Industrial plant operator intervention system for use in an industrial plant

Abstract

An industrial plant operator intervention system for use in an industrial plant is provided, the system comprising a processing unit configured to: monitor and analyze industrial plant operation data to detect an anomaly in the industrial plant operation data that requires an operator intervention to be initiated; and in response to detecting the anomaly, automatically determine a user interface configuration of a user interface to be presented to a designated operator who will perform the operator intervention. The user interface configuration is determined based on technical context data, including the industrial plant operation data associated with the anomaly, and based on operator data related to the designated operator, in a manner such that an anomaly-related and operator-specific user interface configuration is obtained.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to an industrial plant operator intervention system for an industrial plant, hereinafter also simply referred to as “plant”. The system comprises a processing unit configured to monitor and analyze industrial plant operation data to detect an anomaly in the industrial plant operation data, which anomaly requires an operator intervention to be initiated and to provide a user interface to be presented to a designated operator, who is to perform the operator intervention. It should be noted that the term “operator” refers to a human operator. BACKGROUND

[0002] In industrial plants, processes are increasingly automated. To control the plant, a control system is typically employed, such as a distributed control system (DCS). Control systems are becoming more and more autonomous. However, in many cases, there is no fully autonomous plant operation. This means that the system controls the operation of the industrial plant mainly autonomously and only rarely needs to have an operator manually perform steps. Such steps are referred to as operator interventions. As autonomous control systems become more complex, the role of the operator shifts to supervision and increasingly, in most cases, only in case of unexpected events, i.e. technical problems that cannot be solved autonomously by the control system, operator intervention is required.

[0003] For example, although the control system can be able to make most decisions, in some cases the system can determine that operator intervention is necessary, e.g. when the system faces an event or technical problem for the first time and / or faces an event or technical problem that cannot be classified, and / or when the technical problem still exists after one or more attempts by the system to solve the technical problem without operator intervention, and / or when the system determines that it cannot act with a higher accuracy. Operator intervention can be more frequent in a training phase of the autonomous system and can then become less frequent.

[0004] Therefore, there is a trend from passive systems to active systems, i.e. to systems that do not require continuous monitoring of the data by an operator, but autonomously monitor the plant operation and automatically react to certain conditions and only involve the operator when necessary.

[0005] The operator intervention can aim at a fault analysis and resolution of a technical problem that is only related to a part of the plant, like a subset of equipment of the plant. The intervention can be performed during the entire plant operation. The intervention can aim at resolving a technical problem that hinders at least a part of the plant operation, e.g. that causes a safety risk, makes the operation less stable or efficient, or makes a continued operation of at least a part of the plant completely impossible.

[0006] Operator intervention typically involves a user interface that allows an operator to interact with the system. Such user interfaces are also referred to as human-machine interfaces (HMIs) or operator workspaces, and typically can comprise user interface elements including one or more of graphics, trends, alarms, and reports on the operation of the plant. Furthermore, they typically comprise user interface elements that allow the operator to interact with the system, i.e. to provide user input. SUMMARY

[0007] The inventors have found that currently, user interfaces that are available for or involve operator intervention typically do not allow for efficient and reliable intervention, but require a lot of time and / or effort to prepare and configure the user interface for proper operator intervention.

[0008] It is therefore an issue addressed by the present invention to allow for more efficient and reliable operator intervention in case of a large part of autonomous operation of the industrial plant.

[0009] The issue is solved by the system, the method, the computer program product and the computer readable medium of the independent claims.

[0010] The invention provides an industrial plant operator intervention system for use in an industrial plant, the system comprising a processing unit configured to: monitor and analyze industrial plant operation data to detect an anomaly in the industrial plant operation data that requires initiation of an operator intervention; and in response to detecting the anomaly that requires initiation of the operator intervention, automatically determine a user interface configuration of a user interface to be presented to a designated operator that is to perform the operator intervention. The user interface configuration is determined based on technical context data, including the industrial plant operation data associated with the anomaly, and based on operator data related to the designated operator, in such a way that an anomaly-related and operator-specific user interface configuration is obtained.

[0011] The user interface or HMI configuration can thus be seen as being created automatically on a temporary or ad hoc basis, rather than being pre-designed.

[0012] The anomaly in the industrial plant operation data can be indicative of an event or a technical problem, in the following sometimes collectively referred to as a “problem” for readability.

[0013] The type of problem that can have to be resolved by operator intervention, the means to allow for resolving the problem, and / or the urgency of resolving the problem can be manifold in an industrial plant, and can also require different operator intervention measures. The configuration of the user interface that is technically suitable for different operator interventions differs. This involves different aspects of the user interface, such as the selection of user interface elements that are favorable for suitable intervention, the type and / or size and / or arrangement of the user interface elements, and / or the type of technical information provided by means of the user interface elements.

[0014] Furthermore, it is not always predictable which operator will perform the operator intervention. This basically applies to all types of problems requiring operator intervention, in particular any unexpected problem requiring prompt resolution. In the latter case, it can not be guaranteed that a particular operator is available, or even an operator specifically trained for this problem. The user interface required for the operator intervention regarding a particular problem can differ depending on the operator who will perform the intervention.

[0015] As an example, an operator who is typically working in another part of the plant than the part where the problem occurred can require different user interface elements than an operator working in the part of the plant where the problem occurred. For example, if the operator is currently working in another part of the plant, he can not have access to certain terminals or other equipment pieces present in the part of the plant where the problem occurred, and therefore, for prompt response, it can be advantageous to provide digital substitutes for any such equipment pieces and / or their functions when configuring the user interface. Furthermore, it can be advantageous to take into account various other operator-related aspects, e.g. different technical information can be required to solve the problem depending on the skill set or experience of the operator performing the operator intervention.

[0016] Some of the above aspects are relatively static as far as the operator performing the operation is concerned, e.g. the part of the plant or the area of expertise or level of experience the operator is typically working in. Other aspects related to the operator are less static. For example, the operator can be more or less focused on a particular alarm provided by the user interface at any given time. The operator’s attention is not even necessarily directed at the user interface displayed on the display device that can be used in the context of the operator intervention. The operator’s attention, even if directed at the user interface of the device to a large extent, is not necessarily directed at the user interface elements related to the problem to be solved. For example, the operator can not necessarily focus their attention on a particular part of the user interface unless there is a motivation to do so. This can unnecessarily and even severely delay the operator intervention.

[0017] The decision regarding the appropriate configuration of the user interface is directly related to the technical problem the operator intervention is to solve. However, not all technical information sought for a suitable configuration is actually relevant to the operator intervention itself and the problem to be solved. This means that in the absence of the claimed system, the operator would have to evaluate technical information at least partially unrelated to the problem to be solved, just for appropriately configuring the user interface for the actual intervention.

[0018] As mentioned above, autonomous operation has become more and more complex, such that a preliminary analysis of technical data is technically already feasible to determine a user interface element (including a representation of a part of an industrial plant, e.g. a configuration and a current state of a part of the plant, and / or a user input element) that is most suitable for the user to interact with. Thus, the user interface is already a closer approximation of the most suitable configuration of the user interface when the operator starts interacting with the user interface compared to any currently known system. This greatly improves the quality and timeliness of the operator intervention.

[0019] Without the claimed system, any given operator to perform an operator intervention has to make his own choice about how to best deal with the problem at hand. They can have to decide on a user interface configuration that they think is suitable to solve the problem or do so using a pre-designed configuration that is relatively unsuitable. This is time consuming and prone to errors, especially when the operator has no experience with the problem at hand. Thus, the problem can not be solved at all or not in time, or can be solved incorrectly, inefficiently or unreliably. This in turn can even hamper the operation of the plant, or even the safety of the operation of the plant.

[0020] Thus, as can be seen from the above, considering technical context data, including industrial plant operation data and operator data related to a given operator, and determining a user interface configuration in a way that is relevant to the exception and specific to the operator ensures that the problem can be solved correctly, efficiently, reliably and / or in time, thereby also improving the reliability and safety of the plant operation.

[0021] “Data related to something” can include any information that serves to describe it, in particular its state and / or properties, in a way that can be evaluated by a computing device. For example, data related to an operator can include values representing properties of the operator and / or a current state of the operator. As another example, data related to a piece of equipment can include values representing properties of the piece of equipment and / or values representing a current state of the piece of equipment.

[0022] The system can be at least partially integrated in a distributed control system. In particular, the processing unit can be part of the distributed control system. The distributed control system can further include an operator shift tracker tool that provides information about available on-duty operators and / or ways to interact with them. The processing unit can also be referred to as an HMI presentation engine or a user interface presentation engine.

[0023] Monitoring industrial plant operational data can comprise monitoring process variables of a current operation. For example, the system can be configured to monitor industrial plant operational data obtained from pieces of equipment of the industrial plant and / or from sensors and / or from controllers and / or from memory devices, wherein the sensors and / or controllers and / or memory devices can be part of the system or external to the system. The operational data can comprise, for example, pressure levels in different parts of the plant and / or in pieces of equipment, e.g. pipes, and / or logic states of pieces of equipment, e.g. valves.

[0024] Analyzing the industrial plant operational data to detect an anomaly in the industrial plant operational data that requires operator intervention can comprise determining that an anomaly has occurred and that the system does not have the capability to autonomously intervene in a way that successfully resolves the anomaly with a sufficiently high confidence. For example, the system can determine a confidence score for successfully resolving the anomaly and determine that operator intervention is required in case the confidence score is below a predetermined threshold, which can vary depending on the anomaly. For example, the confidence score can depend on a similarity of the detected anomaly and previously encountered anomalies, a complexity of the involved pieces of equipment and / or a process affected by the anomaly.

[0025] Determining the user interface configuration can comprise one or more of a selection of user interface elements to be included in the user interface, a type of each user interface element, a content of each user interface element, a placement of each user interface element, a size of each user interface element and / or a color scheme. For example, the user interface elements can comprise elements visually representing operational data, e.g. a plant layout including plant pieces of equipment, a state of plant pieces of equipment, a graph representing values related to the plant operation and / or a process flow diagram representing a process of the current operation. Alternatively or additionally, the user interface elements can comprise input elements, e.g. buttons, text input boxes and / or drop-down menus. Exemplary user interface elements can comprise static or animated elements, interactive elements, overlays, notification elements, e.g. pop-up windows, highlighted elements, user prompts and / or contextual help.

[0026] The term“designated operator” refers to an operator determined by the system to be the operator performing the operator intervention. Optional examples on how the designated operator can be determined are provided below.

[0027] Presenting the user interface can comprise displaying the user interface on one or more display devices, or in other words, presenting the user interface on a screen of one or more display devices. In particular, the user interface can be presented in its entirety on a single screen. Alternatively or additionally, the user interface can be configured as a single view user interface, e.g. a dashboard. The user interface can be provided and presented as a web page. The system can comprise the one or more display devices or they can be external to the system.

[0028] The system can be configured to prompt the one or more display devices to display the user interface automatically or in response to a confirmation from the designated operator.

[0029] As outlined above, the operator intervention can comprise the operator interacting with the user interface. Alternatively or additionally, the operator intervention can comprise the operator interacting with one or more pieces of equipment of the industrial plant and / or with the system and / or with the user interface displayed on the screen of the one or more display devices in response to the user interface being presented to the operator.

[0030] The exception-related user interface configuration is a user interface configuration that depends on technical context data associated with the exception, in particular on industrial plant operation data. The user interface configuration can not be the same for different technical context data associated with the exception, in particular for different industrial plant operation data, when all other factors considered for configuring the user interface, in particular operator data, are the same. Thus, the user interface configuration can be different for different detected exceptions, in particular for different types of detected exceptions and / or for different pieces of equipment affected by the detected exception and / or for different parts of the industrial plant and / or for the process affected by the exception.

[0031] The technical context data associated with the exception, in particular the industrial plant operation data, can comprise plant operation data at the time of detecting the exception, in particular operation data within a time interval of a predetermined size, including the time of detecting the exception and including a time before detecting the exception and / or a time after detecting the exception and up to determining the user interface configuration. Alternatively or additionally, the technical context data associated with the exception, in particular the industrial plant operation data, can comprise a portion of the plant operation data that relates to a piece of equipment of the industrial plant affected by the exception, in particular operation data of said piece of equipment. The plant operation data about the piece of equipment can comprise an operating parameter of said piece of equipment. The system can be configured to determine whether the piece of equipment is affected by the exception by determining whether the operating parameter of said piece of equipment is within an acceptable range and / or above or below a given threshold value.

[0032] An operator-specific user interface configuration is a configuration determined for each operator taking into account the operator data of the respective operator alone. In other words, the user interface configuration can not be the same for two operators whose operator data differs when all other factors taken into account for configuring the user interface are the same, in particular the technical context data, in particular the plant operation data. For example, the user interface configuration for different operators whose operator data differs can be presented with a differently configured user interface for a given abnormality. It should be noted that the operator data can change over time. In this case, the user interface configuration can not be the same for the same operator even before and after a change to the operator data when all other factors taken into account for configuring the user interface are the same, in particular the plant operation data.

[0033] In addition to the industrial plant operation data, the technical context data can provide additional data related to the technical context of determining a potential operator intervention. The technical context data can include the time of day, the lighting conditions in the operator's environment, the noise level in the operator's environment, the number of active display devices, the number of active alarms, the ranking of alarms, the priority of alarms, the severity of the situation, the batch phase, and / or the equipment status.

[0034] The system can be configured to determine the technical context data by applying predetermined criteria for ranking and / or prioritizing alarms and / or events, e.g., for identifying high-priority alarms and / or events. This type of context data can be used to configure the user interface to determine which user interface elements are important enough to include in the user interface, and / or to determine their placement in the user interface and / or to determine any highlighting applied in the user interface.

[0035] It will be appreciated that in addition to the technical context data and the operator data, determining the configuration of the user interface can also be based on general principles, best practices, and / or specifications for user interface design and / or based on an interaction database.

[0036] The operator data relating to the specified operator can include at least one of: one or more operator attributes indicative of a skill set, an area of operation (e.g., expertise relating to different parts of a plant and / or a part of a process), a level of experience, and / or past involvement of the specified operator in industrial plant operations (e.g., a type of past operations the operator was involved in and / or a number or frequency of operator involvement); a match score computed based on one or more of the operator attributes and based on a type of the anomaly and / or a part of the industrial plant affected by the anomaly and / or an equipment piece affected by the anomaly; preferences set by the operator and / or automatically derived from previous operator behavior of the specified operator, in particular automatically derived from previous operator interactions of the specified operator with the system; data indicative of one or more display devices the specified operator is currently using or is expected to use to display the user interface; and data relating to previous operator behavior of the specified operator and / or current operator behavior of the specified operator, in particular behavioral patterns of the specified operator.

[0037] The match score can be computed based on one or more of the operator attributes and the detected anomaly, e.g., a type of the anomaly and / or a part of the industrial plant affected by the anomaly and / or an equipment piece affected by the anomaly. The match score can be indicative of a degree to which the operator attributes match the type of the anomaly and / or the part of the industrial plant affected by the anomaly and / or the equipment piece affected by the anomaly. The system can be configured to compute the match score and / or to compute one or more match scores for potential anomalies and save the one or more match scores as soon as the anomaly occurs for a particular anomaly. In this case, the system can be configured to, in response to detecting the anomaly, identify the match score corresponding to the potential anomaly that is most similar to the detected anomaly as the match score for determining the configuration of the user interface and / or for automatically determining the specified operator.

[0038] As mentioned above, the operator data of the operator can include data relating to preferences automatically derived from previous operator behavior of the specified operator, in particular from previous operator interactions of the specified operator with the system. This can include, for example, data relating to interactions of the operator with user interface elements, in particular a number and / or frequency of interactions with respective interface elements, and / or operational data previously accessed by the operator, in particular a number and / or frequency of accesses.

[0039] In general, the operator behavior of an operator, e.g. a designated operator, can comprise one or more operator interactions of the operator with the system, in particular with the user interface, in particular a series of interactions of the operator with the system, in particular the user interface. Alternatively or additionally, the operator behavior can comprise an attention state of the designated operator, e.g. an attention focus of the operator and / or an attention level of the operator. In particular, the attention state can comprise a lack of attention of the operator to the user interface as a whole or part of the system, in particular the user interface, in particular a lack of interaction with the system, in particular to the user interface or a part of the user interface and / or a lack of attention to a specific area of the user interface.

[0040] In general, the data relating to the current operator behavior of an operator, in particular a designated operator, refers to data relating to the operator behavior that has occurred after the detection of an abnormality requiring operator intervention. In general, the data relating to the previous operator behavior of an operator, in particular a designated operator, refers to data relating to the operator behavior that has occurred before the detection of an abnormality requiring operator intervention. For example, this can include the operator behavior in response to a previous abnormality requiring operator intervention, in particular in the course of an operator intervention performed by the operator in response to the detection of the previous abnormality.

[0041] In particular, the data on previous operator behavior on which the determination regarding the user interface is based can comprise data on previous operator behavior that has occurred in the context of a previous abnormality similar to the detected abnormality. For example, the aforementioned operator behavior can comprise an operator intervention performed in response to the detection of said similar abnormality and / or one or more operator selections relating to a configuration of the user interface made in the context of the operator intervention in response to the detection of said similar abnormality.

[0042] In other words, the data relating to the previous operator behavior can comprise a previously used user interface configuration. The system can be configured to determine that the detected abnormality is similar to a previous abnormality based on the operating conditions associated with the detected abnormality and the previous abnormality, e.g. if the difference between the one or more operating conditions is below a predetermined threshold. Further details regarding the current and previous operator behavior will be provided further below.

[0043] The operator's situational awareness can be improved when taking into account the current operator behavior of a designated operator. That is, by providing an appropriate user interface configuration, the operator can be made aware of the abnormality requiring operator intervention and / or data that facilitates the performance of the intervention. Thereby, the timeliness and reliability of the operator intervention is improved.

[0044] As mentioned above, the operator data can comprise data indicating one or more display devices that the specified operator is currently using or is expected to use to display the user interface. The system can be configured to retrieve technical data of the one or more display devices. The system can be configured to determine the user interface configuration based on one or more of the technical data of the one or more display devices in addition to the technical context data comprising the industrial plant operation data and the operator data related to the specified operator. The technical data of the one or more display devices can comprise data related to the type of the device, e.g. mobile device, tablet computer, laptop computer, screen provided integrally with a piece of equipment of the plant, and / or a stand-alone monitor, e.g. a desktop display or a wall-mounted display.

[0045] Alternatively or additionally, the technical data of the one or more display devices can comprise the size and shape of the screen of the respective display device and / or the color rendering capability of the respective display device and / or the resolution of the respective display device and / or data related to the input mode of the respective display device and / or data related to the data transmission capability of the respective display device and / or data related to access restrictions of the respective display device.

[0046] It is generally not predictable which display device, in particular which type of display device, will be used to display the user interface of the operator intervention. This can depend, for example, on the availability of devices at the time of the operator intervention. In view of the different technical specifications of potential devices, it is advantageous to provide an automatic configuration of the user interface according to the device at hand. For example, the selection of user interface elements and / or their arrangement and / or their size can vary according to the device.

[0047] As mentioned above, the operator data related to the specified operator can comprise data related to previous and / or current operator behavior of the specified operator, in particular data related to a behavior pattern of the specified operator.

[0048] The system can be configured to determine, in particular to monitor, the current operator behavior of the specified operator and, optionally, to store data related to the current operator behavior of the specified operator, e.g. for future use as data related to previous operator behavior. In particular, the system can be configured to determine, in particular to monitor, and, optionally, to store the attention state of the specified operator and / or the interaction of the specified operator with the system. The system can comprise a memory device configured to store data related to the current operator behavior.

[0049] For example, to determine the current operator behavior, the system can comprise an eye tracking device configured to determine the gaze direction and / or the field of view of the operator. Alternatively or additionally, to determine the current operator behavior, the system can comprise a tracking functionality for determining operator interaction with the user interface via user input elements, e.g. mouse movement, mouse click and / or touch input. Alternatively or additionally, to determine the current operator behavior, the system can comprise equipment, e.g. comprising a camera and an image recognition engine, allowing to detect the posture of the operator, e.g. sitting or standing, and / or the position of the operator and / or the orientation of the operator and / or the movement of the operator. As an example, the system can be configured to monitor the gaze direction and / or the field of view of the operator and / or the operator interaction with the user interface via user input elements and / or the position and / or the orientation and / or the posture and / or the movement of the operator and to determine the attention state of the operator, e.g. the focus and / or the level of attention, based thereon.

[0050] Examples of determining the user interface configuration based on data related to the current operator behavior will be described in the following. The operator behavior can be indicative of whether the operator is focused on the user interface, in particular a part of the user interface, which the system automatically determines to be particularly relevant for the operator to address the problem to be solved by the operator intervention. The system can be configured to determine the configuration of the user interface in such a way as to include a visual cue to direct the attention of the operator to the user interface, in particular a part of the user interface, which the system automatically determines to be particularly relevant, in response to determining that the operator is not focused on the user interface, in particular the part of the user interface, which the system automatically determines to be particularly relevant. As an example, the saliency of elements in a region can be increased, e.g. by changing the color, contrast and / or size of the user interface elements in said region or by adding an animation in the region. Alternatively or additionally, the system can be configured to determine the configuration of the user interface in such a way that the user interface element, which the system automatically determines to be particularly relevant for the operator to address the problem to be solved by the operator intervention, is placed in the part of the user interface to which the focus of attention of the operator is currently directed, in response to determining that the operator is not focused on the user interface element, which the system automatically determines to be particularly relevant for the operator to address the problem to be solved by the operator intervention. For example, the system can be configured to determine the gaze direction and / or the field of view of the operator and to place said user interface element along the gaze direction and / or within the field of view of the operator.

[0051] As mentioned above, the system can be configured to store data relating to current operator behaviour for future reference, in particular as the above-mentioned data relating to previous operator behaviour. For example, the system can be configured to store data relating to operator behaviour associated with an anomaly, e.g. operator behaviour in response to detecting an anomaly, e.g. in a database. The operator behaviour can comprise data indicative of an interaction or sequence of interactions of the operator with the system, in particular with the user interface, which is associated with the anomaly, in particular in response to detecting the anomaly. The system can be configured to store data relating to an anomaly in this way, e.g. operational data associated with the anomaly and / or the type of anomaly and / or the priority of the anomaly, and data relating to operator behaviour associated with the anomaly, such that the data relating to the anomaly and the data relating to operator behaviour associated with the anomaly are correlated.

[0052] In particular, data relating to an anomaly and data relating to operator behaviour associated with the anomaly can be stored such that, when a newly detected anomaly is the same as or similar to the anomaly, the system is able to retrieve data relating to operator behaviour associated with the anomaly. This can be performed for one or more anomalies. The retrieval can comprise comparing data relating to the newly detected anomaly with stored data relating to one or more anomalies, and determining operator behaviour associated with the anomaly that is the same as or similar to the newly detected anomaly from the one or more anomalies. The determined operator behaviour can then be used to determine a user interface configuration in response to the newly detected anomaly.

[0053] Alternatively or additionally, the system can also be configured to store user interface configurations associated with anomalies and / or associated with operator behaviour in such a way that, when a newly detected anomaly and / or a newly detected operator behaviour is the same as or similar to an anomaly and / or operator behaviour associated with a stored user interface configuration, the system is able to retrieve the stored user interface configuration. The system can be configured to retrieve the stored user interface configuration, and to base the user interface configuration determined in response to the newly detected anomaly on the stored user interface configuration. The system can be configured to adapt the stored user interface based on other data relating to the specified operator and / or technical context data in the process of determining the user interface configuration in response to the newly detected anomaly.

[0054] As an example, the system can be configured to learn operator behavior in a given situation by monitoring operator behavior (such as clicks and gaze) when the operator performs an operator intervention (in particular, when the operator responds to an alarm and / or event associated with a detected anomaly) in the given situation. The learning can comprise associating the monitored behavior with the given situation (e.g. the detected anomaly) such that when a similar situation arises in the future, the user interface can be configured to suggest a similar solution strategy to the operator in a personalized layout to help them resolve the situation.

[0055] The system can be configured to determine the configuration of the user interface also based on data pertaining to previous operator behavior of another operator sharing operator attributes with the specified operator.

[0056] As an example, the system can be configured to determine that the specified operator shares more than a predetermined number of operator attributes and / or a predetermined subset of operator attributes with another operator, retrieve operator data of said another operator, including data pertaining to previous operator behavior of said another operator, and determine the configuration of the user interface using the data pertaining to previous operator behavior of said another operator. This can be in addition to or instead of using data pertaining to previous operator behavior of the specified operator. Using data from another operator allows to leverage information collected for a similar operator in a similar situation, in particular a more experienced or a more broadly documented operator. Thus, experience can be transferred between users in a meaningful way.

[0057] The system can be configured to prompt the specified operator to provide feedback indicating the suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention, and / or to set the user interface configuration as a candidate or default user interface configuration for future use. Alternatively or additionally, the system can be configured to automatically generate feedback indicating the suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention, in particular by monitoring the current operator behavior of the specified operator and / or an indicator of how much time it takes to perform the operator intervention.

[0058] The feedback can be stored and / or used to update operator data pertaining to the specified operator, in particular operator preferences, and subsequently used to automatically determine the configuration of the user interface.

[0059] For example, the system can be configured to prompt the designated operator to provide feedback, e.g. via user input, indicating whether the user interface configuration meets the requirements for successful operator intervention, optionally with the aid of a rating system. Alternatively or additionally, the system can be configured to prompt the designated operator to provide feedback indicating how a future user interface configuration can better meet the requirements for successful operator intervention. Alternatively or additionally, the system can be configured to automatically generate feedback whether the user interface configuration meets the requirements for successful operator intervention and / or how a future user interface configuration can better meet the requirements for successful operator intervention by monitoring the current operator behavior of the designated operator, in particular the interactions of the designated operator with the system, and / or indicators regarding how much time is needed to perform an operator intervention. When an anomaly occurs that requires operator intervention, previously received feedback from operators and / or the system can be used in determining the user interface configuration. Thus, over time, the system can improve the determination of the user interface configuration.

[0060] The system can be configured to automatically determine the designated operator in response to detecting an anomaly requiring the initiation of operator intervention, in particular based on an availability and / or suitability ranking for the detected anomaly.

[0061] In particular, the system can be configured to determine available operators and select the designated operator among the available operators and automatically deliver the user interface configuration to a display device of the designated operator. Delivering the user interface configuration to the display device of the designated operator can comprise contacting the designated operator.

[0062] For example, the available operators can be determined based on any records allowing to determine whether an operator should be available, e.g. using a shift tracker tool that tracks the shifts of operators and / or a tool that tracks absences due to sick leave and / or vacation. Each tool can be part of the system or external to the system.

[0063] The system can be configured to automatically determine the designated operator based on operator data related to the available operators. The system can use the operator data of each available operator to rank the available operators with respect to suitability for operator intervention, resulting in a suitability ranking. The suitability can be determined, for example, based on the matching score described above. The system can be configured to determine that one of the available operators is a candidate designated operator, in particular based on the suitability ranking. For example, the available operator with the highest rank in the suitability ranking can be determined to be the candidate designated operator. The system is configured to determine that the candidate designated operator is the designated operator only in case the user interface is successfully delivered to the display device for displaying the user interface, in particular only in case the display device or the candidate designated operator confirms successful delivery to the candidate designated operator. Further, the system can be configured to determine that the candidate designated operator is the designated operator only in response to a confirmation received from the candidate designated operator. The system can be configured to select a new candidate designated operator, for example in descending order of rank in the suitability ranking, in case it cannot determine that the candidate designated operator is the designated operator. This operation can be repeated until a designated operator is determined.

[0064] As described above, the system can be configured to display the user interface automatically or in response to a confirmation from the designated operator. When the system is configured to display the user interface in response to a confirmation from the designated operator, the system can be configured to present the designated operator with a prompt on the display device to confirm that the user interface is to be displayed and to display the user interface in response to the confirmation. The system can be configured to present a preview of the user interface or a part of the user interface next to the prompt. The system can also be configured to automatically determine potential alternative user interface configurations for the user interface based on the same criteria as for the user interface and to present previews of the alternative configurations in such a way that the operator can select one of the alternative user interface configurations.

[0065] The system can be configured to adapt the user interface configuration in real-time, in particular in response to the current operator behavior of the designated operator, for example the interactions of the designated operator with the system, and / or in response to changes in the technical context data, for example the industrial plant operation data.

[0066] For example, the system can be configured to monitor the operator behavior and / or interactions of the designated operator with the system, in particular with the currently displayed user interface, and / or changes in the operating conditions of the plant and to use the data obtained from the monitoring to adjust the user interface configuration in real-time.

[0067] The invention also provides a computer-implemented method comprising monitoring and analyzing industrial plant operation data to detect an anomaly in the industrial plant operation data that requires an operator intervention to be initiated; and in response to detecting the anomaly, automatically determining a user interface configuration of a user interface to be presented to a designated operator who is to perform the operator intervention. The user interface configuration is determined based on technical context data, including the industrial plant operation data associated with the anomaly, and based on operator data related to the designated operator, in a manner so that an anomaly-related and operator-specific user interface configuration is obtained.

[0068] The operator data related to the designated operator can include at least one of: one or more operator attributes indicative of a skill set, an operating area (e.g. expertise related to different parts of the plant and / or a part of a process), a level of experience, and / or past involvement of the designated operator in industrial plant operations (e.g. past operation types in which the operator was involved and / or a number or frequency of the operator’s involvement); a match score computed based on one or more of the operator attributes and based on a type of the anomaly and / or a part of the industrial plant affected by the anomaly and / or an equipment item affected by the anomaly; preferences set by the operator and / or preferences automatically derived from previous operator behavior of the designated operator, in particular from previous operator interactions of the designated operator with the system; data indicative of one or more display devices that the designated operator is currently using or is expected to use to display the user interface; and data related to previous operator behavior of the designated operator and / or current operator behavior of the designated operator, in particular behavioral patterns of the designated operator.

[0069] The method can comprise determining, in particular monitoring, current operator behavior of the designated operator, and optionally storing data related to the current operator behavior of the designated operator, e.g. for future use as the data related to previous operator behavior.

[0070] The configuration of the user interface can be determined based on data related to previous operator behavior of another operator who shares operator attributes with the designated operator.

[0071] The method can comprise prompting the designated operator to provide feedback indicative of a suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention, and / or setting the user interface configuration as a candidate or default user interface configuration for future use, and / or automatically generating feedback indicative of a suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention, in particular by monitoring the operator behavior of the designated operator and / or an indicator related to how much time it takes to perform the operator intervention.

[0072] The method can comprise automatically determining the designated operator in response to detecting an anomaly requiring initiation of operator intervention, in particular based on a ranking of candidate operators for availability and / or suitability for the detected anomaly.

[0073] The method can comprise adapting the user interface configuration in real-time, in particular in response to a current operator behavior of the designated operator, e.g. interactions of the designated operator with the system, and / or in response to a change in technical context data, e.g. industrial plant operation data.

[0074] The invention also provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out any of the above methods.

[0075] The invention also provides a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out any of the above methods.

[0076] The features and advantages described above in the context of the system apply analogously to the method, computer program product and computer readable medium described herein.

[0077] Further features, examples and advantages will become apparent from the detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0078] In the drawings,

[0079] Figure 1 schematic representations of embodiments of an industrial plant operator intervention system and an industrial plant are shown;

[0080] Figure 2a and Figure 2b schematic representations of two user interfaces with different configurations are shown;

[0081] Figure 3 a flowchart of an exemplary method is shown;

[0082] Figure 4 a first schematic representation of an exemplary configuration of elements of a system and their interaction is shown;

[0083] Figure 5 a second schematic representation of an exemplary configuration of elements of a system and their interaction is shown; and

[0084] Figure 6a , Figure 6b and Figure 6c an exemplary user interface is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0085] Figure 1A non-proportional schematic representation of an industrial plant operator intervention system 1 according to the present application is shown, comprising a processing unit 2 configured to monitor and analyze industrial plant operation data to detect anomalies in the industrial plant operation data that require an operator intervention to be initiated, and in response to detecting an anomaly, to automatically determine a user interface configuration of a user interface to be presented to a designated operator (not shown) that will perform the operator intervention. The user interface configuration is determined based on technical context data, including the industrial plant operation data associated with the anomaly, and based on operator data related to the designated operator, in such a way that an anomaly-related and operator-specific user interface configuration is obtained.

[0086] The system can be configured for use with an industrial plant 3 comprising a plurality of equipment pieces 4a, 4b, 4c. Optionally, the industrial plant can further comprise at least one control device 5 configured to control and / or monitor the operation of the industrial plant.

[0087] The system can be configured to monitor and analyze industrial plant operation data. The system can be configured such that the processing unit receives plant operation data at least partly from the control device 5. The industrial plant operation data can be based at least partly on measurements performed by sensors 6a, 6b, 6c that detect operation parameters of at least some components of the equipment of the industrial plant during plant operation. The measurement data can be provided by the sensors to the control device 5, which can optionally process the measurement data and pass the optionally processed measurement data. Alternatively or additionally, the measurement data is provided by the sensors directly to the processing unit 2. It should be noted that the system can comprise the control device and / or the sensors, or they can be external to the system.

[0088] The processing unit can comprise a communication interface 2a for providing user interface configuration data to one or more display devices 7a, 7b, which can be part of the system or external to the system, and / or for exchanging data with the control device. In the present example, two display devices are shown, but there can also be fewer or more display devices. In Figure 1 In the present example, the display devices are shown as part of the system, merely by way of non-limiting example. One or both display devices can be external to the system. Furthermore, in Figure 1 In the present example, the display devices 7a and 7b are shown as different types of display devices having different screen sizes, one display device 7b being a desktop display and the other display device being a mobile device 7a with a touch screen. However, the display devices can each also be any other type, and optionally both are of the same type.

[0089] Figure 1An optional eye tracking device 8 and optional user input elements, i.e. a mouse 9a and a keyboard 9b connected to the display device 7b, are also shown to allow operator interaction with the user interface displayed on the respective display device. Furthermore, Figure 1 A user interface is schematically shown, which comprises a user input element 9c displayed on the display device 7a and allows operator interaction with the user interface via touch input.

[0090] Figure 2a An example of a displayed user interface 10a is shown, wherein the configuration of the user interface is determined for a first operator. It is noted that Figure 2b An example of a displayed user interface 10b is shown, wherein the configuration of the user interface is determined for a second operator whose operator data differs from the operator data of the first operator. It is noted that Figure 2a and Figure 2b The shown user interfaces are only for illustrative purposes, in reality any of them can be more complex.

[0091] The user interfaces each comprise user interface elements 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d and 11e, which in this example are a box 11a visualizing the inflow pressure 11a, a box 11b visualizing the outflow, a graph showing the current liquid level 11c, a list of recent alarms 11d and an interface element comprising an interactive interface sub-element "Ack" allowing the user to interact with the user interface. Furthermore, both user interfaces comprise a user interface element 11e allowing the user to select whether to open a valve. The user interface 10a has an additional user interface element 11f comprising a visualization of active alarms and their priority (high, medium, low) and is not included in the user interface 10b. Furthermore, the arrangement of the different user interface elements is different for the different user interfaces.

[0092] For simplicity, it is assumed that the technical context data comprising the industrial plant operation data on which the configuration of the user interfaces is based are such that they do not lead to different user interface configurations, e.g. can be the same.

[0093] The reason why the user interfaces are configured such that they comprise at least a subset of the user interface elements 11a to 11f can be that the system determines based on the technical context data, in particular the plant operation data, that at least some of said user interface elements are relevant for the detected anomaly. For example, the system can have determined that the anomaly can be associated with the current inflow pressure, outflow and / or liquid level and that a particular valve can be associated with the anomaly.

[0094] The reason for the different user interface configuration can be that the system that has accessed operator data relating to the first and second operators respectively has determined that the first operator uses a first device and the second user uses a second device, and that the first and second devices have different screen ratios. Furthermore, the operator data relating to the first and second operators respectively indicates that the user interface element 1 If comprising a visualization of active alarms and their priority is not needed for one of the operators, while it is needed for the other operator. For example, the system can have determined based on the operator data that one of the operators has historically repeatedly accessed the visualization of active alarms, while the other operator has accessed it rarely or never, or even removed it repeatedly from the user interface. Alternatively, the system can have determined based on the operator data that one of the operators is more experienced than the other, and can know based on the experience how to make use of the information (compared to the other user), or alternatively, one user can not need additional information due to its experience.

[0095] A non-limiting example of a computer-implemented method according to the present invention is provided below. It can be performed by means of the industrial plant operator intervention system or any other suitable system described above in the context of Figure 1

[0096] The method comprises monitoring and analyzing industrial plant operation data to detect an anomaly in the industrial plant operation data that requires initiation of an operator intervention. The monitoring can be performed, for example, by the processing unit 2 described above, e.g. based on data received from the control device 5 described above and / or data received from sensors, such as the sensors 6a to 6c described above. For example, the sensors can obtain operation data of a plurality of pieces of equipment of the plant, e.g. the plurality of pieces of equipment 4a, 4b and 4c, and provide the data to the controller and / or the processing unit.

[0097] In response to detecting the anomaly, a user interface configuration of a user interface to be presented to a designated operator that is to perform the operator intervention is determined, e.g. automatically by the processing unit.

[0098] The method can comprise automatically determining the designated operator, e.g. based on availability and / or suitability of available operators.

[0099] The user interface configuration is determined in a manner that results in obtaining an anomaly-related and operator-specific user interface configuration based on technical context data comprising industrial plant operation data associated with the anomaly and based on operator data relating to the designated operator.

[0100] The industrial plant operation data associated with the anomaly can be determined automatically, e.g. based on whether the industrial plant operation data is temporally or geographically associated with the anomaly. ​

[0101] As an example, the determination based on the operator data can comprise evaluating data indicative of one or more operator attributes of the specified operator, such as the skill set, the operating area, the experience level and / or past participation in industrial plant operations. Alternatively or additionally, a matching score can be evaluated based on one or more of the operator attributes and based on the type of the anomaly and / or the part of the industrial plant affected by the anomaly and / or the piece of equipment affected by the anomaly. Alternatively or additionally, preferences set by the specified operator and / or preferences automatically derived from previous operator behavior of the specified operator can be evaluated. Alternatively or additionally, data indicative of one or more display devices the specified operator is currently using or is expected to use to display the user interface can be evaluated. Alternatively or additionally, data related to previous operator behavior of the specified operator and / or current operator behavior of the specified operator, in particular behavioral patterns of the specified operator.

[0102] As an example, the method can comprise retrieving data from a database having data related to the specified operator.

[0103] Alternatively or additionally, the method can comprise determining, in particular monitoring, the current operator behavior of the specified operator. This can be done, for example, by the eye tracking device 8 and / or any camera and / or sensor observing the operator. Alternatively or additionally, this can be done by tracking the operator’s interaction via input elements, such as the above-mentioned input elements 9a, 9b and 9c.

[0104] Any such behavior can also be stored in, for example, an interaction database for future use. It can also be associated with the anomaly in said database. Any such behavior can also be used to continuously adapt the user interface configuration.

[0105] The method can also optionally comprise determining which display device is to be used to display the user interface, for example, which of the above-mentioned display devices 7a and 7b, and retrieving technical data of said display device. The configuration of the user interface can take said technical data into account.

[0106] The method can also optionally comprise accessing data, for example, stored in an interaction database of the specified operator and / or another operator, to determine whether it is possible to derive a configuration preference from an interaction that occurred in a similar anomaly situation.

[0107] The method can also optionally comprise accessing a user interface configuration of the specified operator and / or another operator that was previously used to determine whether it is possible to derive a configuration preference that occurred in a similar anomaly situation.

[0108] Once the user interface configuration has been determined, the method can comprise displaying the user interface on the display device, either automatically or in response to an operator input.

[0109] The method can comprise, in particular in response to a change in the current operator behavior of the specified operator and / or the technical context data, in particular the industrial plant operation data, adapting the user interface configuration in real time. Thus, a series of user interface configurations tailored to the given operator can be determined to address the exception at hand.

[0110] The method can optionally comprise prompting the specified operator to provide feedback indicative of the suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention, and / or setting the user interface configuration as a candidate or default user interface configuration for future use. The prompt can be provided on the display device, and the user can provide the feedback via one or more user input elements, e.g. the user input elements 9a to 9c.

[0111] The method can further optionally comprise the system automatically generating feedback indicative of the suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention, in particular by monitoring the current operator behavior of the specified operator and / or indicators as to how much time is needed to perform the operator intervention.

[0112] The feedback can be stored and / or used to update the operator data, in particular the operator preferences.

[0113] A further non-limiting example of a method that can be performed, e.g. using the system described in the context of Figure 3 Another non-limiting example of a method that can be performed, e.g. using the system described in the context of Figure 1 Another non-limiting example of a method that can be performed, e.g. using the system described in the context of

[0114] As can be seen in Figure 3 In step 101, it is determined that an exception occurs in the industrial plant, and then in step 102, it is determined whether the problem based on the exception can be solved autonomously. If yes, the system will initiate a corresponding action for solving the problem in step 103. It is then determined in step 104 whether the exception has been solved. If this is the case, the method ends. If the system determines that the problem cannot be solved autonomously, or if the corresponding action initiated automatically does not solve the exception, it is determined that an operator interaction is needed, and in step 105, the system proceeds to initiate an operator intervention. In step 106, the system checks for available operators and determines a specified operator among the available operators to perform the operator intervention.

[0115] Subsequently, in step 107, a user interface configuration relevant to the exception and specific to the operator is determined based on the technical context data, including the industrial plant operation data, associated with the exception and based on the operator data related to the specified operator, and is sent to the specified operator. In step 108, it is presented to the operator by displaying the user interface on the display device, or in other words, rendering the user interface on the screen of the display device.

[0116] The operator can then perform an operator intervention. The operator intervention can comprise the operator taking a step that enables the system to autonomously take further steps for resolving the anomaly. For example, the system can determine in step 109 that the operator takes a step, thereby providing the system with a suggestion on how the system can autonomously proceed to resolve the anomaly. The system can then autonomously perform the step based on the suggestion, i.e. the method can proceed to step 103 where the system initiates an action for resolving the anomaly. If the anomaly is still not resolved, the method returns to initiating an operator intervention in step 105. If the operator does not provide a suggestion, the method can proceed to step 110 where the operator takes all steps necessary to resolve the problem.

[0117] Another non-limiting example of a method that can be performed by the system described above in the context of Figure 4 described above in the context of Figure 1 Another non-limiting example of a method that can be performed by the system described above in the context of

[0118] The actual plant situation can be reported by the field layer 12 comprising equipment pieces, controllers and data acquisition modules of the industrial plant to the runtime system 13, e.g. running on the operations server 14. The reporting can comprise reporting operational data of the industrial plant. If the runtime system determines with a certain confidence that an anomaly has occurred that cannot be resolved without operator intervention, e.g. because such an anomaly has not occurred before, it is determined that operator intervention is needed.

[0119] The data acquisition and anomaly analyzer module 15, which is part of the HMI presentation layer 16, acquires any available data surrounding the anomaly. This can comprise historical events, e.g. from a historical event database 17, involving process variables involved in the problem. The data acquisition and anomaly analyzer module can also retrieve information on operator availability, e.g. from an operator shift log book 18 or a duty tracker tool. The historical event database and the operator shift log book or duty tracker tool can also be located on the operations server. The data acquisition and anomaly analyzer module can perform an analysis of the acquired data.

[0120] The acquired data and / or the results of the analysis of the acquired data are provided by the data acquisition and anomaly analyzer module to an HMI composer 19. The HMI composer can retrieve, e.g. from an operator profile database 20 storing operator profiles, operator data of at least one available operator, which can each comprise one or more of personal preference settings, experience level of the user and the display device in use. Prior to or after retrieving the operator data, the HMI composer can determine a designated operator to perform the operator intervention, and the HMI composer uses the operator data about the designated operator and the data related to the anomaly to automatically determine a user interface configuration in order to obtain an operator-specific and anomaly-related user interface configuration. The user interface can be, for example, a single-page application web dashboard. The user interface, e.g. a web page, is then provided to the designated operator 21 and displayed on a display device 7a used by the designated operator. The HMI presentation layer can be implemented, for example, in a processing unit of the system according to the present application.

[0121] The designated operator can perform the operator intervention, e.g. directly through interaction with the user interface. The user interface can comprise one or more user interface elements allowing for immediate operator intervention. Preferably, the user interface configuration is such that the operator intervention is simplified, e.g. such that the user only has to select a confirmation button and / or such that the user only has to choose between two choices, like “yes” or “no”, “on” or “off”, “start” or “stop”. For example, the user interface can comprise on-off buttons related to certain process steps or states of the piece of equipment. Preferably, there is a predetermined upper limit of user input elements, e.g. buttons, comprised in the user interface at any given time, e.g. a maximum of five user input elements, preferably a maximum of three user input elements, in particular only one confirmation button and / or only two choice buttons for choosing between two choices. In other words, the user interface can be configured to optimize easy decision making by the user.

[0122] The interaction with the user interface can optionally require the designated operator to modify the user interface. Any interaction with the user interface, in particular modifications of the user interface by the operator, can be tracked and recorded and taken into account for future automatic determination of the user interface configuration. The method can comprise receiving user input from the designated operator, providing feedback about the suitability of the user interface for the operator intervention, in particular about the perceived effect of the user interface configuration on the efficiency of the operator intervention. Alternatively or additionally, feedback about the suitability of the user interface for the operator intervention can be provided automatically, e.g. based on how long it took the operator to solve the problem. Any such feedback can be stored for future automatic determination of the user interface configuration. In particular, the feedback can be used to update the user profile of the designated operator and taken into account as part of the operator data when the same operator performs the operator intervention in the future.

[0123] In Figure 5 , it can be seen how various elements of the user interface and the industrial plant, in particular various elements of the industrial plant operator intervention system, can interact. For example, an operator can perform interactions with the user interface. Furthermore, the control system of the industrial plant can provide process alarms, events and process values for configuring the user interface and possibly be presented as part of the user interface. Using the current user interface (also referred to as graphical user interface, GUI) layout and a gaze tracker that tracks the operator gaze, a focus position of the operator can be performed and based on this, active GUI elements, active displays, and / or attention areas can be provided to the interaction miner by the focus position. Furthermore, UI events, keyboard interactions, mouse interactions and potentially process alarms and events can be provided to the interaction miner. The interaction miner can provide interactions and interaction sequences to the interaction database.

[0124] The UI adaptation module can receive the operator context, e.g. the attention area, from the interaction miner. Furthermore, it can receive data from the interaction database, directly or via the interaction helper that provides interaction highlights. Furthermore, the UI adaptation module can also receive design rules from a design rules database and / or operator preferences from an operator preferences database that can have received operator preferences from the operator. Based on the information received from the interaction miner, the interaction database, the interaction helper, the design rules database and the operator preferences database, if any, the UI adaptation module determines the configuration of the UI to be displayed, in particular the adaptations to be made to the user interface configuration. As an example, the user interface configuration shown here can be adapted by highlighting the layout suggestion.

[0125] With reference to Figures 6a to 6c , another example of a system and method will be described below, in which the configuration of the user interface is determined based on data related to a specified operator, wherein the data comprises data related to current and previous operator behavior.

[0126] For the sake of brevity and readability, the method steps will be described in three phases, a learning phase, an operation phase and an optimization phase. This is a non-limiting example, the method of the invention does not need to have all three phases and each phase can be different from the ones described below. Furthermore, the numbering does not necessarily imply a chronological order. One or more of the phases can also overlap in time and / or in the steps performed for the respective phase.

[0127] In the learning phase, the context is identified, e.g. the upcoming event or priority of the alarm associated with the detected anomaly. Subsequently, the interactions with the operator of the system are tracked, e.g. the gaze of the operator, the duration of looking at elements of the user interface, mouse clicks, keyboard presses, window openings and / or input values, associated with the context and the preferences of the operator. Interaction sequences are generated, which are stored in an interaction database together with the respective event or alarm. When a new event or alarm occurs, e.g. associated with a newly detected anomaly, the similarity of the new context compared to the entries in the interaction database is determined, and the data collection as in the previous steps is repeated. If the event or alarm associated with the newly detected anomaly is similar to a previous event or alarm, the interaction sequence in the interaction database is updated. Otherwise, an additional interaction sequence is created in the interaction database and is associated with the event or alarm. The system can track the interactions of multiple operators over time, extracting relevant interaction sequences.

[0128] Figure 6a A user interface is shown and Figure 6b A user interface is shown, the configuration of which is automatically determined by the system as outlined below.

[0129] In the operation phase, where the priority of the upcoming event or alarm has been assessed and identified, the system can detect the gaze position of the operator and determine the configuration of the user interface such that the event or alarm pop-up notification can be displayed within the user's gaze. If the operator is not currently looking at any display, an additional sound signal can be output. Next, the system starts measuring the interaction and gaze duration on the newly displayed pop-up window. If neither reaches the "attention threshold", the user interface configuration can be adapted, e.g. the pop-up window will gradually become more animated, trying to attract more attention of the user. Examples of such behavior can be changing the color, increasing the element size, like a flashing animation or increasing the sound output. The attention attracting is continued until the "attention threshold" is reached via gaze or explicit interaction.

[0130] The system can also compare the current context to the entries of the interaction database. If there is a similar entry, it can determine the user interface configuration including overlays to highlight the elements considered previously. For example, based on the operator data, e.g. the level of expertise, the user interface including overlays can be presented automatically or only in response to being manually triggered by the operator. The user interface can be presented, e.g. as outlined in Figure 6bThe illustrated user interface comprises, for example, graphical elements indicating the previous most gazed-at, as well as textual content and user interface elements of previous performed user input (i.e. button clicks, keyboard presses). A continuous such user interface can be presented automatically, where the user interface is continuously adapted. The operator can be able to manually pause and resume this state at any time. Thus, the user interface configuration is continuously determined in order to provide interaction assistance. The above steps can be performed by the interaction assistance module.

[0131] The operator can trigger the interaction assistance module functionality at any time. Upon activation, the system can be configured to retrieve information from the interaction database and activate context highlighting. This helps the user to better understand the situation, supports the assessment of the current task, and thereby improves the timeliness and reliability of the operator interaction.

[0132] Optionally, based on the operator interaction, the system will continuously update the interaction database in the background. This can be combined with (explicit) operator feedback or system performance indicators.

[0133] The optional optimization phase can be executed once or repeatedly. In Figure 6c The optimization phase is illustrated in Fig. 6. When the system understands which graphical elements and textual content are most interacted with, it can suggest alternative layouts of the information representation. The system automatically generates layout alternatives based on the interaction database and optionally based on design rules stored in the system. Examples of layout changes can be, increasing the size of a button, or expanding the description using an additional line, making textual information bold, rearranging elements on the window and / or screen. The operator or alternatively a control system engineer can review the different suggestions, get a preview of the layout changes, and confirm or discard each suggestion.

[0134] While the application has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered exemplary and not restrictive in character. The application is not limited to the embodiments disclosed. Various modifications can be made to the application as hereinbefore described, which modifications will be apparent to one skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings, as defined in the claims.

Claims

1. An industrial plant operator intervention system (1) for use in an industrial plant (3), the system comprising a processing unit (2) configured to: monitor and analyze industrial plant operation data to detect an anomaly in the industrial plant operation data that requires an operator intervention to be initiated; and in response to detecting the anomaly, automatically determine a user interface configuration of a user interface (10a, 10b) to be presented to a designated operator who is to perform the operator intervention, wherein the user interface configuration is determined based on technical context data comprising industrial plant operation data associated with the anomaly and based on operator data related to the designated operator in such a way that an anomaly-related and operator-specific user interface configuration is obtained, wherein the operator data related to the designated operator comprises operator attributes indicative of a skill set, an operating area, a level of experience and / or past involvement in industrial plant operations of the designated operator and a match score computed based on the operator attributes and a type of the detected anomaly, wherein the match score is indicative of a match between the operator attributes and the type of the anomaly, a part of the industrial plant affected by the anomaly and an equipment piece affected by the anomaly, the match score is one of a plurality of match scores generated for potential anomalies, and wherein the match score is selected based on a corresponding potential anomaly similar to the detected anomaly of the match score.

2. The system (1) of claim 1, wherein the operator data related to the designated operator comprises at least one of: the match score computed based on a part of the industrial plant affected by the anomaly and / or an equipment piece affected by the anomaly; preferences set by the designated operator and / or preferences automatically derived from previous operator behavior of the designated operator; data indicative of one or more display devices (7a, 7b) the designated operator is currently using or is expected to use to display the user interface (10a, 10b); and data related to previous operator behavior of the designated operator and / or current operator behavior of the designated operator.

3. The system (1) of claim 2, wherein the preferences automatically derived from previous operator behavior comprise preferences automatically derived from previous operator interactions of the designated operator with the system (1); and wherein the data related to previous operator behavior of the designated operator and / or current operator behavior of the designated operator comprises data related to behavioral patterns of the designated operator.

4. The system (1) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the system (1) is configured to determine a current operator behavior of the designated operator.

5. The system (1) of claim 3, wherein the system (1) is configured to store the data related to the current operator behavior of the designated operator for future use as the data related to previous operator behavior.

6. The system (1) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the system (1) is configured to determine the configuration of the user interface (10a, 10b) also based on data related to previous operator behavior of another operator sharing operator attributes with the designated operator and / or based on technical data of one or more display devices (7a, 7b) the designated operator is currently using or is expected to use to display the user interface (10a, 10b).

7. The system (1) of claim 2, wherein the system (1) is configured to prompt the designated operator to provide feedback indicating the suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention and / or to set the user interface configuration as a candidate or default user interface configuration for future use, and / or wherein the system (1) is configured to automatically generate feedback indicating the suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention.

8. The system (1) of claim 7, wherein the feedback indicating the suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention is automatically generated based on monitoring the current operator behavior of the designated operator and / or an indicator on how much time is needed to perform the operator intervention.

9. The system (1) of claim 2, wherein the system (1) is configured to automatically determine the designated operator in response to detecting the abnormality requiring the initiation of an operator intervention.

10. The system (1) of claim 9, wherein automatically determining the designated operator is based on an availability and / or suitability ranking of candidate operators for the detected abnormality.

11. The system (1) of claim 2, wherein the system (1) is configured to adapt the user interface configuration in real-time in response to the current operator behavior of the designated operator and / or in response to a change in the technical context data.

12. The system (1) of claim 11, wherein the technical context data comprises the industrial plant operation data.

13. A computer-implemented method comprising monitoring and analyzing industrial plant operation data to detect an abnormality in the industrial plant operation data requiring the initiation of an operator intervention; and in response to detecting the abnormality, automatically determining a user interface configuration of a user interface (10a, 10b) to be presented to a designated operator who will perform the operator intervention, wherein the user interface configuration is determined based on technical context data comprising industrial plant operation data associated with the abnormality and based on operator data related to the designated operator in such a way that an abnormality-related and operator-specific user interface configuration is obtained, 14. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 13 when the program is run on a computer. wherein the operator data related to the specified operator comprises operator attributes and a match score, the operator attributes being indicative of a skill set, an operating area, an experience level and / or past involvement in industrial plant operations of the specified operator, the match score being calculated based on the operator attributes and a type of detected anomaly, wherein the match score is indicative of a match between the operator attributes and the type of anomaly, a part of an industrial plant affected by the anomaly and an equipment item affected by the anomaly, the match score being one of a plurality of match scores generated for potential anomalies, and wherein the match score is selected based on a corresponding potential anomaly similar to the detected anomaly of the match score.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the operator data related to the specified operator comprises at least one of: the match score, the match score being calculated based on a part of an industrial plant affected by the anomaly and / or an equipment item affected by the anomaly; preferences set by the specified operator and / or preferences automatically derived from previous operator behavior of the specified operator; data indicative of one or more display devices (7a, 7b) the specified operator is currently using or is expected to use to display the user interface (10a, 10b); and data related to previous operator behavior of the specified operator and / or current operator behavior of the specified operator.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the data related to previous operator behavior of the specified operator and / or current operator behavior of the specified operator comprises data related to a behavioral pattern of the specified operator.

16. The method according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising determining a current operator behavior of the specified operator.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising storing data related to the current operator behavior of the specified operator for future use as the data related to previous operator behavior.

18. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the configuration of the user interface is determined further based on data related to previous operator behavior of another operator sharing operator attributes with the specified operator and / or based on technical data of one or more display devices (7a, 7b) the specified operator is currently using or is expected to use to display the user interface (10a, 10b).

19. The method according to claim 14, further comprising prompting the specified operator to provide feedback indicative of a suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention, and / or setting the user interface configuration as a candidate or default user interface configuration for future use, and / or automatically generating feedback indicative of a suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein automatically generating the feedback indicative of the suitability of the user interface configuration for the operator intervention is based on monitoring the current operator behavior of the designated operator and / or an indicator of how much time is needed to perform the operator intervention.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising automatically determining the designated operator in response to detecting the abnormality requiring initiation of an operator intervention, and / or further comprising adapting the user interface configuration in real-time in response to changes in the current operator behavior of the designated operator and / or the technical context data.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein automatically determining the designated operator is based on an availability and / or suitability ranking of candidate operators for the detected abnormality, and / or wherein the technical context data comprises the industrial plant operation data.

23. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of any one of claims 13 to 22.

24. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of any one of claims 13 to 22.

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