Method for configuring industrial automation components and industrial automation components

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for configuring an industrial automation component and an industrial automation component, wherein at least one feature of an industrial automation component (1) that cannot be configured by an engineering system (2) that supports the component (1), i.e., an unsupported feature, is configured in the following manner: a description (7) of the configuration of at least one unsupported feature is interpreted by an onboard compiler (8) of the component (1), and the interpreted description (9) is integrated into a basic configuration (3) that has been generated by the engineering system (2) and takes into account at least one other feature of the component (1), i.e., a supported feature.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a method for configuring an industrial automation component. The invention also relates to an industrial automation component, a computer program and a computer readable medium. Background Art

[0002] In the field of industrial automation, engineering systems are known. These systems can be used to engineer, program and / or configure industrial automation components in an automation project.

[0003] Industrial engineering systems (also called project engineering tools for industrial applications) can be used for solution design and implementation. Runtime systems are used for the subsequent operation and / or management of the process. Solutions should be understood as industrial solutions for process industries and / or discrete industries.

[0004] The engineering design of an automation project (e.g., for a factory) typically includes one or more of the following: determining the required functionality in the project, determining which components are needed to provide this functionality, assigning functionality and actual physical locations to the components in the factory, assigning communication structures to the components (e.g., which components are allowed to communicate with which other components and how they communicate, what the purpose of the components actually is), etc.

[0005] Automation projects are associated with real projects such as for setting up a new production / manufacturing line in a new or existing industrial machine or plant or a new or existing process plant. Some of the many examples of setting up such automation projects are vehicle manufacturing in the automotive industry, producing electronics, producing food and beverage products, and many more.

[0006] In these applications, engineering systems are used to generate one or more automation component configurations in the context of an industrial automation project. The industrial automation project may be, for example, a factory automation project, a process industry automation project, and any other automation project in an industrial context.

[0007] Engineering systems can be used in particular to configure the functionality of industrial automation components in the context of industrial automation projects, in particular for applications expected by users / operators (e.g., operators of industrial plants). Engineering systems can be used, for example, to configure the display functionality of an HMI display panel of an automation system for a specific automation project / application. HMI generally stands for human-machine interface. A user / operator or configuration engineer can configure what type of graphics are used to visualize measurement data on an HMI display panel by using an engineering system. Such configuration can be performed, for example, via an input mask of an engineering system.

[0008] An example of an engineering system is the TIA Portal from Siemens (Totally Integrated Automation Portal, see, for example: https: / / new.siemens.com / global / de / produkte / automatisierung / industrie-software / automatisierungs-software / tia-portal.html and the manual "iPDF: TIAPortalentdecken," which can be downloaded from this site). An engineering system can be embodied by software, such as a program that runs on the hardware of a user / operator.

[0009] About TIA Portal, TIA Portal is a fully integrated engineering system, TIA Portal provides all products in the TIA field (the complete range of SIMATIC products from Siemens). With this product range and TIA Portal, a complete solution is available. Compared with heterogeneous solutions that require specific engineering design for each product, a single tool is sufficient. With a fully integrated system, the consistency of the solution of the product does not require a lot of manual work.

[0010] This offers the great advantage of fully integrated engineering, from field devices via programmable logic controllers (PLCs, such as SIMATIC S7-1.200 and SIMATIC S7-1.500) and HMIs (such as SIMATIC Comfort Panels) to complete SCADA systems (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, an example of a SCADA system is SIMATIC WinCC Professional).

[0011] Comprehensive integration provides the user / operator with convenient configuration of a complete machine, for example, consisting of many components (including field devices and control devices), HMI devices, or even entire plants. The disadvantage is that all components and their configuration functions must be available in the engineering system (e.g. TIA Portal). This applies even to each different release of the engineering system. Due to the large number of automation components and their many functions, this results in a lot of synchronization work for the entire development organization at each release of the TIA Portal. The release cycle of the TIA Portal is currently once a year.

[0012] It may be the case that a component implements functionality that is not available / integrated in the engineering system (its current version) and therefore cannot be configured by the engineering system. For example, it may be the case that new features will already be present in the device before the next release cycle of the engineering system and / or that specific features (especially for very specific use cases) are not integrated in the general version of the engineering system.

[0013] The applicant is known to provide a Channel Support Packet (CSP) that allows adding configurability and runtime functionality for integration with new devices (via communication). For example, if there is a new communication protocol from an independent vendor, it can be added to a previously released version of the engineering system. The prerequisite is that the configuration functionality is fully available.

[0014] Applicants are also aware of providing Hardware Packets (HSP) to engineering systems, thereby allowing configurability of new hardware devices to be added to previously released versions.

[0015] Here, too, a prerequisite is that the configuration functions are fully available. The configuration is provided via the hardware description file (GSD) to adapt the specific functions of the concrete new hardware device. Summary of the invention

[0016] The object of the invention is to provide an alternative method which allows configuring functions of an industrial automation device which are not available in an engineering system belonging to the device and which can thus be implemented at relatively low cost.

[0017] It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automation component for carrying out such a method.

[0018] The first object is solved by a method for configuring an industrial automation component, whereby at least one feature of the industrial automation component that cannot be configured by an engineering system that supports the component, i.e., an unsupported feature, is configured in the following manner: a description of the configuration of at least one unsupported feature is interpreted by an onboard compiler of the component, and the interpreted description is integrated into a basic configuration that has been generated by the engineering system and takes into account at least one other feature of the component, i.e., a supported feature.

[0019] The second object is solved by an industrial automation component for performing the method of the present invention. The industrial component is preferably characterized by:

[0020] The component is embodied and / or configured to receive a description of a configuration of at least one feature of the component that cannot be configured by an engineering system that supports the component, i.e., an unsupported feature, and includes an on-board compiler embodied and / or configured to interpret the description, and the component is embodied and / or configured to integrate the interpreted description into a basic configuration that has been generated by the engineering system and that takes into account at least one additional feature of the component, i.e., a supported feature.

[0021] Automation components can be hardware components (e.g., devices) and / or software components or a combination of both. Automation components include, but are not limited to: programmable logic controllers (PLCs), I / O modules, industrial communication devices, industrial networking components, sensors, actuators, drives, HMI panels, and other industrial devices typically used in the process or automation industry. Software components that share hardware with other components can also be configured by this method.

[0022] In other words, the present invention supplements the configurability of automation components by the engineering system for unsupported features, in particular runtime features.

[0023] For example, one or more features of an automation component may lack support for an engineering system, where the component itself and especially other features of the component are available / supported because the feature is newly added to an already existing component and is not yet available / integrated in the current release of the engineering system. In this case, the time period until the next release can be filled by the method of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention enables early delivery of newly added features of automation components. Value can be provided independently of the release cycle of the engineering system.

[0024] Alternatively or in addition, an unsupported feature may be a specific feature that is (perhaps intentionally) not integrated into an engineering system that supports only more general features. The present invention may also deliver such specific features.

[0025] Thus, the present invention may add new and / or specific functionality that is not (currently) available in engineering systems.

[0026] Furthermore, the present invention enables independent development of runtime functionality. Functionality can be designed, developed and tested without any interaction with the engineering system (development team). After this, the development team of the engineering system can rely on features that are readily available, fully functional and tested.

[0027] Unsupported features are in particular functional features that provide a functionality (preferably a runtime functionality) of the automation component. This may also be the case for supported features. Supported features or unsupported features that require configuration may be, for example, (runtime) display features / functionality of an HMI display panel of an automation system (e.g. a polar plot in addition to a Cartesian trend), which have to be configured for a specific automation project or application.

[0028] Other examples are:

[0029] Screen switching via gestures, as popular on smartphones. Defining adjacency (i.e., which screens are displayed when swiping left, right, up, down) will require new editors in the engineering system.

[0030] Emergency events are notified by pushing emergency alerts on the user's smartphone via Apple or Google notification services, or alternatively via social media channels such as WhatsApp or Twitter. Configuring the accounts to be used and their credentials will require a new editor in the engineering system.

[0031] Publish readings of key process states (e.g., the level of a tank) to a cloud service for further analysis. Configuring the accounts to be used and their credentials will require a new editor in the engineering system.

[0032] According to the invention, the added, unsupported (runtime) functionality is described in parallel, in particular in at least one file loaded into the component.If more than one unsupported feature requires configuration, a description of the configuration of several of those features may be provided.

[0033] It may be the case that one description is provided for a plurality of features, or that several descriptions are provided (each for one feature). In particular, one description for more than one feature may be provided for features that are connected to or built upon each other.

[0034] The description of the configuration of the at least one unsupported feature is preferably provided as a textual description. For example, it may be provided in the form of a text file. In a preferred embodiment, the description is provided in the form of a human and machine readable text file. The text file may be generated, in particular written, by an engineer who wants to configure the added functionality.

[0035] The description can be generated (in particular written) in an editor (preferably in a plain text editor). It is also possible to use an IDE editor, which can be installed, for example, on the hardware of the user / operator who wants to obtain the configuration. After the description is generated / written, it is transferred to the automation component. A preferred option is to use a web browser to transfer (upload) the description file to the automation component.

[0036] The description may also be generated (especially written) using an online editor. The description may be generated especially in / using a web browser. The description may be inserted as text into the web browser. It is also possible to use a visual (graphical) editor.

[0037] If a web browser is used to generate and / or transmit the description, the automation component may include / implement a web server. The web server may also be implemented / run in the cloud.

[0038] The description is then interpreted by an on-board compiler. This particularly means or includes converting it into machine code.

[0039] In a particularly preferred embodiment, the interpretation of the description comprises converting the description into an optimized binary machine code, in particular a short code. The interpretation can deliver a machine-readable binary and compact version of the description.

[0040] The code is integrated into / merged with the basic configuration. In a preferred embodiment, the integration / merging of the explained description is performed by an onboard compiler or an integration module provided on the automation component. The automation component of the present invention preferably comprises an integration module embodied and / or configured accordingly. The integration module can be a hardware module and / or a software module or a combination of the two.

[0041] In another preferred embodiment, the description of the configuration of at least one unsupported feature is provided in a domain specific language (DSL). The unsupported feature is preferably described in a domain specific language, thereby allowing even an intermediately skilled end user to formulate a description of the feature configuration. The DSL is preferably a computer language dedicated to a specific application domain (for DSL, see also https: / / en.wikipedia.org / wiki / Domain-specific_language).

[0042] Another preferred embodiment features integration in an integrated development environment (IDE, see for example https: / / en.wikipedia.org / wiki / Integrated_development_environment) for syntax highlighting, command completion and syntax validation.

[0043] To avoid the need to know the full syntax, the DSL can be provided to existing widespread integrated development environments (IDEs) via a plugin or meta description of the DSL. This will work independently of the base configuration. Examples of IDEs are Eclipse or Visual Studio Code.

[0044] IDE integration for reference name search, completion, validation and semantic checking may also be provided. Since additional configuration may require references to existing objects (e.g. adding a new type of gauge to an HMI panel / screen), early checking of these objects and especially the object names may be required. This may also be provided as a plugin to the IDE. Thus, knowledge of the basic configuration may be required. For this purpose, an online connection to the automation component may be provided and / or an offline (possibly customized) instance of the basic configuration may be provided or obtained.

[0045] The basic configuration can be obtained using an engineering system in which the automation component is available / integrated. The basic configuration preferably takes into account features supported by the engineering system. For example, the basic configuration can be generated by the engineering system and then loaded into the automation component.

[0046] Before the interpreted description is integrated into the basic configuration, the basic configuration is preferably generated by an engineering system.

[0047] In a preferred embodiment, the onboard compiler also verifies the description of at least one unsupported feature. The compiler is embodied and / or configured accordingly. Due to the verification, an engineer can, for example, ensure that the configured extension can indeed be processed.

[0048] According to another preferred embodiment, a description of the configuration of at least one unsupported feature is also provided to the engineering system so it can be imported into the next release of the engineering system. Preferably, the description is provided to the engineering system sometime after the description is provided to the component so it can be tested before integration into the next release.

[0049] The invention also relates to a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by at least one computer or by an automation component, cause the at least one computer or the automation component to carry out the method of the invention.

[0050] The invention also relates to a computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one computer or by an automation component, cause the at least one computer or the automation component to perform the steps of the method of the invention.

[0051] An automation component may, like a computer, include at least one processor operable to execute software instructions.

[0052] The computer readable medium may be, for example, a CD-ROM or DVD or USB or flash memory. It should be noted that a computer readable medium should not be understood as only a physical medium, but such a medium may also exist in the form of a data stream and / or a signal representing a data stream. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0053] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0054] The accompanying drawings show:

[0055] Figure 1 is a purely schematic diagram showing the automation component according to the invention, the engineering system and the steps of the method according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] Figure 1 is a purely schematic diagram showing an example of an automation component 1 of the invention in the form of an HMI panel and an engineering system 2. In the example shown, the engineering system 2 is a TIA Portal and the automation component 1 is a SIMATIC HMI Unified Comfort Panel (HMI stands for Human Machine Interface), both provided by Siemens.

[0057] Panel 1 is part of an industrial automation plant / machine, which may be located, for example, in a hall and operated by a user / operator. The plant / machine comprises, in a manner known per se, many automation components, in particular controls, such as PLCs, IO devices, sensors, actuators, other HMI panels, etc. Engineering system 2 is installed on an industrial PC, which is also located in the vicinity of another automation component.

[0058] The runtime characteristics of the panel 1 can be configured with the help of the engineering system 2. For this purpose, a basic configuration 3 is generated by the engineering system 2, which is completely downloaded to the automation component 1 and saved thereon, i.e. written to the memory of the component 1. This includes the operator screen, which is constructed by means of visualization elements such as gauges, bar graphs, input fields, alarm views, trend diagrams, etc.

[0059] In the example shown, the component 1 includes a system configuration module 4 that receives a base configuration 3 and writes it into the memory of the panel 1. After the first complete download of the complete base configuration, smaller revisions 5 of the configuration will be iteratively downloaded from the engineering system 2 to the component 1 and written to the component's persistent memory, since this provides for fast and easy handling of small changes and allows the operator panel to remain operational while small configuration changes are downloaded and activated. Smaller revisions 5 of the configuration may be referred to as "delta configurations", the delta indicating the "smaller part" aspect.

[0060] exist Figure 1 The iterative nature of this method is indicated by the infinity symbol 6.

[0061] The runtime characteristics of another automation component of the plant / machine may also be configured in the same way.

[0062] It may be the case that one or more automation components 1 implement features that are supported by and configurable via the engineering system 2, i.e. supported functions / features, but also implement functions that are not available / integrated in the engineering system 2 (in its current version) and are therefore not configurable by it. For example, it may be that new features are already present in the device 1 before the next release cycle of the engineering system 2 and / or that specific features (especially for very specific use cases) are not integrated in the generally installed version of the engineering system 2.

[0063] about Figure 1The HMI panel 1 shown, while supporting configuration of a display feature for showing data in one type of graph (e.g., using a Cartesian coordinate system) on the panel 1, does not support configuration for showing data in another type of graph (e.g., using a polar coordinate system). In detail, the panel 1 has a feature for showing data in a polar coordinate graph as an already built-in function, which cannot be configured by configuring the current release version of the engineering system installed on the engineer's computer, because the feature is rather new or is only targeted at certain selected customers or industries.

[0064] In order to solve this problem, according to the present invention, one or more features that cannot (currently) be configured by the engineering system 2 supporting component 1 are configured without the help of the engineering system 2 in the following way: the description 7 of the configuration of the unsupported features is interpreted by the onboard compiler 8 of component 1, and the interpreted description 9 is integrated into the basic configuration 3 that has been generated by the engineering system 2 and takes into account the supported features of component 1.

[0065] In detail, a description of the configuration of one or more unsupported features is provided by a configuration engineer 7 .

[0066] The description is provided in a domain specific language (DSL) 7. The text description can be generated / written in an editor 10 (see Figure 1 ). Unsupported features are described verbally in a domain-specific language, which allows even moderately skilled configuration engineers to formulate such descriptions of feature configurations7 without requiring a priori in-depth knowledge.

[0067] To avoid the need to know the full syntax, the description 7 in DSL can be adapted to existing widespread integrated development environments (IDEs), such as Eclipse 11 (provided by Eclipse Foundation, Inc.) or Visual Studio Code 12 (provided by Microsoft, Corp.), via plugins 13 or DSL-meta-descriptions. This will work independently of the basic configuration 3.

[0068] IDE integration for reference name search, completion, validation and semantic checking may also be provided. Since the additional configuration obtained via description 7 may require references to existing objects (e.g. adding a new type of gauge or polar plot to an HMI panel / screen), early checking of these objects and in particular the object names may be required. This may also be provided to the IDE as a plug-in 13. Therefore, knowledge of the basic configuration may be required. For this purpose, an online connection to the automation component 1 may be provided and / or an offline (possibly customized) instance of the basic configuration may be provided or obtained. Such a copy may be obtained from a name service 14 implemented on the component 1, such as Figure 1It should be noted that the name service 14 of the component is shown again in the lower left corner only for reasons of clarity.

[0069] Functionality provided by Eclipse 11 or Visual Studio Code 12 as a rich client via plugins 13 is also available as a pure web application.

[0070] A web browser 15 (e.g. Chrome, Firefox or Opera) can also be used to generate the description 7. In this case, for example, a code editor 16 or a visual (graphic) editor 17 (e.g. a screen) can be used, which is also shown in a purely schematic manner. Figure 1 Shown in.

[0071] An example of a text description 7 of a configuration of an unsupported feature of panel 1 is:

[0072]

[0073] In this example, the visualization features of panel 1 are described. Although in the example the features and attributes are abstractly named a, b, c, ..., the configuration engineer writing the description 7 can use names that are specific to the use case ("domain-specific") and that are known to him and easy to understand. Instead of "feature-x", the configuration engineer can, for example, write "scale". Although only numbers are written after the equal sign in the exemplary description 7, this should not be understood as limiting. It is of course possible that, instead of or in addition to numbers, the features and / or attributes are followed by words, giving an example "attribute-a=blue".

[0074] Furthermore, it is emphasized that the above description 7 is to be understood purely as one possible example of a textual description 7 and that other descriptions 7 may of course be provided alternatively or additionally. For example, if not the panel 1 but another automation component needs to be configured alternatively or additionally, the provided description 7 may also take into account other types of features instead of or in addition to the visual features.

[0075] Furthermore, in the editor the description 7 will preferably be shown by syntax highlighting, for example highlighting the syntax in colour.

[0076] Regardless of what type of editor is used to generate (especially write) the description 7, one possible way to transfer it to the automation component 1 and provide it to the component 1 is to use the description upload page 18 in / via the browser 19, such as Figure 1 shown.

[0077] Thus, the component 1 implements a web server 20. The description 7 received by the web server 20 is written into the memory of the component. Figure 1 In FIG. 7 , this is schematically depicted by an arrow from the web server 20 to the local version of the description 7 and the letter “W” written next to the arrow.

[0078] The web server 20 delivers the web application 18. The browser 19 is the execution environment for the web application 18.

[0079] The TIA portal provides a full graphic editor, for example, in which or through which construction elements of an HMI operating screen can be edited and configured. This can also be achieved via a web server 20, a web application 18 and a browser 19. In this case, a full graphic editor (especially a drag-and-drop graphic editor) will be provided instead of a text editor (or in addition to a text editor).

[0080] In the next step, the saved version of the description 7 is read by the component's onboard compiler 8 (indicated in the figure by the arrow from the saved description 7 to the compiler 8 with an "R" for read next to it) and interpreted to obtain a machine-readable binary and compact version of the description 9. In other words, by using the compiler 8, the user / configuration engineer-oriented version of the description 7 written by the user / configuration engineer in a domain-specific language will be converted into a machine-oriented version 9.

[0081] The interpreted machine-readable version 9 is again written into the component's memory. The compiler 8 contacts / connects to the name service 14, which Figure 1 14 is shown by the arrow from the compiler 8 to the name service. The compiler 8 should know the names of existing objects and should be able to address them according to the content as he modifies them. For example, after adding a round pointer instrument to a Cartesian curve or replacing a Cartesian curve with a polar coordinate version, the operating panel is no longer the same. This name resolution and object identification is done by the relationship from the compiler 8 to the name service 14.

[0082] The compiler 8 not only interprets the description 7, but also verifies it.

[0083] The web server 20 will also output a success or error message, for example if a circular pointer instrument is added to a screen that does not exist.

[0084] The integration module 21 of the component 1 reads the machine-readable, binary and compact version of the description 9. The integration module 21 also reads the (current) basic configuration 3 obtained from the engineering system 2. The engineering system 2 provides the basic configuration in a machine-readable, binary and compact state.

[0085] The integration module 21 integrates (in other words merges) a machine-readable, binary and compact version of the description 9 of one or more features not supported by the engineering system (unsupported features) into the basic configuration 3 taking into account the features supported by the engineering system 2 (supported features). In this way, a complete configuration 22 for supported features as well as unsupported features is obtained. The complete configuration 22 is written by the integration module 21 into the memory of the component, as indicated by the arrow from the integration module 21 to the complete configuration 22, and can also be read (R / W). For example, the complete configuration 22 will be read so that the runtime system knows what to display at startup.

[0086] Similar to "incremental configuration", a description 7 of the configuration of the unsupported feature can be iteratively provided to the component 1. Through repeated provision, the configuration can be improved, for example, until the desired result is obtained. Figure 1 This is shown by another infinity symbol 23.

[0087] In a preferred embodiment, a description 7 of the configuration of one or more unsupported features of the component 1 may also be provided to the engineering system 2. For example, the description 7 may be read by the engineering system 2. Figure 1 This is schematically shown in FIG. 1 by an arrow from the engineering system 2 to the description 7 shown below the browser 19 and the description 7 stored on the component 1. The description can then be imported into the next release of the engineering system. The corresponding feature can then become a supported feature.

[0088] It should be noted that Figure 1 The component 1 shown is an exemplary embodiment of an automation component of the invention, which is embodied and configured for carrying out the above-described exemplary embodiment of the method of the invention.

[0089] The onboard compiler 8 and the integrated module 21 of the component 1 can be modules implemented purely by software. The same is true for the system configuration module 4.

[0090] The method and automation component of the present invention have several advantages. On the one hand, the configurability of the automation component implemented by the engineering system for unsupported features is supplemented. In addition, the present invention enables independent development of runtime functions. Functions can be designed, developed and tested without any interaction with the engineering system (development team). After this, the development team of the engineering system 2 can rely on features that are readily available, fully functional and tested.

[0091] While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed examples and that numerous additional modifications and variations may be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0092] For example, it should be understood that although Figure 1 An automation component 1 of an industrial automation plant / machine in the form of an HMI panel is shown by way of example, but a plurality of automation components of a machine / plant may be embodied and / or configured for carrying out the method of the invention. Figure 1 One or more further components of the plant / or machine to which the panel 1 belongs (e.g. further HMI panels or PLC or IO devices) may be embodied and / or configured for performing the above exemplary embodiments of the method of the invention. Preferably, all automation components of the plant / machine having new (or specific) unsupported features are embodied and / or configured according to the invention.

Claims

1. A method for configuring an industrial automation component (1), At least one feature of the industrial automation component (1) that cannot be configured by an engineering system (2) supporting the component (1), i.e., an unsupported feature, is thereby configured by: The description (7) of the configuration of at least one unsupported feature is interpreted by an onboard compiler (8) of the component (1) to obtain a machine-readable binary version of the description, the machine-readable binary version of the description is verified by the onboard compiler (8), and the machine-readable binary version of the description is integrated into a basic configuration (3) that has been generated by the engineering system (2) and takes into account at least one further feature, i.e., a supported feature, of the component (1), thereby obtaining a complete configuration including at least one further supported feature and at least one unsupported feature, and the complete configuration is written to a memory of the industrial automation component (1).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The basic configuration (3) is generated by the engineering system (2) before the machine-readable binary version of the description is integrated into the basic configuration (3).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A description of the configuration of the at least one unsupported feature is provided in the form of a text file (7).

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A description of the configuration of the at least one unsupported feature is provided via a web browser (7).

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The onboard compiler (8) verifies the description (7) of the configuration of the at least one unsupported feature.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A description of the configuration of the at least one unsupported feature is provided in a domain-specific language (7).

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Interpreting the description (7) includes converting the description (7) into binary machine code.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Integrating the machine-readable binary version of the description into the basic configuration (3) is performed by the onboard compiler (8) or integration module (21) of the component (1).

9. An industrial automation component (1) for performing the method according to any of the preceding claims.

10. The industrial automation component (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that The component (1) is embodied and / or configured to receive a description (7) of a configuration of at least one feature of the component (1) that cannot be configured by an engineering system (2) supporting the component, i.e., an unsupported feature, and comprises an onboard compiler (8) embodied and / or configured to interpret the description (7), and the component (1) is embodied and / or configured to integrate the interpreted description (9) into a basic configuration (3) that has been generated by the engineering system (2) and that takes into account at least one further feature of the component (1), i.e., a supported feature.

11. The industrial automation component (1) according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that The component is an HMI panel.

12. The industrial automation component (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that The on-board compiler (8) is embodied and / or configured to integrate the interpreted description (9) into the basic configuration (3), or the component (1) comprises an integration module (21) embodied and / or configured to integrate the interpreted description (9) into the basic configuration (3).

13. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when said program is executed by at least one computer or by an automation component, cause said at least one computer or said automation component to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

14. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one computer or on an automation component, cause the at least one computer or the automation component to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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