Plant floor event protocol and schema

• US 20090254573A1
• Filed: 04/04/2008
• Published: 10/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust), GM Global Technology Operations Incorporated (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Dufrin, Phillip A., Wojciechowski, Steven, Barajas, Leandro G., Carpenter, Michael D.
• Application Number:
  US12/062,572
• Publication Number:
  US 20090254573A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/027 Alarm generation, e.g. communication protocol; Forms of alarm

Abstract

A method is provided for managing information on a plant floor, and includes recording a definition file, such as an extended markup language (XML) schema, in a source device, and generating a plant floor event (PFE) message as a bit array or string array. The PFE message transfers from the source device to a host device or other appliance. The method then includes executing at least one action in response to the PFE message. A system is also provided for managing information on a plant floor, and includes a PLC that generates a PFE message as a bit or string array. The system includes an alarm database, and automatically propagates the PFE message upward from the PLC to a host device, such as a server, a database, or a display device, and automatically executes an action in response to the PFE message.

Claims

1. A method for managing information on a plant floor, the method comprising:

recording a schema in a first memory location of a source device;

generating a first plant floor event (PFE) message corresponding to at least one of an internal process variable and an external input variable, wherein the first PFE message is a set of information having a structure defined by the schema;

automatically transferring the first PFE message from the source device to a second memory location of a host device when at least one value of the first PFE message changes from a known value; and

executing at least one action in response to the first PFE message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein executing at least one action includes at least one of transmitting a second PFE message from the host device to the source device and activating an alarm.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the first PFE message and the second PFE message is selected from the group consisting of a production count, an alarm status, a process status, a progress indicator, a device configuration status, and a reconfiguration command.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the source device is configured as a first programmable logic controller (PLC) having a human-machine interface (HMI).

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the schema is a known schema stored within the host device;

and

automatically recording the schema within the host device when the schema is not among the known schema.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein recording the schema includes recording an extended markup language (XML) schema.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a first PFE message includes encoding the set of information as one of a bit array and a string array.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the host device is selected from the group consisting of a server, a data acquisition (DAQ) system, an information database, a PLC device, and a display device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the first PFE message includes assigning a code uniquely identifying an event type of the first PFE message.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the event type is selected from the group consisting of an electronic handshake, an electronic heartbeat, an IP address, a reset event, a time synchronization event, a resource event, an alarm event, a counter event, a record event, a schema event, and an ad-hoc event.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein executing at least one includes altering a configuration of at least one of the source device and the host device.

12. A method for managing information on a plant floor using a plurality of computing devices, the method comprising:

recording an extended markup language (XML) schema in a first one of the plurality of computing devices;

encoding a plurality of different information pieces as one of a bit array and a string array having a structure defining a first plant floor event (PFE) message, the first PFE message having a structure defined by the XML schema;

automatically transferring the information pieces from the first computing device to a second one of the plurality of computing devices without hardcoding the second computing device, to thereby render the method self-configuring;

automatically transferring the XML schema from the first computing device to the second computing device when the XML schema is an unknown schema without providing a pre-established fixed packet structure in the second computing system, to thereby render the method self-describing; and

executing at least one action in response to the first PFE message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein executing at least one action includes at least one of transmitting a second PFE message from the second computing device to the first computing device and activating an alarm.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each the first and second computing devices is selected from the group consisting of a programmable logic controller (PLC), a portable digital assistant (PDA), a human-machine interface (HMI), a database, an electronic appliance, and a Turing machine.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

defining an unknown PFE message in the first computing device, the unknown PFE message being one of a new PFE message and a modified PFE message; and

automatically mapping the unknown PFE message from the first computing device to a second memory location of the second computing device and to a third memory location of a third computing device in response to the unknown PFE message.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein executing at least one action in response to the first PFE message includes at least one of recording an alarm in an alarm database and transmitting a message between the second computing device and the first computing device.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein executing at least one action in response to the PFE message includes activating a display device.

18. An information management system for use on a plant floor, the system comprising:

a programmable logic controller (PLC) having a definition file for defining a data structure for a plant floor event (PFE) message, the PLC being configured for generating the PFE message in response to at least one of an internal process variable and an external input variable;

an alarm database in electrical communication with the PLC, the alarm database being configured for storing a plurality of different alarm codes; and

a host device in electrical communication with the PLC;

wherein the system is self-configurable by being adapted for automatically propagating the PFE message from the PLC to the host device, and is self-defining by being adapted for automatically propagating a change in the definition file to the host device; and

wherein the system is configured for executing at least one action in response to the PFE message.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the host device is selected from the group consisting of another PLC, a server, data acquisition system, a storage device, and a display device.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one action is selected from the group consisting transmitting a second PFE message from the host device to the PLC device and activating an alarm.