SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MONITORING AN INDUSTRIAL PLANT

• US 20160282872A1
• Filed: 01/11/2016
• Published: 09/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Ahmed, Syed Nabil, Boggaram Krishna Prasad, Harsha Rahul, Subramanian, Periaswamy, Pandian, Alaguraja, Ramachandran, Nivashkumar
• Granted Patent: US 9,845,164 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 47/08 Arrangements of cameras
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/10 autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/102 specially adapted for vertical take-off of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/106 Change initiated in response to external conditions, e.g. avoidance of elevated terrain or of no-fly zones

Abstract

This disclosure is related to an industrial plant monitoring system configured to monitor equipment an industrial plant. The industrial plant monitoring system includes one or more processors, an autonomous vehicle including at least one sensor, a plant information management system including a navigation module, a communication module, and an analysis module. The navigation module is configured to retrieve a trajectory from a trajectory database. The sensors present on the autonomous vehicle are configured to collect sensor data related to the equipment. The communication module is configured to receive the sensor data from sensors and transmit the sensor data to a plant information management system. The analysis module is configured to receive the sensor data from the communication module, the analysis module being configured to detect an event related to the industrial plant based on the sensor data and historic sensor data.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring an industrial plant, comprising:

retrieving, by a navigation module, a trajectory from a trajectory database,

navigating, by the navigation module, an autonomous vehicle to a waypoint present in the trajectory, wherein the waypoint is identified with respect to a model of the industrial plant;

collecting sensor data, by at least one sensor on the autonomous vehicle;

receiving the sensor data, by a communication module, from the at least one sensor;

transmitting, by the communication module, the sensor data to an analysis module; and

detecting, by the analysis module, an event related to the industrial plant based on historic sensor data and non-historic sensor data, wherein the non-historic sensor data is the received sensor data.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising comparing the non-historic sensor data with the historic sensor data to identify a deviation between the historic sensor data and non-historic sensor data.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the event is detected based on a magnitude of the deviation identified.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, further comprising generating a recommended action corresponding to the magnitude of the deviation identified.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more waypoints associated with a trajectory travelled by the autonomous vehicle.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle is one of an unmanned aerial vehicle and an unmanned ground vehicle.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising identifying the waypoint using at least one visual marker located at the waypoint.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the visual marker comprises optical machine-readable data.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waypoint is at least one of a plant safety zone and a location of equipment in the industrial plant.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is at least one of an infrared camera, a gas analyser, a vibration sensor, a sound sensor, an ultrasound sensor, and a Radio-Frequency Identification tag reader.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to communicate with a field device in the industrial plant using near field communication (NFC).

12. An industrial plant monitoring system configured to monitor an industrial plant, the industrial plant monitoring system comprising:

one or more processors;

a navigation module configured to;

retrieve a trajectory from a trajectory database; and

navigate an autonomous vehicle including at least one sensor to a waypoint using the trajectory, wherein the waypoint is identified with respect to a model of the industrial plant;

a communication module configured to receive sensor data from the at least one sensor; and

an analysis module configured to;

receive the sensor data from the communication module,

detect an event related to the industrial plant based on historic sensor data and non-historic sensor data, wherein the non-historic sensor data is the received sensor data,

wherein the navigation module, the communication module and the analysis module are implemented by the one or more processors.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the navigation module is configured to identify the waypoint using at least one visual marker present at the waypoint.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the visual marker comprises optical machine-readable data.

15. The system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a Human Machine Interface (HMI) for configuring a trajectory travelled by the autonomous vehicle, wherein the trajectory is associated with one or more waypoints.

16. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the navigation module is configured to generate an alert to a Human Machine Interface in response to an external interference to the movement of the autonomous vehicle in the trajectory.

17. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the communication module is configured to transmit the received sensor data when the autonomous vehicle is located in at least one waypoint.

18. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the communication module is configured to transmit the sensor data using at least one of Wireless Local Area Network, Wireless Mobile Network, or Bluetooth protocol.

19. The system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising:

the autonomous vehicle comprises the at least one sensor.

20. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the autonomous vehicle further comprises the navigation module and the communication module.

21. The system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of an infrared camera, a gas analyser, a vibration sensor, a sound sensor, an ultrasound sensor, and a Radio Frequency Identification tag reader.

23. The autonomous vehicle as claimed in claim 20, wherein the communication module is further configured to transmit the sensor data to a master database.

24. The autonomous vehicle as claimed in claim 20, further comprising a camera configured to capture a video clip of the waypoint.

22. An autonomous vehicle configured to communicate with a plant information management system comprising an analysis module and a trajectory database, the autonomous vehicle comprising:

a navigation module configured to;

retrieve a trajectory from the trajectory database; and

navigate the autonomous vehicle to a waypoint using the retrieved trajectory, wherein the waypoint is identified with respect to a model of the industrial plant;

at least one sensor configured to collect sensor data; and

a communication module configured to communicate with the at least one sensor and transmit the sensor data to the analysis module.