Apparatus and method for establishing maintenance routing in a process control system

Abstract

Generating the maintenance route in the process control system includes creating an initial ordered list of all wireless nodes in direct communication with the wireless gateway, wherein the nodes are ordered according to signal strength with the wireless gateway device. A subsequent ordered list of all nodes in direct communication with the first node of the initial ordered list is created, wherein the nodes are ordered according to signal strength with the first node. Subsequent ordered lists are then appended to the initial ordered list after the first node. This process of creating subsequent lists and appending to the initial sorted list is repeated for subsequent iterations, each iteration solving the next node in the appended sorted list after the previous iteration, until all nodes have been solved. In the last iteration, the nodes correspond to stops along the route, and the order corresponds to the route to be taken between the stops.

Description

technical field [0001] The disclosure herein relates generally to process control systems in process plants, and more particularly to dynamically generating and updating maintenance paths in process control systems having wireless networks based on network topology. Background technique [0002] Process control systems are widely used in manufacturing plants and / or factories that manufacture products or control processes (eg, chemical manufacturing, power plant controls, etc.). Process control systems are also used in the extraction of natural resources such as oil and gas drilling and processing processes, and the like. In fact, virtually any manufacturing process, resource extraction process, etc. can be automated through the application of one or more process control systems. It is believed that process control systems will eventually be used more widely in agriculture as well. [0003] Process control systems such as those used in chemical, petroleum, or other processe...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

While a defined route is suitable for providing the most efficient path to perform these tasks, it relies on the human process used to decide which tasks occur along a given path in the route

That is, while route-based maintenance software applications generate work orders for maintenance personnel, they typically rely on knowledge of the physical location of equipment and stopping points

Not only is this an inefficient use of maintenance personnel's time, especially where the number of devices and stopping points may be in the dozens or hundreds, but manually created routes are not necessarily optimal or efficient, and there are suboptimal

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