Development of an expert system for diagnosing component-level failures in a shuttle car

The development of a rule-based expert system (referred to as SCAR) for assisting electricians in diagnosing electrical faults in a shuttle car is discussed. Insight 2+, a microcomputer-based expert-system development tool by Level Five Research, Inc. was used in creating the system. The program requires the user to specify the initial symptoms of the failed machine; then the most probable cause of failure is traced through the knowledge base, with the software requesting additional information, such as voltage or resistance measurements, as needed. A causal-reasoning approach, which was used to develop the production rules, is described. The organization, implementation, and limitations of the knowledge base are also presented, along with a brief discussion of the ongoing development of a new system, SCAR.2