OPC UA HMI Runtime Updates Without Stopping Industrial Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for updating industrial automation systems require stopping machines and plants, leading to production delays and economic losses, as they necessitate the use of a separate development environment and cannot make modifications or add functionalities directly on the control unit without interrupting operations.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows modifications and updates to human-machine interface (HMI) programs to be made directly on the control unit using OPC UA standard nodes, enabling changes to be made without stopping the machine, using a runtime environment that interacts with the information model of the HMI project, allowing temporary updates and maintaining compatibility with existing standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If modifications are made using a separate development environment (IDE), then program functionality can be updated, but machine operations must be interrupted causing production downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the program modification capability from the separate development environment and relocates it directly to the control unit. This allows the control unit to perform modifications autonomously without requiring connection to external IDE software, thereby eliminating the need to interrupt machine operations for program updates.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a communication mechanism that enables direct interaction between the operator interface and the control unit's program memory. This intermediary communication channel allows real-time program modifications to be transmitted and applied without stopping the controlled machine, resolving the contradiction between update capability and production continuity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a separate development environment is used for program modifications, then program customization is possible, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the program development and execution functions into a single integrated system. The control unit now possesses both the runtime execution environment and the development modification capabilities within itself, eliminating the need for separate external development environments and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit is designed to perform multiple functions: it serves as both the runtime execution platform and the development environment. This multi-functionality allows the same device to compile, load, and execute programs while also enabling real-time modifications, thereby simplifying the system architecture by eliminating dedicated separate development hardware.
3Adaptability or versatility
If program updates are performed externally, then new functionalities can be added, but update time and deployment complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention enables preliminary preparation of program modifications locally at the control unit before they are activated. Changes can be prepared, validated, and staged in memory without interrupting operations, allowing for quick deployment when ready. This preliminary action reduces the actual update deployment time significantly.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit maintains continuous operation while program modifications are being prepared and loaded. The system allows overlapping of program compilation, validation, and machine operation, ensuring that useful actions (both production and development) continue simultaneously without interruption, thereby minimizing update deployment time.
Data Source
AI summary
System to design and/or update programs for the operator interface of machines and/or plants that comprises at least one first calculation device dedicated to the management of a machine and/or plant, which contains at least one application program to manage the human-machine interface (HMI) of the machine and/or plant, and a second calculation device to execute a software, or development environment, to create a project file, wherein on the first calculation device and on the second calculation device respective communication programs are installed, suitable to transfer the project to the first calculation device, where the application program for the management of the HMI interface displays the project by means of a suitable OPC UA standard information model, by means of which it is possible to make modifications to the project dynamically, without interrupting the execution of the human-machine interface program, and so that every modification to the project, and therefore to the human-machine interface program, is immediately displayed and used by the human-machine interface.