EP2479734A1

EP2479734A1 - Method for monitoring and controlling of parameters of industrial process

Info

Publication number: EP2479734A1
Application number: EP11461522A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pawel Dworak
Original assignee: Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny w Szczecinie
Current assignee: Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny w Szczecinie
Priority date: 2011-01-24
Filing date: 2011-06-22
Publication date: 2012-07-25
Also published as: PL227296B1; PL393704A1

Abstract

The method for monitoring and controlling of the parameters of industrial process in technical installation by a portable module in the sense that the identification of the controlled area of technical installation is made and then retrieval of the data from the communication server and controls the installation area, characterized in that it identifies a particular installation device (U1 ... Un) by analyzing the image from the camera built-in portable device (PU), and then the data retrieved from the communication server (SK) is displayed on a regular basis by plotting them on the camera image on the portable device (PU).

Description

The sole invention relates to the method for monitoring and controlling parameters of industrial process creating a mobile system HMI (Human Machine Interface). This process is realized through the mobile device.
The dynamic development of equipment, functional capacity and computing power of portable devices allows the realization of ever more sophisticated tasks and applications. This development can also be harnessed to build a mobile industrial HMI / SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition). HMI / SCADA systems today available on the market allow only for the construction of pre-defined synoptic screens, making the way (automation) of preparation easier at most. These applications increasingly often allow to work on portable devices, but all this type of tools currently offered on the market require predefining of synoptic screens and require the manual navigation. As for the examples of such solutions we can take applications like CIMPLICITY HMI Plant Edition Thin View from GE Fanuc, Runtime run versions for Windows CE InTouch applications from Wonderware and portable applications from Atvise. The most advanced tools for process visualization use the virtual reality technique for modeling (www.vrt.com.au). In this solution the data is displayed on the background of a virtual three-dimensional image which reflects the actual process. From U.S. patent 7444188 a way is known that through the universal portable control and monitoring module for control and monitoring of technical installations. installation is assigned to at least one regionally controlled subdivision within the controlled area. The method consists of identifying the current position of the portable module by means of the positioning signal, and then assign the module to be installed if it is in the region of subdivision of installations. After that the data from the HMI user interface is sent and loaded into the module. Installation is controlled using the data from the interface downloaded to the portable module. Loading interface data to the installation control is monitored as a function of distance from the installation to the module.
The method for monitoring and controlling parameters of the process of industrial technical installation according to the invention, using a portable module in the sense that it makes the identification of the controlled area of technical installation. Then it downloads the data from the communication server and controls the area of installation. The essence of the invention is that it defines a device-specific surveillance system through a unique graphical markers, while the image of these markers loads along with the assigned groups of process variables to a portable device, and then when the system identifies them by examining the image from a camera built in the module in the form of a portable device. For identification it is used the standard image analysis techniques used for pattern recognition. With each device, the marker binds to a list of process variables read by the programmable controllers and made available in the communication server. For such identified device the assigned data is taken from the communication server and displays data on a regular basis by plotting them on the camera image on the portable device. Person controlling the image of the monitored device has it displayed in the form of the parameters of this device. This data is transmitted using a known technology from the communication server, which is connected to the drivers of technical installation devices. Devices are identified by a universal marker defined for each device. Universal markers can take the form of an image of the device or bar code. It may also have any form of graphics, assigned to the device.
The proposed solution allows the use of functional capabilities of a portable device such as an integrated camera for acquisition and data analysis and / or navigation in the visualization application and not, as yet only use the option to display the prepared data. The solution eliminates the necessity to create a large number of synoptic screens for a multitude of necessary parameters to present. The proposed solution allows for efficient, quick application navigation with clear presentation of the process data of different devices. The method for identification with universal markers according to the invention allows the small screens of mobile devices to deploy elements of navigation and visualization of industrial values in a logical, legible and in easy to use manner. The proposed solution allows for quick, smooth transition to the next presentation of the process parameters and it is particularly important when the direct inspection of the various devices of the technological process, carried out in an emergency, riots, or exemption of equipment or whole lines, as well as during the current equipment diagnostics. The described method allows quick switch between displayed parameters of various process of the devices.
The invention is better shown in the drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a diagram of a portable system for visualization process data, Figure 2 shows the method of presentation of process data for an object A.

Example 1

The technological installation consists of devices U1 ... Un, whose work was controlled by programmable drivers S1 ... Sm connected to the comminication server SK. The SK communication server task is to exchange process data with individual drivers. The SK communication server communicates with the drivers S1 ... Sm using different communication protocols such as Modbus, Profibus, EtherCAT, EthernetPowerlink, CAN, OPC and other. The SK communication server is connected to a portable device PU equipped with a camera and screen. The SK communication server reads the values of various process data and makes them available at the user's request to read on-screen of portable module PM. The data on a server SK are organized into groups relating to particular logical and / or functionally separated from each devices U1 ... Un. Each of the devices U1 ... Un has an individual universal marker in graphics representing the following letters. These markers are placed in a location to be visible during the identification. At the same time to a portable device PU a combination of markings to the various devices U1 ... Un is uploaded and their assigned list of controlled process variables. The configuration file is loaded into the SK communication server and portable communication device PU. It may also be modified during the time of its operation. Such prepared system allows the controlling and monitoring the installation person to point the camera of the portable device PU at individual device U1 ... Un. Then, in the on-line screenshot image taken from the camera E of a portable device PU, using the known methods of the image analysis performing the function of pattern search, predefined universal markers are searched. Detection of a universal marker A of a device Un (as shown in Figure 1) sends to SK communication server a request to transmit to a portable device the variables values assigned to that process. The sets of process data sent from the SK communication server are continuously displayed on the camera screen of portable device PU in augmented reality technology (called augmented reality) by depositing them on the camera image on the screen of portable device PU (as shown in Figure 2). After validating the process parameters the operator directs the camera of the portable device PU to another device U1 ... Un and the data identified by the above process is presented on the screen E of the portable device PU. If none of the device markers U1 ... Un is not in the area of the analyzed image E then the unmodified image captured by the camera device is presented on the screen of portable device PU.

Example 2

Same way as in Example 1, but it controls and monitors the installation consisting of three devices U1, U2, U3 and as for universal markers the image of the device itself or its characteristic components in the form of pictures are used. Such a solution is possible to achieve in the case of the installations, in which each device has a distinctly different shape, as in the situation shown in Figure 3, which shows an example of the installation of three tanks U1, U2, U3. Each tank has a different shape, so as universal markers shall be pictures of each tank. Pictures taken by the user of the system is downloaded into the portable device PU and assigned uniquely to individual devices U1 ... U3. Identification of the device U1 ... U3 is then a direct search on the discharge of the camera image E image from a photo of the item.

Example 3

Same way as in Example 2, but as universal marker an user-defined outline of the device or its characteristic components are used. The installation of three tanks U1, U2, U3 (Fig. 3), each of the tank has a different shape, U1 is a trapezoid, U2 is a rectangle, and U3 is a slice of circle. These shapes the user of the system inputs into a portable device PU and assigns them unambiguously to individual devices U1, U2, U3. Identification of the device lies in the fact that it detects the edges of the tank located in the camera E view and adapts them to the defined shapes for each tank U1, U2, U3. In case the use of this method for installation with devices U1 ... Un with recurring shapes the final decision of device identification is to take by the system user.

Claims

The method for monitoring and controlling of parameters of industrial process of technical installation by a portable device in the sense that it makes the identification of the controlled area of technical installation, and then retrieves the data from the communication server and controls the installation area, characterized that it identifies the particular devices of the monitored process (U1 ... Un) through a universal image markers and the image of these markers is uploaded along with their assigned groups of process variables to a portable device (PU), and then using an image analysis method to scan the image from the camera E of portable device (PU) in order to detect the universal marker of individual devices (U1 ... Un) of installation and then the data retrieved from the communication server (SK) is displayed on a regular basis by plotting them on the camera image on the portable device (PU).
The method according to claim 1 characterized that it is identified on the basis of a universal marker, which is in any device (Un), in the form of the bar code or graphics or image of the device itself (Un).