P&ID Line Connector Extraction for Faster HMI Interlock Setup
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for developing human-machine interfaces (HMIs) for industrial automation systems are time-consuming and prone to errors, as they require manual selection and arrangement of graphical objects representing equipment and pipes from piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), leading to potential oversight of necessary interlocks that may not be discovered until the installation or operation phases.
Innovation Solution
A system that imports P&ID drawings, identifies equipment and connections, allows user selection, and generates an HMI interface display with graphical objects and simplified pipe lines, while also analyzing the diagram to recommend necessary interlocks based on predefined design rules, thereby reducing manual effort and ensuring complete interlock programming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual selection and arrangement of graphical objects is used to develop HMI interfaces from P&IDs, then flexibility in interface design is maintained, but development time increases and error rate rises
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of the P&ID drawing to automatically identify equipment, pipe lines, and interlocks before HMI interface development begins. This pre-processing extracts all necessary connection information and interlock requirements, ensuring completeness before the developer starts manual interface creation, thus preventing oversight of necessary interlocks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to the developer by highlighting selected equipment and automatically identifying associated pipe lines and interlocks. This feedback mechanism ensures that all necessary connections are accounted for and allows the developer to verify completeness, reducing errors while maintaining design flexibility.
2Loss of time
If automated analysis of P&ID drawings is implemented to identify equipment and connections, then development time is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary processing layer that sits between the P&ID drawing and the HMI development tools. This intermediary automatically analyzes the drawing, extracts equipment and connection information, and prepares structured data for import into HMI tools, thereby reducing manual effort without requiring complex direct integration between drawing tools and HMI development environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated analysis process is segmented into distinct functional components: drawing import, equipment identification, pipe line detection, and interlock extraction. Each component handles a specific task, making the overall system more manageable and easier to implement without requiring a monolithic complex solution.
3Reliability
If all pipe line connections are automatically identified from P&IDs, then interlock safety is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification of all pipe line connections and interlocks from the P&ID drawing before HMI development begins. By extracting this information in advance and structuring it appropriately, the system ensures safety requirements are met without requiring complex real-time analysis during interface development.
Data Source
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AI summary
A human-machine interface, HMI, development system 202 analyzes a P&ID drawing 304 of an industrial system to identify equipment and the lines or links between the equipment, and generates an HMI application for visualizing the process carried out by the automation system based on results of this analysis. After identifying the items of equipment represented in the P&ID drawings 304, the development system allows the user to select 406 equipment of interest to be included on an HMI display being developed. The system can then identify lines (e.g., piping) between the selected items of equipment, and generate an HMI interface display comprising graphical objects representing the selected equipment and the lines between the equipment. As part of this translation, the development system can redraw the lines between the items of equipment in order to simplify the connections relative to their original representations on the P&ID drawings.