Reconfiguration method for a sensor system comprising at least one set of observers for failure compensation and guaranteeing measured value quality

1. A reconfiguration method for implementation in a computer system for compensating failures of a sensor system ( 1 ) with at least two observers, each observer being formed by at least one sensor ( 2 , 50 ) for measuring ( 12 , 22 ) system states of an application system ( 11 , 21 ) and by at least one system model ( 4 ) for estimating of system states of the application system, in order to make system states with a predetermined reliability available to an allocated data processing unit ( 14 , 24 ), said method comprising the following steps:

(a) ascertaining failure states based on time related deviation values for a first observer by comparing of a number of states measured by said at least one sensor, with a state estimated by said at least one system model,

(b) initiating at least one further observer in response to the reaching of a first threshold level of said deviations, said further observer having a number of past time steps for determining a failure status of the further observer, and

(c) transmitting the system states ascertained by the further observer to the data processing unit ( 14 , 24 ) for further processing, as soon as the first observer has reached a second threshold value.

2. The reconfiguration method of claim 1 , wherein, in response to the first observer exceeding the first threshold value, that further observer is selected which has the smallest deviations of the system states over a predetermined past time interval.

3. The reconfiguration method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting a further observer in accordance with a predetermined sequence, when the first observer exceeds the first threshold value.

4. The reconfiguration method of claim 1 , wherein the first combination is initiated by the further combination and sending system states for further processing to the data processing unit ( 14 , 24 ) as soon as the first combination falls below the first threshold value.

5. The reconfiguration method of claim 1 , comprising ascertaining the deviations by means of a confidence estimate.

6. The reconfiguration method of claim 5 , comprising performing the confidence estimate by means of a Gauss-method or a quadrilateral method.

7. A sensor system for the determination of external states of an application system ( 11 ), said sensor system comprising an allocated data processing unit ( 14 ) for receiving said external states, at least two observers ( 6 ) with at least one respective sensor ( 2 ) and at least one respective system model representing the application system ( 11 ), said sensor system being adapted for performing functions in accordance with the method steps (a), (b) and (c) as defined in claim 1 .

8. The sensor system of claim 7 , wherein said application system is a vehicle.

9. The sensor system of claim 8 , wherein a position or an attitude of the vehicle in space is used as an external state.

10. The sensor system of claim 7 , wherein said sensor system is an air data system.

11. The sensor system of claim 7 , wherein said data processing unit ( 14 ) is a monitor.

12. A sensor system for the determination of operational states of an application system ( 21 ), said sensor system comprising an allocated data processing unit ( 24 ) for receiving said operational states, and at least one set of observers ( 6 ) with at least one sensor ( 2 ) and a system model representing the application system ( 11 ), said sensor system being adapted for performing functions in accordance with the method steps of claim 1 .

13. The sensor system of claim 12 , wherein the application system is a control system and wherein the operational states are a position and/or a speed of a servo-valve or of an actuator.

14. The sensor system of claim 12 , wherein the application system is a control system and wherein the operational states are pressures.

15. The sensor system of claim 12 , wherein the application system is a chemical system and the operational states are a reaction temperature, a concentration of materials reacting with each other, or pressures.

16. The sensor system of claim 12 , wherein the application system is an electrical system and the operational states are currents, voltages, capacities or material characteristics.

17. The sensor system of claim 12 , wherein said data processing unit ( 24 ) is a monitor.