Industrial Automation Rules Engine for Design Rule Compliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing industrial automation system design environments lack effective tools for ensuring compliance with design rules, leading to potential system inoperability due to incompatible object usage or invalid connections. Additionally, designers face challenges in managing naming conventions and troubleshooting without adequate guidance.
Innovation Solution
The system employs a set of industrial automation system design rules to act as 'design guardrails,' preventing prohibited actions and suggesting design improvements. It utilizes AI and machine learning to analyze historical data for troubleshooting, suggest component interactions, and automatically update naming conventions and code generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If designers manually write code for each component and manually update naming conventions, then design flexibility is maintained, but design time and productivity are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically generating code for components and updating naming conventions before the designer needs to use them. The rule engine pre-validates design actions and pre-generates appropriate code, eliminating the need for manual code writing and naming updates, thus resolving the contradiction between flexibility and productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The design system performs self-service through automated code generation and naming convention enforcement. The rule engine automatically detects design actions, generates appropriate code, and updates naming conventions without requiring manual intervention from the designer, maintaining flexibility while dramatically improving productivity
2Adaptability or versatility
If designers are free to use any objects and connections without restrictions, then design freedom is maximized, but system reliability is compromised due to incompatible objects and invalid connections
Solution Approach 1:
The rule engine implements continuous feedback by monitoring design actions and automatically validating them against predefined rules. When incompatible objects or invalid connections are detected, the system provides immediate feedback through warnings and errors, preventing reliability issues before they occur while maintaining design freedom through override capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies preliminary anti-action by proactively preventing incompatible object usage and invalid connections before they can compromise system reliability. The rule engine evaluates design actions against compatibility rules and blocks problematic actions, or generates warnings that guide designers toward reliable design choices
3Reliability
If comprehensive design rule validation is implemented, then system reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional validation mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The validation system is segmented into modular rules that can be independently defined, evaluated, and managed. Each design rule operates as a separate validation unit, allowing comprehensive coverage without creating monolithic complexity. The rule engine processes violations independently and generates targeted warnings, maintaining reliability while managing complexity through modular architecture
Data Source
AI summary
A (GUI) for designing an industrial automation system includes a design window and a first accessory window. The GUI presents a library visualization representative of a plurality of objects within the first accessory window, each object is represented by an icon and corresponds to a respective industrial automation device. The GUI receives inputs indicative of a selection of one or more objects of the plurality of objects from the library, presents the one or more objects in the design window, determines that the one or more inputs do not comply with a set of industrial automation system rules comprising one or more relationships between a plurality of industrial automation devices, and displays a warning message that the one or more inputs do not comply with the set of industrial automation system rules.