Diagnosis of an automation system

• US 7,779,053 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2006
• Issued: 08/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Weigel, Stefan, Helmig, Dieter, Ritzer, Josef, Beck, Hans-Joachim, Schmuck, Axel, Schlemper, Michael, Becker, Norbert
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital; Pierre M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Liao; Jason
• Application Number:
  US11/375,988
• Publication Number:
  US 20060212268A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,616 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/812
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0248 Causal models, e.g. fault tree; digraphs; qualitative physics

Abstract

The invention relates to a method, a computer program product and an engineering system for creating a diagnostic model of an automation system made up of various automation components. The diagnostic model is generated automatically during the project planning phase of the automation system. Within the diagnostic model the automation components are represented by model nodes. Functional and/or physical relationships between the automation components are mapped by links between the corresponding model nodes within the diagnostic model. Each model node contains status information in which the status of the associated automation component is stored. By evaluating the status information, the status of the automation system can be investigated and monitored with the aid of the diagnostic model.

Claims

1. A method of diagnosing an automation system comprising a plurality of automation components having physical or functional relationship, the method comprising:

creating a diagnostic model having a plurality of nodes, wherein a first component and a second component of the plurality of automation components are assigned to a first and a second of the model nodes respectively;

creating a link between the first and second model nodes within the diagnostic model for modeling the physical or functional relationship between the first and second automation components wherein the diagnostic model comprises a hierarchical tree topology of the automation system;

acquiring within the diagnostic model a first status of the first automation component by a first status information regarding the first model node;

acquiring within the first node of the diagnostic model via the link a second status of the second automation component by a second status information regarding the second model node;

evaluating both the first and second status information in the first node of the diagnostic model for determining a status information about the automation system, wherein the diagnostic model is created automatically by an engineering system during a process of project planning of the automation system executed by the engineering system; and

detecting a faulty automation component from the plurality of automation components within the automation system by using the diagnostic model,

wherein topological links define a hierarchical relationship among the nodes, and a fault indication is advanced in the hierarchical tree topology from a lower level node to a higher level node to present a fault from a lower level node in a top level status information;

wherein the diagnostic model is loaded into the first and/or the second automation component, and activated at run time of the automation system.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first and/or second model nodes comprise an electronic description of the respective automation component.

3. The method in accordance with claim 2, wherein the electronic description comprises a description of possible faults of the respective automation component.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising reading the second status information via the link by the first model node.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising generating an alarm message based on the first and/or second status information by a filter implemented in the first model node.

6. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising indicating a fault by the first status information if the second status information includes information about a fault, wherein the first automation component belongs to a higher functional level compared to the second automation component.

7. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising checking the first status information upon occurrence of an alarm message for tracking a cause of a fault triggering the alarm message, wherein the second status information is only checked if the checked first status information indicates the fault.

8. An engineering system for project planning of an automation system having a plurality of automation components, the engineering system comprising:

a graphical user interface for a user to define a physical and/or functional relationship between a first and a second of the automation components; and

a processing unit configured to;

automatically create a diagnostic model during project planning, wherein the first automation component is assigned to a first model node, the second automation component is assigned to a second model node, and the diagnostic model comprises a hierarchical tree topology of the automation system;

automatically create a link between the first and second model nodes within the diagnosis model based on the user-defined physical and/or functional relationship wherein the diagnostic model is configured to;

record a first status of the first automation component in a first status information assigned to the first model node;

record in the first model node via the link a second status of the second automation component in a second status information assigned to the second model node;

evaluate both the first and second status information within the first model node for determining a status information about the automation system;

detect a faulty automation component from the plurality of automation components within the automation system by using the diagnostic model,

wherein topological links define a hierarchical relationship among the nodes, and a fault indication is advanced in the hierarchical tree topology from a lower level node to a higher level node to present a fault from a lower level node in a top level status information that is visible to a user of the automation system; and

wherein the diagnostic model is loaded into the first and/or the second automation component, and activated at run time of the automation system.

9. The engineering system in accordance with claim 8, wherein the first and/or second model nodes include an electronic description of the respective automation component.

10. The engineering system in accordance with claim 9, wherein the electronic description comprises a description of possible faults of the respective automation component.

11. The engineering system in accordance with claim 8, wherein the processing unit includes a filter implemented in the first model node, the filter configured to generate an message based on the first and/or second status information.

12. The engineering system in accordance with claim 8, wherein the processing unit is configured to indicate a fault by the first status information if the second status information includes information about a fault, wherein the first automation component belongs to a higher functional level compared to the second automation component.

13. The engineering system in accordance with claim 8, wherein the diagnostic model is

loaded into the first and/or the second automation component, and

activated at run time of the automation system.

14. A method for project planning of an automation system having a plurality of automation components interconnected in a hierarchy of physical or functional relationships, wherein the automation system includes a first automation component superior to a second automation component superior to a third automation component, the method comprising:

a user defining a diagnostic model comprising nodes linked in a hierarchical tree topology, wherein each respective node represents, and comprises an electronic description of, an associated component of the automation system, and wherein the hierarchical topology represents physical and/or functional relationships among the automation components;

executing the model in a processing unit of the first automation component; and

assigning status information of the associated component to each respective node;

wherein the third automation component enters a fault indication in a third status information of the third model node, the third status information is then read within the diagnostic model from the second model node, indicating the fault in a second status information of the second model node, the second status information is then read within the diagnostic model from the first model node, indicating the fault in a first status information of the first model node, which then displays an alarm message on the automation system;

wherein the hierarchical tree topology of the diagnostic model enables the model to determine a fault in a given one of the automation components by filtering status information of a hierarchically higher-level component linked to the given automation component;

whereby topological links define a hierarchical relationship among the nodes, and a fault indication is advanced in the hierarchical tree topology from a lower level node through an intermediate node to a higher level node to present a fault from a lower level node in a top level status information; and

wherein the diagnostic model is loaded into the first and/or the second automation component, and activated at run time of the automation system.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising tracing the fault by sorting status information of any subordinates of the first automation component to locate the fault indication in the second status information, and sorting status information of any subordinates of the second automation component to locate the fault indication in the third status information, wherein the hierarchical tree topology of the diagnostic model provides a location of the fault in the third automation component.

16. The method in accordance with claim 14, wherein the filter function is implemented in the first model node, and the filter function generates an alarm message based on the first status information.

17. The method in accordance with claim 14, wherein the processing unit indicates a fault by the first status information if the second status information includes information about a fault.

18. The method in accordance with claim 14, wherein the defining step comprises a user selecting different components of the automation system from a library of automation components in an engineering system via a graphical user interface, and the user relating the selected components to each other via the graphical user interface, wherein the diagnostic model is then created automatically by the engineering system, and wherein the selected automation components are represented by corresponding model nodes in the hierarchical tree topology.