Plant Operation Proposal System Using Historical Worker Data

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Solution Overview

Problem

Plant workers' ability to detect and respond to abnormalities varies significantly based on their knowledge and experience, leading to potential oversight or missed operations during plant checks.

Innovation Solution

A device system comprising a terminal device and an information processing device that collects and compares historical data from plant workers and experts to provide operation proposals, ensuring consistent and effective abnormality detection and response.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If plant workers rely on their own knowledge and experience to check field devices, then they can perform operations based on their expertise, but the work quality varies significantly among workers with different knowledge and experience levels

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvework quality consistencyVSAvoiddependence on worker expertise
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates a digital copy of expert knowledge by collecting and storing operation histories from multiple workers including experts. This copied knowledge is then made available to all workers through the terminal device, allowing less experienced workers to access and follow expert-level operation patterns without needing years of experience themselves.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback by collecting actual operation data from workers' terminal devices, comparing it against historical expert operations, and providing guidance when deviations are detected. This continuous feedback loop ensures workers maintain consistent quality by correcting their operations based on real-time comparisons with proven expert procedures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If the system collects and stores operation histories from multiple workers and experts, then work quality consistency improves, but the device complexity and data processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvework quality consistencyVSAvoiddata collection and processing system
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The terminal device serves multiple functions: it collects operation data, stores historical records, performs comparative analysis, and provides guidance to workers. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional device, the system avoids the complexity of separate specialized systems for each function while achieving comprehensive quality consistency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system automatically collects operation histories from terminal devices without requiring manual data entry or complex external processing systems. The terminal devices themselves perform the data collection and storage, reducing the burden on centralized processing infrastructure and simplifying the overall system architecture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3139234B1Device system, information processing device, and operation proposal method
Publication Date: 2020.02.19 YOKOGAWA ELECTRIC CORP
  • EP3139234B1 patent drawingFigure 1
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AI summary

A device system includes a terminal device and an information processing device. The terminal device includes a detector and a first notifier. The detector detects at least one of data representing an operation performed by a worker with respect to the terminal device, data representing an environmental value of a plant, and data representing biological information of the worker. The first notifier notifies, to the information processing device, first historical data representing a history of data currently detected by the detector. The information processing device includes a storage and a proposer. The storage stores second historical data representing a history of data detected by the detector in the past. The proposer proposes an operation which should be performed with respect to the terminal device by using the first historical data notified by the first notifier and the second historical data stored in the storage.