Process automation system with security interface

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems (100, 200, 300, 500) for process automation of manufacturing plants, and the claimed system (300) for monitoring a manufacturing plant is: Multiple machines (140) in the manufacturing plant, A plant machinery database (128, 548) includes machine control parameters, spatial information and / or status information of physical objects, where physical objects are machines and / or objects processed by machines, An automation system (103) for automatically operating machinery according to control parameters in a plant machinery database, During the ongoing manufacturing process, an update engine (160) is configured to continuously receive spatial and / or status information of physical objects from multiple sensors (162) and update the plant machinery database using the received information. A visualization database (130) containing a subset of data from the plant machinery database, A replication module (150) is configured to sequentially select data from a plant machinery database that enables the generation of digital visual representations of one or more physical objects, ensuring that the selected data does not contain control parameters, and to replicate only the selected data to the visualization database. A visualization engine (134) (a software program or a set of interoperable software programs) configured to generate digital visual representations of one or more physical objects as a function of data in a visualization database, Includes a display device (154, 108) configured to display a visual representation of one or more physical objects to the user, enabling the user to monitor the manufacturing process.

Claims

1. A system (300) for monitoring a manufacturing plant, Multiple machines (140) of the aforementioned manufacturing plant, A plant machine database (128, 548) includes control parameters for the machine, spatial information and / or status information of physical objects, where the physical objects are the machine and / or objects processed by the machine, An automation system (103) for automatically operating the machine according to the control parameters in the plant machine database, During the ongoing manufacturing process, an update engine (160) is configured to continuously receive spatial information and / or status information of the physical object from multiple sensors (162) and to update the plant machine database using the received information. A visualization database (130) including a subset of the data from the aforementioned plant machinery database, A replication module (150) is configured to sequentially select data from the plant machine database that enables the generation of digital visual representations of one or more physical objects, such that the selected data does not include the control parameters, and to replicate only the selected data to the visualization database. A visualization engine (134) (a software program or a set of interoperable software programs) configured to generate a digital visual representation of one or more physical objects as a function of the data in the visualization database, A display device (154, 108) configured to display the visual representation of one or more physical objects to the user, enabling the user to monitor the manufacturing process, A system that includes this.

2. It further includes a security interface (142), the security interface (142) is Receiving a request from a client to control one or more of the aforementioned machines, To verify the aforementioned requirements, Only in accordance with the determination that the request is valid, the control parameters included in or derived from the request are stored in the plant machine database. It is configured to do the following: The automation system according to Clause 1, wherein the automation system is configured to operate the machine according to the stored control parameters included in or derived from the valid request.

3. At least one of the machines is a robot, and the request is a robot control request for remote control of the robot by a remote user. The visualization engine is configured to generate a metaverse that includes a digital twin of the robot. The automation system is configured to control the movement of the robot in accordance with robot control commands such that the orientation and / or movement of the robot reflects the orientation and / or movement of the remote user, as described in any one of the preceding clauses.

4. The visualization engine is configured to generate digital visual representations of one or more physical objects so that the remote user sees other machines in the plant from the viewpoint of the robot which serves as a physical representation of the remote user in the plant, and the display device is a pair of VR glasses worn by the remote user who submitted the robot control request, according to Clause 3.

5. The system according to any one of the preceding clauses further includes an ID provider computer system (135) configured to authenticate the client that submitted the request, wherein the security interface is configured not to store the control parameters in the plant machine database and not to allow the user to control the robot, for example, to move and rotate, in response to a determination that the authentication has failed.

6. The automation system and the plant machinery database are implemented at the process control level (L2), and the visualization engine is implemented at the motion control level (L3), as described in any one of the preceding clauses.

7. The system as described in Clause 6, in combination with Clause 2, wherein the security interface is the sole interface of the system that enables the communication of control parameters from the L3-level system components to the L2-level system components.

8. The system according to any one of clauses 2 to 7, wherein the verification of the requirement includes performing a validation check, the validation check including determining whether the control parameters included in or derived from the requirement are safe for the machine and human operators, and if at least one of the control parameters is determined to be unvalid, the requirement is deemed invalid.

9. The system according to any one of Clauses 2 to 8, wherein the security interface is configured to map the control parameters included in or derived from the request to further control parameters included in the plant machine database in order to extend the control parameters, the security interface is configured to perform validation checks of the further control parameters, the validation checks being checks that include determining whether the further control parameters are safe for the machine and human operators, and if at least one of the further control parameters is determined to be unsafe (and therefore unvalid), the request is deemed invalid.

10. The system according to any one of Clauses 2 to 9, wherein the security interface further comprises a feedback channel configured to notify the client submitting the request whether the request has been accepted and processed or rejected, thereby the subset of data in the visualization database used by the visualization engine to generate the digital visual representation of the physical object is the sole data communication link for a remote client to receive status data of the machinery and / or the physical object of the plant.

11. The system according to any one of the preceding clauses, further comprising a user registry including user accounts and assignments of predefined user roles, wherein the visualization engine is configured to identify the roles assigned to the user on which the visual representation is displayed, and to generate the visual representation in accordance with the user's identification information and / or in accordance with the roles assigned to the user.

12. The system according to Clause 11, wherein the display device is VR glasses or AR glasses worn by a user, the visualization database includes a plurality of different 2D or 3D models, each assigned to a different user role for at least one of the machines, and the visualization engine is configured to identify one of the 2D or 3D models assigned to the user role of the user wearing the display device, and to use the identified 2D or 3D model to generate the visual representation of the at least one machine displayed through the display device.

13. The display device is selected from the group including a computer monitor, a mobile telecommunications device display, VR glasses, or AR glasses, as described in any one of the preceding clauses.

14. A computer implementation method for monitoring a manufacturing plant, The present invention provides a system (300) for monitoring a manufacturing plant, wherein the system is Multiple machines (140) of the aforementioned manufacturing plant, A plant machine database (128, 548) includes control parameters for the machine, spatial information and / or status information of physical objects, where the physical objects are the machine and / or objects processed by the machine, An automation system (103) for automatically operating the machine according to the control parameters in the plant machine database, Update engine (160), A visualization database (130) including a subset of the data from the aforementioned plant machinery database, A replica module (150), Visualization engine (134), Display devices and To provide a system (300) including, The update engine continuously receives spatial information and / or status information of the physical object from multiple sensors (162) during the ongoing manufacturing process, and updates the plant machine database using the received information. The replication module enables the generation of digital visual representations of one or more physical objects by sequentially selecting data from the plant machine database such that the selected data does not include the control parameters, and by replicating only the selected data to the visualization database. The visualization engine (134) generates a digital visual representation of one or more physical objects as a function of the data in the visualization database, To display the visual representation of one or more physical objects to the user via the display devices (154, 108) to enable the user to monitor the manufacturing process, Methods that include...

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