Automation Object Inheritance for Multi-Discipline Change Propagation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems require integrated development environments (IDEs) that can efficiently design, program, and configure multiple aspects of automation systems using a common design environment and data model, addressing the piecemeal design approach and testing challenges due to disparate programming efforts.
Innovation Solution
An integrated development environment (IDE) that includes a library of modular code and visualizations, supports object-based development, and uses automation objects as building blocks, enabling integrated, multi-discipline programming of control, visualization, and other aspects of industrial automation systems, with features for design, installation, operation, improvement, and troubleshooting, and propagates changes to all instances of automation objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If piecemeal design approach is used for industrial automation systems, then different aspects can be designed independently, but consistency and integration across multiple disciplines become difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments industrial automation design into distinct discipline-specific modules (control, visualization, safety, etc.) that can be independently designed and developed. Each module is represented as a separate automation object in the data model, allowing teams to work independently on different aspects while maintaining overall system integrity through the unified object-based architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a universal automation object data model that serves multiple disciplines simultaneously. The same object-oriented framework and data structures are used across control programming, visualization design, safety systems, and other disciplines, enabling consistent representation and integration of all system aspects while allowing independent development in each discipline.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple programming efforts are used for different automation aspects, then comprehensive system functionality is achieved, but testing and debugging efforts increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple programming efforts into a unified automation object-based framework. By representing control logic, visualization elements, safety functions, and other disciplines as interconnected automation objects within a single data model, the system enables centralized testing and debugging that automatically validates interactions across all disciplines, significantly reducing the time required compared to separate testing approaches.
3Ease of manufacture
If automation objects are modified in the library, then updates can be propagated to all instances, but ensuring consistency across all system projects requires additional processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system establishes automation objects in the library with predefined structures, relationships, and metadata that enable automatic change propagation. By pre-configuring the object model with inheritance hierarchies and instance references during the initial setup phase, the system prepares the framework in advance to automatically handle updates, reducing the complexity of change management when modifications are needed.
Data Source
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AI summary
An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) provides a development framework for designing, programming, and configuring multiple aspects of an industrial automation system using a common design environment and data model. Projects creating using embodiments of the IDE system can be built on an object-based model rather than, or in addition to, a tag-based architecture. To this end, the IDE system can support the use of automation objects that serve as building blocks for this object-based development structure. To ensure consistency within and between projects, as well as to ensure that a given industrial project is dynamically updated to reflect changes to an industrial asset's attributes (e.g., control code, visualization definitions, testing scripts, analytic code, etc.), embodiments of the IDE system can use automation object inheritance features to propagate changes made to an automation object definition to all instances of the automation object used throughout a control project.