Presentation of process control information within a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11636118-B2
Application number	US-201916577877-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2019
Priority date	Sep 20, 2019
Publication date	Apr 25, 2023
Grant date	Apr 25, 2023

Abstract

To provide search capabilities in a process control system, a contextual knowledge repository is generated that organizes process plant-related data according to semantic relations between the process plant-related data and the process plant entities. When a user submits a process plant search query related to process plant entities within a process plant, search results are obtained by identifying a data set from the contextual knowledge repository which is responsive to the process plant search query. The search results are then presented on a user interface device based on the identified data set. To allow for searches to be performed by user interface devices external to the process plant, a data diode is disposed between a field-facing component and an edge-facing component of the process plant so that data flows from the field-facing component to the edge-facing component without flowing from the edge-facing component to the field-facing component.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method for presenting process plant-related data within a vehicle head unit, the method comprising:
receiving, at a process plant application executing in a vehicle head unit within a vehicle, process plant-related data related to one or more process plant entities within a process plant, the one or more process plant entities performing a physical function to control an industrial process to manufacture, refine, transform, generate, or produce physical materials or products; and
presenting, by the vehicle head unit, the process plant-related data for a user to remotely monitor online operation of the process plant without the security and safety risks of remotely communicating directly with devices within the process plant, including:
presenting a graphical representation of a process flow module depicting run-time operation of at least one of the one or more process plant entities including process parameter data for the at least one process plant entity; and
presenting the process plant-related data via a speaker of the vehicle head unit,

wherein the process plant-related data is a duplicate of process plant-related data obtained by a field-facing component within the process plant, the duplicate stored at an edge-facing component, such that the vehicle head unit does not directly interact with the process plant-related data generated within the process plant.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining an organizational role of the user within the process plant,
wherein presenting the process plant-related data for a user to remotely monitor online operation of the process plant includes presenting a subset of the process plant-related data which is related to the organizational role of the user.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
in response to an event occurring within the online operation of the process plant and related to the organizational role of the user, presenting a notification regarding at least some of the process plant-related data associated with the event.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein presenting the process plant-related data for a user to remotely monitor online operation of the process plant includes presenting a report regarding at least one of the one or more process plant entities related to the organizational role of the user, the report including at least some of the process plant-related data related to the at least one process plant entity.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining a speed of the vehicle;
comparing the speed of the vehicle to a threshold speed; and
in response to determining that the speed of the vehicle exceeds the threshold speed, presenting a condensed version of the report regarding the at least one process plant entity related to the organizational role of the user in an audio format.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
presenting the process plant-related data on a user interface of the vehicle head unit.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
presenting the process plant-related data in a natural language format.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a process plant search query from the user related to the one or more process plant entities; and
presenting, by the vehicle head unit, a set of process plant search results responsive to the process plant search query, the set of process plant search results including at least some of the process plant-related data.

9. A vehicle head unit within a vehicle comprising:
one or more processors;
a user interface;
a speaker; and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing a process plant application thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the vehicle head unit to:
receive process plant-related data related to one or more process plant entities within a process plant, the one or more process plant entities performing a physical function to control an industrial process to manufacture, refine, transform, generate, or produce physical materials or products; and
present, via the user interface and the speaker, the process plant-related data for a user to remotely monitor online operation of the process plant without the security and safety risks of remotely communicating directly with devices within the process plant, including:
present a graphical representation of a process flow module depicting run-time operation of at least one of the one or more process plant entities including process parameter data for the at least one process plant entity;

wherein the process plant-related data is a duplicate of process plant-related data obtained by a field-facing component within the process plant, the duplicate stored at an edge-facing component, such that the vehicle head unit does not directly interact with the process plant-related data generated within the process plant.

10. The vehicle head unit of claim 9 , wherein the process plant application further causes the vehicle head unit to:
determine an organizational role of the user within the process plant; and
present a subset of the process plant-related data which is related to the organizational role of the user.

11. The vehicle head unit of claim 10 , wherein the process plant application further causes the vehicle head unit to:
in response to an event occurring within the online operation of the process plant and related to the organizational role of the user, present a notification regarding at least some of the process plant-related data associated with the event.

12. The vehicle head unit of claim 10 , wherein to present the process plant-related data for a user to remotely monitor online operation of the process plant, the process plant application causes the vehicle head unit to present a report regarding at least one of the one or more process plant entities related to the organizational role of the user, the report including at least some of the process plant-related data related to the at least one process plant entity.

13. The vehicle head unit of claim 12 , wherein the process plant application further causes the vehicle head unit to:
determine a speed of the vehicle;
compare the speed of the vehicle to a threshold speed; and
in response to determining that the speed of the vehicle exceeds the threshold speed, present a condensed version of the report regarding the at least one process plant entity related to the organizational role of the user in an audio format.

14. The vehicle head unit of claim 9 , wherein the process plant application further causes the vehicle head unit to:
present the process plant-related data in a natural language format.

15. The vehicle head unit of claim 9 , wherein the process plant application further causes the vehicle head unit to:
receive a process plant search query from the user related to the one or more process plant entities; and
present a set of process plant search results responsive to the process plant search query, the set of process plant search results including at least some of the process plant-related data.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors in a vehicle head unit within a vehicle, cause the vehicle head unit to:
receive process plant-related data related to one or more process plant entities within a process plant, the one or more process plant entities performing a physical function to control an industrial process to m

Assignees

• Fisher Rosemount Systems Inc
• Fisher Rosemount Sysiems Inc

Inventors

• Nixon Mark J
• Hartmann Peter
• Fabros Richard Clarence Dayo
• Amaro Jr Anthony
• Caldwell John M

Classifications

• Y02P90/02

  Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] · CPC title

• G05B19/4186 Primary

  by protocol, e.g. MAP, TOP · CPC title

• G06N5/02

  Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation · CPC title

• G05B19/418 Primary

  Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM] · CPC title

• G06F16/24575 Primary

  using context · CPC title