Portable Display Guidance for Fault Location in Industrial Equipment

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Solution Overview

Problem

In industrial control environments, identifying faulty components or those requiring maintenance in complex machinery is challenging and time-consuming, especially for inexperienced users, as conventional methods rely on visual alerts that require manual location of issues within large and intricate systems.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that utilize a portable graphical display device to determine its position and orientation relative to industrial equipment, visualizing control information in real-time on the device, allowing users to easily identify components needing maintenance or replacement by overlaying this information onto a three-dimensional model or camera image of the equipment.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If conventional alert systems are used to indicate maintenance needs, then users receive notification of faults, but users spend excessive time locating faulty components in complex machinery

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefault location informationVSAvoidtime to locate faulty component
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates a visual copy or representation of the complex machinery displayed on the portable device screen, showing the spatial relationships and positions of all components. This visual copy allows users to immediately identify the faulty component's location without physically searching through the actual complex machinery, directly resolving the contradiction between providing fault information and reducing location time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Loss of information

If detailed control information is displayed on fixed visualization screens, then all control data is available, but users must manually navigate to equipment to identify specific components

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontrol information availabilityVSAvoidease of component identification
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The portable graphical display device serves as an intermediary between the fixed visualization screen system and the user. It captures control information from the industrial control system and presents it in a portable, on-site format that maintains spatial context, allowing users to identify components easily while carrying the information to the actual equipment location.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system transitions control information display from a fixed two-dimensional screen location to a portable device that can be moved through three-dimensional space alongside the user. This allows the control information to maintain its spatial relationship with the physical equipment while being accessible at different locations, resolving the contradiction between information availability and ease of component identification.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Productivity

If simple alert messages are displayed, then users receive quick notifications, but inexperienced users cannot reliably identify components without detailed visual guidance

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenotification speedVSAvoidreliability of component identification
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides different levels of information detail in different contexts within the same interface. Simple alert messages provide quick notification, while the accompanying visual representation of the equipment provides detailed component location guidance. This local differentiation of information quality allows inexperienced users to both receive quick notifications and reliably identify components using the visual cues provided at specific locations in the display.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP3367197B1A method and system for monitoring an industrial equipment
Publication Date: 2021.09.22 CODESYS HLDG GMBH
  • EP3367197B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3367197B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3367197B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A method for monitoring an industrial equipment comprises the steps of determining a position and/or an orientation of a portable graphical display device relative to an industrial equipment, and visualizing control information relating to said industrial equipment on a graphical display of said graphical display device in accordance with said determined position and/or orientation.