Virtual Machine RPA Execution Across Different Operating Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Robotic Process Automation (RPA) systems face administrative complexity and limited scalability due to the need for preinstalled software robots on specific devices and operating system dependencies, restricting the deployment and processing capabilities.
Innovation Solution
An RPA system that decouples bot creation and execution from device-specific constraints by using a centralized control room to manage task processing instructions, allowing software robots to operate across different operating systems and devices, with a node manager providing a user interface for task execution and status updates, and utilizing virtual machines to execute tasks on platform-independent languages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If software robots are preinstalled on specific devices with device-specific constraints, then bot creation and execution can be performed, but administrative complexity increases and scalability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a virtual machine as an intermediary layer between the bot creator/executor and the underlying device operating system. The virtual machine provides a platform-independent runtime environment that executes bot bytecode, eliminating the need for device-specific RPA software installations. This intermediary abstraction allows bots to run on any device with a compatible virtual machine, significantly reducing administrative complexity while maintaining bot creation and execution capabilities.
2Productivity
If software robots operate at application level with operating system dependencies, then tasks can be executed identically to human users, but the system becomes operating system dependent and deployment cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal bot execution environment through the virtual machine that can run bots across multiple operating systems (Windows, Linux, macOS) and devices. The bot bytecode is compiled to be platform-independent, allowing the same bot to execute on any device with the compatible virtual machine runtime. This universality maintains task execution capability while dramatically improving operating system compatibility and reducing deployment costs by eliminating the need for OS-specific bot versions.
3Power
If RPA software is preinstalled on devices with higher processing capabilities, then bot execution performance is improved, but deployment cost increases and devices with lower processing capabilities cannot be utilized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the execution parameter from native machine code requiring specific hardware capabilities to bytecode that can be interpreted by a virtual machine. This parameter change allows bots to execute on devices with varying processing capabilities. The virtual machine handles the complexity of bot execution, enabling even devices with lower processing power to run bots effectively, thereby expanding device compatibility while maintaining acceptable execution performance.
Data Source
AI summary
Computerized robotic process automation (RPA) methods and systems that increase the flexibility and lower the cost with which RPA systems may be deployed are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an RPA system and method avoids the need for preinstalled RPA software on a device employed by a user to create and/or execute software robots to perform RPA. In another embodiment, an RPA system and method provides a capability to execute software robots that may have been encoded in one or more programming languages to execute on an operating system different than that employed by a server of the RPA system.