Digital engineering on an industrial development hub

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12327210-B2
Application number	US-202017018446-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2020
Priority date	Sep 11, 2020
Publication date	Jun 10, 2025
Grant date	Jun 10, 2025

Abstract

An industrial development hub (IDH) supports industrial development and testing capabilities that are offered as a cloud-based service. The IDH comprises an enhanced storage platform and associated design tools that serve as a repository on which customers can store control project code, device configurations, and other digital aspects of an industrial automation project. The IDH system can facilitate discovery and management of digital content associated with control systems, and can be used for system backup and restore, code conversion, and version management. The IDH also supports simulation-based design and testing tools.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for designing and testing industrial control projects, comprising:
a memory that stores executable components; and
a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, that executes the executable components, the executable components comprising:
a user interface component configured to receive, via a cloud platform, an industrial control project comprising at least device configuration data and an industrial controller program file of an industrial controller, the industrial controller program file comprising an industrial control program to be executed on the industrial controller and I/O module configuration data defining I/O of the industrial;
a project analysis component configured to
determine one or more industrial assets that make up an industrial automation system based on analysis of the I/O module configuration data of the industrial controller program file and the device configuration data,
retrieve digital device models corresponding to the one or more industrial assets from a vendor repository associated with a vendor of the one or more industrial assets, and
generate respective one or more digital asset models representing the one or more industrial assets based on the digital device models; and

a simulation component configured to generate a digital twin of the industrial automation system, wherein the digital twin comprises the one or more digital asset models.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the one or more digital asset models define visual representations and functional specification data for corresponding industrial assets, and
the simulation component is configured to customize the digital asset models using the device configuration data obtained from the industrial control project to yield the digital asset models.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the simulation component is configured to execute a simulation of a virtualized plant comprising the digital twin, and
the simulation simulates control of the industrial automation system under control of the industrial control project.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein
the virtualized plant comprises two or more digital twins, and
the two or more digital twins comprise at least a first digital twin having a first degree of fidelity and a second digital twin having a second degree of fidelity that is higher than the first degree of fidelity.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the simulation component is further configured to
generate predicted performance metrics for the industrial control project based on results of the simulation, and
generate a recommendation of a modification to the industrial control project predicted to bring a value of one of the performance metrics within a defined range.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the defined range is specified by a functional design specification stored on a customer repository of the cloud platform.

7. The system of claim 3 , wherein the user interface component is further configured to generate a virtual reality presentation of the virtualized plant that visualizes the simulation within a three-dimensional virtual reality environment, and to render the virtual reality presentation on a client device.

8. The system of claim 3 , wherein the user interface component is configured to receive indications of approvals for the industrial control project via the cloud platform from one or more authorized users of the system, and to maintain records of the approvals on the cloud platform in association with the industrial control project.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a device interface component configured to deploy the industrial control project to the one or more industrial devices from the cloud platform for execution.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the device interface component is configured to prevent deployment of the industrial control project to the one or more industrial devices from the cloud platform until the approvals from the one or more authorized users are received for the industrial control project.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a device interface component configured to receive operational data from at least one of the one or more industrial assets, and to update the digital twin based on the operational data.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the project analysis component is configured to determine the one or more industrial assets that make up the industrial automation system based on analysis of the industrial control program.

13. A method for designing and testing industrial control projects, comprising:
receiving, by a system comprising a processor that executes on a cloud platform, an industrial control project comprising device configuration data and an industrial controller program file of an industrial controller, the industrial controller program file comprising an industrial control program to be executed on the industrial controller and I/O module configuration data that configures I/O of the industrial controller;
identifying, by the system based on analysis of the I/O module configuration data of the industrial controller program file and the device configuration data, one or more industrial assets that make up an industrial automation system;
retrieving, by the system, one or more digital device models corresponding to the one or more industrial assets from a vendor repository associated with a vendor of the one or more industrial assets;
generating respective one or more digital asset models representing the one or more industrial assets based on the one or more digital device models; and
generating, by the system, a digital twin of the industrial automation system based on the one or more digital asset models.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein
the one or more digital asset models define visual representations and functional specification data for corresponding industrial assets, and
the generating of the one or more digital asset models comprises customizing the digital asset models using device configuration data obtained from the industrial control project to yield the digital asset models.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising executing, by the system, a simulation of a virtualized plant comprising the digital twin, wherein the simulation simulates control of the automation system under control of the control project.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
generating, by the system, predicted performance metrics for the control project based on results of the simulation, and
generate, by the system, a recommendation of a modification to the control project predicted to bring a value of one of the performance metrics within a defined range.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
generating, by the system, a virtual reality presentation of the virtualized plant that visualizes the simulation within a three-dimensional virtual reality environment; and
rendering, by the system, the virtual reality presentation on a client device.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the identifying comprises identifying the one or more industrial assets that make up the industrial automation system based on analysis of the industrial control program.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system executing on a cloud platform and comprising a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
receiving, via a cloud platform, an industrial control project comprising device configu

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Miller Scott A
• Reynolds Nathan
• Como Christopher Wayne
• Sandler Nathaniel S
• Dunn Ryan P
• Mccleave Jr Bruce T
• Reissner Kyle
• Briant Stephen C

Classifications

• G06Q50/04

  Manufacturing · CPC title

• G06Q10/103

  Workflow collaboration or project management · CPC title

• G06Q10/101

  Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services · CPC title

• G06Q10/06395

  Quality analysis or management · CPC title

• G06Q10/06375

  Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change · CPC title