Object-Based Industrial IDE for Automation Integration
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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 piecemeal design approaches and significant debugging efforts to ensure proper integration of control, visualization, and other system aspects.
Innovation Solution
An integrated development environment (IDE) is provided that supports integrated, multi-discipline programming of industrial automation systems using a common design environment and data model, featuring a library of modular code and visualizations, automation objects with programmatic attributes, and tools for design, configuration, testing, and commissioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If separate configuration tools are used for different aspects of industrial automation systems, then each tool can be specialized for its specific function, but the overall system integration becomes complex and requires significant debugging efforts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate configuration tools into a single integrated development environment that can handle control programming, visualization development, device configuration, and system integration simultaneously. This unified platform eliminates the need for multiple discrete tools and reduces integration complexity by providing a common workspace with centralized project management and automatic cross-referencing between different configuration aspects.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated development environment is designed to perform multiple functions that previously required separate specialized tools. It provides a universal platform capable of control system programming, HMI/SCADA visualization creation, device parameter configuration, and system debugging all within one application, thereby reducing the overall complexity of system integration while maintaining the specialized capabilities needed for each function.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate tools are used for industrial automation configuration, then each tool can maintain its own data model, but ensuring proper integration and consistency across tools becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a segmented data model architecture where the overall system model is divided into distinct but interconnected components, each representing different aspects of the automation system (control elements, visualization elements, device parameters). These segmented models can be developed independently within their respective domains while maintaining automatic consistency through the unified project data structure, reducing the time needed for integration debugging.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated development environment incorporates automatic feedback mechanisms that monitor and enforce consistency across different configuration aspects. When changes are made in one area (e.g., control logic), the system automatically updates and validates related areas (e.g., device configurations, visualization elements), providing immediate feedback on integration status and eliminating manual debugging time.
3Productivity
If an integrated development environment is used for all aspects of industrial automation, then development consistency and reuse are improved, but the initial complexity of the platform increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated development environment provides pre-configured templates, standardized data models, and built-in integration frameworks that are prepared in advance. Common automation patterns, device communication protocols, and visualization templates are pre-established, allowing developers to leverage these preliminary structures rather than building everything from scratch, thereby improving productivity without requiring the user to manage the underlying platform complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The IDE implements self-service mechanisms that automatically handle complex integration tasks, data consistency validation, and cross-referencing between different configuration aspects. The system performs self-verification and automatic error detection, reducing the burden on the user to manage platform complexity manually while still providing the benefits of an integrated approach for improved productivity and reuse.
Data Source
AI summary
An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) provides a development framework for designing, programming, and configuring multiple aspects of an industrial automation system using a common design environment and data model. Projects creating using embodiments of the IDE system can be built on an object-based model rather than, or in addition to, a tag-based architecture. To this end, the IDE system can support the use of automation objects that serve as building blocks for this object-based development structure. Project data models defining collections of automation objects and their functional relationships can be stored in a model library for selective inclusion in system projects.