Realizability Constrained Selection of Residual Generators for Fault Diagnosis With an Automotive Engine Application

This paper considers the problem of selecting a set of residual generators for inclusion in a model-based diagnosis system, while fulfilling fault isolability requirements and minimizing the number of residual generators. Two novel algorithms for solving the selection problem are proposed. The first algorithm provides an exact solution fulfilling both requirements and is suitable for small problems. The second algorithm, which constitutes the main contribution, is suitable for large problems and provides an approximate solution by means of a greedy heuristic and by relaxing the minimal cardinality requirement. The foundation for the algorithms is a novel formulation of the selection problem which enables an efficient reduction of the search-space by taking into account realizability properties, with respect to the considered residual generation method. Both algorithms are general in the sense that they are aimed at supporting any computerized residual generation method. In a case study the greedy selection algorithm is successfully applied in an industrial sized automotive engine system.