System and method of industrial automation multi-developer control code change commits

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11625683-B2
Application number	US-202117148919-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 14, 2021
Priority date	Jan 14, 2021
Publication date	Apr 11, 2023
Grant date	Apr 11, 2023

Abstract

An industrial integrated development environment (IDE) supports collaborative tools that allow multiple designers and programmers to remotely submit design input to the same automation system project in parallel while maintaining project consistency. The industrial IDE also permits localized development of system projects, and provides an infrastructure for sharing and selectively synchronizing project edits among multiple locally stored versions of the system project.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for collaborative cloud-based development of industrial applications, comprising:
a memory configured to store system project data that, in response to execution on one or more industrial devices, facilitates monitoring and control of one or more industrial automation systems; and
a processor, operatively coupled to the memory that executes executable components stored on the memory, wherein the processor and memory reside on a cloud platform, and the executable components comprise:
a user interface component configured to render a first integrated development environment (IDE) interface on a first client device, and to receive, from the first client device via interaction with the first IDE interface, an edit record defining modifications made to a first version of the system project data that is stored locally on the first client device; and
a collaboration management component configured to,
in response to receipt of the edit record, store the edit record in association with the system project data according to a classification schema that classifies the edit record according to classification categories, the classification categories comprising at least an identity of an automation system installation to which the modifications are directed;
render, on a second IDE interface rendered on a second client device, edit records, including the edit record, associated with the system project data in a browsable format organized according to the classification categories, and
in response to receipt, via interaction with the second IDE interface, of a request to incorporate a modification defined by a selected edit record of the edit records, synchronize the modification to a second version of the system project data that is stored locally on the second client device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system project data comprises at least one of an executable industrial control program, an industrial visualization application, industrial device configuration data configured to set a configuration parameter of an industrial device, an engineering drawing, or a bill of materials.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the classification categories further comprise at least one of an identity of a user who submitted the edit record, an identity of an issue addressed by the modifications defined by the edit record, an identity of an industrial facility in which the automation system installation resides, or a user-defined classification category submitted with the edit record.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the edit record is a first edit record, and
the collaboration management component is further configured to, in response to a determination that a second edit record is received from the first client device or another client device with an indication that modifications defined by the second edit record are crucial, synchronize the modifications defined by the second edit record to the second version of the system project data irrespective of receipt of a request from the second client device to incorporate the modifications defined by the second edit record.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the collaboration management component is further configured to, in connection with synchronization of the modification, at least one of
delete redundant or conflicting control code from the second version of the system project data, or
modify the second version of the system project data to resolve a programming or device configuration conflict.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the collaboration management component is further configured to maintain a synchronization record for the edit record identifying users who have synchronized one or more of the modifications defined by the edit record to their local versions of the system project data.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the collaboration management component is further configured to, in response to the receipt of the edit record:
identify whether a user associated with the second IDE interface is authorized to edit the system project data, and
in response to identifying that the user is authorized to edit the system project data, send a notification of the edit record to the second IDE interface.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the collaboration management component is further configured to, in response to the receipt of the edit record and development note data submitted in association with the edit record via the first IDE interface,
store the edit record and the development note data in association with the system project data, and
send the notification of the edit record and the development note data to the second IDE interface.

9. The system of claim 7 , further comprising a simulation component configured to perform a simulation on the second version of the system project data and the modifications defined by the edit record to determine an estimated effect of the modifications on a performance aspect of the second version of the system project data,
wherein the user interface component is configured to include, in the notification, information regarding the estimated effect.

10. A method, comprising:
rendering, by a system that executes on a cloud platform and comprises a processor, a first integrated development environment (IDE) interface on a first client device;
receiving, by the system from the first client device via interaction with the first IDE interface, an edit record defining modifications made on the first client device to a first version of system project data that is stored locally on the first client device, wherein the system project data is configured to facilitate monitoring and control of one or more industrial automation systems;
in response to the receiving:
storing, by the system, the edit record in association with a cloud-based version of the system project data stored on the cloud platform, wherein the storing comprises classifying the edit record under one or more classification categories of a classification schema based on characteristics of the modifications, and the classification categories comprise at least an identity of an automation system installation to which the modifications are directed;

rendering, on a second IDE interface rendered on a second client device, edit records, including the edit record, that are associated with the system project data in a browsable format organized according to the classification categories; and
in response to receiving, via interaction with the second IDE interface, a request to incorporate a modification defined by a selected edit record of the edit records, updating, by the system, a second version of the system project data that is stored locally on the second client device to synchronize the modification to the second version of the system project data.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the system project data comprises at least one of an executable industrial control program, an industrial visualization application, industrial device configuration data configured to set a configuration parameter of an industrial device, an engineering drawing, or a bill of materials.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, in response to the receiving of the edit record:
identifying, by the system, whether a user associated with the second IDE interface is authorized to edit the system project data, and
in response to determining, based on the identifying, that the user is authorized to edit the system project data, rendering, by the system, a notification of the editor record on the second IDE interface.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the classification categorie

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Stump Andrew R
• Carrara Anthony
• Srinivasan Eashwer
• Josipovic Srdjan
• Gregory Adam
• Coan Michael J

Classifications

• G06F11/3698

  Environments for analysis, debugging or testing of software · CPC title

• G06F11/3636

  by tracing the execution of the program · CPC title

• G06F9/454

  Multi-language systems; Localisation; Internationalisation · CPC title

• G06F16/285

  Clustering or classification · CPC title

• G05B2219/32252

  Scheduling production, machining, job shop · CPC title