software algorithms. GPMS’s patent-protected RUL algorithm uses a nominal model to calculate when the part will no longer be good, not necessarily when it will fail. This is important as this approach allows Foresight MX to quickly assess component health without the need for big data for model training.
The patent is on a proprietary method for predicting “current remaining useful life (RUL) of a component through a generalized fault and usage model that is designed through a process of simplifying Paris’ Law (or other power-law) in conjunction with a Kalman Smoother (or other filtering technique).
The patent abstract continues: “One of the many advantages of this state observer technique is that the backward/forward filtering technique employed by the Kalman Smoother has no phase delay, which allows for the development of a generalized, zero tuning model that provides an improved component health trend, and therefore a better estimate of the predicted current RUL.”
The state observer refines the confidence of the remaining useful life estimate over time as it watches the fault propagation. When the model has a high confidence, it reports the estimate of remaining useful life, typically with 100 hours +/- before maintenance is indicated to allow for logistics planning. However, maintainers can watch the faults long before that alert is triggered to be aware of the building issues.
“Most exciting to me are the benefits this technology provides to operators,” Dr. Bechhoefer admits. “By providing a quantitative estimate of the remaining useful life, operators can proactively and opportunistically perform maintenance prior to there being a problem, and as an end result, improve the operational readiness of their fleet.”
About GPMS
GPMS offers a next generation, predictive Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) designed to give operators the power to “know it before it matters.” Its flagship Foresight™ product combines advanced sensors and cloud-based software to provide remote monitoring and predictive maintenance capability on rotorcraft and complex industrial equipment. Founded by a technical team with more than 20 years in the field, GPMS has reengineered the HUMS product to be smarter, faster and lighter than traditional systems at a price point that puts it within reach of even single engine models. GPMS gives operators the power to predict, understand, and perform. For more information, please visit https://www.gpms-vt.com.