GRAPHICAL INTERFACE FOR DISPLAY OF ASSETS IN AN ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20080077512A1
• Filed: 09/27/2006
• Published: 03/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Grewal, Ardaman Singh
• Granted Patent: US 8,370,224 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/05 Programmable logic controllers, e.g. simulating logic interconnections of signals according to ladder diagrams or function charts
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/418 Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM]
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31396 Business management, production, document, asset, regulatory management, high level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/80 Database-specific techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method that facilitates employing a graphical user interface to monitor and/or manage an asset within an industrial environment. A graphical user interface can facilitate asset management including a first field that provides a user with a hierarchical representation of assets within an industrial environment. The graphical user interface can further include a second field that displays available management functionality associated with an asset selected within the first field.

Claims

1. A graphical user interface that facilitates asset management, comprising:

a first field that provides a user with a hierarchical representation of assets within an industrial environment; and

a second field that displays available management functionality associated with an asset selected within the first field.

2. The graphical user interface of claim 1, the hierarchical representation of assets is based at least in part upon a physical location of the asset within the industrial environment.

3. The graphical user interface of claim 1, the hierarchical representation of assets is based at least in part upon an industry standard which can be at least one of ISA, S95, ISA, and S88.

4. The graphical user interface of claim 1, the hierarchical representation of assets is based at least in part upon a proprietary hierarchy that is provided by an enterprise.

5. The graphical user interface of claim 1, the asset is at least one of a physical device, software, and a firmware.

6. The graphical user interface of claim 5, the physical device is at least one of a programmable logic controller, a pump, a press, a valve, a drain, a heater, a cooler, a switch, a sensor, and a conveyor.

7. The graphical user interface of claim 1, the management functionality relates to at least one of validating an asset, backing up an asset, archiving data associated with an asset, updating an asset with new software, updating an asset with new firmware, updating an asset with additional software, and updating an asset with additional firmware.

8. The graphical user interface of claim 1, the user requests a representation of the asset by at least one of a pointing and clicking technique, an input device, a touch-screen, a voice command, and software associated with selecting the representation of the asset.

9. The graphical user interface of claim 1, the hierarchical representation of assets allows the management functionality to permeate through lower levels of the hierarchy.

10. The graphical user interface of claim 1, further comprising an asset graphic that provides at least one of a geographic map identifying a location of the asset, a graphic illustrating the selected asset, and a graphic of a particular upper-level asset to allow the user to navigate the assets within the industrial environment.

11. The graphical user interface of claim 1, further comprising at least one graphical button.

12. The graphical user interface of claim 11, the graphical button executes functionality for the selected asset and available functionality.

13. The graphical user interface of claim 11, the graphical button provides an update related to a change to at least one of the asset, an asset functionality, the hierarchical representation of assets, an asset graphic, and data associated with the industrial environment.

14. The graphical user interface of claim 11, the graphical button provides details associated with at least one of the asset, an asset functionality, the hierarchical representation of assets, an asset graphic, and data associated with the industrial environment.

15. A system that facilitates asset management, comprising:

an industrial environment including an asset; and

a graphical user interface component displays assets and manages functionality of assets based at least in part upon a received user input.

16. The system of claim 15, the asset is at least one of a physical device, software, and a firmware.

17. The system of claim 15, the physical device is at least one of a programmable logic controller, a pump, a press, a valve, a drain, a heater, a cooler, a switch, a sensor, and a conveyor.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising a data repository that retains a hierarchical representation of assets within the industrial environment.

20. The system of claim 19, the hierarchical representation of assets is based at least in part upon a physical location of the asset within the industrial environment.

21. The system of claim 19, the hierarchical representation of assets is based at least in part upon an industry standard which can be at least one of ISA, S95, ISA, and S88.

22. The system of claim 19, the hierarchical representation of assets is based at least in part upon a proprietary hierarchy that is provided by an enterprise.

23. The system of claim 19, further comprising a detection component that ascertains at least one of when an asset has been added to the industrial environment, when an asset has been removed from the industrial environment, when an asset has been updated within the industrial environment.

24. The system of claim 23, the asset includes sufficient intelligence to initiate a message to the detection component, wherein such message can include at least one of a type of the asset, an identity of the asset, a location upon a network of the asset, and an associated asset.

25. The system of claim 23, the asset utilizes an identification data to detect and maintain alterations of an asset within the industrial environment.

26. The system of claim 23, further comprising an updating component that updates the hierarchical representation of assets within the data repository based upon an alteration determined by the detection component.

27. The system of claim 26, the graphical user interface utilizes at least one of a graphic and an alert to reflex an update in relation to at least one of the hierarchical representation of assets within the data repository and the assets within the industrial environment.

28. The system of claim 19, the data repository includes at least one electronic document that is associated with an asset employed within the industrial environment.

29. The system of claim 28, the electronic documents are descriptive of at least at one of an operation of assets, and operation instructions.

30. The system of claim 15, further comprising a security component that ascertains authorization related to at least one of an asset to request and a functionality to implement via the graphical user interface component.

18. The system 15, the management functionality relates to at least one of validating an asset, backing up an asset, archiving data associated with an asset, updating an asset with new software, updating an asset with new firmware, updating an asset with additional software, and updating an asset with additional firmware.

31. A method that facilitates asset management and observation, comprising:

representing assets within an industrial environment in an hierarchical manner based upon a characteristic;

employing a graphical user interface to provide at least one of asset management functionality and asset monitoring; and

receiving an input to select at least one asset to employ at least one of monitoring of the selected asset and managing of the selected asset.

32. The method of claim 31, the hierarchical manner is based at least in part upon a physical location of the asset within the industrial environment.

33. The method of claim 31, the hierarchical manner is based at least in part upon an industry standard which can be at least one of ISA, S95, ISA, and S88.

34. The method of claim 31, the hierarchical manner is based at least in part upon a proprietary hierarchy that is provided by an enterprise.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

providing an asset graphic respective to a selected asset;

listing available functionality respective to a selected asset;

allowing details related to data associated with the graphical user interface to be displayed; and

allowing updates related to data associated with the graphical user interface to be displayed.

36. The method of claim 31, the asset is at least one of a physical device, software, and a firmware.

37. The method of claim 36, the physical device is at least one of a programmable logic controller, a pump, a press, a valve, a drain, a heater, a cooler, a switch, a sensor, and a conveyor.

38. The method of claim 31, the management functionality relates to at least one of validating an asset, backing up an asset, archiving data associated with an asset, updating an asset with new software, updating an asset with new firmware, updating an asset with additional software, and updating an asset with additional firmware.

39. A computer-implemented system that facilitates asset management, comprising:

means for representing at least one asset from an industrial environment in a hierarchical representation;

means for employing a graphical user interface to manage the assets;

means for employing the graphical user interface to observe the assets; and

means for initiating management functionality to at least one selected asset.