Hybrid fault diagnosis of nonlinear systems using neural parameter estimators

This paper presents a novel integrated hybrid approach for fault diagnosis (FD) of nonlinear systems taking advantage of both the system’s mathematical model and the adaptive nonlinear approximation capability of computational intelligence techniques. Unlike most FD techniques, the proposed solution simultaneously accomplishes fault detection, isolation, and identification (FDII) within a unified diagnostic module. At the core of this solution is a bank of adaptive neural parameter estimators (NPEs) associated with a set of single-parameter fault models. The NPEs continuously estimate unknown fault parameters (FPs) that are indicators of faults in the system. Two NPE structures, series–parallel and parallel, are developed with their exclusive set of desirable attributes. The parallel scheme is extremely robust to measurement noise and possesses a simpler, yet more solid, fault isolation logic. In contrast, the series–parallel scheme displays short FD delays and is robust to closed-loop system transients due to changes in control commands. Finally, a fault tolerant observer (FTO) is designed to extend the capability of the two NPEs that originally assumes full state measurements for systems that have only partial state measurements. The proposed FTO is a neural state estimator that can estimate unmeasured states even in the presence of faults. The estimated and the measured states then comprise the inputs to the two proposed FDII schemes. Simulation results for FDII of reaction wheels of a three-axis stabilized satellite in the presence of disturbances and noise demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed FDII solutions under partial state measurements.