Platform for facilitating industrial internet of things system intelligent development

Abstract

A platform for facilitating industrial internet of things (IIoT) system intelligence development can include a plurality of different data processing layers. The plurality of different data processing layers can include an industrial monitoring system layer that collects data from or about a plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system, an industrial entity-oriented data storage system layer that stores the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer, an adaptive intelligence system layer that facilitates coordinated development and deployment of intelligence systems in the IIoT system, and an industrial management application platform layer that includes a plurality of applications and manages the platform in a common application environment. The adaptive intelligence system layer can include a robotic process automation system that develops and deploys automation capabilities for one or more of the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system.

Claims

1. A system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) systems, comprising: Multiple different data processing layers, including: The industrial monitoring system layer collects data from or about multiple industrial entities within the IIoT system; A data storage system layer for industrial entities, which stores the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer; An adaptive intelligent system layer that facilitates the coordinated development and deployment of intelligent systems across multiple different data processing layers within the IIoT system; and The industrial management application platform layer comprises multiple applications and manages the systems used to facilitate the intelligent development of industrial IoT systems within a common application environment. The adaptive intelligent system layer includes a robotic process automation system, which receives and integrates data from the industrial monitoring system layer and the industrial entity-oriented data storage system layer to develop and deploy automation capabilities for one or more of the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the robotic process automation system automates at least one of a set of software functions and a set of physical tasks based on a training set of expert human motion observations of industrial operations and processes within the IIoT system.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the robotic process automation system tracks and records a set of states, actions, events and results, the set of states, actions, events and results being related to the industrial systems and processes used by humans in the IIoT system.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the robotic process automation system records video footage that appears during a human mouse click to view the mouse click situation in the video.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the human highlights points of interest within the video, marks objects in the video, captures parameters in the video, or manipulates the video within a graphical user interface.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the robotic process automation system tracks and records a set of human interactions when a human interacts with a set of interfaces associated with computing devices within the IIoT system.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the robotic process automation system tracks and records a set of states, actions, events, and results, the set of states, actions, events, and results being related to the systems and processes used by the human participation in the IIoT system.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the robotic process automation system utilizes an artificial intelligence system to develop and deploy automation capabilities for one or more of the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system based on data received from multiple different data processing layers.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the artificial intelligence system comprises at least one of an expert system and a machine learning system.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the artificial intelligence system comprises a neural network.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the artificial intelligence system is trained using a training set of human interaction observations and system states, events, and results in the IIoT system, the human interaction observations being tracked and recorded by the robotic process automation system when the human interacts with a set of interfaces associated with computing devices within the IIoT system.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the robotic process automation system obtains the training set.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the robotic process automation system records the system state, events, and results of the artificial intelligence system in the training set.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the system states, events, and results include units that have previously acted as subjects of human interaction, states that the artificial intelligence system has previously or currently exhibited before, during, and after the human interaction, and outputs or results previously provided or obtained by the industrial system.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the robotic process automation system further comprises a human correction system that receives human input during the initial deployment of automation capabilities for an industrial process, wherein the human input is used to improve the performance of the automation capabilities.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the robotic process automation system incorporates a set of industry-specific expert human interactions during a learning phase in order to develop and deploy the automation capabilities, thereby replicating the expert human interactions.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the robotic process automation system enters a deep learning phase after the learning phase in order to improve the performance of the automation capability compared to expert human interaction.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the robotic process automation system utilizes feedback from one or more results during the deep learning phase to improve the performance of the automation capability.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the robotic process automation system includes a computer vision system that analyzes images displayed on the computer's industrial control interface while the user manually interacts with the computer, and simultaneously executes a specific process to teach the robot how to perform the process.

20. A system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) systems, comprising: Multiple different data processing layers, including: The industrial monitoring system layer collects data from or about multiple industrial entities within the IIoT system; A data storage system layer for industrial entities, which stores the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer; An adaptive intelligent system layer provides available computing resources within the system used to facilitate the intelligent development of an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) system, promoting the coordinated development and deployment of intelligent systems across multiple different data processing layers within the IIoT system; wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes a robotic process automation (RoMA) system that receives and integrates data from an industrial monitoring system layer and an industrial entity-oriented data storage system layer to develop and deploy automation capabilities for one or more of the multiple industrial entities within the IIoT system; and The industrial management application platform layer manages the system within a public application environment.

21. The system of claim 20 further includes a set of interfaces that exchange data between the plurality of different data processing layers.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the set of interfaces includes at least one of an application programming interface, a proxy, a server, a connector, a wired or wireless communication link, or a port.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein each of the plurality of different data processing layers has a microservice architecture.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein each of the plurality of different data processing layers has a microservice architecture.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein outputs, events, and results are exchanged between the plurality of different data processing layers.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the data storage system layer for industrial entities stores the generated data, the generated data being generated by other layers among the plurality of different data processing layers.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the data storage system layer for industrial entities is a common data source, the common data source being used for the other layers among the plurality of different data processing layers.

28. The system of claim 20, wherein the data storage system layer for industrial entities is a common data source, the common data source being used for the other layers among the plurality of different data processing layers.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein the data stored in the data storage system layer for industrial entities includes one or more of asset and facility data, worker data, event data, claims data, production data, and supply chain data.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the asset and facility data includes one or more of asset identity data, operation data, transaction data, event data, status data, workflow data, and maintenance data.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the worker data includes one or more of identity data, role data, task data, workflow data, health data, performance data, and quality data.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the event data includes one or more of process events, financial events, output events, input events, state change events, operation events, repair events, maintenance events, service events, damage events, injury events, replacement events, refueling events, recharging events, and supply events.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the claim data includes one or more of insurance claim data, product liability claim data, general liability claim data, workers' compensation claim data, injury claim data, and contract claim data.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the production data includes one or more of the following: energy production-related data found in the databases of utilities or independent service organizations that maintain energy infrastructure; data related to manufacturing outputs; and data related to the outputs of mining and energy extraction facilities, and the outputs of drilling and pipeline facilities.

35. The system of claim 29, wherein the supply chain data includes one or more data relating to supplied goods, quantity, pricing, delivery, origin, route, and customs information.

36. The system of claim 20, wherein the available computing resources within the system for promoting the intelligent development of the industrial Internet of Things system provided by the adaptive intelligent system layer include one or more of available processing kernels, available servers, available edge computing resources, available on-device resources, available cloud infrastructure, data storage resources, networking resources, and energy resources.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the data storage resources include one or more of local storage on the device, storage resources in an industrial entity or environment, storage on asset tags, local area network storage, network storage resources, cloud-based storage resources, and database resources.

38. The system of claim 36, wherein the networking resources include one or more of cellular network spectrum, wireless network resources, and fixed network resources.

39. The system of claim 36, wherein the energy resource includes one or more of available battery power, available renewable energy, fuel, and grid-based power.

40. The system of claim 20, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer provides the available computing resources within the system for facilitating the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things systems based on one or more of application requirements, quality of service, budget, cost, pricing, risk factors, operational objectives, optimization parameters, return on investment, profitability, uptime and downtime.

41. The system of claim 20, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer provides the available computing resources within the system for facilitating the intelligent development of the industrial Internet of Things system, such that low-latency resources are used for remote control, while longer-latency resources are used for system analysis applications.

42. The system of claim 20, wherein the industrial management application platform layer that manages the system for facilitating the intelligent development of industrial IoT systems in the public application environment comprises one or more applications that output at least one of the following: Status and condition information of various objects, entities, processes, or flows; Object information, including one or more of the identity, attributes, and parameter information of various types of objects of various data types; Event and change information, used for workflows, dynamic systems, processes, procedures, protocols, or algorithms; as well as Results information, including indications of success and failure, indications of process or milestone completion, indications of correct or incorrect predictions, indications of correct or incorrect labeling or classification, or success indicators.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the success metrics include information related to profitability, engagement, return on investment, profitability, efficiency, timeliness, service quality, product quality, or customer satisfaction.

44. A system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) systems, comprising: Multiple different data processing layers, including: The industrial monitoring system layer collects data from or about multiple industrial entities within the IIoT system; A data storage system layer for industrial entities, which stores the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer; An adaptive intelligent system layer provides available computing resources within the system used to facilitate the intelligent development of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems, and facilitates the coordinated development and deployment of intelligent systems across multiple different data processing layers within the IIoT system; and An industrial management application platform layer that manages the system in a public application environment, wherein the industrial management application platform layer includes one or more applications that manage, monitor, control, or analyze interactions with the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system; The adaptive intelligent system layer includes a robotic process automation system, which receives and integrates data from the industrial monitoring system layer and the industrial entity-oriented data storage system layer to develop and deploy automation capabilities for one or more of the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include an industrial asset lifecycle management application, the industrial asset lifecycle management application managing at least one industrial asset of the plurality of industrial entities by storing attribute data, status data and transaction data of at least one industrial asset.

46. ​​The system of claim 45, wherein the industrial asset lifecycle management application includes a blockchain-based industrial asset lifecycle management application.

47. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a process control optimization application, the process control optimization application automatically controlling at least one of the actions, operating parameters, and states of the industrial process based on at least one of the detection status or detection conditions of the system used in the industrial process.

48. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a building automation and control application that automates the control of at least one environmental parameter in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

49. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include an enterprise asset management application that manages at least one of actions, workflows, tasks, or states related to assets controlled by the enterprise.

50. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications comprise a Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS) solution.

51. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a plant operations visibility and intelligence application, the intelligence application providing status information related to a set of plant operations workflows and a set of plant systems.

52. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include an autonomous manufacturing application that controls at least one of the operating parameters, workflow, or status of the manufacturing system based on the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer.

53. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a smart supply chain application that automatically determines and initiates at least one action based on at least one of detection status and conditions in the industrial environment, the at least one action determining at least one of the delivery time, item, quantity, or delivery location of a set of industrial components.

54. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include an inventory quality control application that provides a set of inventory quality metrics based on detecting at least one of the status or condition of inventory items in an industrial environment.

55. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include an industrial analytics application that provides a set of analytical results relating to at least one of the maintenance, repair, service, operation, or optimization of an industrial system in the IIoT system.

56. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include an industrial digital thread application, wherein a common digital data structure is provided for use by a set of design, manufacturing, supply, and maintenance systems associated with the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system.

57. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a robotic process automation application for automating at least one of a set of software functions and a set of physical tasks based on an expert human motion observation training set.

58. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a visual quality inspection application that uses computer vision to detect a set of conditions associated with at least one of the states, conditions, or circumstances of at least one of the plurality of industrial entities.

59. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include collaborative robot applications, wherein a set of tasks performed by a human is enhanced through collaboration with a combination of hardware robots and software robots, or at least one of them.

60. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a real-time monitoring application configured to automatically detect, monitor, and report the transaction status of a shipment of industrial assets by processing a distributed ledger containing transaction data of industrial assets.

61. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a machine condition monitoring application that monitors the condition of the industrial machine based on at least one of processed industrial machine operating status data, machine data, telematics data, on-board diagnostic system data, environmental data, or operator data.

62. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include a continuous emissions monitoring application that monitors and reports emissions from a group of industrial machines in an industrial environment.

63. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include an indoor air quality monitoring application for monitoring a set of air quality parameters in an industrial environment.

64. The system of claim 44, wherein the one or more applications include an indoor sound quality monitoring application for measuring a set of sound parameters experienced by workers in an industrial environment.

65. A system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) systems, comprising: Multiple different data processing layers, including: The industrial monitoring system layer collects data from or about multiple industrial entities within the IIoT system; A data storage system layer for industrial entities, which stores the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer; An adaptive intelligent system layer facilitates the coordinated development and deployment of intelligent systems across multiple different data processing layers within the IIoT system; wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes a robotic process automation system that receives and integrates data from an industrial monitoring system layer and an industrial entity-oriented data storage system layer to develop and deploy automation capabilities for one or more of the multiple industrial entities within the IIoT system; and The industrial management application platform layer manages the systems used to facilitate the intelligent development of industrial IoT systems within a public application environment. The adaptive intelligent system layer includes data processing, artificial intelligence, and computing systems that develop, improve, or adapt processes within the IIoT system based on the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer.

66. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes an adaptive edge computing management system that adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system.

67. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes a robotic process automation system, the robotic process automation system being at least one of the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system for developing and deploying automation capabilities.

68. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes a set of protocol adapters that facilitate adaptive protocol conversion of data within the IIoT system.

69. The system of claim 68, wherein the adaptive protocol conversion of the data within the IIoT system includes dynamically converting the data.

70. The system of claim 68, wherein the adaptive protocol conversion of the data within the IIoT system includes converting the data for storage.

71. The system of claim 68, wherein the adaptive protocol conversion of the data within the IIoT system includes converting the data for processing by the units of the IIoT system.

72. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes a packet acceleration system that facilitates increasing the transmission speed of the data in the IIoT system.

73. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes an edge intelligent system that adapts to edge computing resources.

74. The system of claim 73, wherein the edge intelligence system adapts the edge computing resources based on the quality of service, latency requirements, congestion, and cost of edge computing capabilities across multiple applications in the industrial management application platform layer.

75. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes an adaptive networking system adapted to network communication within the IIoT system.

76. The system of claim 75, wherein the adaptive networking system adapts to network communication in the IIoT system based on quality of service, latency requirements, and congestion in the network.

77. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes a set of state and event managers that adapt the process in the IIoT system based on state and event data.

78. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer includes a set of opportunity mining procedures that identify opportunities to improve automation or intelligence in the IIoT system.

79. The system of claim 78, wherein the set of opportunity mining procedures prioritizes the opportunities to improve automation or intelligence in the IIoT system.

80. The system of claim 65, wherein the adaptive intelligent system layer comprises a set of artificial intelligence systems, the set of artificial intelligence systems being developed, improved, or adapted to the IIoT system.

81. The system of claim 80, wherein the set of artificial intelligence systems includes one or more of expert systems and machine learning systems.

82. A system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) systems, comprising: Multiple different data processing layers, including: The industrial monitoring system layer collects data from or about multiple industrial entities within the IIoT system; A data storage system layer for industrial entities, which stores the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer; and An adaptive intelligent system layer that receives the data includes an opportunity mining system that uses the data to identify opportunities to improve automation within the system used to promote the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems; the adaptive intelligent system layer facilitates the coordinated development and deployment of intelligent systems across multiple different data processing layers within the IIoT system. The adaptive intelligent system layer includes a robotic process automation system, which receives and integrates data from the industrial monitoring system layer and the industrial entity-oriented data storage system layer to develop and deploy automation capabilities for one or more of the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system.

83. The system of claim 82, wherein the plurality of different data processing layers further comprises an industrial management application platform layer, the industrial management application platform layer comprising one or more applications for performing tasks, monitoring the execution of the tasks, or assisting in the execution of the tasks in the IIoT system.

84. The system of claim 83, wherein the opportunity mining system uses the data to identify opportunities to improve automation within the one or more applications.

85. The system of claim 82, wherein the opportunity mining system includes a worker observation system that observes workers in the IIoT system to obtain observation data, the worker observation system including one or more sensors, wherein the opportunity mining system further utilizes the observation data to identify opportunities to improve automation within the system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial IoT systems.

86. The system of claim 85, wherein the one or more sensors include at least one of a camera, a wearable sensor, a motion sensor, an infrared sensor, or an audio sensor.

87. The system of claim 86, wherein the worker observation system distinguishes worker types to obtain the observation data.

88. The system of claim 86, wherein the worker observation system distinguishes the worker's position to obtain the observation data.

89. The system of claim 86, wherein the worker observation system observes time related to the worker to obtain the observation data.

90. The system of claim 89, wherein the time is related to the duration of the activity performed by the worker.

91. The system of claim 82, wherein the opportunity mining system includes a task specialization determination system that determines the level of domain-specific or entity-specific knowledge or expertise required to take an action, use a program, use a machine, or perform an activity within the IIoT system.

92. The system of claim 91, wherein the task specialization determination system determines the identity, credentials, and experience of a worker who takes the action, uses the program, uses the machine, or performs the activity within the IIoT system, wherein the identity, credentials, and experience are used to determine the level of domain-specific or entity-specific knowledge or expertise.

93. The system of claim 92, wherein the opportunity mining system identifies opportunities to improve automation within the system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things systems based on the level of the domain-specific or entity-specific knowledge or expertise.

94. The system of claim 92, wherein the opportunity mining system prioritizes the opportunities to improve automation within the system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things systems.

95. The system of claim 94, wherein the opportunity mining system includes a worker observation system that observes workers in the IIoT system to obtain observation data, the worker observation system including one or more sensors, wherein the opportunity mining system further utilizes the observation data to identify opportunities to improve automation within the system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial IoT systems and to determine the priority of the opportunities.

96. The system of claim 95, wherein the one or more sensors include at least one of a camera, a wearable sensor, a motion sensor, an infrared sensor, or an audio sensor.

97. The system of claim 96, wherein the worker observation system distinguishes worker types to obtain the observation data.

98. The system of claim 96, wherein the worker observation system distinguishes the worker's position to obtain the observation data.

99. The system of claim 96, wherein the worker observation system observes time related to the worker to obtain the observation data.

100. The system of claim 99, wherein the time is related to the duration of the activity performed by the worker.

101. The system of claim 94, wherein the opportunity mining system identifies and prioritizes opportunities to improve automation within the system based on the level of domain-specific or entity-specific knowledge or expertise.

102. A system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) systems, comprising: Multiple different data processing layers, including: The industrial monitoring system layer collects data from or about multiple industrial entities in the industrial environment; A data storage system layer for industrial entities, which stores the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer; and The adaptive intelligent system layer facilitates the coordinated development and deployment of intelligent systems across multiple different data processing layers within the IIoT system. The adaptive intelligent system layer includes an adaptive edge computing management system, which adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing within the IIoT system; the adaptive intelligent system layer also includes a robotic process automation system, which receives and integrates data from an industrial monitoring system layer and an industrial entity-oriented data storage system layer to develop and deploy automation capabilities for one or more of the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system.

103. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system changes the storage location of data among on-device storage, local systems, network storage resources and cloud-based storage resources.

104. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system changes the data processing location between the local area network of the industrial environment, one or more peer networks of devices in the industrial environment, the computing resources of at least one of the plurality of industrial entities, and cloud-based processing resources.

105. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing within the IIoT system based on a set of artificial intelligence systems.

106. The system of claim 105, wherein the set of artificial intelligence systems includes an expert system, a neural network, a deep neural network, a supervised learning system, a machine learning system, or a deep learning system.

107. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system based on the detection status of the communication network in the industrial environment.

108. The system of claim 107, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system based on the quality of service of the communication network.

109. The system of claim 107, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system based on the latency of the communication network.

110. The system of claim 107, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system based on congestion of the communication network.

111. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system based on the cost of the computing or storage resources utilized.

112. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system based on the quality of service, latency requirements, congestion, and cost of edge computing capabilities in the IIoT system.

113. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system further adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system based on the priority of computing, storage, and processing tasks.

114. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system further adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system based on the values ​​of computing, storage, and processing tasks.

115. The system of claim 114, wherein the values ​​of the computation, storage, and processing tasks include one or more of return on investment, yield, and cost information.

116. The system of claim 115, wherein the cost information includes fault cost information.

117. The system according to claim 102, wherein: The adaptive edge computing management system changes the storage location of data among on-device storage, local systems, network storage resources, and cloud-based storage resources; as well as When the data connection is slow or unreliable, the adaptive edge computing management system changes the storage location between on-device storage, local system, and network storage resources.

118. The system according to claim 102, wherein: The adaptive edge computing management system changes the storage location of data among on-device storage, local systems, network storage resources, and cloud-based storage resources; as well as When the data connection is strong, the adaptive edge computing management system changes the storage location between network storage resources and cloud-based storage resources.

119. The system of claim 118, wherein when the data connection is slow or unreliable, the adaptive edge computing management system changes the storage location among on-device storage, local system, and network storage resources.

120. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system, including selecting a communication protocol for data transmission.

121. The system of claim 102, wherein the adaptive edge computing management system adaptively manages edge computing, storage, and processing in the IIoT system by dynamically defining the edge configuration of each device in the IIoT system.

122. A system for promoting the intelligent development of industrial Internet of Things (IoT) systems, comprising: Multiple different data processing layers, including: The industrial monitoring system layer collects data from or about multiple industrial entities within the IIoT system; A data storage system layer for industrial entities, which stores the data collected by the industrial monitoring system layer; An adaptive intelligent system layer provides available computing resources within the system and facilitates the coordinated development and deployment of the intelligent system across multiple different data processing layers within the IIoT system. The adaptive intelligent system layer includes a robotic process automation system, which receives and integrates data from an industrial monitoring system layer and an industrial entity-oriented data storage system layer to develop and deploy automation capabilities for one or more of the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system; and An industrial management application platform layer, comprising one or more applications, wherein the applications are used to perform tasks, monitor the execution of the tasks, or assist in the execution of the tasks within the IIoT system. The data storage system layer for industrial entities includes at least one geofence virtual asset tag associated with a specific industrial entity among the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system. The at least one geofence virtual asset tag includes a data structure containing entity data about the specific industrial entity and links to the vicinity of the specific industrial entity.

123. The system of claim 122, wherein access to the at least one geofence virtual asset tag is limited to devices, entities, and individuals in the vicinity of the particular industrial entity.

124. The system of claim 123, wherein access to the at least one geofence virtual asset tag includes reading, writing, and modifying data of the at least one geofence virtual asset tag.

125. The system of claim 123, wherein access to the at least one geofence virtual asset tag is restricted by using an encryption key.

126. The system of claim 122, wherein the at least one geofence virtual asset tag is used to identify the presence of a data reading device and to communicate with the data reading device.

127. The system of claim 126, wherein the at least one geofence virtual asset tag communicates with the data reading device via one or more protocol adapters.

128. The system of claim 122, wherein the particular industrial entity comprises a machine in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

129. The system of claim 122, wherein the particular industrial entity comprises equipment items in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

130. The system of claim 122, wherein the particular industrial entity comprises inventory items in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

131. The system of claim 122, wherein the particular industrial entity comprises articles in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

132. The system of claim 122, wherein the particular industrial entity comprises a component in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

133. The system of claim 122, wherein the particular industrial entity comprises tools in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

134. The system of claim 122, wherein the particular industrial entity comprises a device in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

135. The system of claim 122, wherein the particular industrial entity includes a worker in the industrial environment of the IIoT system.

136. The system of claim 122 further includes a set of IIoT devices in an industrial environment, wherein the plurality of industrial entities in the IIoT system include the set of IIoT devices.

137. The system of claim 136, wherein the group of IIoT devices acts as distributed blockchain nodes in the blockchain system of the IIoT system.

138. The system of claim 136, wherein the set of IIoT devices verifies the location and identity of the particular industrial entity associated with the at least one geofence virtual asset tag.

139. The system of claim 138, wherein the verification utilizes a voting protocol.

140. The system of claim 138, wherein the verification utilizes a consensus protocol.

141. The system of claim 122, wherein the at least one geofence virtual asset tag includes information historically associated with the particular industrial entity.

142. The system of claim 122, wherein the at least one geofence virtual asset tag includes information related to the history of one or more components of the particular industrial entity.

Images