WO2013053975A1

WO2013053975A1 - Maintenance of work machines

Info

Publication number: WO2013053975A1
Application number: PCT/FI2011/050873
Authority: WO
Inventors: Janne VIITALA; Eemeli Haverinen
Original assignee: Sandvik Mining And Construction Oy
Priority date: 2011-10-11
Filing date: 2011-10-11
Publication date: 2013-04-18
Also published as: AU2011379005B2; CA2849941C; SE1450431A1; CA2849941A1; AU2011379005A1

Abstract

The invention relates to maintenance of work machines. Configurations may be used for defining indicators to be displayed and machine signals to be connected to the indicators. A functional diagnosis may be enabled by showing signals related to a single function of the machine with the help of directional indicators showing the interconnections between elements. The configurations may be created by a user and loaded to the maintenance system upon need.

Description

Maintenance of work machines

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to methods, apparatuses, systems and computer program products for the maintenance of work machines, especially to diagnostics of the same.

Background of the Invention

Advances with complex machines and vehicles such as drilling vehicles, loaders, trucks and other moving machines for mining, construction and material handling have increased the speed and efficiency of work performed with these machines. At the same time, the maintenance of these machines has also become more demanding. Namely, when a part of a machine malfunctions due to wear and tear, the fault may have an effect on several other parts and consequently it may be difficult to identify the actual part in which the malfunction has occurred.

Modern work machines may comprise a control system where the values of sensors at different machine parts are displayed to the operator of the machine. This makes it easier to see if a part of the machine is not operating within normal operational parameters. However, the source of the malfunction may still not be easily determinable from the readings of the sensors, since there may be quite many values of sensors visible to the operator and determining the significant ones may be visually challenging. Furthermore, the control system may also lack information that would be needed to determine the current source of malfunction - yet, increasing the number of available readings may not be feasible.

There is, therefore, a need for solutions that make it easier to determine the appropriate maintenance operations of a work machine in different situations. Summary of the Invention

Now there has been invented an improved method and technical equipment implementing the method, by which the above problems are alleviated and/or solutions for improving safety are offered. Various aspects of the invention include a method, a device, a system, and a computer readable medium comprising a computer program stored therein, which are characterized by what is stated in the independent claims. Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.

The invention relates to maintenance of work machines that may be e.g. automated or semi-automated. Configurations may be used for defining indicators to be displayed and machine signals to be connec- ted to the indicators. The configurations may reside e.g. in a configuration file to be loaded to the system. A functional diagnosis may be enabled by showing signals related to a single function of the machine with the help of directional indicators showing the interconnections between elements. The configurations may be created by a user and loaded to the maintenance system upon need, e.g. over a network connection.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a maintenance method for a work machine, comprising displaying indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values, said indicators corresponding to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen, and forming associations between machine signals and said indicators so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator, receiving a configuration from a configuration source, displaying said indicators on said user interface using said configuration, and forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators using said configuration.

According to an embodiment, said signals and indicators relate to machine elements used for carrying out a unitary function of the machine such as movement of a boom, commencing drilling, measu- rement of an angle and provision of lubrication and the method comprises displaying a directional indicator on said user interface between two other indicators, said directional indicator showing the dependency of machine elements corresponding to said two other indicators from each other, and forming an association between a machine signal and said directional indicator so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in said directional indicator. According to an embodiment, the directional indicator indicates a value on a control bus or a value on a hydraulic line, or value indicative of a material flow. According to an embodiment, the directional indicator indicates whether a connection works between machine elements corresponding to said two other indicators for example by altering the color of the directional indicator when the connection does not work. According to an embodiment, the method comprises receiving an input from a user focusing on an indicator, selecting said indicator based on said input, and expanding said indicator so that further indicators associated with further machine signals are displayed. According to an embodiment, the method comprises receiving an input from a user to change a value of an indicator, and changing the value of a machine signal in accordance with the change. According to an embodiment, the user interface resides on a different apparatus from said work machine and the method comprises forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators takes place over a communication connection. According to an embodiment, the method comprises forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators when said work machine is in a running state. According to an embodiment, the configuration source is different from said work machine and the method comprises receiving said configuration from a configuration memory over a communication connection such as from a USB memory over a USB connection. According to an embodiment, the configuration source is different from said machine where said user interface resides and the method comprises receiving said configuration from a remote configuration source over a communication connection. According to an embodiment, the method comprises omit- ting the displaying of an indicator if an element corresponding to the indicator is not present in the work machine. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a maintenance method for a work machine, comprising defining indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values, said indicators corresponding to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen, defining associations between machine signals and said indicators so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator, forming a configuration comprising said defined indicators and said associations, making said configuration available for controlling displaying said indicators on said user interface using said configuration and forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators using said configuration.

According to an embodiment, the method comprises receiving infor- mation on available machine signals from said work machine, and displaying said information to a user for forming said associations between said available machine signals and said indicators. According to an embodiment, the method comprises receiving information from said work machine, such as a reading deviating from normal range, and forming said configuration in response to said received information. According to an embodiment, the method comprises receiving an existing configuration from said work machine, and modifying said existing configuration to form a configuration comprising said defined indicators and said associations. According to an embodiment, the method comprises sending said configuration to be used at another apparatus such as said work machine over a communication connection. According to an embodiment, the method comprises carrying out the method according to the first aspect or any embodiment thereof. According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for carrying out maintenance on a work machine, said system comprising means for carrying out a method according to the first or second aspect or any embodiment thereof. According to an embodiment, the means comprise computer program code for causing the system, with at least one processor, to carry out the method according to the first or second aspect or any embodiment thereof. According to an embodiment, the system is a work machine.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for carrying out maintenance on a work machine, the system comprising a control interface for receiving control input from an operator, a processor, memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the system to display indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values, said indicators corresponding to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen, and form associations between machine signals and said indicators so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator, receive a configuration from a configuration source, display said indicators on said user interface using said configuration, and form said associations between machine signals and said indicators using said configuration.

According to an embodiment, the signals and indicators relate to machine elements used for carrying out a unitary function of the machine such as movement of a boom, commencing drilling, measurement of an angle and provision of lubrication and said system further comprises computer program code for causing the system to display a directional indicator on said user interface between two other indi- cators, said directional indicator showing the dependency of machine elements corresponding to said two other indicators from each other, and form an association between a machine signal and said directional indicator so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in said directional indicator.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for carrying out maintenance on a work machine, the system comprising a control interface for receiving control input from an operator, a processor, memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the system to define indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values, based on received control input from an operator, said indicators corresponding to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen, and define associations between machine signals and said indicators so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator, form a configuration comprising said defined indicators and said associations, make said configuration available for controlling displaying said indicators on said user interface using said configuration and forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators using said configuration.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a work machine comprising a system according to the third, fourth or fifth aspect.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle comprising the work machine of the sixth aspect. According to an embodiment, the work machine is a drill rig, a loader, a dumper, a crushing and screening apparatus, a conveyor, a road header, or a continuous miner.

According to an eighth aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer program code for performing maintenance on a work machine, the computer program code arranged to carry out the method according to the first or second aspect or any embodiment thereof. According to an embodiment the computer program product comprises a computer-readable non-transitory medium such as a USB stick or a data disc, and the computer program code is stored on said medium.

According to an ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided a data structure product stored on a computer-readable non-transitory medium, the data structure comprising a configuration as in the second aspect, and said data structure being arranged to be used with a com- puter program product of the eight aspect. Description of the Drawings

In the following, various embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which

Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of a maintenance method for a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention ; Fig. 2 shows a system and apparatuses for which maintenance of a work machine is carried out according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of a system for carrying out mainte- nance of a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 shows an example of a user interface for carrying out maintenance of a work machine according to an embodi- ment of the invention ;

Fig. 5 shows a flow chart of a maintenance method for a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention ; and Fig. 6 shows a flow chart of creating a maintenance view for a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of Example Embodiments

In the following, several embodiments of the invention will often be described in the context of mining machines. It is to be noted, however, that the invention is not limited to such machines. In fact, the different embodiments have applications in any environment where improved maintenance of work machines or vehicles is needed. A work machine often contains wearing parts, and maintenance of the work machine may be needed every now and then. Additionally, it is commonplace that in demanding conditions such as mines and construction sites, work machines may develop a malfunction. Before the work machine can be serviced, the details of the malfunction need to be found out: it needs to be understood which part or which parts are not operating correctly within normal operational parameters. These operational parameters can be monitored. However, in the invention, it has been noticed that the operator or the maintenance person may have difficulty in determining the cause of the malfunction from a large number of work machine parameters.

The invention provides a number of ways to tackle this challenge and to improve maintenance operations of work machines.

Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of a maintenance method for a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention.

In an embodiment of the invention, a subsection of work machine parameters are displayed to the user (operator or maintenance person) with indicators on a user interface in phase 1 20. The selection of a subset makes it possible to view the parameters on a limited screen, for example on the screen of the work machine or on a laptop screen. The parameters may indicate different status values such as control line values, valve positions, revolution counts and pressure values.

Before displaying the indicators, a configuration may be received in phase 1 1 0 from a configuration source such as a network server, e- mail, or other network source over a communication connection, or from a memory such as a local or network hard drive or other memory MEM of the work machine, a computer or a server, or a portable memory device such as a USB memory stick. The configuration may be stored to the work machine memory at the time of manufacture or at a later time. This configuration contains information on how to display the indicators and how to arrange them on the screen. The configuration also contains information on which elements and which signals are displayed with the indicators. The configuration may contain information on indicators that would relate to elements and/or signals that are not present in the actual machine. In such a case, when the configuration is received, the system may leave such indicators undisplayed. That is, there may be optional elements in a work machine, and the configuration may contain information on indicators and signals for the optional elements, but in case when an optional element is not present, the corresponding indicator is not displayed. In phase 1 30, associations between machine signals and the indicators are formed so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator. For example, a control signal value on a control bus may be associated or tied to a certain display showing the numeric value of the control signal. As another example, the pressure value from a pressure sensor may be tied to another indicator. This association between the signals of the machine and the indicators may be determined from the configuration received in phase 1 1 0. The names and identifiers of the signals of the work machine may be known to the designer of the configuration. As will be explained in the context of Fig. 6, the names and types of the signals can e.g. be retrieved from the work machine, and thereby the designer may edit the associations from the signals into the indicators in an editor program. This makes it easier for a designer to create a view of the desired function of the machine without needing to create a program, to compile and link the program or to have any tools for such. Also, a skilled maintenance person may be able to create a new configuration as needed, since no special programming skills are needed. Even the development of work machines at an R&D centre may be made easier and faster, since the different signals in a machine can be viewed by creating or modifying a configuration in an editor, without the need to create a program for each desired view. A configuration may contain the relevant indicators and signals related to the relevant machine elements that are needed to carry out a function, and this makes it possible for the user of the configuration (e.g. a maintenance person or an operator of the machine) to readily access the relevant signals from the work machine on a graphical display without knowing the details of the work machine and without needing to interpret a large number of numerical values. Also, fewer and only relevant signals may be displayed to the user, since the graphical layout and the displayed signals may be selected effectively by the designer. This makes it easier to detect the source of malfunction for the user.

In an embodiment of the invention, a way of functional diagnostics is provided. Signals and indicators that relate to machine elements used for carrying out a unitary function of the machine such as movement of a boom, commencing drilling, measurement of an angle and provision of lubrication are provided in a configuration. In other words, if the operator of the work machine notices a problem in a certain function of the machine, for example the commencing of drilling, the user of the maintenance system may receive a configuration that contains information on indicators and signals that are relevant for that function, e.g. commencing drilling. The different indicators may be linked together in a logical way on the user interface (and in the configuration) in a way that displays the dependencies of different machine elements from each other. For example, a directional indicator such as an arrow may be used between two other indicators to display the dependency of the second indicator from the first one (or the dependency of corresponding machine elements). The directional indicator may also be associated with a machine signal such as a control line value or a hydraulic line value, or value indicative of a material flow. The invention may provide advantages such as ease of use and clarity compared to conventional maintenance systems, as well as dynamic configurability for different maintenance tasks. For example, the displayed indicators and the function to be investigated may be changed by receiving a new configuration. The invention may also enable remote access maintenance. Some non-limiting examples of work machines 2 are depicted in Figures 2a— 2c. Figure 2a depicts an example of a drill, figure 2b depicts an example of a loader, and figure 2c depicts an example of a crusher apparatus. It is to be understood that the work machines may be e.g. automated or semi-automated.

Work machines, in particular mining and construction apparatuses, may comprise different elements to enable mining operations such as rock excavation. For example, a mining apparatus may comprise a rock drill or another tool which is controlled by a control system. Some mining apparatuses may comprise a crusher for crushing substances such as stones, for example. The tool may be mounted in a carrier of the mining apparatus. Work machines may further comprise an engine to generate power for moving the machine, for running a generator to generate electricity for the machine, and for operating e.g. one or more hydraulic pumps, which may be used to generate pressure for a hydraulic system of the machine. The hydraulic system may include valves, pipes, hydraulic cylinders etc. The hydraulic cylinders may be used e.g. to move different parts of the work machine, in case of a mining apparatus e.g. a drill boom. A rock drill may also use the hydraulic system for drilling. A control system of a mining apparatus may comprise elements for controlling the operation of the hydraulic cylinders and other actuators which may be present in the mining apparatus.

A user may control the operation of the work machine e.g. by a control panel which may comprise a wheel, a joystick, switches and/or some other means for moving the mining apparatus, for positioning the tool, for switching the tool on and off, etc.

Work machines such as mining machines may have actuators for performing different tasks, sensors to detect states of actuators and/or to measure conditions of different parts of the mining apparatus and possibly to take measurements about the environment, etc. The actuators and sensors may be under the control of a control system, which may comprise a supervisor element providing visual and/or audible information to the user by a user interface (Ul), to control the operation of the actuators, to analyze sensor signals, parameters etc. possible needed in determining the status of the mining apparatus. The user interface provides information to the user and receive user's commands. The control panel may be part of the user interface and controlled by the supervisor element.

Signals between different parts of the control system may be transferred by a communication network, such as a fieldbus or a CAN bus (Controller Area Network). The communication may use a higher level protocol such as CANopen or J 1939. Actuators, sensors and other elements may be connected to the communication network as nodes of the network, or they may be connected with a communication device which is connected to the network to operate as a node. Hence, the communication device can communicate with other parts of the network to receive from the network e.g. commands to be delivered to the actuators and/or to send to the network information obtained, for example, from the sensors. Certain functionality in the device acting as a node is required so that it can attach to the network, send messages to the network and receive messages from the network.

The invention may also be applied in an industrial machine or monitoring system of a plant where the machine or plant is in a constant operation, and speed of diagnostics is an important matter. Other examples where the invention may be used are in the maintenance of a drill rig, a loader, a dumper, a crushing and screening apparatus, a conveyor, a road header, or a continuous miner.

Some work machines like mining machines may have special needs in terms of maintenance. For example, a mining machine may be located deep underground, where it is difficult to reach, and from where it cannot necessarily be brought to the surface of the ground to a service facility. Therefore, the diagnostics and maintenance operations may need to be carried out on site where the machine is located. The invention addresses these challenges by making it possible to carry out diagnostics at the site of the machine by providing easy-to-use configurations where they are needed.

Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of a system for carrying out maintenance of a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention. The system comprises one or more processors PRO, and memory MEM. The processors and memory may be in one part of the system or distributed across different parts and different apparatuses. For example, a work machine control interface may have its own processor and/or memory, a computer connected to the work machine its own processor and memory, and other parts of the system their own. The memory MEM may comprise software SW executable on the processor PRO so that the system may display items to the operator via a screen SCR and accept input through buttons BUT, physical controls PCTRL like levers and joysticks, and/or through a touch screen T-SCR. A part or all of the steps of an embodiment may be carried out in software, and a part or all of the steps may be carried out by control circuitry CI R. The software may reside on a computer-readable non-transitory medium such as a USB stick or a data disc, and the computer program code is stored on said medium. Such a computer program product may be used to deliver the functionalities of the invention to a system by installation or by using the computer-readable medium directly for executing the program therefrom. The system may comprise communication modules COMM for sending and receiving data between the different parts and apparatuses of the system.

In addition, there may be a data structure DATAST storing the configuration information (the indicators, their layout and the machine signals to be associated with the indicators). In addition to the memory of the work machine, a computer and/or a server, this data structure may also be stored on a computer-readable non-transitory medium such as a USB stick or a data disc. This configuration source may be connected to the system over a wired connection or a wireless connection, or a network connection, or any other communications connection allowing the receiving of the configuration at the maintenance system. For example, the configuration may be received from a remote location over internet connection, or the configuration may be delivered to the system on a USB memory stick that is plugged in to the system for loading the configuration. The data structure (the configuration) may be loaded to the work machine memory at the time of manufacture, or uploaded at a later time, and then received from the work machine memory when it is needed for maintenance. The loading of the data structure controls the operation of the maintenance system so that it causes the maintenance system to display the indicators given in the configuration and to connect to the signals of the work machine for updating the indicator values based on the signals.

The maintenance system for carrying out maintenance may be physically inside the machine, e.g. installed in the machine cabin such as a vehicle cabin where the operator of the machine sits. Part or all of the system may also reside outside the machine. The maintenance system may also be operationally connected to the work machine through a wired or a wireless connection. For example, the maintenance system may reside on a separate computer, and the computer connects to the work machine over a communication connection such as a network connection. In this way, the separate computer may connect to the work machine signals, and thereby display the indicators from a configuration and the signal values from the work machine in those indicators. In this case, the associations between work machine signals and the indicators takes place over a communication connection.

The maintenance system may connect to a work machine that is in a running state, that is, carry out diagnostics during operation of the machine. By using different configurations, the maintenance system may change the displayed indicators on the fly, and connect the indicators to different signals on the work machine when the work machine is in the running state. This makes it faster to obtain visually clear and meaningful information quickly during the machine's operation. The different available configurations at a configuration source may be arranged in a menu structure or a list on the user interface, thereby making the switching faster. Furthermore, the confi- guration source may be updated with new configurations any time, that is, a designer may create or upload new configurations for use. Consequently, the menu or list of available configurations may be updated essentially without delay, with a suitable time interval, or at the next time when the maintenance views are brought up.

Fig. 4 shows an example of a user interface for carrying out maintenance of a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention. Directional indicators may be used to show the dependency of two readings from each other. For example, a control unit may set a value on a control (data) bus and a node may receive the value. In this case, the direction of data may be indicated with an arrow from the control unit to the node. Alternatively, a hydraulic connection between two units may be shown with a solid black line. Since there may not be a clear direction in this case (pressure has no direction), the directional indicator (line) may have arrowheads at both ends, or it may have no arrowheads. The indicator may indicate a connection between two elements, or it may branch to indicate a connection from one element to multiple elements, or between a plurality of elements. The directional indicator may also indicate whether a connection works between machine elements. This may be done for example by altering the color of the directional indicator when the connection does not work (e.g. to gray) and otherwise showing the indicator with a strong solid color like blue.

In Fig. 4, the power switch indicator PWR is connected with a directional indicator to the controller PLC, showing clearly that the the power switch is on, data flows to the controller and the controller is also on. The controller controls a motor MTR over a data connection (arrow right), setting a certain rotational speed, and the directional indicator shows that this speed is being sent over a working data connection to the motor MTR. The motor MTR provides the actual running speed as feedback to the controller PLC. From the figure it can be seen that the motor MTR drives an oil pump PMP, and the pump draws oil from the lubrication tank TNK. The oil is pushed through an oil filter, for which a pressure is shown on the indicator into a crusher CRS. At the crusher, there is a lubrication sensor LBR showing the pressure and temperature of the lubricant. The different values of the indicators are retrieved from the work machine sensors and data sources, and displayed on the corresponding indicators.

From the visual layout of Fig. 4, a malfunction in the lubrication of the crusher can be diagnosed and the element causing the problem can be identified. For example, if the data connection between the controller PLC and the motor MTR is broken for some reason, the problem can be sought from the controller PLC, the motor MTR or the data connection between them. If the data connection shows that the speed set by the controller is visible on the data connection, the source of the problem may be the motor MTR.

As shown in Fig. 4, there may also be indicators on the user interface that are associated with the interlocks of the machine, that is, general states of the machine that may prevent some operations from being carried out. For example, there may be an indicator BREAK for the parking break of the machine being on, an indicator DOOR for the door switch of the machine being in open state, an indicator STOP for indication a state where emergency stop has been pressed and/or an indicator ENG for indicating whether the engine is running. The user of the maintenance view may then deduce e.g. that there is nothing wrong with the work machine, but the boom cannot be operated because the engine is not running, or that drilling cannot be started because the emergency stop has been pressed. Fig. 5 shows a flow chart of a maintenance method for a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention. In phase 51 0, one or more communication connections for receiving configuration and/or for connecting to machine signals may be formed. The connections may be wired or wireless. For example, an external maintenance computer may connect to the work machine over a local wireless connection, and to a network server for receiving the configurations over a fixed network like a local area network connected to the internet.

In phase 520, a configuration may be received from a configuration source such as a network server, over e-mail, or other network source over a communication connection, or from a memory such as a local or network hard drive or a portable memory device such as a USB memory stick. As explained earlier, this configuration contains information on the indicators and on which signals are displayed with the indicators.

In phase 530, a subsection of work machine parameters may be displayed to the user (operator or maintenance person) with indicators on a user interface. The parameters may indicate different status values such as control line values, valve positions, revolution counts and pressure values.

In phase 540, associations between machine signals and the indicators are formed so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator. This association between the signals of the machine and the indicators may be determined from the configuration received in phase 520. The forming of the associations and connections to the machine signals may happen in running state of the work machine upon receiving a new configuration.

In phase 550, a directional indicator showing the dependency between machine elements corresponding to other indicators is displayed. The directional indicator may correspond e.g. to a control bus between a control unit and a node, and the value on the control bus may be associated with the directional indicator. That is, an association is formed between the directional indicator and a machine signal such as a value on a control bus or a value on a hydraulic line. The directional indicator may show whether a connection works between two machine elements e.g. by altering the color of the directional indicator when the connection does not work. The directional indicator may be between two other indicators, or it may be a multi-ended connection between multiple elements.

In phase 560, an indicator may be expanded by receiving an input from a user. The input may happen e.g. by focusing on an indicator. The indicator is then selected based on the input, and expanded so that further indicators associated with further machine signals are displayed. Alternatively or in addition, the expanded indicator may show more detail, e.g. values of individual data lines of a control bus.

In addition to or as an alternative to displaying indicators showing the current state of the work machine, the values of e.g. control signals or input parameters to elements of the machine may be manipulated (i.e. changed) from the user interface. That is, the indicators may accept user input e.g. by dragging, tapping or as numeric input so that the value of the indicator can be changed. When the value of the indicator is changed, this changed value may be sent to the work machine and the value in the work machine is then changed. This may enable to control an element of the machine. For example, by changing a value that is related to the boom control, the boom may be driven. At the same time, the values of other indicators connected to other signals may be observed to determine whether they respond correctly to the drive. In addition, the system may collect information of the values over time and display them to the user, which may make it easier to see if an element of the machine is not responsive or behaves incorrectly.

Fig. 6 shows a flow chart of creating a maintenance view for a work machine according to an embodiment of the invention. With this method, it is possible to form and deliver new configurations for maintenance of a work machine to the maintenance system. The operations of Fig. 6 may happen before the operations of Fig. 5 as part of the maintenance, or completely separately, e.g. in a central design centre for creating the configurations. Alternatively or in addition, the creation of configurations may happen during the operations of Fig. 5. A new maintenance view and configuration for maintenance of a work machine is created as follows. Indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values are defined in phase 610, and the indicators correspond to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen. As explained earlier, the indicators may relate to a unitary function of the work machine.

Associations between machine signals and said indicators are defined in phase 620 so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator. The signals of a specific work machine may be known by type of the machine and by having the specific information on the individual machine setup, and thereby the association of the signals and the indicators may be defined. Alternatively or in addition, the names and types of signals available on a work machine may be discovered or queried from the work machine itself, that is, the work machine may carry information on the signals and their types in its memory. The signal names and types may also be obtained from another source such as a central database. The discovery of names and types of available signals from the machine makes it easier for the designer of the configuration to link the indicators to the correct machine signals. It needs to be appreciated, however, that the signals may be identifiable by any method, e.g. by having unique identifiers such as names, or by having a unique address such as an index-sub- index pair. In the discovery, the signals may also be provided with an explanation of their purpose. Examples of signals that may be available from a machine are listed below in Table 1 .

Table 1 . Example signals.

Signal name Signal type (data type)

EmergencyStopActivated Boolean BOOL

OilTemperature 16-bit integer INT16

EngineRPM 16-bit Unsigned integer UINT16

SerialNumber Character string STRING The indicators and the associations of the indicators to machine signals are then formed into a configuration in phase 630. This may happen e.g. by creating a data structure, the data structure being e.g. in a binary format or in a human-readable format such as XML (extensible hypertext markup language). The data structure may stored into a configuration file on a computer-readable non-transitory medium such as a USB memory stick or a data disc.

The forming of the configuration may also happen so that the designer receives an existing configuration from a configuration source, e.g. the work machine itself, and then modifies the configuration. The modified configuration may also be sent back to the configuration source, e.g. back to the work machine memory, so that also the modified configuration can be received and used from this location. In this way, a designer, for example a service person with an editor program for the machine maintenance, may create new configurations based on existing ones for use at the work machine or downloadable from the server, or of course for use at the same computer where the designer is running the editor program.

The editor program may be available e.g. at a computer of a service person, or it may be available from a server, or even at the work machine itself. There may also be a viewer program that is enabled to receive a configuration, to display the indicators and to connect to the machine signals. Such a viewer program may be located on the work machine itself, on a lighter maintenance device such as a smart phone or a tablet computer, a light laptop, or on any other computer.

The benefit of having an editor program is that the indicators of the maintenance view may be easily arranged on the user interface and the signals may be easily connected to the indicators. Thereby the use of a compiler and/or linker may be avoided, that is, programming tools may not be needed at the computer where the editor is running. Also, the designer may not need programming skills, and/or may not need to be able to use a so-called analyzer program where raw data and signals from the machine is shown. In phase 640, the configuration is made available to the maintenance system for controlling the displaying of the indicators on the user interface of the maintenance system and for forming the associations between the machine signals and the indicators. The configuration may be made available as a file on a storage medium or at a computer network node, or it may be made available upon request from the maintenance system. The configurations e.g. in configuration files may also be delivered against credentials and/or payment. The creation of a configuration may happen in a pre-emptive manner so that configurations exist for maintenance operations of all typical malfunctions, or based on need when a malfunction is noticed. The creation of the configuration may be made by a skilled human designer when the designer has received information on the malfunction. Furthermore, the creation of the configuration may happen based on data received from the work machine. For example, if it is detected that a reading deviates from normal operational range, the configuration may be automatically or semi-automatically created to display such signals and connections that may be relevant for finding the fault.

The various embodiments of the invention can be implemented with the help of computer program code that resides in a memory and causes the relevant apparatuses to carry out the invention. For example, a work machine may comprise circuitry and electronics for handling, receiving and transmitting data, computer program code in a memory, and a processor that, when running the computer program code, causes the machine to carry out the features of an embodiment.

It is obvious that the present invention is not limited solely to the above- presented embodiments, but it can be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Claims:

1 . A maintenance method for a work machine, comprising:

- displaying indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values, said indicators corresponding to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen, and

- forming associations between machine signals and said indicators so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator,

characterized in that said method comprises:

- receiving a configuration from a configuration source,

- displaying said indicators on said user interface using said configuration, and

- forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators using said configuration.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said signals and indicators relate to machine elements used for carrying out a unitary function of the machine such as movement of a boom, commencing drilling, measurement of an angle and provision of lubrication and said method further comprises:

- displaying a directional indicator on said user interface between two other indicators, said directional indicator showing the dependency of machine elements corresponding to said two other indicators from each other, and

- forming an association between a machine signal and said directional indicator so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in said directional indicator.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein said directional indicator indicates a value on a control bus or a value on a hydraulic line, or value indicative of a material flow.

4. A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said directional indicator indicates whether a connection works between machine elements corresponding to said two other indicators for example by altering the color of the directional indicator when the connection does not work.

5. A method according to any of the claims 1 to 4, the method further comprising:

- receiving an input from a user focusing on an indicator,

- selecting said indicator based on said input, and

- expanding said indicator so that further indicators associated with further machine signals are displayed.

6. A method according to any of the claims 1 to 5, the method further comprising:

- receiving an input from a user to change a value of an indicator, and

- changing the value of a machine signal in accordance with the change.

7. A method according to any of the claims 1 to 6, wherein said user interface resides on a different apparatus from said work machine and the method further comprises:

- forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators takes place over a communication connection.

8. A method according to claim 7, the method further comprising:

- forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators when said work machine is in a running state.

9. A method according to any of the claims 1 to 8, wherein said configuration source is different from said work machine and the method comprises:

- receiving said configuration from a configuration memory over a communication connection such as from a USB memory over a USB connection.

10. A method according to any of the claims 1 to 8, wherein said configuration source is different from said machine where said user interface resides and the method comprises: - receiving said configuration from a remote configuration source over a communication connection.

1 1 . A method according to any of the claims 1 to 1 0, the method comprising:

- omitting the displaying of an indicator if an element corresponding to the indicator is not present in the work machine.

12. A maintenance method for a work machine, comprising:

- defining indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values, said indicators corresponding to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen, and

- defining associations between machine signals and said indicators so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator,

characterized in that said method comprises:

- forming a configuration comprising said defined indicators and said associations,

- making said configuration available for controlling displaying said indicators on said user interface using said configuration and forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators using said configuration.

13. A method according to claim 1 2, the method comprising:

- receiving information on available machine signals from said work machine, and

- displaying said information to a user for forming said associations between said available machine signals and said indicators.

14. A method according to claim 1 2 or 1 3, the method comprising:

- receiving information from said work machine, such as a reading deviating from normal range, and

- forming said configuration in response to said received information.

1 5. A method according to claim 1 2, 1 3 or 1 4, the method comprising:

- receiving an existing configuration from said work machine, and - modifying said existing configuration to form a configuration comprising said defined indicators and said associations.

1 6. A method according to any of the claims 1 2 to 1 5, the method further comprising:

- sending said configuration to be used at another apparatus such as said work machine over a communication connection.

17. A method according to any of the claims 1 2 to 1 6, the method further comprising the method according to any of the claims 1 to 1 1 .

1 8. A system for carrying out maintenance on a work machine, said system comprising means for carrying out a method according to any of the claims 1 to 1 7.

1 9. A system according to claim 1 8 wherein said means comprise computer program code for causing the system, with at least one processor, to carry out a method according to any of the claims 1 to 1 7.

20. A system according to claim 1 8 or 1 9, wherein the system is a work machine and said system comprises means for carrying out a method according to any of the claims 1 to 6, and 8 to 1 4.

21 . A system for carrying out maintenance on a work machine, the system comprising a control interface for receiving control input from an operator, a processor, memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the system to:

- display indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values, said indicators corresponding to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen, and

- form associations between machine signals and said indicators so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator,

- receive a configuration from a configuration source, - display said indicators on said user interface using said configuration, and

- form said associations between machine signals and said indicators using said configuration.

22. A system according to claim 21 , wherein said signals and indicators relate to machine elements used for carrying out a unitary function of the machine such as movement of a boom, commencing drilling, measurement of an angle and provision of lubrication and said system further comprises computer program code for causing the system to:

- display a directional indicator on said user interface between two other indicators, said directional indicator showing the dependency of machine elements corresponding to said two other indicators from each other, and

- form an association between a machine signal and said directional indicator so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in said directional indicator.

23. A system for carrying out maintenance on a work machine, the system comprising a control interface for receiving control input from an operator, a processor, memory including computer program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the system to:

- define indicators on a user interface for indicating machine status values, based on received control input from an operator, said indicators corresponding to a subset of machine status values to enable viewing on a limited screen, and

- define associations between machine signals and said indicators so that a change in a machine signal causes a change in a corresponding indicator,

- form a configuration comprising said defined indicators and said associations,

- make said configuration available for controlling displaying said indicators on said user interface using said configuration and forming said associations between machine signals and said indicators using said configuration.

24. A work machine comprising a system according to any of the claims 18 to 23.

25. A vehicle comprising the work machine of claim 24.

26. A work machine according to claim 24, wherein the machine is a drill rig, a loader, a dumper, a crushing and screening apparatus, a conveyor, a road header, or a continuous miner.

27. A computer program product comprising computer program code for performing maintenance on a work machine, the computer program code arranged to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1 to 17 when executed on one or more processors.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer-readable non-transitory medium such as a USB stick or a data disc, and the computer program code is stored on said medium.

29. A data structure product stored on a computer-readable non- transitory medium, the data structure comprising a configuration according to claim 12, and said data structure being arranged to be used with a computer program product of claim 27 or 28 on a computer to control the operation of the computer.