“Predictive maintenance surveyor” design pattern for machine tools control software applications

Software involved in modern control applications is becoming increasingly complex, having to deal with newer and more sophisticated responsibilities. It must be now considered as a very relevant part in the mix of the system complexities and, unfortunately maybe very often, it is also an important source of engineering headaches. Its specific particularities should be conveniently taken into account using common software techniques. Design patterns are one of such techniques, widely used in the software world. The presented design pattern suggests a way to handle predictive maintenance, a service oriented to machine tools containing parts that suffer progressive deterioration which can be indirectly detected. This way, adequate maintenance actions can be scheduled just in time to avoid further problems development.