Toronto, Ontario — Ford has filed a patent application for a vehicle system that aims to estimate the remaining useful life of parts for drivers.
The patent was officially published on January 7, 2025. According to the patent application, “prognostics, anomaly detection (AD) and remaining useful life (RUL) prediction systems may include one or more remaining useful life predictive models that estimate an RUL of an asset based on data of the asset collected over time.”
Notably, the proposed system would specifically rely on predictive maintenance that would constantly monitor the condition of vehicle parts to determine when maintenance is required.
To do this, the vehicle would rely on either sensors placed throughout the vehicle or would use connected vehicle technology.
The goal of this potential vehicle technology, according to the automaker, is to help prevent breakdowns from occurring. It could also help reduce downtime in fleets, says Ford.
While there is no guarantee that this technology will ever reach the manufacturing stage, the idea builds on the user interfaces currently offered for connected vehicle drivers.
To see the full patent, click here.
