RPA Robot Web Application Real-Time Bidirectional Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotic process automation (RPA) technologies face challenges in achieving real-time bidirectional communication between RPA robots and web applications, leading to increased network and processing time, and limiting the ability for users to provide additional inputs during process execution.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that allows RPA robots to initiate and execute primary workflows upon request from web applications, while listening for triggers to start secondary workflows, and returning results to the web application, all in an instantaneous and bi-directional manner.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a new process is executed every time the RPA robot performs work on a web application, then the process can be initiated with fresh inputs, but the network and processing time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system downloads and caches all dependencies and setup requirements in advance before the process actually needs to execute. This preliminary action ensures that when a process is triggered, the robot can immediately execute without waiting for dependency downloads, thus reducing execution time while maintaining the ability to provide fresh inputs for each process instance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a dynamic process execution model where the robot can transition between different operational states (idle, executing, waiting for inputs) within a single process lifecycle. This allows the system to maintain an active process connection for rapid response while only downloading dependencies when actually needed, balancing the trade-off between readiness and resource efficiency
2Productivity
If the process execution is initiated with all inputs provided prior to execution, then the process can run autonomously, but the user cannot send additional inputs during process execution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the web application can send trigger signals to the executing robot process. This feedback loop allows the process to remain autonomous in its core execution while being responsive to external triggers that can initiate additional workflows or modify ongoing operations, thus maintaining productivity while adding adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The process execution is divided into distinct segments: the primary workflow that runs autonomously with initial inputs, and secondary workflows that can be triggered during execution. This segmentation allows the main process to maintain its autonomous productivity while enabling flexible additional inputs through separate triggerable workflows
3Reliability
If the RPA robot downloads all dependencies and setup requirements every time a process is executed, then the process can run with complete setup, but the network and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs dependency downloads and setup configurations in advance, before the process actually needs to execute. This preliminary action ensures that all necessary components are ready and cached, allowing the process to start immediately with complete setup without incurring download time during execution
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a caching mechanism where dependencies and setup requirements are downloaded once, stored for reuse, and only re-downloaded when necessary. This allows the system to maintain reliable complete setup while recovering download time by reusing cached dependencies across multiple process executions
4Ease of operation
If the process is restarted to provide additional inputs, then all inputs can be re-submitted, but the automation efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the workflow into a primary workflow that maintains continuous execution and secondary workflows that can be triggered during execution. This allows additional inputs to be processed through triggerable secondary workflows without restarting the entire process, maintaining automation efficiency while enabling flexible input provision
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous process execution through the primary workflow while allowing triggerable secondary workflows to inject additional inputs. This continuity eliminates the need to stop and restart the process, preserving automation efficiency while enabling the ability to provide additional inputs during execution
Data Source
AI summary
To performing real-time bidirectional communication between robotic process automation (RPA) robots and a web application, a robot initiates execution of a primary workflow when a request is received from a web application. The robot then listens for one or more triggers from the web application to start execution of a secondary workflow, and executes the secondary workflow when the one or more triggers are detected. The robot also returns a result of the execution of the secondary workflow to the web application.