Industrial Automation Device Maps for Active Maintenance Location
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Solution Overview
Problem
In large and complex industrial automation systems, it is challenging for maintenance personnel to efficiently locate industrial automation devices due to the systems' complexity, often requiring time-consuming and labor-intensive methods using hardcopy diagrams.
Innovation Solution
A monitoring system that communicates with industrial automation devices and a database to identify devices with active maintenance status, retrieve location datasets, and generate visualizations that display maintenance and location information, including device maps and action cards, to facilitate quick navigation and maintenance operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If hardcopy diagrams are used to locate devices in large industrial automation systems, then device location information can be obtained, but the process becomes time-consuming and labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy or representation of the physical industrial automation system layout through software-generated visualizations. Instead of using physical hardcopy diagrams, the system generates digital visual representations that display device locations, maintenance statuses, and navigation paths, allowing users to locate devices quickly without manually searching through physical diagrams.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional hardcopy diagrams to an enhanced visual interface that incorporates multiple dimensions of information simultaneously. The visualization system displays spatial layout information combined with maintenance status, device identifiers, and navigation guidance in an integrated multi-dimensional view, enabling faster comprehension and location of devices.
2Loss of information
If hardcopy diagrams are used to locate devices, then location information can be found, but the process becomes labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a digital copy of the physical system layout that can be easily manipulated and searched. The visual representation allows users to interact with device locations through software interfaces, eliminating the manual effort of physically handling and searching through hardcopy diagrams.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical process of manually searching through physical diagrams with an automated computational system. The software automatically processes location data, generates visualizations, and can even provide navigation guidance, substituting manual mechanical search operations with automated information processing.
3Loss of information
If comprehensive device information is displayed, then maintenance status and location are provided, but the visualization complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the comprehensive device information into distinct, organized components within the visualization. Different aspects such as maintenance status, location data, device identifiers, and navigation information are separated into discrete visual elements or layers that can be individually managed and displayed according to user needs, reducing overall complexity while maintaining information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses dimensional organization to present comprehensive information without increasing perceived complexity. By arranging information in structured spatial relationships within the visualization interface, multiple data dimensions are integrated in a way that maintains clarity and ease of interpretation.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are techniques related to an industrial system that may have a plurality of industrial automation devices, a database that has a plurality of location datasets that correspond to the plurality of industrial automation devices, and a monitoring system that may communicate with the industrial automation devices via a network and the database. The monitoring system may send a first request to the industrial automation devices in the industrial system to identify an industrial automation device having an active maintenance status. The active maintenance status may be indicative of a maintenance request for the industrial automation device. The monitoring system may send a second request to the database for a location dataset associated with the industrial automation device, generate a visualization that includes the active maintenance status and the location dataset associated with the industrial automation device, and display the visualization via an electronic display.