A system and method for determining a configuration of a process control system for a process plant, the process control system implemented as a set of function blocks, includes, for each of the set of function blocks, determining a configuration of the function block based on: (i) a set of outputs of the function block, (ii) logic of the function block, and (iii) a set of inputs of the function block. The system and method further includes generating, based on the set of configurations of the set of function blocks, a test cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of test causes and a set of test effects. The system and method further includes accessing a requirement-defining CEM having a set of causes and a set of effects. The system and method may also include comparing the test CEM to the requirement-defining CEM to determine whether a set of discrepancies exists.

A system and method for defining a cause and effect matrix (CEM) within a process control system for a process plant, including accessing a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of causes and a set of effects, wherein each of the set of causes represents a condition within the process plant and each of the set of effects represents an effect to be performed within the process plant. The system and method further includes, for each of the set of effects: (i) identifying a subset of the set of causes according to a corresponding set of the cause-effect pairs corresponding to the effect of the set of effects, (ii) defining the subset of the set of causes as a single-dimension matrix, and (iii) automatically calculating a numerical representation for the single-dimension matrix. The system and method further includes configuring a set of function blocks for the process control system according to the set of numerical representations.

Example implementations described herein involve a device rearrangement detection system and method. Example implementations maintain the structure of devices in manufacturing field stored in an information technology (IT) system to the latest version, even if the IT system is on a network that is isolated from the devices in the manufacturing field.

A casting equipment monitoring system detects that the condition of casting equipment is deteriorating before the casting equipment fails, or detects that the quality of castings produced by the casting equipment is deteriorating before it becomes clear that the castings are defective products. The casting equipment monitoring system includes: an information collecting device that collects, in real time, data measured by equipment within the casting equipment; and a diagnostic device that compares, in real time, the collected data with a control value, and displays a diagnosis result if the diagnostic device determines that the collected data has deviated from the control value.

A system and a microservice for monitoring a plant of automation technology, wherein the plant has a plurality of field devices the field devices can communicate via at least a first communication network with one another and with a control unit, comprising: an execution electronics, which can communicate with at least one of the field devices; and a configuration electronics, which is arranged removed from the execution electronics and which can communicate with the execution electronics via a second communication network, wherein the configuration electronics and/or the execution electronics has at least one microservice, which is appropriate for the type of the field device and which is embodied to provide at least one functionality for execution in the execution electronics and/or in the configuration electronics.

An accident monitoring system based on UWB-based real-time positioning comprises a UWB tag, a plurality of UWB anchors installed around a processing line and receiving the worker's position from the UWB tag and sensing predetermined information for the processing line, an AP receiving the worker's position and the predetermined information for from the plurality of UWB anchors, a server receiving the worker's position and the predetermined information for from the AP, storing the worker's position and the predetermined information for, and determining whether the worker is in a preset access-limited area, and a programmable logic control (PLC) box, upon receiving proximity information indicating that the worker is the access-limited area from the server through the AP, controlling to stop the industrial robot, the conveyor belt, and the motor in the processing line.

Apparatus and associated methods relate to a safety control system having a processor that (1) automatically interrogates a portable data storage device, (2) determines whether a configuration profile of the safety control system matches a stored configuration profile in the portable data storage device, (3) obtains network settings of the safety control system, and (4) stores network settings into the portable data storage device. In an illustrative example, a safety control system may include a processor designed to perform operations to configure the safety control system with a configuration profile stored in the portable data storage device or download network settings of the safety control system to the portable data storage device under some predetermined conditions. By using the above method, the safety control system may be quickly configured, and network settings may be easily obtained and backed up.

An autonomous machine is wirelessly controlled by a system controller in an industrial control environment, such as a factory with industrial processes and machines, to move to a coordinate location corresponding to a unit of a Motor Control Center (MCC) or Switchgear equipment supporting the industrial control system to maintain, repair, monitor and/or troubleshoot the equipment without the need to place a human operator in harm's way of energized circuits. The system controller, which could be a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) controlling the industrial control system, can monitor operational statuses with respect to each unit, and can dispatch the autonomous machine as required. The autonomous machine can include a mechanical arrangement operable to connect and disconnect power with respect to a unit and/or to withdraw and replace a unit with respect to the equipment.

A cloud service control device includes a first communicator configured to control communication with a cloud service providing a plant control function of controlling a plant, a second communicator configured to control communication with a first device using service information related to the cloud service, a verifier configured to verify an operation state of the cloud service, a selector configured to select the cloud service on the basis of the verified operation state, and an information transferor configured to transfer the service information between the selected cloud service and the first device.

Generic shadowing allows a shadowing device in a process plant to automatically discover, without pre-configuration or pre-definition, and without the use of a configuration tool, source control objects that are hosted at other devices and that are to be shadowed. Source control objects may utilize any data type, format, structure, language, etc. The shadowing device includes a shadow manager and a set of primitive components defining simple data types that are utilized to discover the configurations/definitions and data types of source control objects, and includes a shadow library in which signatures of discovered source control objects are stored. Signatures are instantiated and used by the shadowing device to provide dynamic data to recipient devices, applications, and/or control objects in the process control system, where the dynamic data is a mirror of data that is observed first-hand by the source control objects during their on-line operations at their host devices.