Aircraft fuel control diagnostic fault detection through expert systems

The author studies the feasibility of applying expert systems to diagnostic fault detection in aircraft fuel control units. Generally fault finding is done by diagnostic engineers using their training and experience to identify faults. Applying an expert system to this fault identification exercise within a test rig seems both interesting and beneficial. The author reports on experiences of evaluating the generic type of expert system necessary for use with full authority fuel control in fault location at the module or function card level. In summary, such use of expert systems is likely to remain somewhat difficult to implement due to the difficulty of knowledge acquisition.