Condition Monitoring GUI Workflows for Context-Preserving Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Condition monitoring systems in industrial environments face challenges in user customization and navigation efficiency, as different users employ tools in varying orders and navigate between applications differently, leading to difficulties in retaining context while monitoring machine components.
Innovation Solution
The development of improved graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that allow users to customize workflows and enable non-hierarchical navigation between machine component views, using a GUI builder to define and customize workflows, and generate navigation objects that facilitate direct navigation between different visualizations, regardless of their hierarchical positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a fixed hierarchical navigation structure is used in condition monitoring systems, then system structure is simple and easy to implement, but user workflow efficiency deteriorates due to inability to customize navigation paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic navigation objects that can be customized by users to create personalized workflows. The system transitions from a static hierarchical structure to a dynamic one where navigation paths can be adapted to different user needs and preferences, allowing experts to create custom navigation sequences without being constrained by rigid hierarchical levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows users to modify navigation parameters by creating custom navigation objects that define specific sequences of visualizations. Users can change the order and combination of displayed components, altering the navigation flow parameters to match their diagnostic workflows while maintaining the underlying hierarchical data structure.
2Reliability
If context retention is improved when navigating between machine component views, then diagnostic accuracy is improved, but navigation flexibility deteriorates due to constraints on moving between hierarchical levels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces navigation objects as intermediary elements that bridge different visualization levels. These navigation objects maintain context by embedding reference information from parent components while allowing users to jump to child components or sibling components across hierarchical levels. The navigation object acts as a mediator that preserves contextual information while enabling flexible navigation paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a new dimensional layer to the hierarchical navigation by introducing custom navigation objects that operate across multiple hierarchical levels simultaneously. Instead of being constrained to move sequentially through hierarchical levels, users can create navigation paths that span multiple levels in a single jump, effectively adding a temporal dimension to the spatial hierarchical structure.
3Productivity
If different users can customize their workflows, then user efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases due to multiple customization options
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service customization mechanism where users can create their own navigation workflows using the GUI builder. The system provides tools that enable users to independently configure their preferred navigation sequences without requiring system administrator intervention or complex programming. Users can drag and drop components, define custom navigation paths, and save their personalized workflows.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows users to copy and reuse existing navigation objects as templates for creating custom workflows. Users can replicate proven navigation patterns from other users or from default configurations, then modify them to suit their specific needs. This copying mechanism reduces the complexity of customization by providing reusable building blocks rather than requiring creation from scratch.
Data Source
AI summary
A condition monitoring system can include a memory and a processor. The memory can receive datasets associated with respective ones of a plurality of components in an industrial environment. The components can include machines and devices. The processor can receive datasets from the memory and generate a first GUI. The first GUI can display, in a first GUI portion, a hierarchical component list and a list of views for the components. The first GUI can also display, in a second GUI portion, a first visualization defined by a first hierarchical list component and a first view of list of views. The first GUI can further display a first navigation object overlaid with the first visualization. The first navigation object can be associated with a second visualization, different from the first visualization. The second GUI portion to display the second visualization in response to selection of the first navigation object.