Audit trail in a programmable safety instrumented system via biometric signature(s)
First Claim
1. A safety audit system, comprising:
- a sensor identification component comprising at least one sensor that detects a configuration change to a manufacturing system and at least one biometric sensor that senses identifying biometric data for a user of the manufacturing system that makes the configuration change;
a lock component that determines whether the configuration change is authorized based at least in part upon the identifying biometric data; and
a safety system component that automatically records the configuration change and the identifying biometric data in a safety audit database based at least in part on a safety audit requirement of the manufacturing system,wherein the safety audit database comprises a public portion that is accessible as a history of the configuration change and a private portion implemented at a time of manufacture of the manufacturing system that logs the history of the configuration change and is accessible only to an third party associated with supplying the manufacturing system in the event of an accident, andwherein the safety system component shuts down the manufacturing system in response to the configuration change being unauthorized.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
System(s) and method(s) that facilitate utilizing biometric sensors (e.g., fingerprint, hand scan, voice recognition . . . ) in manufacturing systems in order to maintain accurate safety audit trails. A safety audit system, utilizing a biometric sensing device, facilitates determining if a user is allowed to access and change the configuration of the manufacturing system. Once a user is allowed to change the configuration (e.g., programmable electronics, tooling changes, software updates, etc.) the changes are automatically recorded in a safety audit database. Automatic storage of configuration changes mitigates manual recording of changes thereby enhancing the safety audit data often necessary to meet safety standards for manufacturing systems.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A safety audit system, comprising:
-
a sensor identification component comprising at least one sensor that detects a configuration change to a manufacturing system and at least one biometric sensor that senses identifying biometric data for a user of the manufacturing system that makes the configuration change; a lock component that determines whether the configuration change is authorized based at least in part upon the identifying biometric data; and a safety system component that automatically records the configuration change and the identifying biometric data in a safety audit database based at least in part on a safety audit requirement of the manufacturing system, wherein the safety audit database comprises a public portion that is accessible as a history of the configuration change and a private portion implemented at a time of manufacture of the manufacturing system that logs the history of the configuration change and is accessible only to an third party associated with supplying the manufacturing system in the event of an accident, and wherein the safety system component shuts down the manufacturing system in response to the configuration change being unauthorized. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of tracking configuration changes made to a manufacturing system, comprising:
-
employing a first sensor to detect a modification of a configuration of a device within the manufacturing system; employing a second sensor to determine an identity of a user of the manufacturing system making the modification, wherein the second sensor is a biometric sensor; matching the identity of the user to a list of authorized users in a safety audit database and determining that the user is authorized to make the modification based upon the identity; permitting the modification to the device; automatically recording the identity of the user and the modification to the device to a public portion of the safety audit database based at least in part upon a safety audit requirement of the manufacturing system, wherein the public portion of the security audit database is accessible to the user as a history of the configuration change; and automatically recording the identity of the user and the modification to the device to a private portion of the safety audit database, wherein the private portion is implemented at a time of manufacture of the manufacturing system and is accessible only to a third party associated with supplying the manufacturing system in the event of an accident. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a computing system to perform operations, comprising:
-
employing a first sensor to detect a modification of a configuration of a device within the manufacturing system; employing a second sensor to determine an identity of a user of the manufacturing system making the modification, wherein the second sensor is a biometric sensor; matching the identity of the user to a list of authorized users in a safety audit database and determining that the user is authorized to make the modification based upon the identity; permitting the modification to the device; automatically recording the identity of the user and the modification to the device to a public portion of the safety audit database based at least in part upon a safety audit requirement of the manufacturing system, wherein the public portion of the security audit database is accessible to the user as a history of the configuration change; and automatically recording the identity of the user and the modification to the device to a private portion of the safety audit database, wherein the private portion is implemented at a time of manufacture of the manufacturing system and is accessible only to a third party associated with supplying the manufacturing system in the event of an accident.
-
Specification