Industrial IDE Program Export for Controller-Agnostic Automation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing industrial control program development platforms require a one-to-one binding between the control project and the industrial controller, limiting flexibility and scalability, especially when the hardware implementation is not yet determined.
Innovation Solution
An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) system that allows for decoupled development of industrial control programs as smart objects, which can be created and stored without initial binding to a specific controller, and subsequently assigned to multiple controllers, supporting a one-to-many relationship.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a one-to-one binding between control project and industrial controller is implemented, then the control program can be executed on a specific controller, but the flexibility and scalability are limited when hardware implementation is not yet determined
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the control program into a separate control project that can be independently developed and stored without binding to a specific controller. The control project contains all necessary controller settings and program elements, which can then be allocated to one or multiple controllers as needed. This separation allows flexibility in hardware selection while maintaining organized project structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The control project is designed to be universal and can be allocated to multiple different industrial controllers. Instead of being tied to a single controller type, the control project can serve multiple controller instances, enabling the same control logic to be deployed across different hardware platforms without requiring separate project files for each controller.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a one-to-one binding between control project and industrial controller is implemented, then the control program can be executed on a specific controller, but the scalability is limited when deploying to multiple controllers
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables copying of the control project to multiple controller instances. Once a control project is developed and validated, it can be copied and allocated to multiple controllers simultaneously, eliminating the need to recreate the entire control program for each controller. This significantly reduces development time while maintaining scalability across multiple hardware platforms.
Solution Approach 2:
The control project is prepared in advance with all necessary controller settings, I/O configurations, and control programs before actual controller deployment. This preliminary preparation allows the control logic to be fully developed and tested independently, so that when multiple controllers need to be deployed, the work is already complete and can be quickly allocated without additional development time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If control programs are developed without initial binding to a specific controller, then flexibility and scalability are improved, but the complexity of managing controller definitions and allocations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a control project as an intermediary layer between the control program and the industrial controller. This intermediary contains all the controller-specific definitions, I/O configurations, and program associations, allowing the control logic to remain controller-agnostic during development while still managing controller-specific details in an organized manner. The control project acts as a mediator that simplifies the allocation process to multiple controllers.
Data Source
AI summary
An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) supports decoupled development of industrial control programs without requiring the programs to be initially bound to a specific industrial controller. The IDE system allows industrial control programs to be defined as smart objects within an industrial control project. These smart objects can be created without an initial binding to an industrial controller, and can subsequently be assigned to selected industrial controllers after development of the control programs is complete, or while program development is in progress. The IDE system can export executable content allocated to a selected controller definition as a project file formatted to be compatible with a configuration application specific to the controller type of the selected controller definition.