MIDAS - AN APPLICATION OF MODEL-BASED REASONING FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS

The traditional approach to the development of diagnostic knowledge-ba sed systems has been rule-based, where experiential and heuristic know ledge is encoded in a suite of production rules. Despite the success o f such rule-based systems it has been recognised that they suffer from a number of limitations owing to the shallowness of their knowledge. Much of the current thrust of research is focusing on the use of model -based reasoning, which provides knowledge of the structure and functi on of the device under diagnosis. The paper describes the design and d evelopment of a model-based system for diagnosis which aids in the tro ubleshooting of complex hydro-mechanical devices. The resultant system , named MIDAS, has now been implemented successfully.