Field Device Diagnostic Suppression for Application-Specific Alarms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Field devices in automation systems often generate false alarms due to subjective assessment of diagnostic messages, requiring specialized technicians for settings adjustments, leading to time-consuming and costly changes when devices are reused or replaced.
Innovation Solution
A method for application-specific setting of field devices that records, analyzes, and suppresses tolerable diagnostic messages, allowing for automatic adaptation to specific applications, with settings stored in the device or a cloud-based platform for future use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If field devices generate diagnostic messages for all process conditions, then monitoring completeness is improved, but false alarm rate increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different alarm suppression characteristics to different diagnostic messages based on their specific application context. Each diagnostic message is evaluated individually against application-specific parameters (such as medium type, temperature ranges, pressure conditions) to determine whether it should trigger an alarm or be suppressed. This allows the system to maintain high monitoring completeness while selectively suppressing only those messages that would constitute false alarms in the current application context.
2Measurement precision
If specialized technicians adjust field device settings manually, then diagnostic accuracy is improved, but time consumption and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-configuring field devices with application-specific parameters and diagnostic message suppression settings before deployment. During commissioning, the system automatically retrieves relevant application data (such as process conditions, medium properties) and configures the field device accordingly, eliminating the need for specialized technicians to manually adjust settings later. This preliminary configuration maintains diagnostic accuracy while significantly reducing time consumption and costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables self-service by allowing field devices to automatically adjust their own diagnostic message suppression settings based on application-specific parameters. The devices autonomously evaluate incoming diagnostic messages against their configured parameters and determine whether to suppress or report alarms without requiring manual intervention from technicians. This self-configuring capability maintains diagnostic accuracy while eliminating time-consuming manual settings adjustments.
3Productivity
If field devices are reused or replaced without reconfiguration, then productivity is improved, but diagnostic accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by creating and storing digital templates of application-specific settings and diagnostic message suppression configurations. When field devices are reused or replaced, the system automatically copies these pre-validated configurations from the template to the new device, ensuring diagnostic accuracy is maintained without requiring manual reconfiguration. This copying mechanism enables rapid device deployment while preserving the diagnostic precision established during initial commissioning.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a method for the application-specific setting of a field device, which is installed in a defined application in a process in automation engineering and determines or monitors at least one process variable of a medium, comprising: recording a diagnostic message which occurs or has occurred on the field device during a defined interval, analyzing which of the diagnostic messages are tolerable and/or plausible in the defined application, assigning an application-specific notice with regard to tolerability and/or plausibility to each diagnostic message that has arisen in the defined application, clearing the diagnostic message if this is classified as tolerable and/or plausible in the defined application, and using the application-specific setting of the field device, which clears the diagnostic message classified as tolerable and/or plausible.