EP3175402A1

EP3175402A1 - System for detecting a stock of objects to be monitored in an installation

Info

Publication number: EP3175402A1
Application number: EP15744586.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michael Paulweber; Peter Priller
Original assignee: AVL List GmbH
Current assignee: AVL List GmbH
Priority date: 2014-07-31
Filing date: 2015-07-31
Publication date: 2017-06-07
Also published as: AT514309A2; KR20170038879A; CN106663238A; JP2017525049A; WO2016016420A1; US20170220995A1

Abstract

The invention relates to systems and methods for detecting a stock of objects (1) to be monitored in an installation (4) comprising a plurality of regions, which are stationary or non-stationary, at which objects to be monitored can be located. The installation (4) is suitable for carrying out operating sequences using the objects to be monitored (1) and has a plurality of detection devices (6) which are each associated with a region (5) of the installation (4). The objects (1) to be monitored are each provided with preferably contactlessly readable identification elements (3) which have an unambiguous identifier. The detection devices (6) have a data link to a computer unit (7) which manages a stock database (8).

Description

System for recording a stock of monitoring objects of a plant

The present invention relates in a first aspect to a system for detecting a stock of monitoring objects of a plant with a plurality of stationary or non-stationary areas where monitoring objects may be located, the plant being adapted to perform operations using the monitored objects.

In a second aspect, the invention relates to a method for mapping a stock of monitoring objects of a system in an inventory database, wherein the system has a multiplicity of detection devices, which are each assigned to a section of the system, and wherein the monitored objects have identification elements that are assigned by The detection devices are preferably read without contact.

Finally, in a third aspect, the invention also relates to a bridging device for a housing of an object group, which has a plurality of monitoring objects, each of which is provided with non-contact readable identification elements (RFID tags) having a unique identifier, the housing having a shielding effect.

Numerous solutions have been created for the tracking of moving or unstable objects, in particular using GPS-based solutions, for example for tracking vehicles or mobile devices, or RFID-based tracking systems. Tracking systems based on satellite navigation, in particular GPS, have the disadvantage that they are not suitable for systems inside buildings because the satellite connection is disturbed here. RFI D systems are used in particular for warehouses for automated warehouse management, where all goods in the warehouse are provided with an RFID tag, which is scanned when storing and retrieving the goods with either a handheld scanner or a built-in scanner, so that a Stock movement can be automatically detected and maintained in the system.

US2010 / 0156597 A1 discloses such an inventory system for RFID tagged products in a store or warehouse whose inventory is being captured using RFI D readers. US 2004/0024644 A1 discloses an RFID-based monitoring system for goods in a logistics process.

For automatic monitoring of monitoring objects in dynamically changing environments, such as in test environments such as engine test benches, prevail, the systems of the prior art are poorly suited. This is partly because the known systems do not provide a hierarchical structure of the monitored objects. Thus, with existing systems, it can be determined whether a specific object (ie a surveillance object marked with an RFI D tag) is currently in the system, but only limited statements can be made about the exact position and it is not known whether the object is combined with other objects into a functional group. Therefore, it is also not possible to identify exactly from an automatically maintained database whether, for example, a test run planned at a test facility can be carried out with the monitoring objects currently being built.

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatuses and methods that greatly facilitate the planning, feasibility study, and performance of dynamic and variable equipment, and more particularly, to facilitate the design and performance of tests (e.g., test runs) on test benches. According to the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, these objectives are achieved with a system mentioned above, in which the system has a plurality of detection devices, each associated with a region of the system, the monitoring objects are each provided with preferably non-contact readable identification elements a unique identifier, wherein the detection devices have a data connection to a computing unit that manages an inventory database. This system enables automated management and monitoring of the monitoring objects of a plant, whereby also the status of the plant, i. the respective configuration can be determined at any time.

In the context of the present description, the term "installation" refers to the entirety of the elements and features involved in the execution of the tasks assigned to the installation, such as, in particular, the surveillance objects in the various areas, ie, for example, a test bench including all of the buildings Execution of a test run required components, such as the test specimen, the dynamometer, the resources (especially the fuel), the measurement sensor, etc. As "system" is in connection with the description given the totality of the elements and features referred to the inventive Recording the stock of monitoring elements of the plant involved. Thus, the system generally includes the elements and features of the plant, as well as all other elements and features required to practice the invention, such as, in particular, the detection devices, the tagging elements, and the inventory database. In the context of this description, "monitoring objects" are all objects present in the installation which are provided with a readable identification element, in particular an RFID tag, which carries a unique identifier Objects to be monitored may in particular be devices (eg measuring devices, transport devices, objects to be tested, etc.) or (raw) materials that are used or consumed in the installation (As many consumables themselves can not be provided with an RFI D tag, in particular, the containers for consumables, for example, refill containers, such as cartridges for lubricants, toner containers, tanks, or the like, can be defined as monitoring objects.) For test environments, in particular the respective Anordnu ng and combination of currently installed measuring instruments of particular interest.

In the context of the present description, "areas" are spatially demarcated locations where monitoring objects may be located, for example, a certain space, work area, or machine may be defined as a range, without being limited thereto Detection of the monitoring objects also a statement about whether the corresponding monitoring object is in a usable position, for example, whether a measuring sensor is inserted into the receptacle provided for this purpose.

In the context of the present description, an "identification element" is an object which can preferably be localized without contact by a detection device, eg an RFID tag, wherein the object has a readable unique identifier, in particular a code which has an unambiguous assignment to a specific one The code may, for example, be assigned to a serial number of the object Depending on the expediency, it is also possible to use tactile (eg in the form of a chip card) or optically (for example as barcode) readable identification elements or a combination of different identification elements.

The workflow performed by the plant may in particular be a production process or a test process. Especially in test environments, it is important to have an overview of the existing measuring instruments in the test stand (eg for flow, emission, particle count, power, etc.) always up to date. In general, the monitoring objects are actively involved in the execution of the work processes, for example, to carry out a test run or to determine and / or evaluate the measured values. In contrast, there may also be objects that are an object to be modified or processed by the workflow, or a product of the workflow. Such Although objects could basically also be defined as monitoring objects if they are provided with an identification object, in many work processes, in particular during test runs on engine test stands, such objects do not exist, since no processing or processing of objects takes place. Many objectives according to the invention relate, in particular, to workflows that are not production processes and in which no objects are processed or processed.

In a preferred embodiment, the system may comprise at least one detection device or a group of detection devices which are / are suitable for determining the position. As a result, not only the presence but also the current position of monitoring objects can be recorded in order to be able to locate the respective devices with the system during operation and, if necessary, replace them. In general, objects that are needed, for example, for a measuring task, such as a measuring shaft, certain hose connections, adapters for mechanical connections, actuators, such as driving lever adjuster, etc., can be marked and inventorized in this way according to the invention.

Advantageously, the system according to the invention may comprise a plurality of object groups, which may comprise one or more monitoring objects. This allows the formation of complex functional units, which can be detected as a whole or on the basis of individual monitoring objects. In the context of the present description, "object group" refers to a monitored, possibly non-fixed unit, which comprises a plurality of monitoring objects Certain functions can be assigned to an object group, which can be assigned the status of the monitoring objects present in the object group and / or the location of the object group For example, measuring devices can be defined as a group of objects consisting of parts or subsystems, eg sample aspiration, sample preparation, measuring sensor, evaluation electronics, etc. Such parts or modules can also be replaced individually if necessary By monitoring the object groups, it is possible to ensure that a consistent set of authorized parts is always used In a preferred embodiment of the system according to the invention, the arithmetic unit can have means for checking whether a given workflow of the device is being used ge with the existing monitoring objects or object groups is feasible. This creates the possibility of an integrity check of object groups and a forward-looking resource planning. In the context of the present description, an "integrity check" refers to a method in which it is checked whether an object group contains all monitoring objects that are required for the execution of a specific task, if applicable, whether all object groups or monitoring objects are present and / or are in a predefined area, if applicable, whether an object group or monitoring objects contained therein are operational, or require maintenance, and if certain or all monitoring objects and / or object groups are original products, which also allows detection of product counterfeits.

Advantageously, the plant may be part of an intelligent manufacturing line, and the workflow may be a production process. This allows predictive simulation and planning of set-up times, production processes and service activities. An "intelligent manufacturing line" is an arrangement of machines, raw materials and control devices which allows an automated adaptation of the system to different production processes Tests, an experiment and / or a measurement procedure, which enables a minimum of preparation and set-up time to complete a test run.

A "test environment" is a system that has at least one test bench and in general a large number of measuring devices.The test track can also have an integrated simulation environment, eg for carrying out a HiL simulation In the second aspect of the subject invention, the objectives according to the invention are achieved by a method mentioned at the outset, which has the following steps: by means of a detection device associated with a region, reading at least a unique identifier from at least one contactlessly readable identification element which is present in the corresponding area; is subordinate; Determining data concerning the monitoring object; and storing or updating the data in the inventory database. With this method, an up-to-date display of the monitoring objects actually present in the plant can be automated. In this case, a spatial assignment of the surveillance objects to one area each is possible. A monitoring of the feasibility of certain For example, tests allow you to plan which tests (eg test runs) on which test benches can be performed on specific dates (scheduling). It can also be determined which measuring devices are required for this. By detecting the devices present on the test bench, it is now possible to automatically display whether these tasks can be carried out as planned. Furthermore, a warning can be automatically generated if, for example, a device which is required sooner is inadvertently removed by the operating staff from a test stand.

In an advantageous manner, the method may further comprise the following steps: determining an object group to which a specific monitoring object is assigned; Determining data pertaining to the collection; and storing or updating the data in the inventory database. By marking several parts of a device (for example, measuring sensor, conditioning unit, signal processing, control panel) with one RFI D tag each, its consistency can be checked from the combination in addition to the simple presence of the entire system (= device), i. For example, it can be detected whether a specific part, for example a conditioning unit, has been changed since the last detection (and thus another ID is reported by the RFI D tag). This can be used to automatically notify about any previous maintenance activities, conversions, and possibly the presence of counterfeiting.

Advantageously, the reading can be timed and / or triggered when an event occurs. As a result, both ongoing monitoring (for example, to detect when a surveillance object enters / leaves an area) and detection of an overall image at a particular point in time are possible.

Furthermore, the method according to the invention can advantageously have the step of checking the integrity of a monitoring object and / or a group of objects. Thus, the completeness and readiness of the system can be queried.

In an advantageous manner, it is also possible to check whether an activity planned on the installation can be carried out with the monitoring objects or object groups present in the installation. If necessary, a warning can also be issued. This avoids configuration errors in a timely manner. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, data of the database can be transmitted to a non-plant service provider. This allows remote monitoring and maintenance planning by a service provider, eg by the manufacturer of the system. In doing so, the holder can determine what data is to be stored on the service providers, and which are not (eg consistency data only). This allows the provision of a central inventory management.

The aforementioned bridging device according to the third aspect of the invention comprises an inner antenna, an outer antenna, and a gateway, which enable detection of arranged in the housing identification elements via the outer antenna. By means of this device also monitoring objects arranged in a screened housing of a group of objects can be detected by scanning the external antenna from the detection devices of a system.

The subject invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to Figures 1 to 3, which show by way of example, schematically and not by way of limitation advantageous embodiments of the invention. It shows

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a system which is provided with the system according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a group of objects in a housing which is provided with a bridging device according to the invention. and

Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of the lock-up device.

The reference numerals of objects that occur multiple times in the figures are supplemented with lowercase letters for clarity.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a plant 4, which is divided into five areas 5a - 5e. These areas represent different spatially delimited parts of the plant, for example, machining centers, transport devices, storage areas, test stands, etc. In each area, a plurality of different monitoring objects 1 a-1 h can be located, each monitoring object is provided with an identification element. (For the sake of clarity, only the identification element 3a of the surveillance object 1a is provided with a reference symbol in FIG. 1). Each identification element has a unique identifier that can be read out by corresponding detection devices 6a-6l. The read-out can preferably take place without contact, for example the identification element 3a can be an RFID tag, and the detection device 6a can be an RFID scanner which recognizes the RFID tag in the corresponding area 5a and reads out its identifier. The connections 14a-14e between the areas 5a-5e represent transport paths on which the monitored objects 1 can pass from one area to another. The areas may each have multiple detection devices 6a-6l. For example, along the region 5e, five detection devices 6h, 6i, 6j, 6k, and 61 are arranged in parallel with each other, and each scan a certain portion of the region 5e. The area 5e could, for example, represent a conveyor or a production or test track, wherein it can be determined by the detection devices 6h to 61 at which position the monitoring objects 1e to 1h present in the area 5e are located. The monitoring objects could, for example, be transport containers in the case of conveyors. On the other hand, the elongate area 5e could be a long workbench or a laboratory bench on which monitoring objects 1e to 1h, for example tools, analyzers, sample containers or other monitoring objects, may be located. Due to the orientation of the detection devices 6h to 61, the respective position of the monitoring objects can be determined very accurately, wherein a particularly high position accuracy can be achieved by overlapping scanning regions, as shown, for example, in the monitoring object 1h, which is located both in the scanning region of the detection device 6k, as well as in the scanning area of the detection device 61 is located.

The scans of the individual detection devices can be coordinated with respect to their timing and / or their radio frequencies so that they do not interfere with each other. In the region 5d, two detection devices 6f and 6g are arranged such that their sensor directions intersect, each of the two sensor regions covering substantially the entire surface of the region 5d. The respective sensor areas of the detection devices are indicated by way of example in the figures as dotted wave patterns. The actual extent of the sensor regions can differ significantly from the representation, as is obvious to a person skilled in the art. The intersecting sensor regions allow using not only the presence, but also the position of those located in region 5d by means of known location techniques, such as the time of arrival (TOA) method, by means of phase shifts or angle-dependent methods It is also possible to use other locating techniques which can be measured, for example, at a distance, whereby the position can be measured, for example, via the signal propagation time or the signal strength (examples include the methods ToA, TDoA , E-OTD, RTT or RSSI), in the direction in which the position can be measured, for example, by angular relationships, for example by triangulation or trilateration (as in the case of the AOA or DOA method), on the neighborhood relationships ( An example of this is the CoO "Cell of Origin" method. their methods known to those skilled in the art or based on combinations of these methods.

The position measurement not only allows the position of a single monitoring object to be determined, but also several monitoring objects and their relative positions relative to one another can be determined. An evaluation of these relative positions makes it possible to detect even very complex groupings of monitoring objects and to evaluate them accordingly. The position determination can also be extended to a three-dimensional range, for example by providing one or more further detection devices. The areas 5a and 5c are each provided with only a single detection device 6a or 6e, each of which determines only the presence of the respective monitoring objects 1a, 1b or 1c in the corresponding area 5a, 5c.

Advantageously, not only areas themselves, but also the transitions between areas can be monitored. In FIG. 1, the connection 14a between the areas 5a and 5b is monitored by its own detection device 6b, which detects when a monitoring object changes from one area to another. The detection device 6b can be arranged, for example, in a door opening between two rooms or at another location, which necessarily has to pass through a surveillance object in order to pass from one area to the next. In principle, a system according to the invention could be monitored completely by scanning for objects only at the connections 14a-14e between the individual areas 5a-5e. In this case, it is not absolutely necessary that the detection devices arranged on the connections can also determine the direction of movement of the detected surveillance object, since it is known in a closed system at any time where each surveillance object is currently located, and thus the origin of the surveillance object, which is currently moving through a detection gate is known. However, the provision of redundant detection devices can reduce the susceptibility to errors and increase the reliability of the system.

In order to be able to provide an overall picture of the monitoring objects in Appendix 4 at all times, all detection devices 6a to 61 are connected to a computer unit 7 which records and evaluates all detection events and enters them into an inventory database 8 from which the system status of the system is determined at all times 4, that is, the each in the areas 5a-5e existing monitoring objects and, where appropriate, determine their positions. The arithmetic unit can also be used for the time coordination of the scans performed by the individual detection device. The exact configuration of the areas depends on the particular application and the arrangement of the detection devices can be adapted specifically to the particular conditions of use. The configurations set forth herein are merely exemplary and non-limiting embodiments. Various types of detection devices and marker elements may also be used wherein non-contact and tactile systems may be used in any combination.

The evaluation of the detected monitoring objects in the arithmetic unit 7 makes it possible to combine a plurality of monitoring objects, which for example belong to a functional unit, into an object group. For example, the monitoring objects 1 b and 1 c, which are detected by the detection device 6e in the region 5c, form an object group 2a.

A further object group 2b, which is arranged in the region 5b in the sensor region of the detection device 6d, is enlarged in FIG. 2 and shown in more detail. The object group 2b shown in FIG. 2 comprises the surveillance objects 1 u, 1 v, 1 w and 1 x, which are each provided with an identification element 3 u, 3 v, 3 w or 3 x. The tagging elements are RFI D tags, which per se can be read out without contact by the detection device 6d, an RFI D sensor. However, the monitoring objects 1 u, 1 v, 1w and 1x are arranged in a common housing 9, which is provided with its own identification element 3i. The housing 9 with the identification element 3i thus likewise constitutes a monitoring object. The object group 2b therefore consists of the surveillance objects 1 u, 1 v, 1w and 1 x and the housing 9, which form a common unit.

As indicated by the schematically illustrated sensor region of the detection device 6d, the RFID signals are shielded from the housing 9. As a result, although the detection device 6d can read the label element 3i attached to the outside of the housing 9, it does not read the label elements 3u, 3v, 3w and 3x of the monitor objects 1u, 1v, 1w and 1x enclosed in the housing are.

If, for example, the object group 2b is a device to be tested, which is arranged in a living environment, it would therefore be possible with a spatially fixed detection device 6d to recognize that the device (ie the object group 2b) is located at the test stand (that is to say, for example, in FIG Fig. 1 shown area 5b) is located, but it could not be said about the exact features of the measurement sensor located within the device (ie the housing 9), and their labeling elements are therefore shielded and can not be read. In order to solve this problem, according to the invention, the housing has a bridging device 13, which enables the detection device 6d to also read the identification elements 3u, 3v, 3w and 3x present in the interior of the housing from the outside. In a simple embodiment, this device essentially consists of an outer antenna 1 1 arranged on the outside of the housing, an inner antenna 10 arranged inside the housing, and a gateway 12, which ensures signal transmission between the outer antenna 11 and the inner antenna 10.

In a very simple form, the gateway could be designed as a simple connection line between the outside antenna and the inside antenna, but this simple embodiment would quickly reach technical limits.

In Fig. 3, the transmission device 13 is shown in more detail again. The outer antenna 1 1 and the inner antenna 10 may each be conventional RFID antennas, which may be integrated, for example, in a label or other non-shielding housing. The gateway 12 may be powered by the power received by the outside antenna, or it may use its own power source for operation, such as a battery 15 or other alternative energy source, such as a solar cell, that uses the ambient lighting to generate power. The gateway can receive and transmit both via the external antenna 1 1, as well as via the indoor antenna 10 RFID signals. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the gateway is disposed on the outside of the housing, but it may also be provided inside the housing in the inside antenna. It would also be possible for both the inner antenna 10 and the outer antenna 11 to be provided with a respective transponder element, with the two transponder elements being able to communicate with one another, thereby forming the gateway.

The gateway 12 is connected via the connection 16 to the indoor antenna. The connection can be designed as a simple cable connection, which is guided via a bore. At the same time, the connection 16 can also be designed as a fastening element with which the inner elements of the transmission device (inner antenna 10 in the illustrated case) are fastened together with the outer elements (in the illustrated case the gateway 12 and the outer antenna 11). Such compounds, such as screw, plug, rivet or adhesive bonds are well known to those skilled in the art. Optionally, the material of the housing 9 for the communication between the inner antenna 10 and outer antenna 1 1 can be used, for example by the metallic conductivity of a metal housing is used for data transmission. In this case, an inner transponder connected to the inner antenna 1 1 and an outer transponder connected to the outer antenna, which together form the gateway 12, could be applied opposite to the metal surface of the housing, and across each other via metal contacts communicate the housing wall. The inner and outer elements of the gateway could be glued to the housing, where they can also be integrated in each case in an adhesive label.

Now, when the external antenna 11 is activated by an RFID sensor signal 17a output from the detection device 6d, the gateway 12 receives the signal and outputs a corresponding signal 17b via the indoor antenna 10 to the interior of the housing. The inner signal 17b can thereby be received by an RFID tag (e.g., the tagging element 3u) inside the housing, thereby activating the tagging element 3u and outputting a response signal 17c, which in turn can be received by the indoor antenna 10. The response signal 17c of the RFID tag is processed by the gateway 12 in the reverse direction and delivered as a corresponding response signal 17d via the outside antenna 11, so that it can be received by the detection device 6d.

To avoid interferences, the signals 17b and 17c in the interior can use a different frequency than the signals 17a and 17b processed by the detection device 6d. In conjunction with multi-band RFID systems, this makes it possible to create very complex and functionally stable systems.

The gateway serves as a "hub" between the interior of a device, typically within a metallic housing, and the outside space, typically the test cell in which the device is located, thus enabling communication between a reading station (test bench fixed, ie in the external area As the metallic housing of the device acts as a Faraday cage and shields RF fields, this communication would normally not be possible, ie without a bridging device. which are applied directly to metal surfaces, or which are to be read in a metal-rich environment, special RFID tags designed for this purpose may be used.These RFID tags are well known to those skilled in the art and typically use special antenna arrangements available from the disturbing influences of the metallic environment less affected The steps of a method which can be carried out with the described devices will now be described by way of example. The procedure is used to map the stock of monitoring objects that are located in a system in a database and to keep this figure preferably in real time on the current level. With reference to the example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, by means of the detection devices (6a-6l) assigned to the regions (5a-5e), if appropriate using corresponding gateways 12, the unique identifiers of the identification elements (3a) present in the regions are identified. 3x) read. Alternatively and / or in addition thereto, starting from a previously initialized initial status, all movements of identification elements between the areas (5a-5e) and over appropriately defined system boundaries can be recorded in order to track the operating state of the installation. In areas that support position determination, movements within the area can also be detected.

The identifiers read out by the detection devices are evaluated by the arithmetic unit 7 with which the detection devices are connected, whereby in each case the particular monitoring object to which the identifier read out from the identification element is determined. The data concerning the particular monitoring object is then retrieved from the database 8, and the database is updated on the basis of the detection event, if an update is required. An update is required, in particular, if the location of the monitoring object has changed, if the status of the monitoring object has changed, or if the monitoring object has been inserted or removed from a collection. In order to determine whether the state of a monitoring object has changed, other data can also be taken into account, such as data derived from the work procedures performed. For example, the wear of a surveillance object can be determined based on the duration of use. In this way, for example, maintenance and calibration intervals can be determined and warnings can be issued automatically as soon as a maintenance, calibration or replacement of a monitoring object has to be carried out.

Certain monitoring objects can be defined in the database as object groups. If a monitoring object is now being scanned that is assigned to a collection, the procedure can check whether all the other monitoring objects that are assigned to this collection are also present. If this is not the case, for example, the system may issue a warning or trigger any other workflow previously defined for this case.

In other cases, the system can draw conclusions about the entire object group from the detection of a single monitoring object. For example, if a location change is detected by individual monitoring objects of a group of objects, the method can also change the location of all the other monitoring objects of the same group. This can be useful if the object group is permanently assembled and only shared. sam is movable, and / or if there is a probability that some monitoring objects in a group can not be detected due to shielding operations. Such a conclusion is permissible in particular if none of the monitoring objects of the group is detected simultaneously in another area. On the other hand, when detecting location changes of a single monitoring object of an object group, it could be concluded that an element of the object group has been removed from the group and the group is therefore no longer complete. This is the case in particular when other monitoring objects of the same group are detected simultaneously in another area. In all cases, the detection of a particular event may result in a warning being issued, or any previously defined other workflow may be triggered.

The reading out of the marking elements can be timed, for example at certain intervals, and / or it can be triggered when a certain event occurs, for example when a status of the installation is queried in the course of a resource planning, or if an identification element by a certain Range (eg an RFI D-gate) is moved.

The method may further provide steps to verify the integrity of monitoring objects and / or collections of objects. An integrity check can be done automatically, for example by scanning all tagging elements of the group in the same area, and also checking the spatial arrangement of the monitoring objects, provided that the system has appropriate tracking techniques. Optionally, operator intervention may be required to verify integrity. For example, the system may issue a warning message requesting the user to perform the necessary steps and then confirm. Based on the confirmation, the database can then be supplemented / changed. The integrity check may also include monitoring the maintenance and / or replacement intervals of individual ones of the monitoring objects of a collection.

By keeping the inventory and the status of the monitoring objects in a database in the database at any time, it is possible to check at any time whether an activity planned for the installation can be carried out with the monitoring objects or object groups present in the installation. This facilitates mission planning and also allows forward-looking planning of future deployments in distributed organizational structures. A team that has a facility, for example, to perform a particular test, takes over, can immediately check whether a previously defined operating condition of the plant has been established. This greatly facilitates the transfer from one team to the next. If necessary, warnings can be issued automatically if the operating state differs from the planning state. Advantageously, the system according to the invention can also be used to monitor the maintenance status of the installation or individual parts thereof by third-party providers, it being possible to precisely regulate which data is to be transmitted to this service provider or can be retrieved from this service provider and which not. For example, the data used to locate the monitored objects may remain locally with the owner or user of the plant, and only consistency data may be forwarded to the service provider. This considerably facilitates the planning of maintenance operations for the service provider since he can have the relevant data at any time, and the owner or user of the installation still has security that sensitive data, such as the setup of test and test systems, does not fit into the Third hand arrive.

The consistency data can also be used to detect any counterfeit product used in a system. Original products can e.g. be recognized on the basis of the label element associated serial number. The mere fact that an object is provided with an identification element allows a conclusion as to whether it is an original object. In order to recognize counterfeit identification elements, an encrypted code may also be stored on the identification element, the encryption of which can only be decrypted by the service provider or the producer of the original component.

Claims

claims

A system for detecting a stock of monitoring objects (1) of a system (4) having a plurality of fixed or non - stationary areas (5) on which monitoring objects (1) can be located, the system (4) being suitable using Monitoring objects (1) to perform operations, characterized in that the system has a plurality of Detektionsvornchtungen (6), each associated with a region (5) of the system (4), and the monitoring objects (1) each with preferably non-contact readable identification elements ( 3) having a unique identifier, wherein the Detektionsvornchtungen (6) have a data connection to a computing unit (7), which manages an inventory database (8).

System according to claim 1, characterized in that the system comprises at least one detection device or a group of detection devices which is / are suitable for determining the position.

System according to claim 1, characterized in that the system comprises a plurality of object groups (2) which may comprise one or more surveillance objects (1).

System according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the arithmetic unit (7) has means to check whether a given workflow of the system (4) with the existing monitoring objects (1) or object groups (2) can be carried out.

System according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the plant is part of an intelligent manufacturing line, and the workflow is a production process.

System according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the system is part of a test environment, and the workflow of performing a test, an experiment and / or a measurement method is used.

System according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the system comprises a bridging device (13) for a housing (9) of a group of objects (2) having a plurality of monitoring objects (1), wherein the housing (9) has a shielding effect wherein the bridging device (13) comprises an inner antenna (10), an outer antenna (11), and a gateway (12) enabling detection of identification elements disposed in the housing via the outer antenna.

8. A method for mapping a stock of monitoring objects (1) of a system (4) in an inventory database (8), the system having a plurality of detection devices (6), which are each assigned to a section (5) of the system, and wherein the monitoring objects (1) have identification elements (3) which are preferably read-out by the detection devices without contact, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

By means of a detection device (6) assigned to a region (5) reading out of at least one unique identifier from at least one contactlessly readable identification element (3) which is present in the corresponding region (5),

Determining a specific monitoring object (1) to which the identifier read from the identification element (3) is assigned,

Determining data concerning the monitoring object (1)

Save or update the data in the inventory database (8).

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the method further comprises the following steps:

Determining a collection of objects (2) associated with a particular monitoring object (1),

Determining data concerning the object group (2), and - storing or updating the data in the inventory database (8).

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the reading is timed and / or triggered when an event occurs.

1 1. Method according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of checking the integrity of a monitoring object and / or a group of objects.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 1 1, characterized in that it is checked whether an activity planned on the plant with the monitoring objects or object groups present in the plant can be carried out and optionally a warning is issued.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that data of the database are transmitted to a non-plant service provider.

14. Bridging device (13) for a housing (9) of an object group (2), which has a plurality of monitoring objects (1), which are each provided with non-contact readable identification elements (3) having a unique identifier, wherein the housing ( 9) has a shielding effect, characterized in that the bridging device (13) comprises an inner antenna (10), an outer antenna (11), and a gateway (12) enabling detection of identification elements disposed in the housing via the outer antenna ,