DYNAMIC PROCEDURE SELECTION

• US 20080147207A1
• Filed: 09/29/2006
• Published: 06/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Kalan, Michael D., Hood, Gavan W., Chand, Sujeet, Hall, Kenwood H., D'Mura, Paul R., Plache, Kenneth S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,078,296 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/20
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/056 Programming the PLC

Abstract

A dynamic selection component for an industrial automation system is provided. The system includes one or more abstraction layers that are executed by a controller, the abstraction layers specify higher level requirements of a process. At least one execution layer is provided that is responsive to the abstraction layers, where the execution layer includes one or more process components that are dynamically selectable at runtime in view of the higher level requirements of the process.

Claims

1. A dynamic selection component for an industrial automation system, comprising:

one or more abstraction layers that are executed by a controller, the abstraction layers specify higher level requirements of a process; and

at least one execution layer that is responsive to the abstraction layers, the execution layer having one or more process components that are dynamically selectable at runtime in view of the higher level requirements of the process.

2. The system of claim 1, the higher level requirements are adjusted via one or more process variables, process conditions, process requests, process parameters, or process requirements.

3. The system of claim 1, the abstraction layers and the execution layer are executed on at least one production management computer or at least one programmable logic controller.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a protocol that is employed to communicate requirements of the abstraction layers to at least one other layer or between the abstraction layers.

5. The system of claim 4, the protocol is employed to determine an execution path for the abstraction layers.

6. The system of claim 5, the execution path is determined from control components associated with abstraction layers and the execution layer.

7. The system of claim 6, the execution path is adjusted based in part on process variables that are communicated between abstraction layers or to the execution layer.

8. The system of claim 7, the process variables are passed between layers to alter execution of components within a given layer or alter selection of components further down in the chain of layers.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a component to pass over one or more layers of an execution path and to pass thru variables between layers to alter system execution dynamics.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more parameters that are employed to alter an execution path, the parameters include at least one of an environmental parameter, a chemical parameter, a material parameter, and a material requirement parameter.

11. The system of claim 10, the material requirement parameter is employed to initiate a sub-procedure to produce a material that is employed in a subsequent mixture.

12. The system of claim 1, the execution layer includes a procedure layer.

13. The system of claim 1, the abstraction layers or the execution layer is executed via at least one module per layer.

14. The system of claim 13, the module is associated with resources that include active or passive resources.

15. The system of claim 13, the module includes at least one other nested module.

16. The system of claim 13, the module includes standard module behaviors and attribute patterns that are represented using common data model representations for module classes, module templates, and module inheritance.

17. The system of claim 13, the module can include an instance, a bound instance, a deployed instance, or an activated instance.

18. The system of claim 13, the module includes one or more attributes, the attributes include one or more properties, the properties include faults, status, and module availability.

19. The system of claim 13, the module includes command interfaces that include I/O mapping and material management logic routines.

20. The system of claim 13, the modules communicate via one or more system messages that allow modules to listen for and publish data model messages to external components.

21. A computer readable medium having a data structure stored thereon to facilitate process execution in an industrial automation environment, comprising:

a first data field to specify at least one segment associated with a process;

a second data field to specify at least one module associated with the process; and

a third data field that binds the at least one segment with the at least one module.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, the third data field is associated with at least one component of a control module.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 21, further comprising at least one process parameter field to control the at least one module.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 21, further comprising a resource module to provide coordination of services.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 24, the resource module further comprising an equipment module, a management module, a personnel module, a segment module, or a storage module.

26. A method to select industrial control procedures, comprising:

mapping upper level requirements of a control process to one or more abstract layers;

mapping lower levels of the control process to one or more execution layers; and

selecting execution components from the abstract layers or the execution layers based in part on process parameters associated with the control process.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising combining defining one or more modules to perform the abstract layers or the execution layers.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising executing different paths between the abstract layers or the execution layers based on the process parameters.

29. The method of claim 26, the process parameters include at least one of an environmental parameter, a chemical parameter, a material parameter, and a material requirement parameter.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising dynamically binding components of the abstraction layers or components of the execution layers at process runtime.

31. The method of claim 26, further comprising recording a production execution path and inputs that affected the production execution path.

32. The method of claim 26, further comprising generating multiple candidate production execution paths and selecting at least one path based on evaluation rules or options that are presented to an operator.

33. A process control system, comprising:

means for specifying upper level requirements of a process;

means for specifying lower level execution requirements of the process; and

means for binding the upper level requirements to the lower level execution requirements at process runtime.