ANDES: a phased-array antenna diagnostic expert system

The Antenna Repair Facility at McClellan Air Force Base, which has been res ponsible for the repair and maintenance of US Air Force antennas and radars over several decades, now faces the challenge of transferring their many y ears of expertise in antenna repair and maintenance from their closing base to an acquiring base. This is being done with the requirement of maintaini ng the in-house expertise and production levels, while manpower decreases. To meet the challenge, an expert system called ANDES is being developed to help diagnose electronically steered phased-array satellite ground station antennas at McClellan AFB and the acquiring base. This paper discusses the key issues in the design and development of ANDES and focuses on its use as a tool to help human engineers improve the antenna diagnostic process. The ANDES' experience indicates that during the times of downsizing, streamlin ing and restructuring, expert systems offer a viable and sometimes pivotal means to preserve expertise from a closing facility and also can be used as a training tool by an acquiring facility. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.