Method and system for managing alarms in modular production facilities

Abstract

In order to automate alarm management in the management of alarms in modular production facilities, a modular production facility (PRAL), e.g. an industrial automation facility, is provided with a process equipment assembly (PEA) for its manufacturer-independent modular configuration and operation. <pea>The modules (PEA-MD) are controlled by the programmable PEA control unit (PEA-ST) and simulated with the projectable PEA simulation (PEA-SM) in the course of standardized process orchestration (PO), especially in accordance with the VDI / VDE / NAMUR 2658 standard, to form the “module type package” <mtp>For a modular production facility (PRAL) that is integrated into the production facility (PRAL) for the PEA module description by the "Mechanism (MTP-MC)", it is proposed that in the management control - to virtually proceed and simulate all states of the modular production facility related to the caused errors (FHL) of the possible error cases (FHLF) of the production facility, - to incidentally record the simulated errors (SMF) that occur in the process in the form of alarm messages (AM), for example by alarm labeling by signaling, to create an alarm message protocol (AMP) and / or to identify alarm chains (AMK) and determine alarm associations (AZH) in the alarm chains (AMK).< / mtp> < / pea>

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for managing alarms in modular production facilities as described in the preamble of claim 1, and a system for managing alarms in modular production facilities as described in the preamble of claim 5.

Background Art

[0002] Modular production installations (English: modular production installations, German: modulare Produktionsanlagen) are increasingly being applied in manufacturing engineering and process engineering, and manufacturing engineering and process engineering are networked with modular machines. Due to the modular configuration, it is possible to significantly reduce the planning time and engineering costs not only for new facilities but also for the renovation of existing facilities. In particular, with regard to the renovation work of "old" facilities, rapid execution plays a major role when it is emphasized to shorten not only the machine downtime but also the "time-to-market" time. Modular engineering from the perspective of modular automation has not been possible until now because control units of different manufacturers could not be used in production facilities.

[0003] However, in order to enable consistent modular engineering and modular automation, "Process Equipment Assembly" by the VDI / VDE / Namur guideline 2658 <pea>The standard is defined in the "」 module, and by this standard, the PEA module automation can be described in a manufacturer-independent manner. PEA modules of different manufacturers can be used together with the PEA control unit in the process of process orchestration in the "Process Orchestration Layer" <pol>It can be integrated into "". At this time, the integration of the PEA module is "module type package" <mtp>is performed through this, which is manufactured by the PEA manufacturer, whereby the "process equipment assembly" <pea>All the necessary information, the PEA operator display as a structural description, the service as encapsulated process functionality, and aspects such as alarm aspects and diagnostic aspects are described.

[0004] In addition to this, in modular production facilities, alarm management is becoming increasingly important. This is because the equipment structure is often changed, making it difficult to accumulate experience. One possibility to improve this is a model for describing alarm chains (English: alarm chains, German: Alarmketten), which is also defined in the VDI / VDE / NAMUR 2658 standard. This model describes the alarm chain inside the module and can be used by the PEA module to provide the alarm chain not only to the production equipment control unit but also to the operator of the production equipment. However, for this purpose, the PEA manufacturer first needs to determine the alarm chain and then convert the determined alarm chain into a standardized format.

[0005] One possibility to achieve this is for the PEA manufacturer to determine this based on its own expertise and by manually deriving the alarm chain, and then to perform the detection manually in accordance with the standard.

[0006] From Patent Document 1, a method and apparatus for computer-aided simulation of a modular technical system are known, and for each actual model of the modular technical system, a corresponding virtual model is generated. This virtual model includes a control unit for controlling the module-specific process and at least one module-specific simulation model including assigned model type information for simulating the module-specific process. The virtual model is adjusted to mimic the module-specific process controlled by the control unit using the module-specific simulation model and / or to mimic the control unit of the actual model, and it is provided as a data container for computer-aided simulation of the modular technical system. This known method or system enables, in particular, the virtual start-up of modular process facilities. In so doing, in particular, various operating actions, various system specifications, and / or error scenarios can be reproduced.

[0007] From Non-Patent Document 1, which is an IEEE publication, it is known to use the recognition of the historical alarm partial sequence for a method to analyze alarm floods. In this case, compared with the conventional method with constraints, a new type of approach has been presented to overcome this, and this approach utilizes recognizing outliers in the time interval between alarm events (activation and return to the normal state) and the simultaneous activation condition of alarms. This approach relies on the "Tennessee Eastman Process" as a reference standard in process automation. There, the intention is pursued to provide an appropriate dataset for developing and evaluating alarm management methods in complex industrial processes while utilizing quantitative and qualitative information from various sources. Furthermore, it has been shown that in the proposed method, it is preferable to integrate additional information for overall performance and robustness. Therefore, the proposed method enables a more accurate recognition of related historical abnormal situations, including the stage where the cause failure is active and the subsequent normalization stage. Moreover, the advantage of the proposed method is that when compared with the approaches in previous methods, the detection results are not significantly affected by the number of alarms, propagation speed, duration of the situation, and the time distance between two causally independent situations.

[0008] From non-patent document 2, which is an IEEE publication, the orchestration of services in modular process facilities is known, and modularization of process facilities is considered one approach to address the increasing flexibility requirements in the process industry. In that case, each module is integrated into a modular process facility to achieve higher production flexibility because conventional distributed control systems do not support the appropriate flexibility of production systems. The module is intended to encapsulate the process function as a service. The service is intended to be callable and controllable by state-based control. The proposed orchestration includes an approach for state-based control of services based on a defined state model, and the state model has been tested in two case studies and two different implementations. This is, for example, a simulation environment based on Matlab (registered trademark), Simulink (registered trademark), Stateflow (registered trademark), and an industrial implementation of pumps and control units.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0009]

Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Documents

[0010] [Non-Patent Document 1] MANCA GIANLUCA ET AL: "Detection of Historical Alarm Subsequences Using Alarm Events and a Coactivation Constraint”, IEEE ACCESS, IEEE, USA, Vol. 9, March 22, 2021 (2021 / 03 / 22), pp. 46851-46873 [Non-Patent Document 2] BLOCH, HENRY ET AL: "Orchestration of Services in Modular Process Plants”, IECON 2018 - 44TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS SOCIETY, IEEE, October 21, 2018 (2018 / 10 / 21), pp. 2935-2940 [Summary of the Invention] [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

[0011] The problem based on the present invention is to provide a method and a system for managing alarms in modular production facilities, in which alarm management in modular production facilities is automated. [Means for Solving the Problems]

[0012] This problem is solved by the features described in the characterizing part of claim 1 on the premise of the method defined in the preamble part of claim 1.

[0013] In addition, this problem is solved by the features described in the characterizing part of claim 5 on the premise of the system defined in the preamble part of claim 5.

[0014] The idea based on the inventions according to independent claims 1 and 5 relates to modular production equipment, for example industrial automation equipment (see claims 4 and 8), for its manufacturer-independent modular configuration and operation, a "process equipment assembly" <pea>The 」module (PEA-MD) is controlled by a programmable PEA control unit (PEA-ST) and simulated by a projectable PEA simulation (PEA-SM), especially in the process of standardized process orchestration (PO) in accordance with the VDI / VDE / NAMUR 2658 standard, the 「module type package <mtp>」The mechanism (MTP-MC) is integrated into the production facility (PRAL) for PEA module description, and in alarm management, - Virtually advance and simulate all states of the modular production facility related to the errors triggered (caused) by the possible error cases of the production facility, - Accompanyingly record the simulation errors occurring at that time in the form of alarm messages by alarms that make them known, for example, by signal generation, create an alarm message protocol, - Identify the alarm chain from the alarm message protocol, or identify the alarm chain and determine the alarm relevance in the alarm chain, which is what it is about.

[0015] Specifically, alarm management consists of the following seven measures: (1) Regarding a plurality of corresponding errors related to a plurality of potential known callable error cases of the production facility, a plurality of corresponding errors are virtually triggered (caused), and at that time, for each error case, the error is virtually caused in the PEA simulation by the corresponding PEA module activation, (2) The simulation cases attributed to the errors virtually caused respectively are simulated by the PEA simulation, and at least one simulation error is determined each time at that time, (3) The simulation error is recognized by the programmable PEA control unit, and subsequently the PEA control unit executes all switching operations based on the simulation error according to its programming, (4) For each recognized simulation error, at least one alarm message for alarm chain tracing (English: alarm chain tracing, German: Alarmkettenverfolgung) is generated by the PEA control unit, (5) The alarm messages generated for all error cases are detected, and the alarm messages are recorded by creating an alarm message protocol, (6) The alarm message protocol is analyzed, and an alarm chain is identified based on this analysis, or an alarm chain is identified and the alarm relevance in the alarm message is determined. (7) The analysis result and / or the determination result are "module type packages" for embedding into the PEA module description. <mtp>It is transmitted to the mechanism.

[0016] In this way, in the alarm management system, alarm management measures (1) and (5) are executed in the alarm chain tracking component, alarm management measure (2) is executed during the PEA simulation on a simulation platform, for example of type SIMIT, and alarm management measures (3) and (4) are executed during the PEA control process on, for example, a "memory programmable controller" of type SIMATIC S7-1500 <sps>It can be executed on the 」platform and the alarm management measures (6) and (7) can be executed in the alarm chain analysis component.

[0017] At that time, the alarm chain tracking component and the alarm chain analysis component are preferably - In the process of alarm management in a modular production facility according to claim 6, it is a component of a program module having control program commands in a readable non-volatile memory of a computer-implemented tool, and this tool is preferably a computer program product configured as an APP, for example. In addition to the memory, it has a processor connected to the memory for executing the control program commands of the program module, and / or - According to claim 7, for example, "Factory Acceptance Tool" <fat>It is included in a production equipment test system such as "".

[0018] For example, an alarm chain tracing component configured as an alarm chain tracer is used for the accurate configuration and reproduction of each individual error scenario, and detects and records all alarms generated by the alarm messages generated and maintained by the PEA control unit in their chronological order. After all error scenarios are completed, the alarm message protocol in which the alarm messages are recorded is transferred from the alarm chain tracing component or alarm chain tracer to an analysis component, for example, configured as an alarm chain analyzer. This alarm chain analysis component or alarm chain analyzer analyzes the alarm message protocol, identifies the alarm chain therefrom, and embeds the alarm chain identified based on the VDI / VDE / NAMUR 2658 standard into the PEA module description for the "module type package" <mtp>It is transmitted to the 」 mechanism.

[0019] The alarm management executed in this way has the advantage of having the following features. - The alarm chain is automatically detected and saved in the correct format. - The alarm chain is completely detected. The reason is that all error states are simulated in the PEA simulation using the digital twin of the production facility composed of sensors and actuators, processors, and the emulated PEA automation, so that the same alarm chain as the alarm chain of the 「true」 production facility is triggered. - It is possible to determine not only the linear alarm chain but also the chained alarm chain. - 「Programmable Logic Controller <plc>When the PLC code is changed with "」", this only requires the automatic alarm management measures described above to be executed once again, and it is not necessary to manually analyze what has changed due to the change made and what effects it has.

[0020] Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of two embodiments of the present invention made with reference to only one drawing. The drawings show the following.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021]

Figure 1

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0022] The drawings show a system SYS for managing alarms in a modular production facility PRAL configured, for example, as industrial automation equipment. For alarm management, the system SYS has the following system components, namely, (i) A "process equipment assembly" for the manufacturer-independent modular configuration and operation of the production facility PRAL <pea>having the module PEA-MD, (ii) <pea>It is possible to execute a programmable PEA control PEA-ST that controls the module PEA-MD, for example of the type SIMATIC S7-1500, "memory programmable control" <sps>having the platform SPS-PF (iii) having, for example, a simulation platform SPF of type SIMIT, in which the simulation platform SPF is projectable (for example, with respect to alarm management) <pea>PEA simulation PEA-S that simulates module PEA-MD M is executable, and the simulation platform SPF is functionally and bidirectionally connected to the SPS-platform SPS-PF (iv) "Module type package" <mtp>has a "mechanism (MTP-MC)", and the "module type package" <mtp>By means of the mechanism (MTP-MC), the PEA module PEA-MD is integrated into the production facility PRAL for the description of the PEA module in the process of standardized process orchestration, preferably in accordance with the VDI / VDE / NAMUR 2658 standard, and (v) production facility test system PRAL-TS, for example "Factory Acceptance Tool" <fat>It has "", and the production equipment test system PRAL-TS includes - According to option "A", it includes an alarm chain tracking component AKVK and an alarm chain analysis component AKAK, and these function cooperatively for alarm management, or - According to option "B", it is a tool CIW implemented on a computer comprising a non-volatile readable memory SP in which processor-readable control program commands of a program module PGM are stored, and a processor PZ connected to the memory SP that executes the control program commands of the program module PGM. The tool CIW, which is preferably a computer program product CPP configured as an APP, is such that the program module PGM includes an alarm chain tracking component AKVK and an alarm chain analysis component AKAK that function cooperatively in the process of alarm management.

[0023] According to option "A", the alarm chain tracking component AKVK and the alarm chain analysis component AKAK are hardware components (hardware system components) of the system SYS, while according to option "B", the alarm chain tracking component AKVK and the alarm chain analysis component AKAK are software components (software system components) of the system SYS and are included in the program module PGM of the tool CIW implemented on a computer configured as an APP or of the computer program product CPP.

[0024] In both cases, as shown in the drawings, the alarm chain tracking component AKKV and the alarm chain analysis component AKAK, configured as hardware system components or software system components, are components of the production equipment test system PRAL-TS. Alternatively, although not explicitly shown, it is also fully possible to operate autonomously from the production equipment test system PRAL-TS in the process of alarm management with hardware system components or software system components.

[0025] Between such alarm management and the standardized process orchestration PO, for all error cases FHLF of the production equipment PRAL that are to be considered or are potential, including the corresponding errors FHL stored in or callable from the alarm chain tracking component AKKV of the alarm chain tracking component AKKV for alarm management, "error" <fhl>Alarm message <am>Within the framework of the "cycle", for each error case, the corresponding error is virtually induced in the PEA simulation PEA-SM on the simulation platform SPF by the corresponding PEA module activation PEA-MA.

[0026] Subsequently, the PEA simulation PEA-SM of the simulation platform SPF continues with "error" <fhl>Alarm message <am>Within the framework of the "cycle", simulate simulation cases attributed to virtual errors respectively, and at that time, determine at least one simulation error SMF for each.

[0027] The programmable PEA control unit PEA-ST of the SPS platform SPS-PF also has the "error" <fhl>Alarm message <am>Within the framework of the "cycle", the simulation error SMF is recognized via a functional and two-way connection with the PEA simulation PEA-SM of the simulation platform SPF, and subsequently, all simulation error-based switching operations are executed according to its programming. Then, the programmable PEA control unit PEA-ST generates at least one alarm message AM for each recognized simulation error SMF for alarm chain tracking, based on the executed simulation error-based switching operation.

[0028] Then, "error" <fhl>Alarm message <am>Within the framework of the "cycle", the alarm chain tracking component AKKV detects the alarm messages AM generated for all error cases FHLF, records them in the alarm message protocol AMP, and transmits the alarm message protocol AMP to the alarm chain analysis component AKAK.

[0029] In the alarm chain analysis component AKAK, the alarm message protocol AMP is first analyzed, and then, based on this analysis, the alarm chain AKE is identified.

[0030] Alternatively, in the alarm chain analysis component AKAK, the alarm message protocol AMP is also first analyzed, and then, based on this analysis, the alarm chain AKE is also identified. Additionally, it is also possible to determine the alarm relevance AZH in the alarm chain AKE.

[0031] As a result of such analysis, or as a result of the analysis and determination, the alarm chain analysis component AKAK generates the analysis result AEG and / or the determination result EEG, and this is for embedding in the PEA module description as a "module type package" <mtp>It is transmitted to the mechanism MTP-MC.< / mtp> < / am> < / fhl> < / am> < / fhl> < / am> < / fhl> < / am> < / fhl> < / fat> < / mtp> < / mtp> < / pea> < / sps> < / pea> < / pea> < / plc> < / mtp> < / fat> < / sps> < / mtp> < / mtp> < / pea> < / pea> < / mtp> < / pol> < / pea>

Claims

1. A method for managing alarms in modular production equipment, wherein, for the manufacturer-independent modular configuration and operation of the production equipment (PRAL), a "Process Equipment Assembly <PEA>" module (PEA-MD) is controlled by a programmable PEA control unit (PEA-ST) and simulated using a projectable PEA simulation (PEA-SM) in the process of standardized process orchestration (PO), and integrated into the production equipment (PRAL) for PEA module description by a "Module Type Package <MTP>" mechanism (MTP-MC), - with respect to a plurality of corresponding virtual errors (FHL) related to potential, stored, or readable error cases (FHLF) of the production equipment (PRAL), each corresponding error for each error case is virtually triggered in the PEA simulation (PEA-SM) by a corresponding PEA module activation (PEA-MA), - simulation cases attributed to each virtually triggered error are simulated by the PEA simulation (PEA-SM), and in so doing, at least one simulation error (SMF) is determined each time, - the simulation error (SMF) is recognized by the programmable PEA control unit (PEA-ST), and subsequently the programmable PEA control unit executes all switching operations based on the simulation error according to its programming, In the method, a) for each recognized simulation error (SMF) by the PEA control unit (PEA-ST), at least one alarm message (AM) is generated for alarm chain tracing, b) the alarm chain tracing component (AKVK) detects the alarm messages (AM) generated for all error cases (FHLF), and records the alarm messages (AM) together with the creation of an alarm message protocol (AMP), c) The alarm message protocol (AMP) is analyzed by an alarm chain analysis component (AKAK), and based on this analysis, an alarm chain (AKE) is identified, or an alarm chain (AKE) is identified and an alarm relevance (AZH) in the alarm chain (AKE) is determined; d) The analysis result (AEG) in the identification of the alarm chain (AKE) and / or the determination result (EEG) in the determination of the alarm relevance (AZH) in the alarm chain (AKE) are transmitted to the "module type package <MTP>" mechanism (MTP-MC) for embedding into the PEA module description; A method, characterized by the above. **Claim 2** Causing an error virtually, detecting and recording an alarm message, and performing alarm message protocol analysis using alarm chain identification or using alarm chain identification and alarm relevance determination, are implemented and executed by a computer; The method according to claim 1, characterized by the above. **Claim 3** Causing an error virtually, detecting and recording an alarm message, and performing alarm message protocol analysis using alarm chain identification or using alarm chain identification and alarm relevance determination, are executed by a production facility test system (PRAL-TS); The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above. **Claim 4** The production facility (PRAL) is industrial automation equipment; The method according to claim 1, characterized by the above. **Claim 5** The process orchestration (PO) is standardized in accordance with the VDI / VDE / NAMUR 2658 standard; The method according to claim 1, characterized by the above. **Claim 6** A system (SYS) for managing alarms in a modular production facility, comprising: - having a "process equipment assembly <PEA>" module (PEA-MD) for the manufacturer-independent modular configuration and operation of the production facility (PRAL); - Having a programmable PEA control unit (PEA-ST), the PEA control unit (PEA-ST) is executable on the "Memory Programmable Control <SPS>" platform (SPSPF), and the PEA module (PEA-MD) is controlled by the PEA control unit (PEA-ST), - Having a projectable PEA simulation (PEA-SM), the PEA simulation (PEA-SM) is executable on a simulation platform (SPF), and the PEA module (PEA-MD) is simulated using the PEA simulation (PEA-SM), and - Having a "Module Type Package <MTP>" mechanism (MTP-MC), the PEA module (PEA-MD) is integrated into the production equipment (PRAL) for PEA module description in the process of standardized process orchestration (PO) by the "Module Type Package <MTP>" mechanism (MTP-MC), - Having the PEA simulation (PEA-SM), in the PEA simulation (PEA-SM), for a plurality of corresponding errors (FHL) related to a plurality of potential, stored, or readable error cases (FHLF) of the production equipment (PRAL), the corresponding error for each error case is virtually induced by the corresponding PEA module activation (PEA-MA), - Having the PEA simulation (PEA-SM), the PEA simulation (PEA-SM) simulates simulation cases belonging to the errors virtually induced respectively, and at that time determines at least one simulation error (SMF) each time, - Having the programmable PEA control unit (PEA-ST), the programmable PEA control unit (PEA-ST) recognizes the simulation error (SMF) and subsequently executes all switching operations based on the simulation error according to its programming, In a system (SYS), a) The programmable PEA control unit (PEA-ST) that generates at least one alarm message (AM) for alarm chain tracking for each recognized simulation error (SMF), b) Detecting the alarm messages (AM) generated for all error cases (FHLF), recording them in the alarm message protocol (AMP), and transmitting the alarm message protocol (AMP) to the alarm chain analysis component (AKAK), an alarm chain tracking component (AKVK); c) Analyzing the alarm message protocol (AMP), identifying an alarm chain (AKE) based on this analysis, or identifying an alarm chain (AKE) and determining the alarm relevance (AZH) in the alarm chain (AKE), the alarm chain analysis component (AKAK); d) Transmitting the analysis result (AEG) of the identification of the alarm chain (AKE) and / or the determination result (EEG) of the determination of the alarm relevance (AZH) in the alarm chain (AKE) to the "module type package <MTP>" mechanism (MTP-MC) for embedding into the PEA module description, the alarm chain analysis component (AKAK); A system, characterized by comprising the above.

7. A tool (CIW) which is a computer system, having a non-volatile readable memory (SP) storing processor-readable control program commands of a program module (PGM), and a processor (PZ) connected to the memory (SP) for executing the control program commands of the program module (PGM), wherein the program module (PGM) includes the alarm chain tracking component (AKVK) and the alarm chain analysis component (AKAK) in the process of alarm management, the tool (CIW) The system (SYS) according to claim 6, further characterized by comprising the above.

8. The system (SYS) according to claim 6 or 7, further characterized by comprising a production equipment test system (PRAL-TS) including the alarm chain tracking component (AKVK) and the alarm chain analysis component (AKAK).

9. The production equipment (PRAL) is industrial automation equipment The system (SYS) according to claim 6, characterized by comprising the above.

10. The alarm chain tracking component (AKVK) virtually induces the corresponding error (FHL) for each error case by means of the corresponding PEA module activation (PEA-MA). System (SYS) according to claim 6, characterized in that.

11. The process orchestration (PO) is standardized in accordance with the VDI / VDE / NAMUR 2658 standard. System (SYS) according to claim 6, characterized in that.

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