Industrial simulation using redirected I/O module configurations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9971914-B2
Application number	US-201414303251-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2014
Priority date	Mar 7, 2011
Publication date	May 15, 2018
Grant date	May 15, 2018

Abstract

A simulation environment for running a process simulation used to validate an industrial control program. The simulation environment exposes the I/O module configurations defined in the control program and retrieves module configuration information therefrom. This I/O module configuration information is combined with generic, module-specific I/O module profiles to create a pool of available controller I/O points, which can be selectively associated with I/O points in the simulation to create an I/O point mapping. During control program validation, simulated I/O data is exchanged between the process simulation and the I/O module instances in the controller in accordance with the I/O point mapping.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, in response to execution, cause a computing system comprising at least one processor to implement a development environment, wherein the development environment comprises:
a development interface component configured to receive input that facilitates creation of a simulation of an industrial process within the development environment;
a configuration retrieval component configured to identify I/O module configuration data defined in an industrial control program;
a connection pool component configured to select a generic I/O module profile corresponding to an I/O module type specified by the I/O module configuration data and to create a set of I/O connection definitions based on the generic I/O module profile and the I/O module configuration data, wherein the connection pool component selects the generic I/O module profile from among two or more generic I/O module profiles that describe generic characteristics of corresponding I/O module types;
an I/O kernel configured to exchange simulation data between the simulation and an I/O module instance defined on the industrial controller by the industrial control program based on the I/O connection definitions in accordance with a first timing defined by a simulation clock, wherein the industrial controller executes the modified industrial control program in accordance with a second timing defined by a controller clock to facilitate processing of input signals received from the simulation and controlling of output signals directed to the simulation system; and
a synchronization component configured to dynamically designate which of the simulation clock or the controller clock is to serve as a master clock for exchange of the simulation data between the simulation and the I/O module instance.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the I/O module configuration data and the I/O module instance correspond to an I/O module defined in the industrial control program.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2 , wherein the generic I/O module profile defines one or more of an I/O point count for the I/O module type, a communication characteristic of the I/O module type, a data processing function of the I/O module type, or a graphical representation of the I/O module.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2 , wherein an I/O connection definition of the set of I/O connection definitions defines a communication path between the simulation and an I/O point of the I/O module instance.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4 , wherein the I/O connection definition further defines at least one of a physical address of the I/O point, a data type associated with the I/O point, a scale factor configured for the I/O point, or an operating range of the I/O point.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the development environment further comprises a directory service that stores a plurality of generic I/O module profiles including the generic I/O module profile.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 , wherein the connection pool component is further configured to retrieve the generic I/O module profile from the directory service based on the I/O module type, and modify the generic I/O module profile based on the I/O module configuration data to yield the set I/O connection definitions.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4 , wherein the development interface component is further configured to display a representation of the one or more I/O points of the IO module instance based on the set of I/O connection definitions, and to selectively associate, based on mapping input, the I/O point with a simulation I/O point defined in the simulation to yield I/O point mapping data.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the I/O kernel is further configured to exchange the simulation data with the I/O module instance of the industrial control program based on the I/O point mapping data.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the development interface component, the configuration retrieval component, the connection pool component, and the I/O kernel are configured to reside on a common workstation with the industrial control program.

11. A simulation module, comprising:
a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the memory that facilitates execution of the computer-executable instructions to:
execute a simulation of an industrial process;
read I/O module configuration data defined in an industrial control program;
determine an I/O module type defined by the I/O module configuration data;
retrieve a generic I/O module profile corresponding to the I/O module type from a stored set of generic I/O module profiles, wherein the stored set of generic I/O module profiles comprises two or more generic I/O module profiles;
modify the generic I/O module profile based on the I/O module configuration data resulting in a set of I/O connection definitions;
exchange, based on a first timing defined by a simulation clock, simulation data between the simulation and an I/O module instance of the industrial control program based on the set of I/O connection definitions, wherein the industrial controller executes the industrial control program in accordance with a second timing defined by a controller clock to process input signals received from the simulation and control output signals directed to the simulation; and

dynamically designate one of the simulation clock or the controller clock to act as a master clock for exchange of the simulation data between the simulation and the I/O module instance.

12. The simulation module of claim 11 , wherein the processor further facilitates the execution of the computer-executable instructions to exchange the simulation data with the industrial control program via a backplane of an industrial controller that executes the industrial control program.

13. The simulation module of claim 11 , wherein the generic I/O module profile defines at least one of an I/O point count of the I/O module type, a communication characteristic of the I/O module type, a data processing function of the I/O module type, or a graphical representation of the I/O module type.

14. The simulation module of claim 11 , wherein the I/O module instance corresponds to an I/O module defined in the industrial control program, and the I/O module configuration data represents configuration information for the I/O module.

15. The simulation module of claim 12 , wherein the processor further facilitates the execution of the computer-executable instructions to establish a connection between one or more I/O points of the I/O module instance and one or more simulation I/O points of the simulation based on connection information defined by the set of I/O connection definitions.

16. The simulation module of claim 15 , wherein the processor further facilitates the execution of the computer-executable instructions to:
display, via an interface, a representation of the one or more I/O points of the I/O module instance; and
receive, via the input, mapping information that links selected I/O points of the one or more I/O points with selected simulation I/O points of the one or more simulation I/O points.

17. The simulation module of claim 12 , wherein the processor further facilitates the execution of the computer-executable instr

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Maturana Francisco P
• Staron Raymond J
• Carnahan Danny L
• Hall Kenwood H

Classifications

• G05B19/0423

  Input/output · CPC title

• G05B2219/13174

  Pc, computer connected to plc to simulate machine · CPC title

• G05B17/02 Primary

  electric · CPC title

• G06G7/66 Primary

  for control systems {(for optimisation G06G7/122)} · CPC title