The present invention generally relates to failure prediction of an infrastructure (110). A failure likelihood for one or more components of an infrastructure (110) is determined. History data (210) representing prior failures of the components of the infrastructure (110) is applied (230-250) to a Bayesian nonparametric statistical model using a beta process. Then the failure likelihood of one or more components of the infrastructure from the Bayesian nonparametric statistical model is estimated (270). Aspects of the invention include computer-implemented methods (200, 300), software and computer systems (100).
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A computer-implemented method for estimating failure likelihood of components of an infrastructure, comprising: accessing or receiving history data representing prior failures of the components of the infrastructure; applying the history data to a Bayesian nonparametric statistical model using a beta process; and estimating the failure likelihood of one or more components of the infrastructure from the Bayesian nonparametric statistical model. 2. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises grouping the history data by properties of the components of the infrastructure and the estimate for failure likelihood is based on a particular component belonging to a particular grouping. 3. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 2, wherein the beta process comprises a hierarchical beta process. 4. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 3, the method further comprising not fixing a mean parameter of the hierarchical beta process and fixing a concentration parameter of the hierarchical beta process. 5. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 4, the method further comprising obtaining a posterior distribution of the mean parameter of the hierarchical beta process. 6. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 3, the method further comprising not fixing a mean parameter of the hierarchical beta process and a concentration parameter of the hierarchical beta process. 7. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 6, the method further comprising obtaining a joint posterior distribution of the mean parameter and the concentration parameter of the hierarchical beta process. 8. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 7, the step of obtaining comprises obtaining the joint posterior distribution using sparsity of the history data. 9. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 8, the method further comprising utilising Taylor expansion to approximate the joint posterior distribution of the mean parameter and the concentration parameter. 10. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprising storing the estimated failure likelihood of one or more component. 11. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 1, the method further comprising obtaining a posterior distribution for a failure of each component of the infrastructure. 12. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 11, the step of estimating comprises estimating the failure likelihood of each component of the infrastructure from the posterior distribution for the failure of each component of the infrastructure. 13. The computer-implemented method for estimating the failure likelihood of the components of the infrastructure according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises causing an inspection of the infrastructure to be conducted based on the estimated failure likelihood. 14. A non-transitory computer readable medium, including computer executable instructions stored thereon, that when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method of claim 1. 15. A computer system for estimating failure likelihood of components of an infrastructure, the system comprising a processor that is adapted to: access or receive history data representing prior failures of the infrastructure; apply the history data to a Bayesian nonparametric statistical model; and estimate the failure likelihood of each component of the infrastructure from the Bayesian nonparametric statistical model.