Industrial Automation Controller Redundancy-State Task Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
High availability industrial automation systems face performance burdens due to the need to constantly monitor and react to changes in redundancy states, which can lead to errors and unnecessary downtime if not properly managed.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a program with tasks that include redundancy state bits to react to changes in the high availability state without constant monitoring, allowing for event tasks to be executed only after a redundancy state change, thereby reducing the overhead of monitoring and improving system responsiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the system constantly monitors redundancy state during every phase of user application, then the system can detect HA state changes, but the overhead burdens system performance and may lead to erroneous omission of monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by setting redundancy state bits at the start of the next program scan after a redundancy state change occurs. This allows the system to proactively mark state changes before user tasks need to respond, eliminating the need for continuous monitoring during every phase of execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic action by having tasks check redundancy state bits only at specific intervals (at the start of program scans) rather than continuously. Event tasks are triggered periodically based on these state changes, reducing the monitoring overhead while maintaining reliable detection of HA state transitions.
2Reliability
If the code includes monitoring of HA state in every phase of application code, then the system can respond to redundancy changes, but the complexity increases and monitoring may be erroneously omitted
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the HA state monitoring function from the user application code by implementing it as a separate mechanism using redundancy state bits. This removes the burden of continuous monitoring from every phase of application code, reducing code complexity while ensuring consistent monitoring through dedicated state management.
Solution Approach 2:
The redundancy state bits serve as an intermediary between the HA state management system and user tasks. Instead of tasks directly monitoring HA state throughout their execution, they simply check the intermediary bits that are automatically updated by the system, simplifying task code while maintaining reliable state detection.
3Reliability
If the system requires controlled shutdown or reduced functionality when HA state changes, then system safety is maintained, but downtime increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamics by allowing flexible response to HA state changes through configurable task behaviors. Tasks can be designed to execute immediately upon detecting state changes, perform gradual transitions, or maintain current operations temporarily, enabling the system to balance safety requirements with minimized downtime based on specific application needs.
Data Source
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AI summary
A high availability industrial automation controller used in a high availability industrial automation system is disclosed. The controller includes instructions executable by a processor to receive information about a lost redundancy in the industrial automation system, change a first redundancy state and a second redundancy state associated with a first task and a second task, respectively, upon receiving the information, perform the first task and the second task. The performing the first/second task can include identifying the first/second redundancy state has been changed, modifying operation of the first/second task in response to the first/second redundancy state being changed, and resetting the first/second redundancy state. Also disclosed is a method of operating the industrial automation controller.