Method and system for monitoring an industrial system involving an eye tracking system

• US 9,575,488 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2013
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG (ABB Limited)
• Original Assignee: ABB Research Ltd. (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Timsjo, Susanne, Olausson, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Fennema, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Norton, Jennifer L
• Application Number:
  US13/920,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20130282151A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,344 Days
• Field of Search: 700/80, 700/83, 700/108, 345/8, 345/158, 351/209, 351/210, 382/117
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35427 User controls machine with eye motion, activates icons on display
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/027 Alarm generation, e.g. communication protocol; Forms of alarm
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence

Abstract

A method for notifying at least a first condition in an industrial system by way of a monitoring system in order to draw the attention of an operator monitoring the industrial system to the at least one condition. The method includes displaying the first condition in a first portion of a display screen of the monitoring system, determining by eye tracking an area where a user focuses on the display screen, the area where the user focuses differing from the first portion, and alerting the user of the first condition in order to allow the user to be notified of the first condition in the industrial system. A monitoring system is also presented herein.

Claims

1. A method for notifying at least a first condition and a second condition in an industrial system, the first condition being abnormal behavior in the industrial system, by means of a monitoring system, the method comprising:

displaying the first condition in a first portion of a display screen of the monitoring system,

determining by means of eye-tracking an area where a user focuses on the display screen,

if the area where the user focuses differs from the first portion, alerting the user of the first condition in order to allow the user to be notified of the first condition in the industrial system, the alerting comprises magnifying at least one object displayed in the first portion of the display screen,

displaying the second condition of the industrial system in a second portion of the display screen, the second portion differing from the area where the user focuses, magnifying at least one object displayed in the second portion of the display screen, and

determining a weight parameter for each of the first and the second condition, wherein the step of magnifying is first performed for those objects which are associated with that condition of the first or second condition which has a weight parameter corresponding to a most severe condition in the industrial system.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising:

verifying that the user has been notified of the first condition by detecting a user action, and returning to a normal viewing mode of the display screen.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alerting comprises setting off an audible alarm.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the alerting comprises setting off a visual alarm on the display screen.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnified at least one object in the first and the second portions are displayed on the display screen simultaneously.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnifying comprises magnifying the at least one object so that it covers substantially the entire display screen.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of alerting only occurs when the first portion and the area where the user focuses differs.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising receiving data from the industrial system, the data comprising information of the first condition of the industrial system.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the at least one object graphically represents a status of a piece of equipment of the industrial system on the display screen, and

the status is updated substantially in real-time.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the industrial control system includes a power system,

statuses of power lines, substations, and transformers of the power system are represented graphically on the display screen,

the statuses are updated substantially in real-time,

the at least one object represents one of the power lines, substations, and transformers, and

the magnifying includes magnifying the at least one object so that it covers substantially the entire display screen.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnifying comprises presenting a different view of the at least object so that it covers substantially the entire display screen.

14. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the user action comprises entering input into a keyboard.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of magnifying any objects which are associated with any other condition than the most severe condition is not carried out until an action to handle the most severe condition has been taken by the user.

9. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium on which computer executable code is stored, which computer executable code when executed performs a method for notifying at least a first condition and a second condition in an industrial system, the first condition being abnormal behavior in the industrial system, by means of a monitoring system, the method comprising:

displaying the first condition in a first portion of a display screen of the monitoring system,

determining by means of eye-tracking an area where a user focuses on the display screen,

if the area where the user focuses differs from the first portion, alerting the user of the first condition in order to allow the user to be notified of the first condition in the industrial system, the alerting comprises magnifying at least one object displayed in the first portion of the display screen,

displaying the second condition of the industrial system in a second portion of the display screen, the second portion differing from the area where the user focuses,

magnifying at least one object displayed in the second portion of the display screen, and

determining a weight parameter for each of the first and the second condition, wherein the step of magnifying is first performed for those objects which are associated with that condition of the first or second condition which has a weight parameter corresponding to a most severe condition in the industrial system.

10. A monitoring system for monitoring an industrial system, the monitoring system comprising:

an input unit arranged to receive data from the industrial system, the data comprising information of a first condition of the industrial system, the first condition being abnormal behavior of the industrial system,

a display device having a display screen arranged to display the first condition of the industrial system in a first portion of the display screen,

an eye-tracking unit arranged to determine an area where a user of the monitoring system focuses on the display screen,

a processor arranged to provide an alert to the monitoring system so as to notify the user of the first condition when the area where the user focuses differs from the first portion of the display screen, the processor is arranged to magnify objects in the first portion of the display screen to thereby provide the alert,

the input unit is further arranged to receive data from the industrial system comprising information of a second condition of the industrial system,

the display device is further configured to display the second condition of the industrial system in a second portion of the display screen,

the processor is further arranged to magnify objects in the second portion of the display screen when the area where the user focuses differs from the second portion,

the processor is arranged to determine a weight parameter for each of the first and the second condition and to magnify those objects which are associated with that condition of the first or second condition which has a weight parameter corresponding to a most severe condition in the industrial system first.

16. The monitoring system according to claim 10, wherein the processor is arranged to not carry out the magnification of any objects which are associated with any other condition than the most severe condition until an action to handle the most severe condition has been taken by the user.