Industrial automation and information solutions having industry specific modalities

• US 7,966,523 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2008
• Issued: 06/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Weatherhead, N. Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): McCarthy; Christopher S
• Application Number:
  US12/196,105
• Publication Number:
  US 20100050020A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,034 Days
• Field of Search: 714/33
• US Class Current: 714/33
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3664 Environments for testing or debugging software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

The innovation relates to a system and/or methodology for the configuration and creation of industrial automation designs. The system providing for the generation of functional specifications, software and hardware designs, as well as testing and testing schemas. Additionally, the innovation provides a user interface for modification of the designs and specifications.

Claims

1. A system facilitating information solutions, comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the memory having stored therein computer-executable instructions configured to implement the system, including;

a requirements component configured to generate at least one functional specification for an automation project based on one or more specified project requirements;

a software component configured to receive the at least one functional specification and to generate, based at least in part on the at least one functional specification, a software design specification defining at least a sequence of events and at least one exception handling definition for implementing the automation project;

a hardware component configured to receive the at least one functional specification and to generate, based at least in part on the at least one functional specification, a hardware design specification specifying at least one hardware module for implementing the automation project; and

a qualification component configured to verify cohesive operation of the software design specification and the hardware design specification.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the requirements component includes a user requirements component configured to obtain at least one of the one or more specified project requirements.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the software component includes a code component configured to generate at least one software module comprising computer-executable commands for carrying out at least a portion of the automation project based at least in part on the software design specification.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the code component is configured to map at least one functional representation defined by the software design specification to at least one generic template stored in a library and to modify the at least one generic template in accordance with the at least one functional representation to yield the at least one software module.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the software component includes a code testing component configured to test functionality of the computer-executable commands.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the qualification component includes a factory acceptance testing component configured to test at least one of the at least one hardware module or the at least one software module.

7. The system of claim 3, wherein the qualification component includes a site acceptance testing component configured to test at least one of the at least one hardware module or the at least one software module, wherein testing occurs at least one of during or after installation of the automation project.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein the qualification component includes a validation component configured to validate test results generated for at least one of the at least one hardware module or the at least one software module.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the hardware component includes a bill of materials component configured to generate at least one bill of materials listing at least subset of hardware required to implement the automation project based at least in part on the hardware design specification.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the requirements component includes a cost component configured to determine a cost amount for the automation project based at least in part on the one or more specified project requirements.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the functional specification, the software design specification, or the hardware design specification is based at least in part on the cost amount.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the requirements component includes a quality component configured to determine at least one quality goal based at least in part on the one or more specified project requirements.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein at least one of the functional specification, the software design specification, or the hardware design specification is based at least in part on the at least one quality goal.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the software component or the hardware component is configured to generate the software design specification or the hardware design specification to conform to at least one of an industry specific definition, a customer specific definition, an application specific definition, or a project specific definition.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the qualification component is configured to determine a level of testing commensurate with at least one of an industry standard or an application standard and to generate at least one test specification detailing a testing schema for testing operation of at least one of the at least one hardware module or the at least one software module in accordance with the level of testing.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the hardware component is configured to generate the hardware design specification based at least in part on the software design specification.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the functional specification includes at least one of a version, a description, an equipment used listing, a sequence of operations, an exception handling protocol, one or more process inputs, one or more process outputs, one or more process parameters, process data, an operator interaction schema, or sustainability data.

18. The system of claim 1, further comprising a user interface component configured to expose at least one interface that enables user interaction with at least one of the requirements component, the software component, the hardware component, or the qualification component.

19. A method facilitating industrial automation design, comprising:

employing a processor executing computer-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium to implement the following acts;

analyzing at least one specified requirement including information identifying one or more objectives of an industrial project;

generating a functional specification for the industrial project based at least in part on the at least one user requirement;

generating a software design specification illustrating a sequence of events and at least one exception handling routine for implementing the industrial project based at least in part on the functional specification;

generating a hardware design specification specifying at least one hardware module for implementing the industrial project based at least in part on the functional specification; and

testing functionality of at least one of the software design specification or the hardware design specification for correct operation, wherein correct operation is determined at least in part by the functional specification.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising converting the functional specification into computer-executable commands to yield at least one software module.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

mapping at least one functional representation defined by the software design specification to at least one generic software template; and

modifying the at least one software template in accordance with the at least one functional representation to yield the at least one software module.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining a set of quality requirements based at least in part on the at least one specified requirement;

determining a required level of testing based on the set of quality requirements; and

testing functionality of the at least one hardware module and the at least one software module in accordance with the required level of testing.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising generating at least one test specification detailing a testing schema for testing operation of at least one of the at least one hardware module or the at least one software module.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising conducting factory acceptance testing on at least one of the at least one hardware module or the at least one software module.

25. The method of claim 20, further comprising conducting site acceptance testing on the at least one hardware module and the at least one software module at least one of during installation of the industrial project or after installation of the industrial project.

26. The method of claim 20, further comprising validating test results generated for at the least one hardware module or the at least one software module.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising generating a bill of materials listing hardware required to implement the industrial project based at least in part on the hardware design specification.

28. The method of claim 19, further comprising determining a cost amount for the industrial project based at least in part on the at least one specified requirement.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising generating at least one of the functional specification, the software design specification, or the hardware design specification as a function of the cost amount.

30. The method of claim 19, further comprising determining at least one quality goal based at least in part on the at least one specified requirements.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising generating at least one of the functional specification, the software design specification, or the hardware design specification as a function of the at least one quality goal.

32. The method of claim 19, further comprising generating at least one of the software design specification or the hardware design specification to conform to at least one of an industry-specific definition, a customer-specific definition, an application-specific definition, a site specific definition, or a project-specific definition.

33. The method of claim 19, further comprising generating the hardware design specification based at least in part on the software design specification.

34. The method of claim 19, further comprising determining the functional specification based at least in part on at least one of a version, a description, an equipment used listing, a sequence of operations, an exception handling protocol, one or more process inputs, one or more process outputs, one or more process parameters, process data, an operator interaction schema, or sustainability data.

35. The method of claim 19, further comprising enabling modification of at least one of the functional specification, the software design specification, computer code, the hardware design specification, a bill of materials, or an installation specification via a user interface.

36. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, in response to execution by a computer, direct the computer to:

determine one or more project requirements for an automation project;

generate at least one functional specification for the automation project based at least in part on the one or more project requirements;

generate a software design specification defining at least a sequence of events and at least one exception handling definition based at least in part on the at least one functional specification;

generate at least one software module comprising computer-executable commands based on the software design specification;

generate a hardware design specification identifying at least one hardware module for implementing the automation project based at least in part on the functional specification; and

test at least one of the software design specification, the hardware design specification, or the computer-executable commands for correct operation under the at least one functional specification.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the computer-executable instructions further direct the computer to select and modify at least one software template based on the software design specification.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the computer-executable instructions further direct the computer to enable manual modification of at least one of the functional specification, the software design specification, computer code, the hardware design specification, a bill of materials, or an installation specification using a user interface.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the computer-executable instructions further direct the computer to generate a bill of materials listing hardware required to implement the automation project based at least in part on the hardware design specification.

40. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-implemented components for facilitating industrial automation design, the computer-implemented components comprising:

a requirements component that generates at least one functional specification based on one or more received requirements defining a set of objectives for an industrial project, the requirements component including a user requirements component that obtains at least one of the one or more received requirements;

a software component that creates, based at least in part on the at least one functional specification, a software design specification illustrating a sequence of events and at least one exception handling routine for implementing the industrial project;

a hardware component that creates, based at least in part on the at least one functional specification, a hardware design specification specifying at least one hardware module for implementing the industrial project; and

a qualification component that ensures cohesive operation of the software design specification and the hardware design specification.