Method And System For Monitoring An Industrial System Involving An Eye Tracking System

• US 20130282151A1
• Filed: 06/18/2013
• Published: 10/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG (ABB Limited)
• Original Assignee: ABB Research Ltd. (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Timsjo, Susanne, Olausson, Martin
• Granted Patent: US 9,575,488 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/80
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35427 User controls machine with eye motion, activates icons on display
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/027 Alarm generation, e.g. communication protocol; Forms of alarm
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence

Abstract

A method for notifying at least a first condition in an industrial system by way of a monitoring system in order to draw the attention of an operator monitoring the industrial system to the at least one condition. The method includes displaying the first condition in a first portion of a display screen of the monitoring system, determining by eye tracking an area where a user focuses on the display screen, the area where the user focuses differing from the first portion, and alerting the user of the first condition in order to allow the user to be notified of the first condition in the industrial system. A monitoring system is also presented herein.

Claims

1. A method for notifying at least a first condition in an industrial system, the first condition being abnormal behavior in the industrial system, by means of a monitoring system, the method comprising:

displaying the first condition in a first portion of a display screen of the monitoring system,

determining by means of eye-tracking an area where a user focuses on the display screen, and if the area where the user focuses differs from the first portion,

alerting the user of the first condition in order to allow the user to be notified of the first condition in the industrial system, wherein the alerting comprises magnifying at least one object displayed in the first portion of the display screen.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising:

verifying that the user has been notified of the first condition by detecting a user action, and

returning to a normal viewing mode of the display screen.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alerting comprises setting off an audible alarm.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alerting comprises setting off a visual alarm on the display screen.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising:

displaying a second condition of the industrial system in a second portion of the display screen, the second portion differing from the area where the user focuses, and

magnifying at least one object displayed in the second portion of the display screen.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the magnified at least one object in the first and the second portions are displayed on the display screen simultaneously.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5, comprising determining a weight parameter for each of the first and the second condition, wherein the step of magnifying is first performed for those objects which are associated with that condition of the first and second condition which has a weight parameter corresponding to a more severe condition in the industrial system.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnifying comprises magnifying the at least one object so that it covers substantially the entire display screen.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of alerting only occurs when the first portion and the area where the user focuses differs.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising receiving data from the industrial system, the data comprising information of the first condition of the industrial system.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium on which computer executable code is stored, which computer executable code when executed performs a method for notifying at least a first condition in an industrial system, the first condition being abnormal behavior in the industrial system, by means of a monitoring system, the method comprising:

displaying the first condition in a first portion of a display screen of the monitoring system,

determining by means of eye-tracking an area where a user focuses on the display screen, and if the area where the user focuses differs from the first portion,

alerting the user of the first condition in order to allow the user to be notified of the first condition in the industrial system, wherein the alerting comprises magnifying at least one object displayed in the first portion of the display screen.

12. A monitoring system for monitoring an industrial system, the monitoring system comprising:

an input unit arranged to receive data from the industrial system, the data comprising information of a first condition of the industrial system, the first condition being abnormal behavior of the industrial system,

a display device having a display screen arranged to display the first condition of the industrial system in a first portion of the display screen,

an eye-tracking unit arranged to determine an area where a user of the monitoring system focuses on the display screen, and

a processor arranged to provide an alert to the monitoring system so as to notify the user of the first conditioning when the area where the user focuses differs from the first portion of the display screen, wherein the processor is arranged to magnify objects in the first portion of the display screen to thereby provide the alert.