Distributed historian architecture and interfaces

• US 7,738,973 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2006
• Issued: 06/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: McGreevy, Robert J., Herbst, Robert J., Hartman, Justin R., Sadowski, Deborah A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett; Ryan A
• Application Number:
  US11/536,369
• Publication Number:
  US 20070112447A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,356 Days
• Field of Search: 700/17, 700/83, 702/187
• US Class Current: 700/17
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4183 characterised by data acquisition, e.g. workpiece identification
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31288 Archive collected data into history file
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32389 Reception, assembly, testing, management workorder, schedule, history, file, packing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A distributed historian framework is provided where historical data is collected in accordance with an organizational model of a hierarchical system that is distributed across various elements of an enterprise. A directory service operates with the organizational model to enable configuration of historian components within the organization and to enable data to be located within the organization. In one aspect, an industrial automation system is provided. The system includes at least one historian component to archive data within an organization. A common data model then exposes functionality and data of the organization to the historian component.

Claims

1. An industrial automation system, comprising:

one or more processors;

at least one memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the memory having stored therein computer-executable instructions configured to implement the industrial automation system, including;

a plurality of historian components residing at multiple hierarchical levels of an organization that collect information across the multiple hierarchical levels, wherein information collection functionality performed by a first historian component of the plurality of historian components at a first hierarchical level is shifted to a second historian component of the plurality of historian components on a disparate hierarchical level if information collection resources at the first hierarchical level are determined to be overloaded, wherein at least two of the hierarchical levels comprise a control level and a second level, the second level being a higher level of the organizational hierarchy than the control level;

a user interface comprising at least one display object to display data associated with the plurality of historian components; and

a common data model that manages the information across the multiple hierarchical levels of the organization, wherein the common data model enables the plurality of historian components to expose their respective functionality to other components in the system.

2. The industrial automation system of claim 1, the user interface further comprising a first field that includes a plurality of selectable or expandable entities and a second field that includes data relating to a selected entity.

3. The industrial automation system of claim 2, the first field includes a folder that relates to data collection plans where expansion of the folder reveals an icon that relates to an equipment model.

4. The industrial automation system of claim 2, the second field provides a hierarchical view of an equipment model.

5. The industrial automation system of claim 3, the second field includes an option to add at least one of a new control module or a new data point to a data collection plan and includes a plurality of tabs, wherein selection of one of the plurality of tabs enables provision of plant related data or options.

6. The industrial automation system of claim 5, the user interface further comprising one or more objects allowing a data collection plan to be viewed and configured, the one or more objects facilitating configuration of a data collection rate, an event, and a data collection duration time for the data collection plan.

7. The industrial automation system of claim 6, the user interface further comprising an object that provides a summary of the data collection plan.

8. The industrial automation system of claim 1, the user interface further comprising an object to display and manipulate diagnostic information associated with the plurality of historian components.

9. The industrial automation system of claim 1, the user interface further comprising an object to display and manipulate audit information associated with the plurality of historian components.

10. The industrial automation system of claim 1, the user interface further comprising an object to display and manipulate at least one of alarm or event information associated with the plurality of historian components, where contextual display of event information is overlaid with process data.

11. The industrial automation system of claim 1, the user interface further comprising an object for at least one of reading or generating a report associated with the plurality of historian components.

12. The industrial automation system of claim 11, the user interface further comprising at least one of a time series icon, a histogram icon, an alarm counts icon, or an events icon.

13. The industrial automation system of claim 12, the user interface further comprising an object that displays a graphical analysis of time-series data, where visual characteristics of the graph are configurable per user request.

14. The industrial automation system of claim 13, the user interface further comprising a plurality of time-series tools that include a start and stop time-stamping component.

15. The industrial automation system of claim 1, the user interface further comprising a first component that displays collection data relating to an entirety of a plant and a second component that displays collection data relating to a type of process.

16. The industrial automation system of claim 1, the user interface further comprising a configuration component for a historian application.

17. The industrial automation system of claim 16, the user interface further comprising a field that displays information relating to the historian application, the information including at least one of a connection summary, a duration of a connection, a number of tags or data points associated with the historian application, or data values collected over time.

18. The industrial automation system of claim 1, the user interface further comprising graphical depictions of at least one of alarm sequences, mean time between failures, faults associated with particular shifts, or an alarm summary.

19. The industrial automation system of claim 1, wherein the user interface facilitates embedding at least one micro historian component within a device at the control level of the organization and configuring the at least one micro historian to collect data at the control level.

20. The industrial automation system of claim 19, wherein the user interface facilitates configuration of a plant level of the organization to aggregate the data collected by the at least one micro historian at the plant level, the plant level being higher than the control layer.

21. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable components stored thereon, comprising:

at least one data historian residing on a first hierarchical level of an organization that collects data from the first hierarchical level, the at least one data historian configured to shift data collection functionality to a disparate data historian residing on a second hierarchical level if data collection resources on the first hierarchical level are determined to be overloaded, wherein the first hierarchical level comprises a control level and the second hierarchical level is a higher level of the organizational hierarchy than the control level;

at least a first field to display components of the at least one data historian;

at least a second field to configure the at least one data historian to collect data from at least one of the first hierarchical level or the second hierarchical level; and

a common data model that exposes data associated with the at least one data historian to a disparate data historian.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, the data structure further comprising:

at least a third field that allows at least one micro historian to be embedded within a device residing at the control level of the organization and to be configured to collect data at the control level; and

at least a fourth field that allows an enterprise component to be configured to aggregate the data collected by the at least one micro historian at a level of the organization higher than the control level.

23. An industrial data collection system, comprising:

one or more processors,

at least one memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the at least one memory having stored therein computer-executable instructions configured to implement the data collection system, including;

at least one micro historian component residing on a control level of an organizational hierarchy that collects data from the control level;

at least one second historian component that resides on a second level of the organizational hierarchy, the second level being a higher level of the organizational hierarchy than the control level, wherein data collection functionality is shifted from the at least one micro historian component to the at least one second historian component if it is determined that the at least one micro historian component'"'"'s data collection resources are overloaded;

a first set of user interface screens that display data relating to the at least one micro historian component, at least one of the first set of user interface screens allowing configuration of the at least one micro historian component; and

a second set of user interface screens that display data relating to the at least one second historian component.

24. The industrial data collection system of claim 23, further comprising:

a third set of user interface screens that display data relating to at least one enterprise historian component that aggregates data from at least one of the control level or the second level of the organizational hierarchy.