IRIS Maintenance Copilot

An evidence-grounded industrial maintenance assistant built with Python and
InterSystems IRIS.

Overview

IRIS Maintenance Copilot lets a technician describe a machine symptom in
natural language and receive a structured maintenance assessment supported by
retrieved evidence. The current synthetic knowledge base covers electric
motors, bearings, alignment, centrifugal pumps, mechanical seals, industrial
fans, vibration, temperature rise, cavitation, and rotor or blade imbalance.

The application is decision support, not a definitive diagnostic system. It
distinguishes possible causes from confirmed failures, exposes evidence IDs,
and states when the available information is insufficient.

Why InterSystems IRIS

InterSystems IRIS is the operational and retrieval data platform for the
project. It performs concrete responsibilities in one database:

• stores relational Equipment and MaintenanceEvent records;
• stores synthetic knowledge in DocumentChunk rows;
• stores 384-dimensional embeddings in a native VECTOR(FLOAT, 384) column;
• calculates semantic similarity with VECTOR_COSINE inside IRIS;
• executes lexical retrieval through a %iFind.Index.Basic index;
• returns the semantic and lexical rankings used as the foundation for hybrid
  retrieval.

Python generates embeddings, performs Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF), selects a
small evidence set, calls the configured LLM, and validates its structured
output. Vector similarity and lexical matching are not calculated by scanning
documents in Python.

Architecture

Maintenance query
        |
        v
SentenceTransformer query embedding
        |
        v
+---------------------------------------+
|          InterSystems IRIS            |
|                                       |
|  VECTOR_COSINE semantic retrieval     |
|  iFind lexical retrieval and ranking  |
+---------------------------------------+
        |                    |
        +---------+----------+
                  v
       Reciprocal Rank Fusion (Python)
                  |
                  v
          Evidence selection
                  |
                  v
       OpenAI-compatible LLM provider
                  |
                  v
     JSON and grounding validation
                  |
                  v
       Cited maintenance assessment

Main Features

• Repeat-safe creation of three IRIS SQL tables and one iFind index.
• Repeat-safe ingestion of three equipment records, five maintenance events,
  and twelve synthetic knowledge chunks.
• Real embeddings from sentence-transformers/all-MiniLM-L6-v2.
• Native IRIS vector storage and in-database cosine similarity.
• In-database iFind lexical retrieval with TF-IDF ranking.
• Hybrid semantic and lexical retrieval using RRF with k = 60.
• Configurable selection of a small evidence set, currently three chunks.
• Vendor-isolated OpenAI-compatible chat-completions provider.
• JSON-only maintenance assessments with explicit evidence citations.
• Post-generation schema and citation validation.
• Bounded exponential backoff for transient provider failures.
• CLI demos and controlled/live validation entry points.

Hallucination Mitigation

The generation layer is deliberately constrained:

• technical claims must use only the supplied evidence;
• every possible cause and recommended technical check must cite an evidence
  ID such as E1;
• generated JSON is checked for required fields and allowed coverage values;
• missing, empty, or unknown evidence citations are rejected;
• manufacturer specifications, measurements, completed inspections, and
  confirmed failures must not be invented;
• code-like identifiers absent from every selected evidence chunk are flagged
  explicitly and the model is told not to infer their meaning;
• insufficient evidence is communicated as uncertainty rather than certainty.

In live adversarial validation, the fictional code ZX-991 was not present in
the knowledge base. The system did not invent a meaning, likely cause, or
technical check, marked evidence coverage as low, and stated that the code was
absent from the supplied evidence.

Technology Stack

• Python 3.13
• InterSystems IRIS Community Edition
• intersystems_irispython==5.4.0
• sentence-transformers==6.0.1
• sentence-transformers/all-MiniLM-L6-v2 (384 dimensions)
• InterSystems IRIS SQL, native VECTOR, VECTOR_COSINE, and iFind
• Gemini 3.8 Flash in the validated configuration, accessed through the
  provider-neutral OpenAI-compatible HTTP adapter
• Python standard-library HTTP and JSON support

Requirements

• Python 3.13
• Docker with a running InterSystems IRIS Community Edition instance, or an
  equivalent reachable IRIS installation
• An IRIS namespace named MAINTENANCE
• An IRIS user permitted to connect, create tables/indexes, and read/write the
  project data
• Network access on first knowledge ingestion so Sentence Transformers can
  download all-MiniLM-L6-v2
• An OpenAI-compatible LLM base URL, model name, and API key for generation

This repository does not include Docker Compose or automate IRIS namespace
creation. Prepare the IRIS instance and namespace before running the project
commands.

Installation

The following PowerShell workflow is the configuration validated on Windows.
Run it from the repository root:

py -3.13 -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

On another operating system, create and activate a Python 3.13 virtual
environment using the platform-equivalent commands, then run the same
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt command.

InterSystems IRIS Setup

The validated development instance used:

• host: localhost
• superserver port: 1972
• namespace: MAINTENANCE
• example development username: _SYSTEM

These are local development defaults, not embedded credentials. The password
has no default. For a fresh IRIS installation, create or select the
MAINTENANCE namespace through the IRIS Management Portal before running the
initializer.

Once connection variables are configured, create the SQL tables and iFind
index with:

python -m src.init_db

The initializer checks INFORMATION_SCHEMA before creating objects and is safe
to run repeatedly.

Environment Variables

The application reads process environment variables directly. It does not load
a .env file.

IRIS connection

PowerShell example using a masked password prompt:

$env:IRIS_HOST = "localhost"
$env:IRIS_PORT = "1972"
$env:IRIS_NAMESPACE = "MAINTENANCE"
$env:IRIS_USERNAME = "_SYSTEM"
$irisSecret = Read-Host "IRIS password" -AsSecureString
$env:IRIS_PASSWORD = [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::new("", $irisSecret).Password

LLM provider

The live-validated Gemini-compatible configuration used this non-secret base
URL and model name:

$env:LLM_BASE_URL = "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai"
$env:LLM_MODEL = "gemini-3.8-flash"
$llmSecret = Read-Host "LLM API key" -AsSecureString
$env:LLM_API_KEY = [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::new("", $llmSecret).Password

Never place passwords or API keys in source files. Clear session credentials
when finished:

Remove-Item Env:IRIS_PASSWORD -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item Env:LLM_API_KEY -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Initialize the Data

With IRIS running and the connection variables set, run these commands in
order:

# Create Equipment, MaintenanceEvent, DocumentChunk, and the iFind index.
python -m src.init_db
Insert 3 synthetic equipment records and 5 synthetic maintenance events.
python -m src.seed_data
Generate real embeddings and insert 12 synthetic knowledge chunks.
python -m src.ingest_knowledge

All three operations are repeat-safe. The first knowledge-ingestion run may
download the embedding model and therefore take longer.

Run the Demo

Generation requires both IRIS and LLM environment variables:

python -m src.rag_cli "High vibration at the drive-end bearing of the main conveyor motor"

Without a query argument, the CLI uses that motor-vibration example by default:

python -m src.rag_cli

The output includes the observed issue, assessment, possible causes,
recommended checks, evidence coverage, evidence IDs and titles, limitations,
and a safety note.

Validation

Controlled local checks

These commands require installed Python dependencies but no live IRIS or LLM
credentials:

python -m compileall -q src
python -m src.validate_rag --components-only
python -m src.validate_llm_provider

They cover context construction, unsupported identifier detection, JSON and
citation rejection rules, retry bounds, non-retryable HTTP failures, and
credential redaction. Controlled fixtures are not live LLM results.

Credentialed IRIS checks

These require IRIS_PASSWORD and a reachable initialized database:

# Structured tables and live Equipment/MaintenanceEvent JOIN.
python -m src.validate_data
Native IRIS VECTOR_COSINE retrieval.
python -m src.validate_vector_search
IRIS semantic + iFind lexical retrieval followed by Python RRF.
python -m src.validate_hybrid_search

The initial connection can also be smoke-tested against the validated local
defaults with python scripts/test_iris_connection.py; that script prompts for
the password directly.

Full grounded-RAG check

This requires both IRIS and LLM credentials and exercises all four validated
queries, including fictional code ZX-991:

python -m src.validate_rag

Transient HTTP 429, 500, 502, 503, and 504 responses are retried up
to three attempts with bounded exponential backoff.

Example Behavior

The following summarizes live-observed behavior without reproducing full model
responses:

• Motor vibration: returned several possible bearing/alignment-related
  causes, cited E1/E2/E3, used medium coverage, and disclosed missing
  field measurements, spectrum, and inspection data.
• Pump noise and unstable pressure: associated the symptoms with possible
  centrifugal-pump cavitation and suction-side issues, cited supplied evidence,
  and required physical verification before determining root cause.
• Fan vibration after dirt buildup: associated uneven blade buildup with
  possible rotor imbalance and recommended cited cleaning and inspection
  checks, while still requiring physical verification.
• Fictional ZX-991 code: did not infer a meaning or produce unsupported
  causes/checks; it returned low evidence coverage and an explicit limitation.

Retrieval Design

Each knowledge chunk is embedded by all-MiniLM-L6-v2 into 384 floating-point
values. Python serializes the embedding for TO_VECTOR(?, FLOAT, 384), and IRIS
stores it as VECTOR(FLOAT, 384). At query time, IRIS calculates and orders
VECTOR_COSINE similarity.

In parallel, the DocumentChunkContentIdx %iFind.Index.Basic index performs
word-level retrieval over chunk content. Query terms are normalized into a
small deterministic OR expression, and IRIS returns a lexical TF-IDF ranking.

Python fuses the two ranked lists using Reciprocal Rank Fusion:

RRF_score(document) = sum(1 / (k + rank_i(document)))

The default is k = 60. RRF uses rank positions rather than adding raw cosine
and lexical scores because the two score scales are not directly comparable.

Synthetic Data Notice

All bundled equipment records, maintenance events, and knowledge chunks are
synthetic and general. They do not reproduce proprietary manufacturer manuals,
service bulletins, or real customer operational data.

AI-Assisted Development

AI agents were intentionally used to help develop and review the project as
part of the competition methodology. The chronological record is maintained in
https://github.com/raphapaulin/iris-maintenance-copilot/blob/main/AI_LOG.md, including what was requested, what was actually tested,
and where AI suggestions required correction.

Examples include:

• section initially generated as a column name was rejected because SECTION
  is reserved in IRIS SQL; it was renamed to document_section and revalidated;
• an incorrectly loaded provider API-key environment variable was diagnosed
  before a direct compatibility request succeeded;
• transient Gemini HTTP 503 responses exposed the need for bounded retry and
  safer diagnostics, which were validated in controlled and live runs.

Project Structure

iris-maintenance-copilot/
|-- src/
|   |-- init_db.py                  # Repeat-safe SQL tables and iFind index
|   |-- seed_data.py                # Synthetic operational data
|   |-- knowledge_base.py           # Synthetic maintenance guidance
|   |-- ingest_knowledge.py         # Embedding generation and vector ingestion
|   |-- semantic_search.py          # IRIS VECTOR_COSINE retrieval
|   |-- lexical_search.py           # IRIS iFind lexical retrieval
|   |-- hybrid_search.py            # Python Reciprocal Rank Fusion
|   |-- evidence_context.py         # Evidence selection and context formatting
|   |-- llm_provider.py             # OpenAI-compatible HTTP provider and retry
|   |-- rag_service.py              # Grounded generation and output validation
|   |-- rag_cli.py                  # User-facing CLI demo
|   |-- validate_*.py               # Controlled and live validation entry points
|   `-- iris_connection.py          # Environment-based IRIS connection
|-- scripts/
|   `-- test_iris_connection.py     # Original local connection smoke test
|-- https://github.com/raphapaulin/iris-maintenance-copilot/blob/main/AI_LOG.md                       # AI-assisted development record
|-- ARTICLE_NOTES_PT.md             # Portuguese article source material
|-- SUBMISSION.md                   # Open Exchange submission source material
|-- requirements.txt
|-- https://github.com/raphapaulin/iris-maintenance-copilot/blob/main/LICENSE
`-- README.md

Limitations

• The knowledge base and operational records are synthetic and intentionally
  small.
• Generation depends on an external OpenAI-compatible LLM service and can be
  affected by provider availability.
• The project does not ingest real sensors, control equipment, or replace a
  qualified maintenance professional.
• Retrieved agreement and RRF rank do not guarantee contextual relevance;
  evidence should still be reviewed.
• The current demonstration is CLI-oriented and has no web interface or API.
• The application provides decision support, not a definitive diagnosis.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See https://github.com/raphapaulin/iris-maintenance-copilot/blob/main/LICENSE.