WO2017029079A1

WO2017029079A1 - Method and system for identifying at least one field device used in automation technology

Info

Publication number: WO2017029079A1
Application number: PCT/EP2016/067736
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marc Baret; Georg HAUSS; Ulrich Kaiser; Michael Maneval; Markus Nick
Original assignee: Endress+Hauser Process Solutions Ag
Priority date: 2015-08-19
Filing date: 2016-07-26
Publication date: 2017-02-23
Also published as: DE102015113756A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a system for identifying at least one field device used in automation technology, at least comprising: a plurality of field devices; an apparatus for detecting a location; a database for storing location data, time stamps and diagnostic and calibration data on the plurality of field devices; a computing unit that accesses the database and establishes a list of the locations and the associated time stamps, diagnostic and calibration data on one of the plurality of field devices.

Description

Method and system for identifying at least one field device of

automation technology

The invention relates to a method and a system for identifying at least one field device of automation technology, which comprises at least a plurality of

Field devices, a device for detecting a local position, a database for storing local information of timestamps and diagnostic and calibration data of the plurality of field devices, and a computing unit accessing the database and a listing of the respective local positions and the associated timestamps , Diagnostic and calibration data created one of the plurality of field devices includes.

Field devices are already known from the prior art, which are used in industrial plants. In automation technology, in particular process automation and factory automation technology, field devices are often used. In principle, field devices are all devices that are used close to the process and that provide or process process-relevant information. For example, field devices are used to detect and / or influence process variables. Measuring devices or sensors are used to record process variables. These are used, for example, for pressure and temperature measurement, conductivity measurement, flow measurement, level measurement, etc., and record the corresponding process variables pressure, temperature, conductivity, pH value, level, flow etc. Actuators are used to influence process variables. These are, for example, pumps or valves that can influence the flow of a liquid in a pipe or the level in a container. In addition to the measuring devices and actuators mentioned above, field devices are also understood to mean remote I / Os, radio adapters or general devices which are arranged at the field level. A large number of such field devices are produced and sold by the Endress + Hauser Group. During their lifecycle, field devices undergo various stations, from the manufacture of the field device, through its delivery and installation in a process plant, to the final expansion and the

Scrapping of the field device. Each of these operations is usually logged. If a field device is a replacement device in a user's warehouse and the protocol of this field device can not be found, this results for the user

various problems, as he has no information on the preloading of

Field device receives. For example, it is not clear to the user which data or information from the life cycle of the field device is still valid. For example, a field device could have a calibration certificate with measurement-specific influences. However, the validity of the calibration certificate would be lost in another plant or at another measuring point of the plant which has different measuring-site-specific influences.

The invention is therefore based on the object to present a method and a system that allows to track the location of a field device. The object is achieved by a method for identifying at least one field device of automation technology, which comprises the following steps:

- Capture and store serial numbers from a variety of

Field devices;

Detecting local positions for each of the plurality of field devices over at least a portion of the life cycle of the plurality of field devices

Field devices and associating the local locations with the serial numbers of the plurality of field devices;

- creating and assigning time stamps to the local locations to assign a unique time to the respective acquisition of the local information, and storing the local locations and the time stamp associated therewith; Collection of diagnostic and calibration data of the multitude of

Field devices at the time of detecting the local positions, associating the diagnostic and calibration data with the respective associated time stamp, and storing the diagnostic and calibration data;

Searching for at least one of the plurality of field devices in the database on the basis of its serial number, upon successful search, a listing of the respective local positions and the associated time stamp, diagnostic and calibration data of the field device is created.

The advantage of the method according to the invention is that a precise

Tracking the stations of a field device over its life cycle is possible. Via the search via serial number, not only the respective local positions, but also further relevant information of the respective location, such as the diagnostic data that occurred there or the current calibration data of the field device are listed. Thus, for example, it can be checked whether and how a field device has been calibrated and whether the calibration certificate has retained its validity. Likewise, in the case of a radio connection to a field device, it can be determined whether the device is being communicated with the device by comparing the known position of the field device with the location position reported by the device.

Furthermore, a recall action can be initiated by the manufacturer if errors occur in a whole of a product type of a field device. For this purpose, all serial numbers of the field devices of a product type are identified, their current location is determined by means of the method according to the invention and the customers who have field devices of the product type concerned are then informed directly.

A preferred embodiment of the inventive method provides that the detection of the local information, the creation and assignment of the time stamp and the collection, assignment and storage of the diagnostic and calibration data of at least one of the field devices is performed at each time at which the geographical position of the field device changes. Thus, an exact local tracking of a field device is possible.

In an advantageous variant of the method according to the invention, the acquisition of the local information, the creation and allocation of the time stamp and the collection, assignment and storage of the diagnostic and calibration data of the plurality of field devices is carried out at fixed times. As a result, in addition to the times at which the geographical position of one of the field devices changes, an information gain can be achieved. For example, it can be determined in this way whether diagnostic data has been generated in a certain period, for example during operation in a system, and / or a failure of the field device has been present

Furthermore, the object is achieved by a system for identifying at least one field device of automation technology, which is used to perform the

method according to the invention is suitable, at least comprising

a plurality of field devices;

- a device for detecting a local position;

a database for storing local information, from

Timestamping and diagnostic and calibration data of the plurality of field devices;

a computational unit that accesses the database and generates a listing of the respective local locations and the associated timestamp, diagnostic and calibration data of one of the plurality of field devices.

An advantageous embodiment of the system according to the invention provides that the device for detecting a local position is a GPS chip. With the aid of this GPS chip, a sufficiently accurate position determination is possible.

In a preferred variant of the system according to the invention, the GPS chip is attached to each of the plurality of field devices. The field devices thus raise independently local positions. The transfer of the local positions takes place via one or more networks to which the plurality of field devices is connected. In principle, any common WAN or LAN network protocol can be used. But it can also be a fieldbus network of

Automation technology, such as Foundation Fieldbus®, Profibus®, HART®, Modbus®, etc., to which the field devices are connected.

An advantageous development of the system according to the invention provides that the GPS chip is attached to a mobile unit. If the field system has a battery or is designed for low power consumption, the energy required by the GPS chip may be too high. If the GPS chip is located in a mobile unit, the field device does not need any additional energy to determine its position. For determining the position by means of a mobile unit, the serial number of a field device whose position is to be stored is recorded. The detection can take place, for example, by manually typing the serial number into the mobile unit or by scanning a barcode or QR code located on the field device. To

Recording of the serial number, the location is determined by means of the GPS chip located in the mobile unit. If the field device is located in a location of a process plant which is shielded against electromagnetic waves from outside, for example a factory hall with a metal roof, then the local position of a field device can also be detected without a GPS signal. For example, a true-to-scale plan of the process plant with the equipment used to locate it is used. For this, the local positions of two points, ideally corner points of the plant building, are determined in advance on the plan, for example by means of GPS. These serve as

Reference points, whereby the position of the desired field devices by the scale-scale plan is determined with sufficient accuracy and manually in the

Control unit is entered.

A preferred variant of the system according to the invention provides that the mobile unit by means of a radio link with at least one of the plurality of field devices communicated. This is particularly advantageous when the field device at an inaccessible, or a hard to reach place a

Process plant is located. The radio connection can be, for example, Bluetooth, WLAN and / or RFID.

A preferred embodiment of the system according to the invention provides that the mobile unit is a mobile terminal. As a mobile device, for example, smart phones, tablet PCs, or similar. designated. A preferred development of the system according to the invention provides that the device for detecting a local position is an arrangement of at least three access points of a wireless network, wherein the local position of the access points is known and wherein each of the plurality of field devices through its local position a comparison of signal strengths from each of the three access points determined. A field device having a radio unit determines the signal strength of each of the three access points. The farther away the field device is from an access point, the weaker its signal becomes. In this way, a field device can determine its exact local position. The exact location of the access points, such as wireless routers, are usually available. The wireless network in this case is WLAN, for example. The BSSID of each access point, ie its address, is linked to a geographical location. This can for example be done automatically by mobile devices that are connected to the wireless router and have a GPS chip. These mobile devices automatically detect the location of the access point and send this information to an online server. An example of such a method is a method of the company Skyhook Wireless, using Apple's iPhones automatically

Locations of wireless routers levies.

A preferred embodiment of the system according to the invention provides that the device for detecting a local position is an arrangement of at least three access points of a cellular network, the location of the access points being known, and wherein each of the plurality of field devices determines its location by comparing signal strengths from each of the three access points. The access points are thus base stations of the

Mobile network, the mobile network, for example, GSM, UMTS or LTE. If a field device has a corresponding receiving unit, a field device can thus also determine its local position via the three access points of the mobile radio network. A particularly advantageous variant of the system according to the invention provides that the remote database can be reached by means of cloud computing. Cloud computing in this case describes the storage of data in a remote data center, in this case in a remote database. The advantage is that there is a centralization of the databases, since each field device stores its data in the form of serial numbers and local positions on this database.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the following figure. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the method according to the invention for identifying a field device.

1 shows an embodiment of the method according to the invention for identifying a field device. On a time axis t, which represents the life cycle of a field device, various local positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 are entered, in which the field device is in the course of its life cycle.

The first detection of the spatial position can already take place during or immediately after the production 1 of the field device. The spatial position is determined by means of a GPS chip which is located either on the field device itself or in a mobile unit. At the same time as detecting the spatial position, a time stamp is created and diagnostic and calibration data 8 of the field device are collected. This data is sent to a computing unit 10. The arithmetic unit 10 assigns this data to the serial number of the field device stored on a database 9 and then stores it on the database 9. The access of the field device or the mobile unit to the arithmetic unit 10 takes place via a network. In principle, any conventional protocol of a WAN or LAN network can be used for this, depending on the distance of the arithmetic unit 10 to the respective field device or the mobile unit. It can also be one

Fieldbus network of automation technology, such as Foundation Fieldbus®, Profibus®, HART®, Modbus®, to which the field device is connected. The arithmetic unit accesses the database via cloud computing.

For all other local positions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of the life cycle, the method described above is repeated. In addition, capturing the local

Information 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, the creation and assignment of the time stamp and the collection, assignment and storage of the diagnostic and calibration data 8 are performed at predetermined times. The user 1 1 thereby receives a detailed listing of the local positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of the field device, the

Timestamp and valid at this time diagnosis and calibration data 8 of the field device.

In particular, information about whether the field device was due, for example, to a failure in the workshop 5 may be important to the user 11.

The field device is, for example, after temporary installation in a system 3 in camp 4 and serves as a replacement device, the user 1 1 by the inventive method, the preload of the field device, and thus the

Determine suitability for the new location.

If the user 11 wants to obtain information about a particular field device, he gives the serial number of the desired field device via a PC 14 in the

Arithmetic unit 10 a. The connection of the user PC 14 to the arithmetic unit 10 takes place, for example via the Internet. By means of a protection unit 15, for example a firewall or a proxy server, the connection can be secured. at successful search of a field device based on the serial number, the arithmetic unit 10 creates a listing of the respective local positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and the associated time stamp, diagnostic and calibration data 8 of the field device and presents this listing to the user 1 1 via its PC 12 available.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1,2,3,4,5,6,7 local positions

8 Diagnostic and Calibration Data 9 Database

10 arithmetic unit

11 users

12 user PC

13 protection unit

t Timeline

Claims

claims

Method for identifying at least one field device of

Automation technology, comprising the following steps:

- Capture and store serial numbers from a variety of

Field devices;

- Detecting local positions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) for each of the plurality of field devices over at least a portion of the life cycle of the plurality of field devices and assigning the local positions (1, 2, 3, 4 , 5, 6, 7) to the serial numbers of the plurality of field devices;

- Creating and assigning time stamps to the local positions (1,

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) in order to detect the respective detection of the local positions (1, 2,

3, 4, 5, 6, 7) assign a unique time, and storing the local positions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) and the time stamp associated therewith;

- collecting diagnostic and calibration data (8) of the plurality of

Field devices at the time of detecting the local positions (1, 2, 3,

4, 5, 6, 7), associating the diagnostic and calibration data (8) with the respective associated time stamp, and storing the diagnostic and calibration data (8);

- Searching for at least one of the plurality of field devices based on this

Serial number, upon successful search, a listing of the respective local positions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) and the associated time stamp, diagnostic and calibration data (8) of the field device is created.

The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring the local information (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), creating and associating the time stamp, and collecting, associating and storing the diagnostic and calibration data (8) of at least one of the plurality of field devices is performed at each time at which changes the geographical position of the field device.

The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein detecting the local locations (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), creating and associating the timestamp, and collecting, associating and storing the diagnostic and calibration data (8) of the plurality of field devices is performed at predetermined times.

4. System, which is suitable for carrying out the method according to claim 1 to 3, at least comprising

a plurality of field devices;

- a device for detecting a local position (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7);

a database (9) for storing local information (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), time stamps and diagnostic and

Calibration data of the plurality of field devices;

- A computing unit (10), which accesses the database and a

Listing of the respective local positions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) and the associated time stamp, diagnosis and calibration data (8) of one of the plurality of field devices created.

The system of claim 4, wherein the device for detecting a local position (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) is a GPS chip.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the GPS chip is attached to each of the plurality of

Field devices is attached.

The system of claim 5, wherein the GPS chip is attached to a mobile unit

is appropriate.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the mobile unit communicates with at least one of the plurality of field devices via a radio link.

9. System according to any one of claims 7 or 8, wherein it is in the mobile

Unit is a mobile terminal.

The system of claim 4, wherein said local position detection device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) is an array of at least three wireless network access points, wherein the location of the access points is known and wherein each of the plurality of field devices determines its location by comparing signal strengths from each of the three access points.

A system according to claim 4, wherein said local position detection device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) is an array of at least three mobile network access points, the location of the access points and wherein each of the plurality of field devices determines its location by comparing signal strengths from each of the three access points.

12. System according to any one of claims 4 to 1 1, wherein the database (9) is accessible by means of cloud computing.