Industrial Information Hub Connectivity for Virtual Plant Development
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems face challenges in development and testing due to complexity, custom nature, and lack of virtualization and simulation capabilities, leading to long development cycles and cost overruns, as well as difficulties in managing and protecting proprietary intellectual property from failures and cyber-attacks.
Innovation Solution
A cloud-based Industrial Development Hub (IDH) that provides enhanced storage and design tools, facilitating easy discovery, management, and analysis of digital content for industrial automation projects, including backup, restore, code conversion, and version management, using a cloud platform to support development and testing capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If industrial automation systems are developed and tested using traditional methods, then development can proceed with existing tools, but development cycles are long and costs overrun due to complexity and lack of virtualization capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies (digital twins) of industrial assets, control systems, and entire plants that can be used for development and testing in a virtual environment. This allows developers to work with accurate replicas instead of physical systems, dramatically accelerating development cycles while maintaining fidelity to the actual industrial processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform enables preliminary development, testing, and validation of control projects in a virtualized environment before deployment to physical systems. This preliminary action in the virtual plant allows issues to be identified and resolved beforehand, reducing iterative cycles and speeding up the overall development process.
2Reliability
If virtualization and simulation capabilities are added to protect proprietary intellectual property, then security and IP protection are enhanced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cloud-based virtualization platform as an intermediary layer between the physical industrial assets and the development/testing processes. This intermediary provides secure virtual copies for development while maintaining connection to actual systems, enabling IP protection without requiring complex local virtualization infrastructure at each facility.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtualized plant serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a secure environment for development and testing, provides IP protection through virtualization, enables simulation capabilities, and maintains synchronization with physical systems. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems for each purpose, managing complexity through consolidation.
3Loss of information
If multiple gateway devices are connected to collect industrial data from various assets, then data collection capability is improved, but connectivity management becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates connectivity management for multiple gateway devices through a unified cloud-based platform. Instead of managing each gateway device individually, the system merges their data collection and communication functions through a central virtualized plant that automatically handles connections to multiple assets and gateways, reducing management complexity while maintaining comprehensive data collection.
Data Source
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AI summary
An industrial information hub (IDH) serves as a single industrial ecosystem platform where multiple participants can deliver repeatable and standardized services relevant to their core competencies. The IIH system is centered around the development of an ecosystem that creates and delivers value to users - including industrial enterprises, OEMs, system integrators, vendors, etc. - through the aggregation of digital content and domain expertise. The IIH system serves as a trusted information broker between the ecosystem and the OT environments of plant facilities, and provides a platform for connecting assets, contextualizing asset data and providing secure access to the ecosystem. Additionally, the IIH system provides tools and support to OEMs and other subject matter experts, allowing those experts to enable their digital assets for use in the ecosystem. The IIH system reduces the cost and risks for digital modeling of industrial assets.