Industrial IDE Training for Legacy Control Program Conversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems face inefficiencies due to the need for separate configuration tools for disparate aspects, leading to a piecemeal design approach that requires significant testing and debugging to ensure proper integration.
Innovation Solution
An integrated development environment (IDE) is provided that uses a common design environment and data model to configure and manage multiple aspects of an industrial automation system, incorporating a training component that improves design tools through analytics and converts legacy control programs to a new format.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If separate configuration tools are used for disparate aspects of industrial automation systems, then each aspect can be configured with specialized functionality, but the overall system integration becomes complex and requires significant testing and debugging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate configuration tools into a single integrated development environment that can handle disparate aspects of industrial automation systems (PLC configuration, HMI design, motion control, etc.) within one unified platform, thereby reducing integration complexity while maintaining specialized functionality through modular architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated development environment is designed to perform multiple configuration functions across different automation system components through a common interface and data model, allowing a single tool to replace multiple specialized tools while maintaining adaptability to various configuration needs
2Adaptability or versatility
If separate configuration tools are used for disparate aspects, then specialized functionality is maintained, but the development cycle is extended due to extensive testing and debugging required for integration
Solution Approach 1:
By merging configuration capabilities for multiple automation components into one integrated environment, the patent enables simultaneous development and automatic integration of disparate system aspects, eliminating the sequential testing and debugging process that extends development cycles in separate tool approaches
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated development environment implements automatic feedback mechanisms that continuously validate configurations across different system aspects in real-time, detecting and resolving integration conflicts during development rather than requiring extensive post-integration testing, thereby reducing development cycle time
3Productivity
If an integrated development environment is used to configure multiple aspects in a common environment, then integration is improved and development cycle is shortened, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated development environment is structured with modular architecture that segments different configuration functions (PLC programming, HMI design, motion control configuration) into independent but interoperable modules, allowing the system to manage complexity through organized separation while maintaining integration benefits
Data Source
AI summary
An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) includes a training component that improves the IDE's automated design tools over time based on analysis of aggregated project data submitted by developers over time. The industrial IDE can apply analytics (e.g., artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.) to project data submitted by developers across multiple industrial enterprises to identify commonly used control code, visualizations, device configurations, or control system architectures that are frequently used for a given industrial function, machine, or application. This learned information can be encoded in a training module, which can be leveraged by the IDE to generate programming, visualization, or configuration recommendations. The IDE can automatically add suitable control code, visualizations, or configuration data to new control projects being developed based on an inference of the developer's design goals and knowledge of how these goals have been implemented by other developers.