An expert system for engine fault diagnosis: development and application

The mass production and wider use of automobiles and the incorporation of c omplex electronic technologies all indicate that the control of faults shou ld be given an integral part of engine design and usage. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) technology is widely suggested for systematic diagnosis o f faults where the amount of well-defined diagnosis knowledge is vast and t he sequence of steps required to identify the fault is very long. This arti cle describes on an expert system application for automotive engines. A new prototype named EXEDS (expert engine diagnosis system) has been developed using KnowledgePro, an expert system development tool, and run on a PC. The purpose of the prototype is to assist auto mechanics in fault diagnosis of engines by providing systematic and step-by-step analysis of failure sympt oms and offering maintenance or service advice. The result of this developm ent is expected to introduce a systematic and intelligent method in engine diagnosis and maintenance environments.