Method of displaying the status of an asset using an external status asset monitor

• US 7,835,807 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2008
• Issued: 11/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG (ABB Limited)
• Original Assignee: ABB Incorporated (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Vesel, Richard W.
• Primary Examiner(s): DeCady; Albert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Garland; Steven R
• Application Number:
  US12/270,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20090134994A1
• Time in Patent Office: 733 Days
• Field of Search: 700/83, 700/80, 340/500, 340/517, 702/185, 709/217
• US Class Current: 700/83
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0216 Human interface functionality, e.g. monitoring system providing help to the user in the selection of tests or in its configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0267 Fault communication, e.g. human machine interface [HMI]

Abstract

A system and method of monitoring assets of an enterprise using a stand-alone software system and a process automation software system are provided. The stand-alone system is operable to generate a web page about a condition of the asset and to transmit data items for the condition in a single data string. The data items include a status of the condition and a URL of the web page. The process automation system includes a human system interface (HSI). An asset monitor in the process automation system is operable to monitor the status of the condition and the HSI is operable to display the data items and the web page from the stand-alone system.

Claims

1. In an industrial enterprise having an asset and a communication network with a plurality of nodes, a method comprising:

at a first node, gathering data about a plurality of conditions of said asset;

at said first node, determining statuses of said conditions from said gathered data; and

for each condition;

at said first node, generating a web page containing information about said condition;

transmitting data items in a single data string from said first node to a second node over the communication network, said data items including status of said condition and a uniform resource locator (URL) for said web page;

receiving said single data string at said second node;

parsing said data string; and

displaying said status from said data string.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying icons representative of URLs, each URL of the URLs is associated with one of said plurality of conditions;

clicking on a first one of said icons representative of a first one of said URLs; and

displaying the web page at said first one of said URLs in response to clicking on said first one of said icons.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said icons for said URLs of said conditions are displayed in a single view.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the icons are color coded to indicate severities of said associated conditions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said first node is part of a stand-alone system for monitoring said asset, and wherein said second node is part of a process automation system.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said parsing is performed in an asset monitor software application in the process automation system.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the enterprise is an industrial enterprise that generates power.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the asset is a motor and the conditions comprise performance, availability and quality.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the process automation system is operable to control the generation of power in the enterprise.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein for each condition, said status is a normal subcondition indicating a normal operating condition of said asset or an abnormal subcondition indicating an abnormal operating condition of said asset, and wherein for each condition, when said status is said abnormal subcondition, said data items for said condition further comprise a possible cause of said abnormal operating condition of said asset and a suggested action to take to remedy said abnormal operating condition.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the data items is performed by a server.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein data items for each condition comprise a subcondition of the condition, a description of the condition, a possible cause of the condition, a suggested cause of action and the URL for the web page, and wherein the subcondition comprises the status.