An apparatus for connecting and monitoring processes of a production machine includes a process monitoring device designed to capture sensor data relating to the production machine and process data relating to the production machine, and a connection device designed to capture control data relating to the production machine. The apparatus is designed to change a hardware function of the apparatus based on the sensor data, the process data, and the control data. The process monitoring device may be designed to carry out data processing for the sensor data and the process data, or the connection device may be designed to carry out data processing of the control data. The apparatus may include a field-programmable logic gate array device designed to change the hardware function.

An apparatus is provided. The apparatus including a plurality of network interfaces, including a first network interface and a second network interface. The apparatus also includes a processor with two or more independent processing units, including a first independent processing unit and a second independent processing unit. The apparatus further includes a memory having first instructions and second instructions stored thereon. Execution of the first instructions, cause the first independent processing unit to execute operations associated with a first operating system and communicate, via the first network interface, over a bi-direction communication, with one or more platform computing devices. Execution of the second instructions, cause the second independent processing unit to execute real-time operations associated with a second operating system and communicate, via the second network interface, with one or more computing devices each having one or more sensors thereon.

A vehicle control method of starting and shutting down an engine, in which a processor receives a blockchain update comprising a first transaction with instructions to perform an engine startup or shutdown; the blockchain update is validated; an engine startup or shutdown is performed based on the validated blockchain update; where the engine startup or shutdown is delayed based on validating a predetermined number of subsequent blockchain updates, including a second transaction with instructions to perform the engine startup or shutdown.

A modular robot system can be formed by assembling a plurality of cube type unit robots. The modular robot system includes N cube type unit robots, wherein: one of the N cube type unit robots serves as a central control terminal, the cube type unit robot serving as the central control terminal assigns a distinguishable ID number to each of the N cube type unit robots; each robot including a cube-shaped housing, a step motor and a control unit installed inside the housing; the housing has one surface including a mounting groove to allow a rotational body rotating by a rotation shaft of the step motor to be mounted therein, and the other surface including a connection groove in the same shape as the mounting groove; and different cube type unit robots can be connected to each other by means of a connection body mounted in the connection groove.

A system for managing communication between building management system (BMS) devices includes a memory and a controller. The memory includes instructions stored thereon. The controller is configured to execute the instructions to implement an agent manager, a zone manager, and a channel manager. The agent manager is configured to generate an agent for each of the BMS devices. The zone manager is configured to define at least one zone relating to a physical location zone or a building control zone. The channel manager is configured to generate a communication channel associated with the at least one zone. The channel manager is further configured to manage registration of an agent to the communication channel, wherein an agent is configured to communicate over a communication channel in response to being registered to the communication channel.

A distributed building management system includes a virtual controller and an edge controller for controlling a building control device using a distributed control logic that is distributed between the virtual controller and the edge controller. A programming tool displays a graphical representation of the distributed control logic and identifies which portions of the distributed control logic are considered critical and which portions of the distributed control logic are considered not critical to a fail-safe operation of the building control device should the edge controller stop receiving control commands from the virtual controller. The portions of the distributed control logic that are identified as being critical are assigned to the edge controller for execution and the portions of the distributed control logic that are not identified as being critical are assigned to the virtual controller for execution.

A method of performing diagnostics in a hierarchical diagnostics electrical architecture of a vehicle, the vehicle comprising a plurality of on-board computing devices for hosting the hierarchical diagnostics electrical architecture. The hierarchical diagnostics electrical architecture comprising: a component diagnostic layer having a plurality of electronic control units each comprising a diagnostics server module; and at least one supervisory diagnostic layer. The method comprising: receiving into the diagnostics server modules sensor output data from one or more on-board vehicle sensors; performing, by the diagnostics server modules, one or more diagnostic tasks based on the received sensor output data to generate one or more component-level diagnostic notifications; receiving into the at least one supervisory layer the component-level diagnostic notifications from each of a group of the plurality of electronic control units; and aggregating in the at least one supervisory layer the received component-level diagnostic notifications to generate a supervisory-level diagnostic notification.

The real time capability is to be improved in a Cloud-based control system for an automation plant. To this end, a redundantly embodied, Cloud-based control system with a plurality of computing resources distributed over a network with control applications running thereon is proposed, which, embodied as a primary and backups, execute a control program almost simultaneously and send corresponding program instructions to the automation plant. Long transmission times of individual computing resources therefore do not have a negative effect on the control of the automation plant.

Systems, methods, and devices for monitoring operation of industrial equipment are disclosed. In one embodiment, a monitoring system is provided that includes a passive backplane and one more functional circuits that can couple to the backplane. Each of the functional circuits that are coupled to the backplane can have access to all data that is delivered to the backplane. Therefore, resources (e.g., computing power, or other functionality) from each functional circuits can be shared by all active functional circuits that are coupled to the backplane. Because resources from each of the functional circuits can be shared, and because the functional circuits can be detachably coupled to the backplane, performance of the monitoring systems can be tailored to specific applications. For example, processing power can be increased by coupling additional processing circuits to the backplane.

The invention relates to a method for the distributed calculation of calculation tasks by means of field devices of an industrial plant, wherein a plurality of field devices are coupled to a task distribution unit by means of a data link, the field devices effect a control of the industrial plant in an operating state in each case, at least one of the field devices receives a calculation task from the task distribution unit in an idle state and changes to a calculation state in which the calculation task is processed.