JP7530166B2 - Drone-enabled operator patrols - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates generally to industrial process plants and process control systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for monitoring the condition of a process plant using drones.

Distributed process control systems, such as those used in chemical, petroleum, or other process plants for manufacturing, refining, converting, creating, or producing physical materials or products, typically include one or more process controllers communicatively coupled to one or more field devices via an analog bus, a digital bus, or a combination analog/digital bus, or a wireless communication link or network. The field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches, and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure, level, and flow sensors), are positioned within the process environment and generally perform physical or process control functions, such as opening and closing valves, measuring process and/or environmental parameters (such as temperature or pressure), to control one or more processes running within the process plant or system. Additionally, smart field devices, such as well-known Fieldbus protocol-compliant field devices, may further perform control calculations, alarm functions, and other control functions typically implemented within a controller. Typically, a process controller located within a plant environment receives signals representative of process measurements made by field devices and/or other information regarding the field devices, executes a controller application that operates various control modules that make process control decisions, for example, generates control signals based on the received information, and coordinates with control modules or blocks executing within the field devices, such as HART®, WirelessHART®, and FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices. The control modules within the controller send control signals over communication lines or links to the field devices to control the operation of at least a portion of the process plant or system, for example, to control at least a portion of one or more industrial processes operating or executing within the plant or system. For example, the controller and the field devices control at least a portion of the processes being controlled by the process plant or system. I/O devices, also typically located within a plant environment, are typically disposed between the controller and one or more field devices and enable communication therebetween, for example, by converting electrical signals to digital values and digital values to electrical signals. As used herein, field devices, controllers, and I/O devices are generally referred to as "process control equipment" and are generally located, disposed, or installed within the field environment of a process control system or plant.

Information from the field devices and controllers is typically available via a data highway or communication network to one or more other hardware devices, such as, for example, operator workstations, personal computers or computing devices, data historians, report generators, centralized databases, or other centralized computing devices that are typically located in a control room or other location (e.g., a back-end environment of a process plant) away from the plant's harsher field environment. Each of these hardware devices is typically a centralized device across the entire process plant or a portion of the process plant. These hardware devices operate applications that enable operators to perform functions related to the control of the process and/or operation of the process plant, such as changing settings of process control routines, modifying the operation of control modules in controllers or field devices, viewing the current state of the process, viewing alerts generated by field devices and controllers, simulating the operation of the process for training personnel or testing process control software, maintaining and updating configuration databases, etc. The data highway utilized by the hardware devices, controllers, and field devices may include wired communication paths, wireless communication paths, or a combination of wired and wireless communication paths.

As an example, the DeltaV™ control system sold by Emerson Process Management includes multiple applications stored in and executed by various devices located at various locations within a process plant. Configuration applications residing in one or more workstations or computing devices within the back-end environment of the process control system or plant allow users to create or modify process control modules and download these process control modules to dedicated distributed controllers via a data highway. Typically, these control modules consist of communicatively interconnected function blocks, which are objects in an object-oriented programming protocol that perform functions within a control scheme based on inputs to the function blocks and generate outputs to other function blocks in the control scheme. The configuration application also allows the configuration designer to create or modify an operator interface used by a viewing application to display data to an operator and allows the operator to change settings (e.g., setpoints) within a process control routine. Each dedicated controller and, in some cases, one or more field devices, stores and executes an individual controller application that runs the assigned and downloaded control modules to implement the actual process control functions. A viewing application, which may be running on one or more operator workstations (or on one or more remote computing devices communicatively coupled to the operator workstations and the data highway), receives data from the controller application via the data highway and displays this data to a process control system designer, operator, or user using a user interface, and may provide any of a number of different views, such as an operator view, an engineer view, a technician view, etc. While the data historian application is typically stored in and executed by a data historian device that collects and accumulates some or all of the data provided via the data highway, a configuration database application may operate in yet another computer connected to the data highway to store the current process control routine configuration and data associated therewith. Alternatively, the configuration database may be located in the same workstation as the configuration application.

Although these viewing applications currently provide a large amount of information to operators via operator workstations located away from the plant's field environment, operators must still travel to the plant's field environment to obtain some types of information. For example, these viewing applications may display live or still images captured from cameras positioned within the plant, but these cameras typically have a fixed field of view. Thus, operators may need to enter the plant's field environment to examine process plant events that are outside the field of view of these cameras. Additionally, operators currently walk through the process plant's field environment during scheduled rounds to inspect plant conditions, perform actions within the plant, etc., complete plant safety checklists within the field environment. However, it is often unsafe for operators to physically enter the process plant's field environment due to the high frequency of hazardous conditions, such as, for example, hazardous chemicals, high temperatures, dangerous equipment, and/or loud noises, in the process plant's field environment.

Multiple drones equipped with cameras and sensors can be configured to move throughout a process plant's field environment to monitor the conditions of the process plant. Generally, drones are unmanned robotic vehicles. In some examples, the drones are aerial drones (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles or "UAVs"), while in other examples, the drones are terrestrial or water drones, or drones with some combination of aerial, terrestrial, and/or water capabilities.
An on-board computing device associated with the drone controls the movement of the drone through the field environment of the process plant. Additionally, the on-board computing device interfaces with cameras and other sensors and communicates with user interface devices, controllers, servers and/or databases over a network. For example, the on-board computing device may receive drone commands from the user interface devices and/or servers or access drone commands stored in one or more databases. Additionally, the on-board computing device may transmit data captured by the cameras and/or other sensors to a UI device, controller, server, etc. Thus, the user interface device may display data captured by the drone cameras and/or drone sensors (including live video feeds) to an operator within a human machine interface (HMI) application.

In one aspect, a method is provided. The method includes receiving, by a user interface device, an indication of a user selection of equipment within an overview of a process plant displayed by the user interface device to which the unmanned robotic vehicle should be deployed, the overview of the process plant showing a representation of the physical locations of various equipment within the process plant; transmitting, by the user interface device, the indication of the user selection to an on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle; determining, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, a destination of the unmanned robotic vehicle within the process plant based on the indication of the user selection; controlling, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, the unmanned robotic vehicle to move from a current location within the process plant to a destination within the process plant; capturing camera data by one or more cameras of the unmanned robotic vehicle; transmitting, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, the camera data to a user interface device; and displaying, by the user interface device, the camera data alongside the overview of the process plant.

In another aspect, a user interface device is provided. The user interface comprises a user interface device configured to communicate with an unmanned robotic vehicle equipped with one or more cameras, the user interface device comprising a display, one or more processors, and one or more memories storing a set of computer-executable instructions. The computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the user interface device to receive data captured by one or more cameras of the unmanned robotic vehicle from an on-board computing device of the unmanned robotic vehicle, display an overview of the process plant showing a representation of the physical location of various equipment within the process plant alongside the data captured by the one or more cameras of the unmanned robotic vehicle, receive an operator selection of equipment within the overview of the process plant to which the unmanned robotic vehicle should be deployed, and transmit a command to the on-board computing device of the unmanned robotic vehicle indicating the selected equipment within the overview of the process plant to which the unmanned robotic vehicle should be deployed.

In yet another aspect, an unmanned robotic vehicle is provided. The unmanned robotic vehicle comprises one or more cameras configured to capture images as the unmanned robotic vehicle moves through a process plant, one or more processors, and one or more memories storing a set of computer-executable instructions. The computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the unmanned robotic vehicle to receive commands from a user interface device including commands indicating an equipment within the process plant where the unmanned robotic vehicle should be deployed, determine a destination within the process plant based on the indication of the equipment within the process plant, move from a current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant, and transmit images captured by the one or more cameras to the user interface device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a process plant in which drones may be implemented and/or included to monitor conditions in the process plant. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a computing device onboard a drone and an example of a user interface device as shown generally in FIG. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a display view of a user interface of an operator application for monitoring conditions in a process plant using drones. FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of an example of a method for monitoring conditions in a process plant using an unmanned robotic vehicle.

As discussed above, viewing applications currently provide a large amount of information to operators via operator workstations located away from the plant's field environment, but operators still must travel to the plant's field environment to obtain some types of information. For example, these viewing applications may display live or still images captured from cameras positioned within the plant, but these cameras typically have a fixed field of view. Thus, operators may need to enter the plant's field environment to examine process plant events that are outside the field of view of these cameras. Additionally, operators currently walk through the process plant's field environment during scheduled rounds to inspect plant conditions, perform actions within the plant, etc., complete plant safety checklists within the field environment. However, it is often unsafe for operators to physically enter the process plant's field environment due to the high frequency of hazardous conditions, such as, for example, hazardous chemicals, high temperatures, dangerous equipment, and/or loud noises, in the process plant's field environment.

The systems, methods, devices, and techniques disclosed herein address the above and other shortcomings of known systems by enabling an operator to monitor conditions within a process plant without physically entering the dangerous field environment of the process plant. In particular, systems, methods, devices, and techniques are disclosed herein for monitoring conditions in a process plant using drones. Advantageously, drones equipped with cameras and other sensors can safely monitor areas of a process plant that are too dangerous for an operator to enter. For example, data captured by the cameras and other sensors can be transmitted to a user interface device and displayed to an operator safely located outside the field environment.

1 is a block diagram of an exemplary process control network or system 2 operating within a process control system or process plant 10 with and/or within which embodiments of the systems, methods, and techniques for monitoring process plant conditions using drones described herein may be utilized. The process control network or system 2 may include a network backbone 5 that provides direct or indirect connectivity between various other devices. The devices coupled to the network backbone 5, in various embodiments, include one or more access points 7a, one or more gateways 7b to other process plants (e.g., via an intranet or enterprise wide area network), one or more gateways 7c to external systems (e.g., to the Internet), one or more user interface (UI) devices 8, which may be fixed computing devices (e.g., traditional operator workstations) or mobile computing devices (e.g., mobile device smartphones), one or more servers 12 (which may be implemented, for example, as a server bank, such as a cloud computing system, or another suitable configuration), a controller 11, input/output (I/O) cards 26, 28, wired field devices 15-22, a wireless gateway 35, and a wireless communication network 70 in combination. The communication network 70 may include wireless devices including wireless field devices 40-46, wireless adapters 52a, 52b, access points 55a, 55b, and a router 58. The wireless adapters 52a, 52b may be connected to non-wireless field devices 48, 50, respectively. The controller 11 may include a processor 30, a memory 32, and one or more control routines 38. Although FIG. 1 shows only one of several devices directly and/or communicatively connected to the network backbone 5, it should be understood that each of the devices may have multiple instances on the network backbone 5, and in fact the process plant 10 may include multiple network backbones 5.

The UI device 8 may be communicatively connected to the controller 11 and the wireless gateway 35 via the network backbone 5. The controller 11 may be communicatively connected to the wired field devices 15-22 via the input/output (I/O) cards 26, 28, and to the wireless field devices 40-46 via the network backbone 5 and the wireless gateway 35. The controller 11 may operate to implement a batch or continuous process using at least some of the field devices 15-22, 40-50. The controller 11 (which may be, by way of example, a DeltaV™ controller available from Emerson) is communicatively connected to the process control network backbone 5. The controller 11 may further be communicatively connected to the field devices 15-22, 40-50 using, for example, any desired hardware and software associated with standard 4-20 mA devices, I/O cards 26, 28, and/or any smart communication protocol (e.g., FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol, HART® protocol, WirelessHART® protocol, etc.). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the controller 11, the field devices 15-22, 48, 50, and the I/O cards 26, 28 are wired devices and the field devices 40-46 are wireless field devices.

During operation of the UI device 8, in some embodiments, the UI device 8 executes a user interface ("UI") that enables the UI device 8 to accept input via the input interface and provide output on the display. The UI device 8 may receive data (e.g., process related data such as process parameters, log data, and/or any other data that may be captured and stored) from the server 12. In other embodiments, the UI may be executed in whole or in part on the server 12, which may transmit display data to the UI device 8. The UI device 8 may receive UI data (which may include display data and process parameter data) from other nodes in the process control network or system 2, such as the controller 11, the wireless gateway 35, and/or the server 12, via the backbone 5. Based on the UI data received at the UI device 8, the UI device 8 provides output (i.e., a visual representation or graphic, some of which may be updated during run-time) that represents aspects of the process associated with the process control network or system 2. A user may further affect the control of the process by providing input at the UI device 8. To illustrate, the UI device 8 may, for example, provide a graphic depicting a tank filling process. In such a scenario, a user may read a tank level measurement and determine that the tank needs to be filled. The user may interact with a graphic of an inlet valve displayed on the UI device 8 to input a command to cause the inlet valve to open.

In certain embodiments, the UI device 8 may implement any type of client, such as a thin client, a web client, or a thick client. For example, the UI device 8 may rely on other nodes, computers, UI devices, or servers for most of the processing required for the operation of the UI device 8, as may be the case when the UI device has limited memory, battery power, etc. (e.g., in a wearable device). In such an example, the UI device 8 may communicate with the server 12 or another UI device, which may communicate with one or more other nodes (e.g., servers) on the process control network or system 2 to determine display data and/or process data for transmission to the UI device 8. Additionally, the UI device 8 may pass any data associated with received user input to the server 12, so that the server 12 can process the data associated with the user input and act accordingly. That is, the UI device 8 may simply act as a portal to one or more nodes or servers that render graphics, store data, and perform routines required for the operation of the UI device 8. A thin client UI device offers the advantage of minimal hardware requirements for the UI device 8.

In other embodiments, the UI device 8 may be a web client. In such an embodiment, a user of the UI device 8 may interact with the process control system through a browser on the UI device 8. The browser allows the user to access data and resources at another node or server 12 (e.g., server 12) via the backbone 5. For example, the browser may receive UI data, such as display data or process parameter data, from the server 12, which may allow the browser to display graphics to control and/or monitor some or all of the process. The browser may also receive user input (e.g., a mouse click on a graphic). The user input may cause the browser to retrieve or access information resources stored on the server 12. For example, a mouse click may cause the browser to retrieve and display information (from the server 12) about the clicked graphic. In yet other embodiments, the majority of the processing of the UI device 8 may occur in the UI device 8. For example, the UI device 8 may execute the UI described above. The UI device 8 may also store, access, and analyze data locally.

In operation, a user may interact with the UI device 8 to monitor or control one or more devices (e.g., any of the field devices 15-22 or devices 40-50) in the process control network or system 2. Additionally, a user may interact with the UI device 8 to, for example, modify or change parameters associated with a control routine stored in the controller 11. The processor 30 of the process controller 11 implements or monitors one or more process control routines (stored in the memory 32), which may include a control loop. The processor 30 communicates with the field devices 15-22, 40-50, and may further communicate with other nodes communicatively connected to the backbone 5. It should be noted that some of the control routines or modules described herein (including the quality prediction module and the fault detection module or function block) may be implemented or executed by different controllers or other devices, if desired. Similarly, the control routines or modules described herein to be implemented in the process control system may take any form, such as software, firmware, hardware, etc. The control routines may be implemented in any desired software format, such as, for example, using object-oriented programming, ladder logic, sequential function charts, functional block diagrams, or using any other software programming language or design paradigm. In particular, the control routines may be defined and implemented by a user via the UI device 8. The control routines may be stored in any desired type of memory, such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM) of the controller 11. Similarly, the control routines may be hard-coded, for example, in one or more EPROMs, EEPROMs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other hardware or firmware elements of the controller 11. In this manner, the controller 11 may be configured (by a user, in certain embodiments using the UI device 8) to implement (e.g., receive, store, and/or execute) a control strategy or control routine in any desired manner.

In some embodiments of the UI device 8, a user may interact with the UI device 8 to define and implement control strategies in the controller 11 using what are generally referred to as function blocks, where each function block is an object or other part of an overall control routine (e.g., a subroutine) that operates with other function blocks (through communications called links) to implement a process control loop in the process control system. A control-based function block typically performs one of the following functions: an input function (e.g., an input function associated with a transmitter, sensor or other process parameter measurement device), a control function (e.g., a control function associated with a control routine that performs control such as PID, fuzzy logic, etc.), or an output function that controls the operation of some device (e.g., a valve) to perform some physical function in the process control system. Of course, mixed and other types of function blocks also exist. The function blocks may have a graphical representation provided in the UI device 8 so that a user can easily modify the type of function block, the connections between the function blocks, and the inputs and outputs associated with each of the function blocks implemented in the process control system. The function blocks may be downloaded to, stored in, and executed by the controller 11, typically when the function blocks are used with or associated with standard 4-20 mA devices and some types of smart field devices (e.g., HART devices), or may be stored in and implemented by the field device itself when the function blocks are associated with Fieldbus devices. The controller 11 may include one or more control routines 38 that may implement one or more control loops. Each control loop, generally referred to as a control module, may be implemented by executing one or more of the function blocks.

With further reference to FIG. 1, the wireless field devices 40-46 communicate within the wireless network 70 using a wireless protocol such as the Wireless HART protocol. In certain embodiments, the UI device 8 may be capable of communicating with the wireless field devices 40-46 using the wireless network 70. Such wireless field devices 40-46 may communicate directly with one or more other nodes of the process control network or system 2 that are also configured to communicate wirelessly (e.g., using a wireless protocol). The wireless field devices 40-46 may utilize a wireless gateway 35 connected to the backbone 5 to communicate with one or more other nodes that are not configured to communicate wirelessly. Of course, the field devices 15-22, 40-46 may conform to any other desired standard(s) or protocol, such as any wired or wireless protocol, including any standard or protocol developed in the future.

The wireless gateway 35 may provide access to various wireless devices or nodes 40-46, 52-58 of the wireless communication network 70. In particular, the wireless gateway 35 provides communication connections between the wireless devices 40-46, 52-58 and other nodes of the process control network or system 2 (including the controller 11 of FIG. 1). The wireless gateway 35 provides communication connections to lower layers of the wired and wireless protocol stacks (e.g., address translation, routing, packet splitting, prioritization, etc.) in some cases through routing, buffering, and timing services, and in one implementation tunnels through a shared layer(s) of the wired and wireless protocol stacks. In other cases, the wireless gateway 35 may translate commands between wired and wireless protocols that do not share any protocol layers.

Like the wired field devices 15-22, the wireless field devices 40-46 of the wireless network 70 may perform physical control functions within the process plant 10 (e.g., opening and closing a valve or measuring a process parameter). However, the wireless field devices 40-46 are configured to communicate using the wireless protocol of the network 70. Thus, the wireless field devices 40-46, the wireless gateway 35, and the other wireless nodes 52-58 of the wireless network 70 are producers and consumers of wireless communication packets.

In some scenarios, the wireless network 70 may include non-wireless devices 48, 50 that may be wired devices. For example, the field device 48 in FIG. 1 may be a legacy 4-20 mA device, and the field device 50 may be a conventional wired HART device. The field devices 48, 50 may be connected to the wireless communication network 70 via individual wireless adapters (WA) 52a, 52b to communicate within the network 70. In addition, the wireless adapters 52a, 52b may also support other communication protocols such as Foundation® Fieldbus, PROFIBUS, DeviceNet, etc. In addition, the wireless network 70 may include one or more network access points 55a, 55b that may be separate physical devices in wired communication with the wireless gateway 35 or may be disposed with the wireless gateway 35 as an integrated device. The wireless network 70 may further include one or more routers 58 for forwarding packets from one wireless device to another in the wireless communication network 70. The wireless devices 40-46, 52-58 may communicate with each other and with the wireless gateway 35 via wireless links 60 of the wireless communication network 70.

In certain embodiments, the process control network or system 2 may include other nodes connected to the network backbone 5 that communicate using other wireless protocols. For example, the process control network or system 2 may include one or more wireless access points 7a that utilize other wireless protocols, such as, for example, Wi-Fi or other IEEE 802.11 compliant wireless local area network protocols, mobile communication protocols such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution) or other ITU-R (International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector) compliant protocols, short wavelength wireless communications such as Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth, and/or other wireless communication protocols. Typically, such wireless access points 7a allow handheld or other portable computing devices to communicate over individual wireless networks that are different from the wireless network 70 and that support different wireless protocols than the wireless network 70. In some embodiments, the UI device 8 uses the wireless access point 7a to communicate over the process control network or system 2. In some scenarios, in addition to portable computing devices, one or more process control devices (e.g., controller 11, field devices 15-22, wireless devices 35, 40-46, 52-58) may also communicate using the wireless network supported by the access point 7a.

Additionally or alternatively, the process control network or system 2 may include one or more gateways 7b, 7c to systems external to the subject process control system. In such an embodiment, the UI device 8 may be used to control, monitor, or otherwise communicate with said external systems. Typically, such systems are consumers and/or suppliers of information generated or manipulated by the process control system. For example, the plant gateway node 7b communicatively connects the subject process plant 10 (with its own individual process control data network backbone 5) to another process plant with its own individual network backbone. In an embodiment, one network backbone 5 may enable multiple process plants or process control environments.

In another example, the plant gateway node 7b may communicatively connect the process plant of interest to a legacy or prior art process plant that does not include a process control network or system 2 or backbone 5. In this example, the plant gateway node 7b may convert or translate messages between a protocol utilized by the process control big data backbone 5 of the plant 10 and a different protocol utilized by the legacy system (e.g., Ethernet, Profibus, Fieldbus, DeviceNet, etc.). In such an example, the UI device 8 may be used to control, monitor, or otherwise communicate with a system or network within the legacy or prior art process plant.

The process control network or system 2 may include one or more external system gateway nodes 7c to communicatively connect the process control network or system 2 to a network of external public or private systems, such as a laboratory system (e.g., a Laboratory Information Management System or LIMS), a personnel rotation database, a material handling system, a maintenance management system, a product inventory control system, a production scheduling system, a weather data system, a shipping processing system, a packaging system, the Internet, another provider's process control system, and/or other external systems. The external system gateway node 7c may, for example, facilitate communication between the process control system and personnel outside the process plant (e.g., at-home personnel).

1 shows only one controller 11 with a finite number of communicatively connected field devices 15-22, 40-46, 48-50, but this is merely an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment. Any number of controllers 11 may be included in the process control network or system 2, and any of the controllers 11 may communicate with any number of wired or wireless devices 15-22, 40-50 to control processes in the plant 10. Additionally, the process plant 10 may further include any number of wireless gateways 35, routers 58, access points 55, wireless protocol control communication networks 70, access points 7a, and/or gateways 7b, 7c.

In one example of a process plant 10 configuration, multiple drones 72a, 72b equipped with individual cameras 74a, 74b and/or other sensors 76a, 76b move throughout the field environment of the process plant 10 to monitor the conditions of the process plant. Generally, the drones 72a, 72b are unmanned robotic vehicles. In some examples, the drones 72a, 72b are aerial drones (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles or "UAVs"), while in other examples, the drones 72a, 72b are ground or water drones, or drones with some combination of aerial, ground, and/or water capabilities. On-board computing devices 78a, 78b associated with the drones 72a, 72b control the movement of the drones 72a, 72b through the field environment of the process plant 10. Additionally, the on-board computing devices 78a, 78b interface with the cameras 74a, 74b and/or other sensors 76a, 76b and communicate with the user interface device 8, the controller 11, the server 12, and/or one or more databases, for example, via the network 70. For example, the on-board computing devices 78a, 78b may receive drone commands from the user interface device 8 and/or the server 12, or may access drone commands stored in one or more databases. As another example, the on-board computing devices 78a, 78b may transmit data captured by the cameras 74a, 74b and/or other sensors 76a, 76b to the UI device 8, the controller 11, the server 12, and/or any other suitable computing device. In response, the user interface device 8 displays the data captured by the cameras 74a, 74b and/or other sensors 76a, 76b to the operator.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of example drones 72 (e.g., drones 72a, 72b) and example on-board computing devices 78 (e.g., on-board computing devices 78a, 78b) associated with example UI devices 8, which may be utilized with embodiments of a system for monitoring process plant conditions using drones described herein. As shown in FIG. 2, example drone 72 is equipped with one or more cameras 74 (which may include an infrared camera), one or more other sensors 76, and on-board computing device 78. Cameras 74, sensors 76, and on-board computing device 78 may be attached to drone 72, may be included within drone 72, may be carried by drone 72, or may be otherwise associated with drone 72. Sensors 76 may include, for example, position sensors, temperature sensors, flame sensors, gas sensors, wind sensors, accelerometers, motion sensors, and/or other suitable sensors. In some examples, drone 72 is further equipped with additional accessories, such as, for example, lights, speakers, microphones, and the like. Additionally, in some embodiments, devices for taking samples, medical kits, breathing apparatus, defibrillator units, etc. are attached to, contained within, carried by, or otherwise associated with drone 72. Drone 72 may also be equipped with additional mechanical components for performing various actions within plant 10. For example, drone 72 may be equipped with a robotic arm for actuating a switch or taking a sample.

The on-board computing device 78 runs applications to interface with the camera 74, the sensor 76, and/or additional machine parts, receive drone path commands, control the path of the drone 72, and store and transmit data captured by the drone camera 74 and/or the drone sensor 76. The on-board computing device 78 generally includes one or more processors or CPUs 80, memory 82, random accessory memory (RAM) 84, input/output (I/O) circuitry 86, and a communication unit 88 for transmitting and receiving data over a local area network, a wide area network, and/or any other suitable network (e.g., network 70), which may be wired and/or wireless. For example, the on-board computing device 78 may communicate with the UI device 8, the controller 11, the server 12, and/or any other suitable computing device.

Additionally, the on-board computing device 78 includes a database 90 that stores data associated with the drone 72. For example, the database 90 may store data captured by the drone camera 74 and/or the drone sensor 76. Additionally, the database 90 may store navigation data, such as, for example, a map of the plant 10. The map may include one or more routes for the drone 72 to travel throughout the plant 10, as well as indications of the locations of various equipment within the plant 10. The indications of the locations of the various plant equipment may include indications of the locations of various vantage points near each piece of equipment. Additionally, the indications of the locations of the various plant equipment may include indications of the locations of one or more drone-activated switches (e.g., kill switches).

The memory 82 further includes a control unit 92 and an operating system 94 including one or more drone applications 96. The control unit 94 is configured to communicate with the UI device 8, the controller 11, the server 12, and/or any other suitable computing device. For example, in some embodiments, the control unit 94 can communicate data captured by the drone camera 74 and/or the drone sensor 76 to the UI device 8, the controller 11, the server 12, and/or any other suitable computing device. Additionally, the control unit 94 is configured to control the movement and actions of the drone 72 within the plant.

Generally, the drone application 96 operating on the operating system 94 may include applications that issue commands to the control unit 94 to control the movement and actions of the drone 72 within the plant. Additionally, the drone application 96 may include applications for analyzing data captured by the camera 74 and/or sensors 76, and for receiving and sending data from the UI device 8, the controller 11, the server 12, and/or any other suitable computing device.

For example, the drone application 96, which issues commands to the control unit 94 to control the movement and actions of the drone 72 within the plant, may include a drone navigation application. Generally, the drone navigation application determines a current location of the drone 72 within the plant 10 using some combination of navigation data stored in the database 90 and position data captured by the sensor 76. Once a destination for the drone 72 is received or determined, the drone navigation application may calculate a route from the current location to the destination.

In some examples, the destinations of the drone 72 may be preconfigured and stored in the database 90. For example, the database 90 may store a route or path along which the drone 72 should repeatedly travel, or may store a particular location (e.g., closest to a particular piece of equipment in the plant) at which the drone 72 should hover. Additionally, the database 90 may store a list of routes or destinations to which the drone should travel based on various triggers or conditions within the plant 10. For example, the database 90 may store data indicating that the drone 72 should travel to a particular location within the plant 10 or travel a particular route based on an alarm or plant condition within the plant 10. For example, the database 90 may store instructions of a safe location for the drone 72 to travel to the plant 10, or a safe route for the drone 72 to exit the plant 10 in the event of a fire, toxic gas leak, spill, explosion, or the like. For example, personnel within the plant 10 may follow the drone 72 out of the plant during these dangerous conditions. In other examples, database 90 may store location or route instructions near a fire, gas leak, spill, explosion, etc. (e.g., to capture photographs, videos, or other data associated with an alarm or other condition, to create a drone "fence" protecting the perimeter of an unsafe condition, to direct emergency assistance to a plant condition). Further, for example, database 90 may store data indicating that drone 72 should travel to a particular location or travel a particular route based on the capture of trigger sensor data (e.g., sensor data indicative of a plant condition).

In other examples, the destination of the drone 72 may be selected by the navigation application based on commands (e.g., operator commands) received from the UI device 8, the controller 11, the server 12, and/or any other suitable computing device. For example, the operator may select an area of the plant 10 or equipment within the plant 10 via the UI device 8, and the destination may be selected based on a location stored in the database 90 for the area or equipment of the plant 10. Additionally, the operator may select a person within the plant 10 via the UI device 8, and the destination may be selected based on a location associated with the person (e.g., based on GPS data associated with the person or based on a location associated with the person stored in the database 90). As another example, the operator may utilize a directional control device (e.g., left, right, up, down, forward, backward, etc.), and the destination may be selected by the navigation application based on a directional movement from the current location of the drone 72.

Additionally, the drone application 96, which issues commands to the control unit 94 to control the actions of the drone 72 within the plant, may include applications that issue commands to the control unit to cause the drone to activate switches (e.g., a kill switch to shut down equipment in unsafe locations such as drilling sites), take measurements, perform evaluations, take samples, provide warnings (via an attached speaker system), play voice commands (via an attached microphone), pick up objects (e.g., tools, medical kits, etc.) and carry them to new locations within the plant (e.g., locations near personnel), swap items as needed for various situations, assist personnel within the plant as needed (e.g., as a "handyman"), etc. As with navigation destinations, in some examples, the actions to be performed by the drone 72 may be pre-configured and stored in the database 90, while in other examples, the actions to be performed by the drone 72 may be selected based on commands (e.g., operator commands) received from the UI device 8, the controller 11, the server 12, and/or any other suitable computing device.

Additionally, the drone application 96 for analyzing data captured by the camera 74 and/or the sensor 76 may include an image recognition application for analyzing photos or videos from the camera 74, or a sensor analysis application configured to analyze data from the drone sensor 76, or some combination of the two, to automatically identify indications of various conditions within the process plant, such as overheating, fire, smoke, movement, leaks (including identifying the size of the leak), droplets, puddles, steam, or valve status (including identifying whether open or closed). The applications operating on the operating system 90 may also include a sensor analysis application for determining prevailing wind speed and direction based on data from the drone sensor 76 (e.g., to help assess the impact of a toxic gas leak). The drone application 96 for analyzing data captured by the camera 74 and/or the sensor 76 may further include a surveillance application. For example, the surveillance application may analyze facial features of persons within the plant to identify unauthorized persons within the plant. As another example, the surveillance application may analyze data captured by a motion sensor to determine whether unauthorized persons are moving through the plant. Additionally, the surveillance application may analyze photographs or videos captured by the drone camera 74 to identify evidence of unauthorized entry into the process plant, such as, for example, a damaged fence or a broken door.

Additionally or alternatively, drone applications 96 may include applications that allow drone 72 to interact with other drones in the plant to form a field mesh and/or wireless backhaul to enable communication in locations without a ready communication system or that have temporarily lost communication capability. Further, applications running on operating system 90 may include a GPS application that allows drone 72 to transmit GPS information to other drones or receive GPS information from a master drone to create a local temporary GPS system.

Returning to the UI device 8, the device 8 may be a desktop computer such as a conventional operator workstation, a control room display, or a mobile computing device such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a mobile device smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wearable computing device, or any other suitable client computing device. The UI device 8 may execute a graphic display configuration application utilized by a configuration engineer within the configuration environment to create, generate, and/or edit various display view definitions or configurations while simultaneously creating, generating, and/or editing various display view element definitions or configurations. The UI device 8 may further execute an operator application utilized by an operator to monitor, observe, and respond to various conditions and states of processes within the operating environment. The UI device 8 may include a display 98. Further, the UI device 8 includes one or more processors or CPUs 100, memory 102, random accessory memory (RAM) 104, input/output (I/O) circuitry 105, and a communication unit 106 for transmitting and receiving data over a local area network, a wide area network, and/or any other suitable network (e.g., network 70), which may be wired and/or wireless. The UI device 8 may communicate with the controller 11, the server 12, the drone-mounted computing device 78, and/or any other suitable computing device.

The memory 102 may include an operating system 108, applications running on the operating system 108, such as a graphic display configuration application and an operator application, and a control unit 110 for controlling the display 98 and communicating with the controller 11 to control the on-line operation of the process plant. In some embodiments, the server 12 may transmit a graphic representation of a portion of the process plant to the UI device 8, which in turn may present the graphic representation of the portion of the process plant on the display 98. Additionally, the control unit 110 may obtain user input from the I/O circuitry 105, such as user input from an operator or configuration engineer (also referred to herein as a user), and translate the user input into a request to present a graphic display view in a particular language, a request to include a graphic showing a particular control element in an Active Minor or Watch window included in the display view, a request to display an adjustment of a process parameter included in one of the process sections, etc.

In some embodiments, the control unit 110 may communicate the translated user input to the server 12, which may generate a request UI and transmit the request UI to the UI device 8 for display.
In other embodiments, the control unit 110 may generate a new UI based on the translated user input and present the new UI on the display 98 of the UI device 8. If the translated user input is a request to display an adjustment of a process parameter included in one of the process sections, the control unit 110 may adjust the process parameter value on the display 98 according to the user input from the operator and issue a command to the controller 11 to adjust the process parameter in the process plant. In other embodiments, the control unit 110 may communicate the translated user input to the server 12, which may generate an adjusted process parameter value and transmit the adjusted process parameter value to the UI device 8 for display, and issue a command to the controller 11 to adjust the process parameter in the process plant.

Now, referring to FIG. 3, an example of a user interface display view 200 of an operator application for monitoring a process plant condition using drones (e.g., drones 72, 72a, 72b) according to one embodiment is shown. The example user interface display view 200 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed via the display 92 of the user interface 8. The user interface display view 200 includes an overview 202 of the process plant displayed alongside live video feeds 204, 206 associated with a first drone and a second drone and a set of drone controls 207. While two drone video feeds are shown in FIG. 3, in various embodiments, live video feeds associated with more or fewer drones may be displayed. Additionally, in some embodiments, the user interface display view 200 includes a display associated with sensor data captured by sensors associated with the drones in the process plant.

Generally, the process plant overview 202 shows a representation of the physical locations of various equipment within the plant, and a representation of the physical locations of various drones within the process plant relative to the equipment. For example, drone 1 (208) is depicted near equipment 210. As another example, drone 2 (212) is depicted near equipment 214, and drone 3 (216) is depicted near equipment 218. Thus, the live video feed 204 associated with drone 1 shows a live hood of video showing the current status of equipment 210. Similarly, the live video feed 206 associated with drone 2 shows a live hood of video showing the current status of equipment 214. In one example, when an operator selects a drone (e.g., using cursor 220), a live feed associated with that drone is displayed. For example, when an operator selects drone 3 (216), a live video feed associated with drone 3 is displayed showing a live hood of the current status of equipment 218.

In some examples, the drones move along a fixed path within the process plant. In other examples, the drones are fully controlled by the operator. In still other examples, the drones generally move along a fixed path within the process plant until the operator takes an action to control the path of the drone. In one example, the operator manually controls the physical movement of each drone within the process plant using the drone controllers 207. For example, the operator can physically raise or lower the drone, rotate it, move it forward and backward, etc. using the various drone controllers 207. Thus, the drones can be moved within the process plant to get a closer view of various equipment within the process plant, so that the operator can inspect conditions within the plant via the user interface device 8 (i.e., without entering the field environment).

In another example, an operator controls the physical movement of the drones within the process plant by selecting the depictions 208, 212, 216 of each drone within the process plant overview 202 or by selecting an area within the process plant overview 202 where the drone needs to be deployed. In one example, when an operator selects a drone (e.g., using the cursor 220) and clicks and drags it to a new location, the drone is configured to physically move to the new location. For example, an aerial drone may automatically take off and fly a predetermined safe route to a hover point associated with the selected location. In another example, when an operator selects (e.g., using the cursor 220) an area of the process plant overview 202 (and/or equipment depicted within the process plant overview 202) where the drone is not currently located, the drone is configured to physically move to that area of the process plant. Thus, the operator can view a live video feed of the selected area of the process plant once the drone arrives at its destination.

In one example, an operator selects a drone in the process plant overview 202 to move the drone from its current location to a safe location, which may be selected by the operator or may be predetermined. For example, if a person is trapped in an unsafe location in the process plant, the operator may select a drone near the person to move from its current location to a safe location, and the person may follow the drone to the safe location. In another example, an operator selects a drone in the process plant overview 202 to move the drone from an entrance to the process plant to a particular area of the process plant. For example, if an emergency occurs in the plant, emergency personnel may follow the drone from the entrance to the plant to the area of the plant associated with the emergency.

Furthermore, in one embodiment, the operator may select a drone or area within the overview 202 of the process plant to have the drone perform other tasks within the plant. For example, the drone may be configured to warn personnel of hazards within the process plant, for example, by broadcasting a warning or by marking the perimeter of the unsafe area. For example, the operator may select an unsafe area within the overview 202 to have the drone travel to the area and warn personnel of the hazards in the area. Further, in some cases, the operator may select a drone to deliver a medical kit, breathing apparatus, or defibrillator unit to a person trapped in an unsafe area of the plant. Further, the operator may select a drone to activate a switch within the plant (including a kill switch to shut down equipment in an unsafe location, such as an excavation site), take measurements within the plant, and/or take product samples from within the plant.

Referring to FIG. 4, a flow diagram 400 of an example method for monitoring a condition of a process plant using an unmanned robotic vehicle is shown, according to some embodiments. For example, memory 82 of on-board computing device 78 of unmanned robotic vehicle 72 and/or memory 102 of user interface device 8 may store instructions that, when executed by processor 80 or processor 100, cause unmanned robotic vehicle 72 and/or user interface device 8, respectively, to perform at least a portion of method 400. In embodiments, method 400 may include additional, fewer, and/or alternative actions.

In block 402, the user interface device 8 may receive an indication of a user selection of equipment within an overview of the process plant displayed by the user interface device 8 to which the unmanned robotic vehicle 72 should be deployed. For example, the overview of the process plant may show a representation of the physical locations of various equipment within the process plant. In some examples, the display of the overview of the process plant may include a display of a representation of the physical location of the unmanned robotic vehicle within the process plant relative to the equipment within the process plant.

At block 404, an indication of the user selection may be transmitted to an on-board computing device 78 associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle 72.

At block 406, a destination for the unmanned robotic vehicle 72 within the process plant may be determined based on the user-selected instructions. In some examples, determining a destination for the unmanned robotic vehicle within the process plant may include determining a safe hover point near the physical location of the equipment selected by the user.

In block 408, the unmanned robotic vehicle 72 may be controlled to move from a current location within the process plant to a destination within the process plant. For example, in some embodiments, controlling the unmanned robotic vehicle 72 to move from the current location to the destination may include identifying a safe route from the current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant and controlling the unmanned robotic vehicle 72 to move from the current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant via the safe route.

At block 410, camera data may be captured by one or more cameras on the unmanned robotic vehicle 72. In some examples, the camera data may include a live video feed. In some examples, the camera data may include infrared camera data captured by one or more infrared cameras on the unmanned robotic vehicle 72.

In block 412, the camera data may be transmitted to the user interface device 8.

At block 414, the camera data may be displayed alongside the overview of the process plant. In some examples, displaying the camera data alongside the overview of the process plant may include displaying a live video feed based on the camera data aligned with the overview of the process plant.

In some examples, method 400 may further include capturing sensor data by one or a sensor of the unmanned robotic vehicle, transmitting the sensor data to a user interface device, and/or displaying the sensor data by a user interface device (not shown in FIG. 4). Capturing the sensor data by one or more sensors of the unmanned robotic vehicle may include capturing the sensor data from one or more of a position sensor, a temperature sensor, a flame sensor, a gas sensor, a wind sensor, an accelerometer, and/or a motion sensor of the unmanned robotic vehicle. Method 400 may also include analyzing the camera data and/or the sensor data to identify an indication of a condition within the process plant. For example, the condition may be an overheating condition, a fire condition, a smoke condition, a leak condition, a steam condition, a standing or dripping water condition, a valve condition, a movement condition within the process plant, and the like.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, method 400 may further include receiving an indication of a user selection of a switch within the process plant that needs to be actuated by the unmanned robotic vehicle and controlling a robotic arm of the unmanned robotic vehicle to actuate the switch within the process plant.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, method 400 may further include controlling a robotic arm of the unmanned robotic vehicle to collect a sample within the process plant.

The following additional considerations also apply to the above description. Throughout this specification, actions described as being performed by any device or routine generally refer to the actions or processes of a processor that manipulates or transforms data according to machine-readable instructions. The machine-readable instructions may be stored in and retrieved from a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor. That is, the methods described herein may be embodied by a set of machine-executable instructions stored in a computer-readable medium (i.e., a memory device), as shown in FIG. 2. The instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a corresponding device (e.g., a server, a user interface device, etc.), cause the processor to perform the method. When instructions, routines, modules, processes, services, programs, and/or applications are referred to herein as being stored or saved in a computer-readable memory or computer-readable medium, the words "stored" and "saved" are intended to exclude transitory signals.

Additionally, the terms "operator," "personnel," "people," "user," "technician," and other similar terms are used to indicate persons in a process plant environment who may use or interact with the systems, apparatus, and methods described herein, but these terms are not intended to be limiting. Where a particular term is used herein, that term is used in part because it is an activity traditionally involving plant personnel, but is not intended to be limiting to personnel who may be involved in that particular activity.

Furthermore, throughout this specification, a component, operation, or structure described as one instance may be implemented by multiple instances. Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of the individual operations may be performed simultaneously, and the operations need not be performed in the order shown. Structures and functions shown as separate components in the example configurations may be implemented as combined structures or components. Similarly, structures and functions shown as single components may be implemented as separate components. The above and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are within the scope of this specification.

Any of the applications, services, and engines described herein, when implemented in software, may be stored in any tangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory, such as a magnetic disk, laser disk, solid-state memory device, molecular memory storage device, or other storage medium, in the RAM or ROM of a computer or processor, or the like. It should be noted that while the example systems disclosed herein are disclosed as including software and/or firmware running on hardware, among other components, such systems are merely examples and should not be considered limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of these hardware, software, and firmware components may be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, or in any combination of hardware and software. Thus, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the examples provided are not the only way to implement such systems.

Thus, the present invention has been described with respect to specific examples which are merely illustrative and not limiting of the present invention, but it will be appreciated that modifications, additions, or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Furthermore, while detailed descriptions of many different embodiments are set forth above, the detailed descriptions should be construed as merely illustrative and not all possible embodiments have been described, as describing all possible embodiments would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Numerous alternatives are possible using current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this application.

Claims (29)

receiving, by a user interface device, an indication of a user selection of equipment within an overview of a process plant displayed by the user interface device to which an unmanned robotic vehicle should be deployed, the overview of the process plant showing a representation of a physical location of various equipment within the process plant;
transmitting, by the user interface device, the indication of the user selection to an on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle;
determining, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, a destination of the unmanned robotic vehicle within the process plant based on the indication of the user selection;
controlling, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, the unmanned robotic vehicle to move from a current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant;
capturing camera data with one or more cameras of the unmanned robotic vehicle;
transmitting, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, the camera data to the user interface device;
and displaying the camera data alongside the overview within the process plant through the user interface device. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the destination of the unmanned robotic vehicle within the process plant includes determining a safe hover point near a physical location of the equipment selected by the user. The step of controlling the unmanned robotic vehicle to move from a current location to the destination includes:
identifying, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, a safe route from the current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant;
and controlling, by the on-board computing device, the unmanned robotic vehicle to travel from the current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant via the safe route. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein displaying the camera data alongside the overview of the process plant includes displaying a live video feed based on the camera data alongside the overview of the process plant. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising displaying, by the user interface device, a representation of the physical location of the unmanned robotic vehicle within the process plant relative to the equipment within the overview of the process plant. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the step of capturing camera data by one or more cameras of the unmanned robotic vehicle includes the step of capturing infrared camera data by one or more infrared camera data of the unmanned robotic vehicle. capturing sensor data with one or more sensors of the unmanned robotic vehicle;
transmitting, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, the sensor data to the user interface device;
The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: displaying the sensor data by the user interface device. The method of claim 7, wherein capturing sensor data by one or more sensors of the unmanned robotic vehicle includes capturing sensor data from one or more of a position sensor, a temperature sensor, a flame sensor, a gas sensor, a wind sensor, an accelerometer, and/or a motion sensor of the unmanned robotic vehicle. The method of claim 7 or claim 8, further comprising analyzing, by the on-board computing device associated with the unmanned robotic vehicle, the camera data and/or the sensor data to identify an indication of conditions within the process plant. The method of claim 9, wherein the condition is one or more of an overheat condition, a fire condition, a smoke condition, a leak condition, a steam condition, a standing or dripping water condition, a valve condition, or a movement condition within the process plant. receiving, by a user interface device, an indication of a user selection of a switch within the process plant that is to be actuated by the unmanned robotic vehicle;
and controlling, by the on-board computing device, a robotic arm of the unmanned robotic vehicle to actuate the switch in the process plant. The method of any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising controlling, by the on-board computing device, a robotic arm of the unmanned robotic vehicle to take a sample within the process plant. 1. A user interface device configured to communicate with an unmanned robotic vehicle equipped with one or more cameras, comprising:
A display and
one or more processors;
one or more memories that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the user interface device to:
receiving, from an on-board computing device of the unmanned robotic vehicle, data captured by the one or more cameras of the unmanned robotic vehicle;
displaying, alongside the data captured by the one or more cameras of the unmanned robotic vehicle, an overview of the process plant showing a representation of the physical locations of various equipment within the process plant;
receiving a user selection of equipment within the overview of the process plant where the unmanned robotic vehicle should be deployed;
and a memory storing a set of computer-executable instructions that cause the on-board computing device to transmit a command indicating the selected equipment within the overview of the process plant where the unmanned robotic vehicle should be deployed. The user interface device of claim 13, wherein the instructions for causing the user interface device to display data captured by the one or more cameras of the unmanned robotic vehicle include instructions for displaying a live video feed based on data captured by the one or more cameras. The user interface device of claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the instructions for causing the user interface device to display the overview of the process plant include instructions for displaying a representation of a physical location of the unmanned robotic vehicle within the process plant relative to the equipment within the overview of the process plant. The user interface device of claim 13 , wherein the computer- executable instructions further cause the user interface device to display sensor data captured by the one or more sensors of the unmanned robotic vehicle. The user interface device of claim 16, wherein the sensor data includes data captured by one or more of a position sensor, a temperature sensor, a flame sensor, a gas sensor, a wind sensor, an accelerometer, and/or a motion sensor of the unmanned robotic vehicle. The computer executable instructions further include causing the user interface device to:
receiving an indication of a user selection of a switch within the process plant that is to be actuated by the unmanned robotic vehicle;
18. The user interface device of claim 13, configured to transmit a command to the on-board computing device of the unmanned robotic vehicle indicating a selection of the switch that needs to be actuated by the unmanned robotic vehicle. An unmanned robotic vehicle,
one or more cameras configured to capture images as the unmanned robotic vehicle moves through a process plant;
one or more processors;
One or more memories that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the unmanned robotic vehicle to:
receiving commands from a user interface device , the commands from the user interface device including an operator selection of equipment upon which the unmanned robotic vehicle should be deployed within an overview of the process plant displayed by the user interface device, the overview of the process plant showing a representation of a physical location of various equipment within the process plant;
determining a destination within the process plant based on commands from the user interface device ;
moving from a current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant;
and a memory storing a set of computer-executable instructions that cause images captured by the one or more cameras to be transmitted to the user interface device. 20. The unmanned robotic vehicle of claim 19, wherein the computer executable instructions for causing the unmanned robotic vehicle to determine the destination of the unmanned robotic vehicle within the process plant based on commands from the user interface device include instructions for causing the unmanned robotic vehicle to determine a safe hover point near a physical location of equipment within the process plant. The computer-executable instructions for causing the unmanned robotic vehicle to move from the current location to the destination include causing the unmanned robotic vehicle to:
identifying a safe route from the current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant;
21. The unmanned robotic vehicle of claim 19 or claim 20, comprising instructions to move from the current location within the process plant to the destination within the process plant along the safe route. The unmanned robotic vehicle according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the unmanned robotic vehicle is an unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned robotic vehicle of any one of claims 19 to 22, wherein the one or more cameras include one or more infrared cameras. and one or more sensors configured to capture sensor data as the unmanned robotic vehicle moves through the process plant.
The unmanned robotic vehicle of claim 19 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the unmanned robotic vehicle to transmit sensor data captured by the one or more sensors to the user interface device. The unmanned robotic vehicle of claim 24, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more of a position sensor, a temperature sensor, a flame sensor, a gas sensor, a wind sensor, an accelerometer, and a motion sensor. The computer executable instructions further include:
26. The unmanned robotic vehicle of claim 24 or claim 25, further comprising one or more of the camera data and the sensor data analyzed to identify indications of conditions within the process plant. The unmanned robotic vehicle of claim 26, wherein the condition is one or more of an overheat condition, a fire condition, a smoke condition, a leak condition, a steam condition, a standing or dripping water condition, a valve condition, or a movement condition within the process plant. 28. The unmanned robotic vehicle of any of claims 19 to 27, further comprising a robotic arm configured to perform one or both of: (i) actuating a switch within the process plant; or (ii) taking a sample within the process plant. The computer executable instructions further include:
receiving an indication of a user selection of a switch within the process plant that is to be actuated by the unmanned robotic vehicle;
30. The unmanned robotic vehicle of claim 28, further comprising: controlling the robotic arm of the unmanned robotic vehicle to actuate the switch in the process plant.

Images