Industrial Automation Naming Conventions With Automatic Configuration Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation system design and troubleshooting are hindered by the lack of support for naming conventions, leading to inefficiencies and human errors in design, compatibility issues, and the need for extensive manual updates, which often require specialized expertise and result in customers relying on contractors for system modifications.
Innovation Solution
Implementing AI and machine learning to enforce design rules, suggest compatible component interactions, and automatically update naming conventions, while providing a light engineering client environment for operators to make minor adjustments and recommendations, thereby enhancing design efficiency and reducing reliance on expert designers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If designers manually update component names to maintain naming conventions, then naming convention compliance is improved, but time consumption and human error increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically maintains naming conventions without human intervention. When components are added, removed, or modified, the system self-updates component names and code references according to predefined naming conventions, eliminating the need for manual designer intervention while ensuring consistent compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual process of updating names with an automated computational system. The system uses algorithms to detect naming convention violations and automatically renames components while updating all code references, substituting human manual work with automated software processes.
2Reliability
If designers manually update code references when component names change, then code accuracy is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual code updating with automated text processing. When a component name changes, the system automatically searches and replaces all references to that component in the codebase, ensuring accuracy while eliminating the time-consuming manual process of finding and updating each reference individually.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms that automatically detect when component names change and trigger corresponding updates in code references. The system monitors naming changes and automatically propagates these changes throughout the codebase, ensuring consistency without requiring designer intervention.
3Productivity
If the system provides automated naming convention enforcement, then design efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system integrates multiple functions into a unified automated naming management solution. It combines naming convention enforcement, automatic renaming, code reference updating, and validation into a single integrated system that works across different components and code types, managing complexity through consolidation rather than proliferation of separate tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer between component definition and code implementation. This intermediary system automatically manages naming conventions and coordinates updates across the entire system, acting as a mediator that handles the complexity of maintaining consistency without requiring designers to directly manage each aspect separately.
4Ease of operation
If operators can make adjustments in run-time environment, then troubleshooting capability is improved, but system stability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation and compatibility checking before allowing operator adjustments. The light engineering client verifies that proposed changes will not compromise system stability before applying them, and automatically manages the implementation of changes to ensure safe modification during run-time operation.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system includes a processor and a memory accessible by the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive an input adding a new industrial automation device to an industrial automation system including a plurality of industrial automation devices, generate a new name for the new industrial automation device based on a naming convention and a location of the new industrial automation device within the industrial automation system, determine, for each of one or more industrial automation devices of the plurality of industrial automation devices, a name change based on the addition of the new industrial automation device to the industrial automation system, wherein the name change comprises generating a replacement name and replacing a previous name with the replacement name, and update one or more respective configurations of the plurality of industrial automation devices based on the one or more name changes.