FAILURE MODE ANALYSIS OF AN AUTONOMOUS GUIDED ROBOT USING JDBC

摘要

Diagnosis of Faults and problems in equipment is a vitally important contributor to throughput and efficiency of the equipment.This work describes the development of Online Fault Diagnosis System for the Bearcat Robot using a cutting edge technology called Java Database Connectivity (JDBC).The approach followed in improving fault diagnosis efficiency is to capture and reuse know-how that exists in the heads of the key individuals who really understand how the Bearcat Robot works.The robot is sub-divided into different functional units as the Power System, Mechanical System, Vision guidance System and Ultrasonic Obstacle Avoidance System called SONAR.This in turn is divided into specific component.For each specific part taken into consideration, the failure mode is analyzed in the form of the possible failure symptom, the reason why the part fails and finally the steps to be taken to rectify the fault are discussed.The information then obtained is designed as a database table.This is presented by means of a Java Applet, the link of which is available in the UC Robot Web page.The technology used to establish the connection between the database and the Java Applet is JDBC.It is possible to develop database applications using Java and provide a standard interface between user and the database server using JDBC.The JDBC API can be used regardless of what database is being used in the back end and it is supported by a large set of JDBC drivers.The online system could be accessed anytime from any part of the world with a web browser and the connection to the Internet.The provision is made such that user authenticity is obtained before allowing the user to access the data.Thus the system developed helps in cutting down the time required for diagnosing a fault.