System and method of monitoring an industrial plant

• US 9,845,164 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2016
• Issued: 12/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Ahmed, Syed Nabil, Boggaram Krishna Prasad, Harsha Rahul, Subramanian, Periaswamy, Pandian, Alaguraja, Ramachandran, Nivashkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): CHEUNG, CALVIN K
• Application Number:
  US14/992,434
• Publication Number:
  US 20160282872A1
• Time in Patent Office: 708 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/10 autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS]
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/102 specially adapted for vertical take-off of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/106 Change initiated in response to external conditions, e.g. avoidance of elevated terrain or of no-fly zones

Abstract

This disclosure is related to an industrial plant monitoring system configured to monitor equipment an industrial plant. The industrial plant monitoring system includes one or more processors, an autonomous vehicle including at least one sensor, a plant information management system including a navigation module, a communication module, and an analysis module. The navigation module is configured to retrieve a trajectory from a trajectory database. The sensors present on the autonomous vehicle are configured to collect sensor data related to the equipment. The communication module is configured to receive the sensor data from sensors and transmit the sensor data to a plant information management system. The analysis module is configured to receive the sensor data from the communication module, the analysis module being configured to detect an event related to the industrial plant based on the sensor data and historic sensor data.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring an industrial plant, the method comprising:

retrieving, by a navigation module of a handheld device, a trajectory from a trajectory database, the trajectory database storing location of waypoints and predetermined actions to be performed by an autonomous vehicle;

retrieving, by the navigation module of the handheld device, a model of the industrial plant from a model repository to which the handheld device is in communication over a communication network, wherein the model repository stores information about physical attributes of plant building and equipment and respective locations of the plant building and equipment;

navigating, by the navigation module, the autonomous vehicle to a waypoint present in the trajectory that is retrieved by the navigation module of the handheld device, wherein the waypoint is identified with respect to the model of the industrial plant from the model repository;

collecting sensor data, by at least one sensor at the waypoint;

receiving the sensor data, by a communication module of the handheld device, from the at least one sensor;

transmitting, by the communication module of the handheld device, the sensor data to an analysis module of a plant information management system configured to communicate with the handheld device; and

detecting, by the analysis module of the plant information management system, an event related to the industrial plant based on historic sensor data and non-historic sensor data, wherein the non-historic sensor data is the received sensor data that was generated by the at least one sensor on the autonomous vehicle, the historic sensor data had been generated by the at least one sensor on the autonomous vehicle before the non-historic sensor data was generated by the at least one sensor on the autonomous vehicle.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising comparing the non-historic sensor data with the historic sensor data to identify a deviation between the historic sensor data and non-historic sensor data.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the event is detected based on a magnitude of the deviation identified.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, further comprising generating a recommended action corresponding to the magnitude of the deviation identified.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more waypoints are associated with a trajectory travelled by the autonomous vehicle.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle is one of an unmanned aerial vehicle and an unmanned ground vehicle.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising identifying the waypoint using at least one visual marker located at the waypoint.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the visual marker comprises optical machine-readable data.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waypoint is at least one of a plant safety zone and a location of equipment in the industrial plant.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is at least one of an infrared camera, a gas analyser, a vibration sensor, a sound sensor, an ultrasound sensor, and a Radio-Frequency Identification tag reader.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to communicate with a field device in the industrial plant using near field communication (NFC).

12. An industrial plant monitoring system configured to monitor an industrial plant, the industrial plant monitoring system comprising:

one or more processors;

a trajectory database that stores location of waypoints and predetermined actions to be performed by an autonomous vehicle;

a model repository that stores information about physical attributes of plant building and equipment and respective locations of the plant building and equipment;

a handheld computer configured to communicate with the trajectory database and the model repository, the handheld computer comprising one or more processors configured to;

retrieve a trajectory from the trajectory database;

retrieve a model of the industrial plant from the model repository; and

navigate the autonomous vehicle including at least one sensor to a waypoint using the trajectory that is retrieved by the handheld computer, wherein the waypoint is identified with respect to the model of the industrial plant from the model repository;

a communication hardware module configured to receive sensor data from the at least one sensor; and

a plant information management server configured to communicate with the handheld computer, the plant information management server comprising an analysis module configured to;

receive the sensor data, by the communication module, from at least one sensor;

detect an event related to the industrial plant based on historic sensor data and non-historic sensor data, wherein the non-historic sensor data is the received sensor data that was generated by the at least one sensor on the autonomous vehicle, the historic sensor data had been generated by the at least one sensor on the autonomous vehicle before the non-historic sensor data was generated by the at least one sensor on the autonomous vehicle.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the handheld computer is configured to identify the waypoint using at least one visual marker present at the waypoint.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the visual marker comprises optical machine-readable data.

15. The system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a Human Machine Interface (HMI) for configuring a trajectory travelled by the autonomous vehicle, wherein the trajectory is associated with one or more waypoints.

16. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the handheld computer is configured to generate an alert to a Human Machine Interface in response to an external interference to a movement of the autonomous vehicle in the trajectory.

17. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the communication hardware module is configured to transmit the received sensor data when the autonomous vehicle is located in at least one waypoint.

18. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the communication hardware module is configured to transmit the sensor data using at least one of Wireless Local Area Network, Wireless Mobile Network, or Bluetooth protocol.

19. The system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising:

the autonomous vehicle comprises the at least one sensor.

20. The system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of an infrared camera, a gas analyser, a vibration sensor, a sound sensor, an ultrasound sensor, and a Radio Frequency Identification tag reader.

21. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the autonomous vehicle further comprises one or more processors configured to perform navigation and the communication hardware module.

22. The autonomous vehicle as claimed in claim 21, wherein the communication hardware module is further configured to transmit the sensor data to a master database.

23. The autonomous vehicle as claimed in claim 21, further comprising a camera configured to capture a video clip of the waypoint.

24. An autonomous vehicle comprising:

a communication hardware module configured to communicate with a plant information management server comprising an analysis module and a trajectory database;

one or more processors configured to;

retrieve a trajectory from the trajectory database; and

navigate the autonomous vehicle to a waypoint using the retrieved trajectory, wherein the waypoint is identified with respect to a model of an industrial plant from a model repository to which a handheld computer is in communication over a communication network, wherein the model repository stores information about physical attributes of plant building and equipment and respective locations of the plant building and equipment; and

at least one sensor configured to collect sensor data at the waypoint;

wherein the communication hardware module is configured to communicate with the at least one sensor and transmit the sensor data to the analysis module.