Graphical process variable trend monitoring with zoom features for use in a process control system

• US 10,180,681 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2014
• Issued: 01/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Nixon, Mark J., Cook, Maia B., Manes, Daniel I., Smallman, Harvey S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yi, Rinna
• Application Number:
  US14/207,161
• Publication Number:
  US 20140277620A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,770 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32351 Visual, graphical animation of process
• 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 23/0232 based on qualitative trend analysis, e.g. system evolution
• 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 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A process control monitoring system for a process control plant uses graphic trend symbols to assist in detecting and monitoring trends of process variables within the process control plant. A graphic display application within the process control monitoring system may implement and display each graphic trend symbol to graphically indicate or encapsulate current trend and value information of a process variable within the process control plant. The graphic display application may display the graphic trend symbol in a spatially realistic location within a graphical representation of the process control plant while maintaining the hierarchical structure or each hierarchical level of the process plant. The graphic display application may also include a zoom feature that enables a user to quickly drill down through tend data to obtain more information and to support problem identification and diagnosis tasks.

Claims

1. A method in a computing device for providing a process variable pane for monitoring process variables within a graphical depiction of a process control plant, the method comprising:

displaying a graphical depiction of a process control plant that includes one or more graphic trend symbols, each graphic trend symbol (i) associated with a process variable within the graphical depiction of the process control plant and (ii) graphically representing process control information related to the associated process variable;

displaying one or more process variable panes associated with the displayed graphical depiction of the process control plant, wherein one or more process variable panes includes at least a navigation pane, a summary pane, and an expanded pane, each process variable pane including one or more process variable selector icons that correspond to the one or more process variables displayed within the graphical depiction of the process control plant, each process variable selector icon including a graphic trend symbol that corresponds to one of the graphic trend symbols displayed within the graphical depiction of the process plant and displaying one or more process variable attributes associated with each process variable selector icon, wherein the process control attributes include at least one of a parameter name, a type of engineering unit, an alarm trip point, a digital output process variable value, a trend graph, or an alarm tag;

receiving a selection of one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for a particular process variable; and

highlighting, in response to receiving the selection of the one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for the particular process variable (i) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in at least a first one of the process variable panes, wherein the first one of the process variable panes is an expanded view of the corresponding graphic trend symbol and (ii) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in the graphical depiction of the process control plant for the same process variable.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying each process variable selector icon includes displaying one or more process variable attributes associated with the process variable that is associated with the process variable selector icon.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying each process variable selector icon of a particular process variable pane with the same number of process variable attributes, each process variable pane including process variable selector icons that include a unique number of process variable attributes from the other process variable panes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein displaying one or more process variable panes includes displaying the one or more process variable panes within a fixed, bounded area.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying each process variable selector icon within each process variable pane that is associated with a process variable in a critical state.

6. The method of claim 4, further displaying as many process variable selector icons for one process variable panes while remaining within the fixed, bounded area.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising displaying as many process variable selector icons and corresponding one or more process variable attributes in one of the process variable panes while remaining within the fixed, bounded area.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the selection includes receiving a hover event associated with the first one of the process variable selector icons.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, executable by a processor, for providing, via a computing device having a user interface, a process variable pane for monitoring process variables within a graphical depiction of a process control plant, the instructions comprising:

instructions for displaying a graphical depiction of a process control plant that includes one or more graphic trend symbols, each graphic trend symbol (i) associated with a process variable within the graphical depiction of the process control plant and (ii) graphically representing process control information related to the associated process variable;

instructions for displaying one or more process variable panes associated with the displayed graphical depiction of the process control plant, wherein one or more process variable panes includes at least a navigation pane, a summary pane, and an expanded pane, each process variable pane including one or more process variable selector icons that correspond to the one or more process variables displayed within the graphical depiction of the process control plant, each process variable selector icon including a graphic trend symbol that corresponds to one of the graphic trend symbols displayed within the graphical depiction of the process plant and displaying one or more process variable attributes associated with each process variable selector icon, wherein the process control attributes include at least one of a parameter name, a type of engineering unit, an alarm trip point, a digital output process variable value, a trend graph, or an alarm tag;

instructions for receiving a selection of one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for a particular process variable; and

instructions for highlighting, in response to receiving the selection of the one of the process variable selector icons within the summary pane for the particular process variable (i) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in at least a first one of the process variable panes, wherein the first one of the process variable panes is an expanded view of the corresponding graphic trend symbol and (ii) the corresponding graphic trend symbol in the graphical depiction of the process control plant for the same process variable.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for displaying each process variable selector icon includes instructions for displaying one or more process variable attributes associated with the process variable that is associated with the process variable selector icon.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising instructions for displaying each process variable selector icon of a particular process variable pane with the same number of process variable attributes, each process variable pane including process variable selector icons that include a unique number of process variable attributes from the other process variable panes.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions for displaying one or more process variable panes includes instructions for displaying the one or more process variable panes within a fixed, bounded area.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions for displaying each process variable selector icon within each process variable pane that is associated with a process variable in a critical state.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions for displaying as many process variable selector icons for one process variable panes while remaining within the fixed, bounded area.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions for displaying as many process variable selector icons and corresponding one or more process variable attributes in one of the process variable panes while remaining within the fixed, bounded area.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for receiving the selection includes instructions for receiving a hover event associated with the first one of the process variable selector icons.