FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
[39 OF 1970]
&
The Patents Rules, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See Section 10 and Rule 13]
TITLE: “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PREDICTING HEALTH CONDITION OF
ACTUATORS IN A VEHICLE”
Name and address of the Applicant:
TATA MOTORS LIMITED, an Indian company having its registered office at Bombay
house, 24 Homi Mody Street, Hutatma Chowk, Mumbai 400 001, Maharashtra, INDIA.
Nationality: INDIAN
The following specification particularly describes the nature of the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD
Present disclosure generally relates to field of automobile engineering. Particularly but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a method and a system for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
Healthy functioning of actuators plays a very important role in the vehicle. There are various reasons due to which the actuators fail. Some of them are failure caused by application errors, such as side loading, incorrect wiring, poor mounting fixity, excessive loading, and exceeding duty cycle. Existing technologies predict potential failure of the component through the sensors. Sensors measure the voltage (equitable to voltage threshold limit) and current fluctuations. Currently, the existing techniques do not consider various conditions of voltage and current fluctuations, which leads to frequent false alerts.
One of the existing technologies discloses providing recommendations to vehicle users to handle alerts associated with the vehicle having a communication unit to provide the vehicle status information to a cloud server. The cloud server processes the received vehicle data and compares it with the diagnostics data and the crowd sourced data and selects an alert from among a plurality of possible alerts. Another existing technology defines a method having sensors mounted on specific positions of vehicle to monitor the state of consumables according to a reference table pre-fed in the vehicle consumable replacement cycle management apparatus and gives timely notifications to the user through user terminal. Though, the existing techniques disclose predicting component failure, these techniques fail to address false positives that may occur under various scenarios.
The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the disclosure and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
One or more shortcomings of the conventional systems are overcome by system and method as claimed and additional advantages are provided through the provision of system and method as claimed in the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through

the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed disclosure.
In one non-limiting embodiment, the present disclosure discloses a method of predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle. The method includes receiving, by an actuator health predicting system associated with the vehicle, data corresponding to one or more actuators of the vehicle, from a telematics unit configured in the vehicle. The data comprises values corresponding to at least one of actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle. Thereafter, the method includes determining occurrence of a threshold breach when the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle. Further, the method includes determining at least one of number of occurrences of the threshold breach, and a duration of the threshold breach based on continuous monitoring of the values corresponding to the at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle. Finally, the method includes predicting health condition of the one or more actuators based on the at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach and the duration of the threshold breach.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the actuator position of each of the one or more actuators ranges between a completely open position and a completely closed position predefined for each of the one or more actuators, wherein the completely open position corresponds to a predefined upper voltage threshold limit and the completely closed position corresponds to a predefined lower voltage threshold limit required for operation of the corresponding one or more actuators.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the duty cycle corresponds to an upper percentage limit of the duty cycle and a lower percentage limit of the duty cycle required for operation of the one or more actuators.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined using a counter initiated at first occurrence of the threshold breach, wherein the counter is incremented at each occurrence of the threshold breach.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy, when the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined number of occurrences.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy, when the duration of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined time duration.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be healthy, when the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be less than the predefined number of occurrences.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, predicting the health condition of the one or more actuators to be healthy, when the duration of the threshold breach is determined to be less than the predefined time duration.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, an alert is sent to a user, when the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy.
In another non-limiting embodiment, the present disclosure discloses an actuator health predicting system for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle. The actuator health predicting system is associated with the vehicle and includes a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory stores the processor-executable instructions, which, on execution, causes the processor to detect occurrence of one or more data received from the actuator health predicting system corresponding to one or more actuators in the vehicle, from a telematics unit configured in the vehicle. The one or more data comprises values corresponding to at least one of actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle. Further, the processor determines occurrence of a threshold breach when the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle. Thereafter, the processor determines at least one of number of occurrences of the threshold breach, or a duration of the threshold breach based on continuous monitoring of the values corresponding to the at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle. Finally, the

processor predicts health condition of the one or more actuators based on the at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach or the duration of the threshold breach.
It is to be understood that aspects and embodiments of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.
The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
FIG.1 illustrates an exemplary architecture for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG.2A shows a detailed block diagram of an actuator health predicting system for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG.2B shows an exemplary graphical illustration of upper and lower threshold limits of actuator position of an exemplary actuator, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG.2C shows an exemplary graphical illustration of upper and lower threshold limits of duty cycle of an exemplary actuator, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG.3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method of predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG.4 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.
It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.
The figures depict embodiments of the disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the system illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device or method that includes a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not,

without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.
Disclosed herein are a method and a system for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle. As an example, the vehicle may include, but not limited to, a car, truck, lorry, bus and the like. The present disclosure envisages the aspect of detecting health of one or more actuators of the vehicle. Initially, the actuator health predicting system may receive data corresponding to one or more actuators of the vehicle from a telematics unit configured in the vehicle. In some embodiments, the actuator health predicting system may check for occurrence of a threshold breach when the values corresponding to at least one of an actuator position and a duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and the duty cycle, respectively. In other words, when the values corresponding to the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from corresponding predefined upper and lower [maximum and minimum] threshold limits, the actuator health predicting system may determine occurrence of a threshold breach in one or more actuators. The actuator position of each of the one or more actuators ranges between a completely open position and a completely closed position predefined for each of the one or more actuators. Particularly, the completely open position corresponds to a predefined upper voltage threshold limit and the completely closed position corresponds to a predefined lower voltage threshold limit required for operation of the corresponding one or more actuators. Similarly, the predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the duty cycle corresponds to an upper percentage limit of the duty cycle and a lower percentage limit of the duty cycle required for operation of the one or more actuators. The predefined upper and lower threshold limits of actuator position and duty cycle depends on the functionalities of one or more actuators.
The actuator health predicting system continuously monitors the values corresponding to the actuator position and the duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators to specifically determine the number of times the threshold breach has occurred and to determine the duration of the threshold breach in one or more actuators. When the actuator health predicting system identifies the deviation in actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators, then the counter is initiated to note that there is a deviation in actuator position and the duty cycle. The counter is incremented each time when there is any deviation seen in the actuator position and the duty cycle of one or more actuators. Further, the actuator health predicting

system may predict the health condition of the one or more actuators based on at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach and the duration of the threshold breach. In some embodiments, when at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach, and a duration of the threshold breach exceeds a predefined count, the actuator health predicting system may send an alert to a user device of a user associated with the vehicle.
The present disclosure predicts health condition of the one or more actuators in the vehicle only based on two parameters i.e., an actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle. This in turn reduces the amount of data to be transmitted and bandwidth required for transmission of the data between the ECU and the telematics unit, and the telematics unit and the actuator health predicting system. Moreover, usage of only two parameters enables prediction of the health condition of the vehicle with reduced computation. Further, the present disclosure provides a feature wherein alerts are provided to the user associated with the vehicle when the health condition of the vehicle is predicted to be unhealthy. The present disclosure provides such alerts only when number of occurrences of the threshold breach or the duration of the threshold breach with respect to predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle, exceeds the predefined number of occurrences and predefined time duration. This enables enhancing the accuracy of predicting health condition of one or more actuators in the vehicle and eliminating false alerts provided to the user.
A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the disclosure.
In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

FIG.1 illustrates an exemplary architecture for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
The architecture 100 includes a vehicle 101, a telematics unit 103, an actuator health predicting system 105, a user device 113 and a user 115. As an example, the vehicle 101 may include, but not limited to, a car, a truck, a lorry, a bus and the like. The telematics unit 103 may be configured in the vehicle 101. In some embodiments, the telematics unit 103 collects data corresponding to one or more actuators (not shown in the FIG.1) configured in the vehicle 101. In some embodiments, the vehicle 101 may be arranged with the one or more actuators to perform various functionalities of the vehicle 101. The one or more actuators may receive power supply from a battery configured in the vehicle 101. In some embodiments, when the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101 are in operation, values corresponding to duty cycle and actuator position of the one or more actuators are monitored. In some embodiments, the one or more actuators may be controlled by one or more Electronic Control Units (ECUs) (not shown in the FIG.1) configured in the vehicle 101. The one or more actuators may continuously transmit the signals to the corresponding one or more ECUs. In some embodiments, the signals received from the one or more actuators may be indicative of values corresponding to the actuator position and the duty cycle. The one or more ECUs may transmit data comprising the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle to the telematics unit 103 In some embodiments, the one or more ECUs communicate with the telematics unit 103 via Controller Area Network (CAN). In some embodiments, the telematics unit 103 may further transmit the data comprising the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle to the actuator health predicting system 105.
In some embodiments, the actuator health predicting system 105 may be configured in a cloud infrastructure and communicatively connected to the telematics unit 103 via a wireless communication network. In some other embodiments, the actuator health predicting system 105 may be configured in the vehicle 101 and communicatively connected to the telematics unit 103 via wired or wireless communication network. The actuator health predicting system 105 may predict health condition of the one or more actuators in a vehicle 101 based on the data corresponding to the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101 received from the telematics unit 103 and may send an alert to a user device 113 of a user 115 associated with the vehicle 101 when the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy.

In some embodiments, the user of the vehicle 101 may interact with the actuator health predicting system 105 via a user portal. As an example, the user of the vehicle 101 may receive alerts related to the health condition of the one or more actuators via the user portal. As an example, the user of the vehicle 101 may include, but not limited to, a driver of the vehicle 101, owner of the vehicle 101, person such as a fleet manager who manages the vehicle 101 and the like. In some embodiments, the actuator health predicting system 105 may send alerts to more than one user.
In some embodiments, the actuator health predicting system 105 may include, but not limited to, a processor 107, an Input/Output (I/O) interface 109 and a memory 111. The I/O interface 109 may be configured to receive data (also referred as telemetry data in some parts of the present disclosure) corresponding to one or more actuators of the vehicle 101 from the telematics unit 103. In some embodiments, the telemetry data may include, but not limited to, values corresponding to at least one of actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101. As an example, the one or more actuator positions and duty cycle may normally range from 700mV to 4500mV and ±30% duty cycle respectively. In some embodiments, based on the one or more actuator positions and duty cycle, the processor 107 may determine occurrence of a threshold breach when the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle.
In some embodiments, the predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle may vary based on the type and functionality of the actuator. For example, the threshold limits of actuator position may range from: completely open condition such as 4.75V or 4750mV and completely closed condition such as 2.5V or 250mV. Generally, the healthy actuators may work well between ±30% to ±50% duty cycle. In some embodiments, when the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from the corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle, then the processor 107 may identify occurrence of a threshold breach in the one or more actuators.
In some embodiments, upon determining the deviation in the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators from corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle, the

processor 107 may check for the number of occurrences of the threshold breach and also checks for the duration of the threshold breach. Since ECUs continuously monitor the functionalities of one or more actuators, when there is occurrence of the threshold breach for the first time, the processor 107 may initiate a counter. When the threshold breach is continuous i.e., when threshold breach repeats, the processor 107 may count the number of occurrences of the threshold breach, and a duration of the threshold breach where the counter gets incremented each time when threshold breach is occurred. Thereafter, the processor 107 may predict health condition of the one or more actuators as unhealthy, when the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined number of occurrences or when the number of duration of the threshold breach is greater than or equal to a predefined duration. Based on the above condition the alert may be sent to the user associated with the vehicle 101.
FIG.2A shows a detailed block diagram of an actuator health predicting system for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle 101, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
In some implementations, the actuator health predicting system 105 may include data 203 and modules 205. As an example, the data 203 is stored in the memory 111 configured in the actuator health predicting system 105 as shown in the FIG.2. In one embodiment, the data 203 may include telemetry data 207, actuator threshold data 209, and other data 211. In the illustrated FIG.2, modules 205 are described herein in detail.
In some embodiments, the data 203 may be stored in the memory 111 in form of various data structures. Additionally, the data 203 can be organized using data models, such as relational or hierarchical data models. The other data 211 may store data, including temporary data and temporary files, generated by the modules 205 for performing the various functions of the actuator health predicting system 105.
In some embodiments, the telemetry data 207 may include data/values corresponding to at least one of actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101. The values of each actuators vary based on the type and functionality of the actuator. For example, the types of actuators may include, but not limited to, rotary actuators, hydraulic actuators, pneumatic actuators, electric actuators, thermal and magnetic actuators and mechanical actuators. In some embodiments, the one or more actuators are controlled by one

or more ECUs configured in the vehicle 101. The one or more actuators continuously transmit signals indicative of at least one of actuator position and duty cycle of the one or more actuators to their corresponding ECUs. The one or more ECUs provide the data received from the one or more actuators to a telematics unit 103 associated with the one or more ECUs, that in turn provides the data to the actuator health predicting system 105. The data corresponding to the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators thus received by the actuator health predicting system 105 may be stored as the telemetry data 207.
In some embodiments, the actuator threshold data 209 may include the actuators threshold values/data disclosing the predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle. The upper threshold limit values of the actuator position are the data describing the maximum threshold input in which the actuator works. As an example, consider a normal working condition of an actuator includes operating in a range of 700mV to 4500mV. Therefore, voltage falling below 700mV and voltage crossing beyond 4500mV during an actuator operation may indicate deteriorating health of the actuators. Similarly, as an example, consider a normal working condition of an actuator includes making use of ±30% to ±50% duty cycle for its operation. Therefore, the actuator consuming more than ±50% duty cycle may indicate deteriorating health of the actuator. In some embodiments, the actuator health predicting system 105 may use the actuators threshold values/data for comparing the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator positions and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators with corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle to determine the deviation in one or more actuators.
In some embodiments, the data 203 stored in the memory 111 may be processed by the modules 205 of the actuator health predicting system 105. The modules 205 may be stored within the memory 111. In an example, the modules 205 communicatively coupled to the processor 107 configured in the actuator health predicting system 105, may also be present outside the memory 111 as shown in FIG.2A and implemented as hardware. As used herein, the term modules refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.

In some embodiments, the modules 205 may include, for example, a receiving module 221, a threshold breach determining module 223, an actuator health predicting module 225, an alerting module 227 and other modules 229. The other modules 229 may be used to perform one or more miscellaneous functionalities of the actuator health predicting system 105.
In some embodiments, the receiving module 221 may receive data corresponding to at least one of an actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101 from the telematics unit 103 configured in the vehicle 101. The data may be referred as the telemetry data 207 related to the vehicle 101 and the data may include, but not limited to, values corresponding to at least one of actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101. In some embodiments, actuator position of the vehicle 101 may refer to a stroke position of the actuator required for performing one or more operations of the actuator. Whereas duty cycle may refer to duration for which a predefined amount of power is supplied continuously for maintaining the actuator position to perform one or more operations of the actuator. In some embodiments, the actuator position values of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101 may be monitored when the vehicle 101 is in motion. In some embodiments, the one or more actuators obtains input in the form of a power supply from the battery of the vehicle 101 for performing one or more operations. Based on the power supply provided to the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101, the duty cycle and the position of the one or more actuators are monitored. In some embodiments, the one or more actuators may be controlled by corresponding one or more ECUs configured in the vehicle 101. The one or more actuators may continuously transmit feedback signals to the corresponding one or more ECUs. Based on the feedback signals of the one or more actuators, the one or more ECUs may monitor parameters related to health condition of the corresponding one or more actuators. The one or more ECUs may transmit the monitored data to the telematics unit 103 associated with the one or more ECUs. The receiving module 221 may receive data comprising values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101 from the telematics unit 103. In some embodiments, the telematics unit 103 may communicate with the actuator health predicting system 105 via a Controller Area Network (CAN) architecture. As an example, common actuators of the vehicle 101, may include, but not limited to, fuel pump, injectors, fuel pressure regulator, idle speed actuator, spark plugs and ignition coils. These actuators perform various functionalities/operations of the vehicle 101 and have respective threshold values with respect to actuator position and duty cycles for their operation.

In some embodiments, a threshold breach determining module 223 may determine occurrence of a threshold breach when the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from a corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle.
Determining threshold breach based on actuator position
In some embodiments, the actuator position of each of the one or more actuators may range between a completely open position and a completely closed position predefined for each of the one or more actuators. In some embodiments, the completely open position corresponds to a predefined upper voltage threshold limit and the completely closed position corresponds to a predefined lower voltage threshold limit required for operation of the corresponding one or more actuators. As an example, consider an actuator, Exhaust Throttle Valve (ETV). As shown in the FIG.2B, position indicated by referral numeral 231 i.e., 0.25V may be an exemplary completely closed position for the ETV and position indicated by referral numeral 233 i.e., 4.75V may be an exemplary completely open position for the ETV. Therefore, as shown in the FIG.2B, 4.75V may be set as an exemplary predefined upper voltage threshold limit for the ETV and 0.25V may be set as an exemplary predefined lower voltage threshold limit for the ETV. When the actuator position of an actuator lies in the normal voltage range i.e., between 0.7V and 4.5V, the threshold breach determining module 223 may indicate that there is no threshold breach and store the values in the memory 111. Due to the wear and tear of the actuator over a period of time, the actuator position may tend to operate beyond the normal voltage range, i.e., between 0.7V to 0.25V at the lower end and between 4.5V to 4.75V at the upper end for the ETV. When the actuator enters into this zone beyond the normal voltage range, it may be considered as a warning zone that warns related to wear and tear status of the actuator. However, when the actuator position of the actuator is operating beyond the warning zone, in other words, when the values associated with the actuator position deviate from (exceed) the predefined upper voltage threshold limit and the predefined lower voltage threshold limit of the actuator position, which in this example are 4.75V and 0.25 v respectively, the threshold breach determining module 223 may determine the occurrence of the threshold breach.
Determining threshold breach based on duty cycle of the one or more actuators.

In some embodiments, duty cycle varies for each actuator configured in the vehicle 101, therefore, even upper and lower threshold limits of the duty cycle vary for each actuator. The predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the duty cycle may correspond to an upper percentage limit of the duty cycle and a lower percentage limit of the duty cycle required for operation of the one or more actuators. As shown in the FIG.2C, duty cycle percentage indicated by the referral numeral 235 may indicate an exemplary lower percentage limit of the duty cycle and the duty cycle percentage indicated by the referral numeral 237 may indicate an exemplary upper percentage limit of the duty cycle for the ETV. When the duty cycle lies in the normal duty cycle range i.e., between -50% and +50%, the threshold breach determining module 223 may indicate that there is no threshold breach and store the values in the memory 111. In some embodiments, a healthy actuator i.e., in this example, a healthy ETV generally would not require duty cycles of more than +/- 30%. Due to the wear and tear of the actuator over a period of time, the actuator may tend to operate in higher duty cycles that lies beyond the normal duty cycle range, i.e., between -50% to -80% at the lower end and between +50% to +80% at the upper end for the ETV. When the actuator enters into this zone beyond the normal duty cycle range, it may be considered as a warning zone that warns related to wear and tear status of the actuator. However, when the actuator position of the actuator is operating beyond the warning zone, in other words, when the values associated with the actuator position deviate from (exceed) the predefined upper percentage limit and the predefined lower percentage limit of the actuator, which in this example are +80% and -80% respectively, the threshold breach determining module 223 may determine the occurrence of the threshold breach.
In some embodiments, when the occurrence of the threshold breach is determined either based on the actuator position or based on the duty cycle or based on both the actuator position and the duty cycle, for the first time i.e. at first occurrence of the threshold breach, the threshold breach determining module 223 may initiate a counter to determine number of occurrences of the threshold breach. In some embodiments, the threshold breach determining module 223 may increment the counter at each occurrence of the threshold breach, based on continuous monitoring of the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101. As an example, if the actuator position is determined to have crossed the upper and/or lower threshold limits for 10 times, then the counter may indicate the number of occurrences of the threshold breach as 10. In some other embodiments, the threshold breach determining module 223 may also determine duration

upto which the threshold breach is observed, from the first occurrence of the threshold breach, based on continuous monitoring of the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101. As an example, if the actuator position is determined to have crossed the upper and/or lower threshold limits for nearly for 2 days, then the duration of the threshold breach may be indicated as 2 days.
In some embodiments, the actuator health predicting module 225 may predict health condition of the one or more actuators based on the at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach and the duration of the threshold breach. In some embodiments, when at least one of, a) the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined number of occurrences and b) the duration of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined time duration the actuator health predicting module 225 may predict the health condition of the one or more actuators as unhealthy. In some embodiments, unhealthy condition of the one or more actuators may indicate a potential failure of the one or more actuators or a potential occurrence of a fault in the one or more actuators. However, when at least one of, a) the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be less than the predefined number of occurrences and b) the duration of the threshold breach is determined to be less than the predefined time duration, the actuator health predicting module 225 may predict the health condition of the one or more actuators as healthy. In some embodiments, healthy condition of the one or more actuators may indicate proper operation of the one or more actuators.
In some embodiments, the alerting module 227 may send alerts to a user when the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy. In some embodiments, the alerting module 227 may alert more than one user regarding the unhealthy condition of the one or more actuators. As an example, the one or more users may include, but not limited to, driver of the vehicle, owner of the vehicle, a manager managing a fleet of vehicles and the like. In some embodiments, the alerting module 227 may provide alerts to at least one of user device associated with the one or more users, Human Machine Interface (HMI) of the vehicle 101, and Instrument Panel Cluster (IPC) of the vehicle 101. In some other embodiments, the alerting module 227 may also provide an alert to a preconfigured service centre where the vehicle 101 may be serviced. Based on the alerts received from the alerting module 227, the one or more

users may plan a suitable action for either repairing the one or more actuators or replacing the one or more actuators.
FIG.3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method of predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
As illustrated in FIG.3, the method 300 includes one or more blocks illustrating a method of predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle 101. The method 300 may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform functions or implement abstract data types.
The order in which the method 300 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method 300. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method 300 can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.
At block 301, the method 300 may include receiving, by a processor 107 of an actuator health predicting system 105 associated with the vehicle 101, data corresponding to one or more actuators of the vehicle 101, from a telematics unit 103 configured in the vehicle 101. The data may include, but not limited to, telemetry data 207 that may include values corresponding to at least one of an actuator position and a duty cycle of one or more actuators of the vehicle 101.
At block 303, the method 300 may include determining, by the processor 107, occurrence of a threshold breach when the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle.
At block 305, the method 300 may include determining, by the processor 107, at least one of number of occurrences of the threshold breach, and a duration of the threshold breach based on continuous monitoring of the values corresponding to the at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle 101.

At block 307, the method 300 may include predicting, by the processor 107, a health condition of the one or more actuators based on the at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach and the duration of the threshold breach. In some embodiments, when at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach, and a duration of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to the predefined number of occurrences and the predefined time duration, respectively, the processor 107 may predict the health condition of the one or more actuators as unhealthy. However, when at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach, and the duration of the threshold breach is less than the predefined number of occurrences and the predefined time duration, respectively, the processor 107 may predict the health condition of the one or more actuators as healthy. In some embodiments, when the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy, the processor 107 may send alerts to one or more users associated with the vehicle 101.
FIG.4 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.
In some embodiments, FIG.4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 400 for implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 may be an actuator health predicting system 105 for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle 101. The computer system 400 may include a central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor 107”) 402. The processor 402 may include at least one data processor 402 for executing program components for executing user or system-generated business processes. A user may include a person, a person using a device such as such as those included in this invention, or such a device itself. The processor 402 may include specialized processing units such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, etc.
The processor 402 may be disposed in communication with input devices 411 and output devices 412 via I/O interface 401. The I/O interface 401 may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog, digital, stereo, IEEE-1394, serial bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), Radio Frequency (RF) antennas, S-Video, Video Graphics Array (VGA), IEEE 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular

(e.g., Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), Global System For Mobile Communications (GSM), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax, or the like), etc. Using the I/O interface 401, computer system 400 may communicate with input devices 411 and output devices 412.
In some embodiments, the processor402 may be disposed in communication with a communication network 409 via a network interface 403. The network interface 403 may communicate with the communication network 409. The network interface 403 may employ connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc. Using the network interface 403 and the communication network 409, the computer system 400 may communicate with telematics unit 103 and user 115. The telematics unit 103 may communicate with ECU 4131 to ECU 413n (also referred as one or more ECUs 413) to receive telemetry data, and the one or more ECUs 413 are associated with the actuator 4141 to actuator 414n (also referred as one or more actuators 414) that provide feedback signals to the one or more ECUs 413. The communication network 409 can be implemented as one of the different types of networks, such as intranet or Local Area Network (LAN), Controller Area Network (CAN) and such within the vehicle 101. The communication network 409 may either be a dedicated network or a shared network, which represents an association of the different types of networks that use a variety of protocols, for example, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), CAN Protocol, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc., to communicate with each other. Further, the communication network 409 may include a variety of network devices, including routers, bridges, servers, computing devices, storage devices, etc. The user device 113 may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop and the like. In some embodiments, the processor 402 may be disposed in communication with a memory 405 (e.g., RAM, ROM, etc. not shown in FIG.4) via a storage interface 404. The storage interface 404 may connect to memory 405 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), IEEE-1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), fibre channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.

The memory 405 may store a collection of program or database components, including, without limitation, a user interface 406, an operating system 407, a web browser 408 etc. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 may store user/application data, such as the data, variables, records, etc. as described in this invention. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases such as Oracle or Sybase.
The operating system 407 may facilitate resource management and operation of the computer system 400. Examples of operating systems include, without limitation, APPLE® MACINTOSH® OS X®, UNIX®, UNIX-like system distributions (E.G., BERKELEY SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION® (BSD), FREEBSD®, NETBSD®, OPENBSD, etc.), LINUX® DISTRIBUTIONS (E.G., RED HAT®, UBUNTU®, KUBUNTU®, etc.), IBM®OS/2®,
MICROSOFT® WINDOWS® (XP®, VISTA®/7/8, 10 etc.), APPLE® IOS®, GOOGLETM ANDROIDTM, BLACKBERRY® OS, or the like. The User interface 406 may facilitate display, execution, interaction, manipulation, or operation of program components through textual or graphical facilities. For example, user interfaces may provide computer interaction interface elements on a display system operatively connected to the computer system 400, such as cursors, icons, check boxes, menus, scrollers, windows, widgets, etc. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) may be employed, including, without limitation, Apple® Macintosh® operating systems’ Aqua®, IBM® OS/2®, Microsoft® Windows® (e.g., Aero, Metro, etc.), web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX®, Java®, Javascript®, AJAX, HTML, Adobe® Flash®, etc.), or the like. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 may implement the web browser 408 stored program components. The web browser 408 may be a hypertext viewing application, such as MICROSOFT® INTERNET EXPLORER®, GOOGLETM CHROMETM, MOZILLA® FIREFOX®, APPLE® SAFARI®, etc. Secure web browsing may be provided using Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), etc. Web browsers 408 may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML, ADOBE® FLASH®, JAVASCRIPT®, JAVA®, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), etc. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 may implement a mail server stored program component. The mail server may be an Internet mail server such as Microsoft Exchange, or the like. The mail server may utilize facilities such as Active Server Pages (ASP), ACTIVEX®, ANSI® C++/C#, MICROSOFT®, .NET, CGI SCRIPTS, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®, PERL®, PHP, PYTHON®, WEBOBJECTS®, etc. The mail server may utilize communication protocols such as Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), MICROSOFT® exchange, Post Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail

Transfer Protocol (SMTP), or the like. In some embodiments, the computer system 400 may implement a mail client stored program component. The mail client may be a mail viewing application, such as APPLE® MAIL, MICROSOFT® ENTOURAGE®, MICROSOFT® OUTLOOK®, MOZILLA® THUNDERBIRD®, etc.
Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor 402 may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processor 402, including instructions for causing the processor 402 to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computer-readable medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., non-transitory. Examples include Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, non-volatile memory, hard drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVDs), flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.

Referral Numerals:

Reference Number Description
100 Architecture
101 Vehicle
103 Telematics unit
105 Actuator health predicting system
107 Processor
109 I/O interface
111 Memory
113 User device
115 User
203 Data
205 Modules
207 Telemetry data
209 Actuators threshold data
211 Other data
221 Receiving module
223 Threshold breach determining module
225 Actuator health predicting module
227 Alerting module
229 Other modules
400 Exemplary computer system
401 I/O Interface of the exemplary computer system
402 Processor of the exemplary computer system
403 Network interface
404 Storage interface
405 Memory of the exemplary computer system
406 User interface
407 Operating system
408 Web browser
409 Communication network
411 Input devices
412 Output devices
413 One or more ECUs associated with the telematics unit
414 One or more actuators associated with the one or more ECUs

We claim:
1. A method of predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle (101), the
method comprising:
receiving, by an actuator health predicting system (105) associated with the vehicle (101), data corresponding to one or more actuators of the vehicle (101), from a telematics unit (103) configured in the vehicle (101), wherein the data comprises values corresponding to at least one of actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle (101);
determining, by the actuator health predicting system (105), occurrence of a threshold breach when the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle;
determining, by the actuator health predicting system (105), at least one of number of occurrences of the threshold breach, and a duration of the threshold breach based on continuous monitoring of the values corresponding to the at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle (101);
predicting, by the actuator health predicting system (105), health condition of the one or more actuators based on the at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach and the duration of the threshold breach.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the actuator position of each of the one or more actuators ranges between a completely open position and a completely closed position predefined for each of the one or more actuators, wherein the completely open position corresponds to a predefined upper voltage threshold limit and the completely closed position corresponds to a predefined lower voltage threshold limit required for operation of the corresponding one or more actuators.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the duty cycle corresponds to an upper percentage limit of the duty cycle and a lower percentage limit of the duty cycle required for operation of the one or more actuators.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined using a counter initiated at first occurrence of the threshold breach, wherein the counter is incremented at each occurrence of the threshold breach.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy, when the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined number of occurrences.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy, when the duration of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined time duration.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be healthy, when the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be less than the predefined number of occurrences.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be healthy, when the duration of the threshold breach is determined to be less than the predefined time duration.
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprises:
sending an alert, by the actuator health predicting system (105), to a user, when the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy.
10. An actuator health predicting system (105) for predicting health condition of one or more actuators in a vehicle (101), the actuator health predicting system (105) comprising:
a processor (107); and
a memory (111) communicatively coupled to the processor (107), wherein the memory
(111) stores the processor-executable instructions, which, on execution, causes the
processor (107) to:
receive data corresponding to one or more actuators of the vehicle (101), from a telematics unit (103) configured in the vehicle (101), wherein the data comprises values corresponding to at least one of actuator position and duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle (101);
determine occurrence of a threshold breach when the values corresponding to at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of the one or more actuators deviate from

corresponding predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the actuator position and duty cycle;
determine at least one of number of occurrences of the threshold breach, and a duration of the threshold breach based on continuous monitoring of the values corresponding to the at least one of the actuator position and the duty cycle of each of the one or more actuators of the vehicle (101);
predict health condition of the one or more actuators based on the at least one of the number of occurrences of the threshold breach and the duration of the threshold breach.
11. The actuator health predicting system (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the actuator position of each of the one or more actuators ranges between a completely open position and a completely closed position predefined for each of the one or more actuators, wherein the completely open position corresponds to a predefined upper voltage threshold limit and the completely closed position corresponds to a predefined lower voltage threshold limit required for operation of the corresponding one or more actuators.
12. The actuator health predicting system (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the predefined upper and lower threshold limits of the duty cycle corresponds to an upper percentage limit of the duty cycle and a lower percentage limit of the duty cycle required for operation of the one or more actuators.
13. The actuator health predicting system (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the processor (107) determines number of occurrences of the threshold breach using a counter initiated at first occurrence of the threshold breach, wherein the counter is incremented at each occurrence of the threshold breach.
14. The actuator health predicting system (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the processor (107) predicts the health condition of the one or more actuators to be unhealthy, when the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined number of occurrences.
15. The actuator health predicting system (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the processor (107) predicts the health condition of the one or more actuators to be unhealthy, when the duration of the threshold breach is determined to be greater than or equal to a predefined time duration.

16. The actuator health predicting system (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the processor (107) predicts the health condition of the one or more actuators to be healthy, when the number of occurrences of the threshold breach is determined to be less than the predefined number of occurrences.
17. The actuator health predicting system (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the processor (107) predicts the health condition of the one or more actuators to be healthy, when the duration of the threshold breach is determined to be less than the predefined time duration.
18. The actuator health predicting system (105) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the processor (107) is further configured to send an alert a user, when the health condition of the one or more actuators is predicted to be unhealthy.