A mobile maintenance decision support system

The development is reported of an e-maintenance system, ie a mobile maintenance decision support system based on web and mobile technologies. The problem of the lack of experts to troubleshoot a fault in a machine is a long-standing one. It has led to the application of artificial intelligence and, later, distributed artificial intelligence for machine condition monitoring and diagnosis. Recently, web technology, along with wireless communication, is emerging as a potential tool in maintenance, facilitating acquisition of the desired information by the relevant personnel at any time, wherever they may be. It has been found that with the emergence of the new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) new concepts have started to appear, such as e-manufacturing, e-business and e-maintenance. The paper begins by showing the Web and Mobile architecture and then the ICT tools that are used for communication among the different layers of the system and the client machines. This is followed by a demonstration of the use of the system with a faulty bearing simulated signal. In addition, it is explained that a CMMS, ie a mobile work management system, has been tested, with successful results. Finally, it is shown how a mobile emulator was used to perfect the system for different requirements and how this was then tested on a personal digital assistant (PDA)