Inspection, Maintenance, and Repair with Partial Observability

A partially observable Markov decision process (MDP) model is presented that extends beyond completely observable approaches by recognizing that inspections do not yield perfect estimates of the true internal state of system components. The approach permits the exact solution of problems whose output is inspection and maintenance policies that prescribe when to inspect, how to inspect, when to repair and how to repair, so as to minimize discounted life-cycle costs. The extension to accommodate partial observability does, however, exact a significant computational demand. The model is demonstrated with a one-lane, two-girder bridge inspection, maintenance, and repair application.