A distributed architecture for sensor fault detection and isolation using adaptive approximation

This paper presents a design methodology and some analytical results for distributed sensor fault detection and isolation (SFDI) of a class of nonlinear uncertain systems. During the initial stage of the nonlinear system operation, an adaptive approximation technique is used for learning online the modeling uncertainty. Then, local SFDI modules are designed using a dedicated nonlinear observer scheme. The fault isolation process is enhanced by deriving a combinatorial decision logic that integrates information from local SFDI modules. The performance of the proposed diagnostic scheme is analyzed in terms of its robustness with respect to the modeling uncertainties and conditions for ensuring fault detectability and isolability.