BACKUP OF AN INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION PLANT IN THE CLOUD

• US 20160274978A1
• Filed: 03/16/2015
• Published: 09/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Strohmenger, John, Korpela, Jessica L., Fordenwalt, Matthew W., Pingel, Jan, Hickox, Stephen L., Weber, Douglas B.
• Granted Patent: US 11,042,131 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/04 involving the use of models or simulators
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data

Abstract

Cloud-based backup provides a back up of an industrial plant comprising an industrial automation system(s) (IAS(s)). A cloud-based backup component comprising a modeler component can generate a model of industrial assets of the IAS(s) and relationships between industrial assets based on information obtained from the industrial assets via cloud gateways, a communication device associated with the IAS(s), or another source. The cloud-based backup component can store the model in a data store to be employed as a backup of the IAS(s) or to be used to configure a new IAS that is the same as or similar to the IAS(s). The model can be stored in the data store in a standardized or an agnostic format, wherein the backup component can translate the model to a format suitable to an IAS for which it is to be implemented based on characteristics associated with the IAS.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory that stores computer-executable components;

a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, that executes computer-executable components, the computer-executable components comprising;

a collection component configured to collect a set of industrial data from a set of devices of an industrial automation system and store the set of industrial data in a data store on a cloud platform to facilitate backing up the industrial automation system on the cloud platform; and

a backup component configured to communicate at least a subset of compatible configuration information or a subset of compatible model data of a model of the industrial automation system to the industrial automation system to facilitate reconfiguring at least a portion of the industrial automation system, wherein the subset of compatible configuration information is determined, and the model is generated, based at least in part on an analysis of the set of industrial data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the collection component, the backup component, or the data store are part of a cloud platform.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the computer-executable components further comprise an interface component configured to interface at least one of the collection component, the backup component, or the data store of the cloud platform with the industrial automation system via a cloud gateway component of the industrial automation system to facilitate communication of the set of industrial data from the industrial automation system to at least one of the collection component, the backup component, or the data store.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein an industrial device of the industrial automation system is integrated with or associated with the cloud gateway component to facilitate communication of a subset of the set of industrial data relating to the industrial device from the industrial device to at least one of the collection component, the backup component, or the data store.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-executable components further comprise a modeler component configured to generate the model of the industrial automation system corresponding to the industrial automation system, based on a result of the analysis of the set of industrial data, to facilitate the backing up of the industrial automation system.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the modeler component is further configured to generate an industrial-device model of an industrial device of the industrial automation system based at least in part on the result of the analysis of a subset of the set of industrial data to facilitate the backing up of the industrial device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the subset of industrial data comprises at least one of a subset of model data of a pre-deployed model that models characteristics and operation of the industrial device, identifier information that facilitates identification of the industrial device, information relating to one or more relationships between the industrial device and one or more other industrial devices or network-related devices associated with the industrial automation system, or information relating to the one or more other industrial devices or network-related devices.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the modeler component is further configured to generate a product model of a product relating to the industrial automation system based at least in part on product design information relating to the product, wherein the product model is stored in the data store on the cloud platform.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the backup component communicates the product model to a product generator component to facilitate generation of at least one product by the product generator component based at least in part on the product model.

10. The system of claim 5, wherein the computer-executable components further comprise a discovery component configured to discover or detect a change to the industrial automation system.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the change to the industrial automation system comprises at least one of an addition of an industrial device or a network-related device to the industrial automation system, a replacement of a first industrial device with a second industrial device in the industrial automation system, a replacement of a first network-related device with a second network-related device in the industrial automation system, a connection modification of a connection associated with the first industrial device or the first network-related device, a parameter modification of a parameter associated with the first industrial device or the first network-related device, or a software or firmware modification of software or firmware associated with the first industrial device or the first network-related device.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein, in response to the change to the industrial automation system, the modeler component modifies the model of the industrial automation system to model the change to the industrial automation system and generates an updated model of the industrial automation system based at least in part on another analysis of change-related industrial data obtained from the industrial automation system in connection with the change.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the backup component receives a set of legacy industrial device data from a communication device that obtains the set of legacy industrial device data from a legacy industrial device that is not associated with a cloud gateway component, wherein the legacy industrial device is part of the industrial automation system.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the legacy industrial device data comprises one or more visual images of the legacy industrial device captured by the communication device, or device information derived from the one or more visual images of the legacy industrial device captured by the communication device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein at least one of the backup component or the communication device employs a recognizer technique or an optical character recognition technique to facilitate deriving at least a portion of the legacy industrial device data from the one or more visual images.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the backup component is further configured to process the set of industrial data to generate a set of configuration information in an agnostic or standardized format or process a set of model data of the model to structure the set of model data in an agnostic or standardized format, and the data store is further configured to store the set of configuration information in the agnostic or standardized format or the set of model data in an agnostic or standardized format.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein at least one of a subset of the set of configuration information or a subset of the set of model data is associated with an industrial device of the industrial automation system, and at least one of the subset of the configuration information or the subset of model data is agnostic with respect to at least one of a manufacturer of the industrial device or an operational platform associated with the industrial device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the backup component is further configured to determine characteristics of the industrial device, based at least in part on a subset of the set of industrial data relating to the industrial device, and translate at least one of the subset of configuration information or the subset of model data to at least one of the subset of compatible configuration information or the subset of compatible model data based at least in part on a translation result of an analysis of the characteristics of the industrial device, wherein at least one of the subset of compatible configuration information or the subset of compatible model data is compatible with the industrial device to facilitate configuration of the industrial device.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the backup component is further configured to determine other characteristics of another industrial device of another industrial automation system, based at least in part on another subset of industrial data relating to the other industrial device, and translate at least one of the subset of configuration information or the subset of model data to at least one of a subset of other compatible configuration information or a subset of other compatible model data based at least in part on another translation result of an analysis of the other characteristics of the other industrial device.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the backup component is further configured to communicate at least one of the subset of other compatible configuration information or the subset of other compatible model data to the other industrial device via a cloud gateway component associated with the other industrial device to facilitate configuring the other industrial device based at least in part on the subset of other compatible configuration information, wherein at least one of the subset of other compatible configuration information or the subset of other compatible model data is compatible with the other industrial device to facilitate the configuring of the other industrial device.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of industrial data comprises at least one of data relating to an industrial device of the set of devices, data relating to an industrial process associated with the set of devices, data relating to an industrial asset, data relating to a network-related device of the set of devices that facilitates data communications associated with the industrial automation system, data relating to at least one interrelationship between the at least one device and at least one other device of the set of devices, data relating to an operating system associated with the industrial automation system, data relating to software associated with the industrial automation system, or data relating to firmware associated with the industrial automation system.

22. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a system comprising a processor, a set of industrial data from a set of devices of an industrial automation system for storage in a data store on a cloud platform associated with the industrial automation system to facilitate backing up the industrial automation system on the cloud platform; and

downloading, by the system, at least a subset of compatible configuration data or a subset of compatible model data of a model of the industrial automation system to the industrial automation system to facilitate reconfiguring at least a portion of the industrial automation system, wherein the subset of compatible configuration data is determined, and the model is generated, based at least in part on analyzing the set of industrial data.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

interfacing, by the system, the cloud platform, comprising the data store, with the industrial automation system to facilitate communicating information between the industrial automation system and the cloud platform, wherein the information comprises the set of industrial data, the subset of compatible configuration data, or the subset of compatible model data; and

monitoring, by the system, the industrial automation system via the interfacing to facilitate the receiving of the set of industrial data from the set of devices of the industrial automation system.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

generating, by the system, the model of the industrial automation system, based at least in part on a result of the analyzing of the set of industrial data, to facilitate the backing up of the industrial automation system, wherein the model corresponds to the industrial automation system.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the receiving the set of industrial data from the set of devices further comprises receiving a subset of the set of industrial data from an industrial device of the industrial automation system via a cloud gateway device, wherein the subset of industrial data relates to the industrial device of the industrial automation system.

26. The method of claim 25, the subset of industrial data comprises at least one of a pre-deployed model that models characteristics and operation of the industrial device, identifier information that facilitates identification of the industrial device, information relating to one or more relationships between the industrial device and one or more other industrial devices or network-related devices associated with the industrial automation system, or information relating to the one or more other industrial devices or network-related devices.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the generating the model further comprises generating a sub-model of the industrial device based at least in part on the result of the analyzing the subset of industrial data to facilitate the backing up of the industrial device on the cloud platform, wherein the model comprises the sub-model.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

generating, by the system, a product model of a product relating to the industrial automation system based at least in part on product design data relating to the product; and

storing, by the system, the product model in the data store on the cloud platform.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

downloading, by the system, the product model to a product generator device associated with the cloud platform to facilitate producing the product based at least in part on the product model.

30. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

generating, by the system, at least one of a set of agnostic or standardized configuration data or a set of agnostic or standardized model data associated with the industrial automation system, based at least in part on the analyzing of the set of industrial data, wherein at least one of the set of agnostic or standardized configuration data or the set of agnostic or standardized model data is in an agnostic or standardized format, and wherein the model comprises the set of agnostic or standardized model data.

31. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining, by the system, characteristics of the industrial automation system, based at least in part on the set of industrial data;

translating, by the system, at least one of the set of agnostic or standardized configuration data or the set of agnostic or standardized model data to at least one of a set of compatible configuration data or a set of compatible model data, based at least in part on a translation result of analyzing the characteristics of the industrial automation system, wherein at least one of the set of compatible configuration data or the set of compatible model data is compatible with the industrial automation system to facilitate configuring the industrial automation system, and wherein the set of compatible configuration data comprises the subset of compatible configuration data and the set of compatible model data comprises the subset of compatible model data; and

downloading, by the system, at least one of the set of compatible configuration data or the set of compatible model data to the industrial automation system to facilitate configuring the industrial automation system.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

determining, by the system, other characteristics of another industrial automation system, based at least in part on a set of other industrial data relating to the other industrial automation system;

translating, by the system, at least one of the set of agnostic or standardized configuration data or the set of agnostic or standardized model data to at least one of a set of different compatible configuration data or a set of different compatible model data, based at least in part on another translation result of analyzing the other characteristics of the other industrial automation system, wherein at least one of the set of different compatible configuration data or the set of different compatible model data is compatible with the other industrial automation system to facilitate configuring the other industrial automation system; and

downloading, by the system, at least one of the set of different compatible configuration data or the set of different compatible model data to the other industrial automation system to facilitate configuring the other industrial automation system.

33. The method of claim 22, wherein the set of industrial data comprises at least one of data relating to an industrial device of the set of devices, data relating to an industrial process associated with the set of devices, data relating to an industrial asset, data relating to a network-related device of the set of devices that facilitates data communications associated with the industrial automation system, data relating to at least one interrelationship between the at least one device and at least one other device of the set of devices, data relating to an operating system associated with the industrial automation system, data relating to software associated with the industrial automation system, or data relating to firmware associated with the industrial automation system.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:

aggregating a set of industrial data from a set of devices of an industrial automation system for storage in a data store on a cloud platform associated with the industrial automation system to facilitate backing up the industrial automation system on the cloud platform; and

transmitting compatible configuration data relating to the industrial automation system or compatible model data of a model of the industrial automation system to the industrial automation system to facilitate configuring at least a portion of the industrial automation system, wherein the compatible configuration data is determined, and the model is created, based at least in part on analyzing the set of industrial data.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 34, wherein the operations further comprise:

creating the model of the industrial automation system, based at least in part on the analyzing of the set of industrial data, to facilitate the backing up of the industrial automation system, wherein the model replicates the industrial automation system; and

storing the model in the data store on the cloud platform.