METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A CONDITION INDICATOR FOR USE IN EVALUATING THE HEALTH OF A COMPONENT

Disclosed are techniques used in connection with determining a health indicator (HI) of a component, such as that of an aircraft component. The HI is determined using condition indicators (CIs) which parameterize characteristics about a component minimizing possibility of a false alarm. Different algorithms are disclosed which may be used in determining one or more CIs. The HI may be determined using a normalized CI value. Techniques are also described in connection with selecting particular CIs that provide for maximizing separation between HI classifications. Given a particular HI at a point in time for a component, techniques are described for predicting a future state or health of the component using the Kalman filter. Techniques are described for estimating data values as an alternative to performing data acquisitions, as may be used when there is no pre-existing data.