Edge State Machine Translation for Industrial Controller Interoperability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Integration of cloud-based systems with control-level devices in industrial automation is laborious and requires specialized expertise due to proprietary data schemas, unstructured data extraction challenges, and technological incompatibilities.
Innovation Solution
An edge-level state machine management system that discovers and translates state machine definitions from industrial controllers into standardized information models, making them accessible to cloud-based systems and applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary data schemas and unstructured data extraction methods are used in industrial automation systems, then device complexity and integration difficulty increase, but integration of cloud-based systems with control-level devices becomes laborious and requires specialized expertise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary translation layer that converts proprietary controller data schemas into standardized information models. This mediator component sits between the control-level devices and cloud-based systems, translating proprietary formats into universal formats that cloud systems can understand, thereby reducing integration complexity without sacrificing adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms data from proprietary schemas with complex, vendor-specific parameters into standardized information models with consistent, universally-understood parameters. This parameter standardization enables cloud-based systems to interact with diverse controllers using a common language, reducing the need for specialized expertise
2Ease of operation
If standardized information models are implemented to enable remote access, then ease of operation and accessibility improve, but data translation and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary translation of proprietary data schemas into standardized information models at the edge device before data leaves the local network. This advance conversion ensures that all outgoing data is already in a cloud-ready format, eliminating the need for complex translation operations at remote access points and simplifying the overall architecture
3Adaptability or versatility
If state machine definitions are made discoverable and accessible to remote systems, then adaptability and interoperability improve, but data extraction and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates standardized information model copies of the controller's internal state machine definitions. Instead of extracting and interpreting proprietary binary or structured data formats, the translation layer generates equivalent representations in universal information models that preserve the semantic meaning while being easily consumable by remote systems
Data Source
AI summary
A state machine management component that executes on an edge device within an industrial facility is capable of discovering state machines defined on industrial controllers and translating the state machine definitions to information models that allow the state machines to be discovered and utilized by remote client applications. The edge-level information models allow the client applications to render or consume the state machine data generated by the controller, graphically render the state machines, submit commands, or set values, to the controller as state machine commands via the edge device. The edge-level system thus allows client applications with no prior knowledge of the control-level state machines to discover, retrieve, and interact with state machines defined on the industrial controllers.