A system and method of configuring monitor blocks and effect blocks associated with a process control system for a process plant includes causing a display device to display a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface indicating a first monitor block, a second monitor block, and an effect block. The system and method further includes enabling a user to input configuration data via the input device, including: (i) configuring one of the outputs of the first monitor block to serve as one of the inputs of the second monitor block, (ii) configuring an additional one of the outputs of the first monitor block and one of the outputs of the second monitor block to serve as inputs to the effect block, and (iii) designating at least one of the plurality of cells of each of the first monitor block, the second monitor block, and the effect block as a trigger associated with the respective input/output pair for the respective cell and corresponding to a condition in the process plant.

A system and method for operating a remote plant simulation system is disclosed. The system and method uses a light application at the plant to collect relevant data and communicate it to a remote plant simulation. The remote plant simulation uses the relevant data, including data from the actual process, to create a process simulation and communicate the display data to the light application operating at the plant where it is displayed to a user. The remote system offers the advantage of offering decreased cost and improved simulation as the equipment cost, operator cost and set up cost is shared by a plurality of users. Further, the data may be stored remotely and subject to data analytics which may identify additional areas for efficiency in the plant.

Provided is an information processing apparatus that is used for or supports development of an operation control program of a control device having a movable unit. The information processing apparatus that processes an operation control program including a target value for a movable unit of a control target device includes: a first holding unit that holds a control parameter of the movable unit according to a control method and a characteristic value of the movable unit; a control output unit that calculates an output value of the movable unit according to the target value using the control parameter and the characteristic value held by the first holding unit; and a physical operation unit that causes the control target device to perform a physical action according to the output value of the movable unit calculated.

Techniques for commissioning a process control device in a process plant include obtaining, at a portable computing device, commissioning data for commissioning the respective process control device for operation, such as a device tag. The portable computing device then transfers the commissioning data to a component in the same process control loop as the process control device via a wireless communication link. For example, the component includes a radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near field communication (NFC) unit for receiving RFID/NFC signals. When the portable computing device is within RFID/NFC communication range of the component, the commissioning data is transferred via an RFID/NFC signal to the component. The commissioning data is received while the component is in an unpowered state, where the RFID/NFC signal energizes the RFID/NFC unit at the component for receiving the signal.

An engineering device is provided with a link information storing portion that stores link information indicating a linked control program, from among existing control programs that are running in a controller, which operates in coordination with a new control program, and a restart notifying portion that sends to the controller, as a restart control program that is to be restarted at the same time as the new control program, the linked control program of the new control program, specified by the link information, at the time of a downloading process for the new control program.

A controller capable of transmitting and receiving an input signal from a drive circuit corresponding to a moving device, a mounting head, or the like of an electronic component mounting machine or an output signal to the drive circuit for each predetermined period (A/2), in which the controller computes an output signal based on an input signal which is received before the predetermined period, stores the output signal for a time greater than or equal to the predetermined period, and subsequently transmits the output signal to the drive circuit. It becomes possible to set a time (a delay time) from when an input signal is output until an output signal reaches a drive circuit to an arbitrary length by adjusting the storage time.

A system and method for visualizing safety events within a process plant includes 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, wherein the set of causes and the set of effects are representative of a set of monitored safety events within the process plant. The system and method further includes receiving a selection of a monitored safety event of the set of monitored safety events. The system and method may also include displaying, in a user interface, (i) an indication of the monitored safety event, and (ii) a current status of the monitored safety event. The system and method may also include detecting a change in status to the monitored safety event. Further, the system and method may include displaying, in the user interface, an updated status of the monitored safety event according to the change in status.

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 enabling access to information included in a safety requirement specification (SRS) for a process plant, the process plant controlled by a process control system including displaying, in a user interface, a cause and effect matrix (CEM) having a set of elements including 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, and wherein at least some of the set of causes and the set of effects are related as cause-effect pairs whereby the corresponding effect activates in response to an occurrence of the corresponding condition. The system and method further including receiving, via the user interface, a selection of an element of the set of elements, and, in response to receiving the selection: (i) accessing, from the SRS, a set of information associated with the element of the set of elements, and (ii) displaying the set of information in the user interface.

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, N 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.