Backup of an industrial automation plant in the cloud

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11042131-B2
Application number	US-201514658394-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 16, 2015
Priority date	Mar 16, 2015
Publication date	Jun 22, 2021
Grant date	Jun 22, 2021

Abstract

Cloud-based backup provides a back up of an industrial plant comprising an industrial automation system(s) (IAS(s)). A cloud-based backup component comprising a modeler component can generate a model of industrial assets of the IAS(s) and relationships between industrial assets based on information obtained from the industrial assets via cloud gateways, a communication device associated with the IAS(s), or another source. The cloud-based backup component can store the model in a data store to be employed as a backup of the IAS(s) or to be used to configure a new IAS that is the same as or similar to the IAS(s). The model can be stored in the data store in a standardized or an agnostic format, wherein the backup component can translate the model to a format suitable to an IAS for which it is to be implemented based on characteristics associated with the IAS.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a system comprising a processor, a set of industrial data from a set of devices of an industrial automation system and a set of extrinsic data relating to target device characteristics of a target device from an external device for storage in a data store on a cloud platform associated with the industrial automation system to facilitate backing up the industrial automation system on the cloud platform, wherein the external device is external to the industrial automation system and associated with a supplier or a manufacturer of the target device, and wherein the set of devices comprises a first device and a second device;
generating, by the system, model data representative of a model of the industrial automation system, based at least in part on a first modeling analysis of the set of industrial data, wherein the model data comprises configuration data indicative of a configuration of the first device and the second device;
determining, by the system, a functional role of the first device in a context of the industrial automation system, wherein the functional role of the first device is determined based at least in part on a result of analyzing a portion of the set of industrial data, wherein the portion of the set of industrial data comprises device characteristic data relating to characteristics of the first device from which the functional role of the first device is determined;
generating, by the system, function data indicative of the functional role of the first device in a device-agnostic form, based at least in part on the configuration data;
receiving, by the system, a request for target configuration data indicative of operational settings of the target device to facilitate enabling the target device to operate according to the functional role of the first device;
determining, by the system, the target device characteristics of the target device based at least in part on the set of extrinsic data relating to the target device characteristics of the target device, wherein the target device characteristics relate to the functional role;
translating, by the system, the function data from the device-agnostic format to generate target device function data in a target device-compatible format that is suitable for use by the target device, wherein the target device-compatible format is different from a device format suitable for use by the first device and the device-agnostic format, and wherein the target configuration data is determined based at least in part on the target device function data and the target device characteristics of the target device;
transmitting, by the system, the target configuration data to the target device, wherein the target configuration data is indicative of the operational settings of the target device suitable to enable the target device to operate according to the functional role of the first device;
in response to determining that the first device has been replaced with the target device in the industrial automation system, modifying, by the system, the model of the industrial automation system, based at least in part on a second modeling analysis of replacement-related industrial data relating to the replacement of the first device with the target device, to generate an updated model of the industrial automation system that accounts for changes to the industrial automation system resulting from the replacing of the first device with the target device, wherein the replacement-related industrial data is received from the industrial automation system;
determining, by the system, whether an alteration is to be made to the second device, based at least in part on analyzing the updated model, to account for a change in operation associated with the second device due in part to the replacing of the first device with the target device; and
in response to determining that the alteration is to be made to the second device, transmitting, by the system, alteration data relating to the alteration to the second device to facilitate the alteration of the second device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
interfacing, by the system, the cloud platform, comprising the data store, with the industrial automation system to facilitate communicating information between the industrial automation system and the cloud platform, wherein the information comprises the set of industrial data, the configuration data, and the model data; and
monitoring, by the system, the industrial automation system via the interfacing to facilitate the receiving of the set of industrial data from the set of devices of the industrial automation system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the model is a two-dimensional model or a three-dimensional model that replicates a system configuration and operation of the industrial automation system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the set of industrial data from the set of devices further comprises receiving a subset of the set of industrial data from an industrial device of the industrial automation system via a cloud gateway device, wherein the subset of industrial data relates to the industrial device, and wherein the industrial device is the first device or the second device.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the subset of industrial data comprises at least one of a pre-deployed model that models characteristics and operation of the industrial device, identifier information that facilitates identification of the industrial device, information relating to one or more relationships between the industrial device and one or more other industrial devices or network-related devices associated with the industrial automation system, or information relating to the one or more other industrial devices or network-related devices.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the generating the model data further comprises generating sub-model data of a sub-model of the industrial device based at least in part on analyzing the subset of industrial data, wherein the model data comprises the sub-model data.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the system, a product model of a product relating to the industrial automation system based at least in part on product design data and executable code relating to the product; and
storing, by the system, the product model in the data store on the cloud platform.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
downloading, by the system, the product model to a product generator device associated with the cloud platform to facilitate producing the product based at least in part on the product model.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the system, at least one of a set of agnostic or standardized configuration data or a set of agnostic or standardized model data associated with the industrial automation system, based at least in part on analyzing the set of industrial data, wherein at least one of the set of agnostic or standardized configuration data or the set of agnostic or standardized model data is in an agnostic or standardized format, and wherein the model comprises the set of agnostic or standardized model data.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining, by the system, characteristics of the industrial automation system, based at least in part on the set of industrial data;
translating, by the system, at least one of the set of agnostic or standardized configuration data or the set of agnostic or standardized model data to at least one of a set of compatible configuration data or a set of compatible model data, based at least in part on a translation result of analyzing the characteristics of the

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Strohmenger John
• Korpela Jessica L
• Fordenwalt Matthew W
• Pingel Jan
• Hickox Stephen L
• Weber Douglas B

Classifications

• G05B19/0426 Primary

  Programming the control sequence · CPC title

• G05B13/04 Primary

  involving the use of models or simulators · CPC title

• G06F11/1458

  Management of the backup or restore process · CPC title

• G06F2201/84

  Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data · CPC title

• H04L67/1095 Primary

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title