A method for determining possible transitions of system states in an industrial system with a plurality of agents with discrete agent states. The method comprises the steps of defining a plurality of rules, each rule comprising a pre-condition of at least one agent state that is to be changed, a post-condition of the at least one agent state, and an action or actions resulting in a corresponding transition of the at least one agent state; defining a plurality of nodes, each node comprising a system state; and evaluating for a plurality of pairs of nodes, whereby one node of each pair acts as a pre- condition node and the other node of each pair acts as a post-condition node, whether the pair can, given the rules, be directly connected by an edge, each edge comprising an action or actions required for a transition between the respective pre- and post-condition system states.

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.

A method of manufacturing at least a first product and a second product with at least a first machine and a second machine at minimum cost in an environment in which a cost of energy used by the first machine and the second machine varies as a function of time may include generating multiple chromosomes, determining fitness scores of each of the chromosomes, randomly generating, with probabilities based on the fitness scores, new chromosomes, determining fitness scores of the new chromosomes, selecting one of the new chromosomes with an optimal fitness score, and manufacturing at least the first product and the second product with at least the first machine and the second machine according to a schedule based on the selected new chromosome.

An apparatus is provided for automatically determining process steps of a control device. The apparatus includes a measuring device, which is configured to detect a plurality of sequences of switching states of a plurality of input and output signals of the control device and an evaluation device, which is configured to determine combinatorics in the detected plurality of sequences of switching states of the plurality of input and output signals of the control device and to determine the process steps performed by the control device based on the determined combinatorics.

A method for operating a multi-agent system having a plurality of robots. Each of the robots execute the following method cyclically until a target system state is achieved: starting from an instantaneous system state, determining possible options where progress is made along a path of system states in a predefined, deterministic finite automaton; the options defining actions through which a transition from a current to a subsequent system state can be achieved; determining a cost value for each of the possible options to carry out an action specified by the option; performing an auction, the cost values ascertained for each option being considered by each of the remaining robots; and executing an action, which corresponds to one of the options, as a function of all of the cost values which are determined or received for the respective option.

An overall machine operational state (such as a problem state, field state, machine state, other non-problem state, etc.) is identified, and exit and entry conditions are monitored to determine whether the machine transitions into another operational state. When the machine transitions into a problem state, a multiple input, multiple output control system uses a state machine to identify the problem state and a solution is identified. The solution is indicative of machine settings that will return the machine to an acceptable, operational state. Control signals are generated to modify the machine settings based on the identified solution.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for performing transformation mode switching in a robotics control system. One of the methods includes receiving data representing a state machine that defines one or more portions of a robotics task; executing a first control loop corresponding to a first node of the state machine, wherein executing the first control loop comprises providing commands to the robotic components computed from a first coordinate transformation process; determining, based on one or more status messages, that an exit condition for the first node has been satisfied; performing a mode switch between the first coordinate transformation process and a different second coordinate transformation process; and executing a second control loop corresponding to a second node of the state machine, wherein executing the second control loop comprises providing commands to the robotic components computed from the second coordinate transformation process.

A method for operating an electronic device is provided. The method includes detecting a selection of a first task from among one or more tasks that are configured in a semantic information-based task ontology, identifying functions for each piece of device information corresponding to the first task, identifying functions corresponding to one or more devices by using a semantic information-based product information ontology, comparing the functions corresponding to the one or more devices with the functions for each piece of device information corresponding to the first task based on semantic information, and selecting a device to perform the first task from among the one or more devices based on the comparison result.

A method for operating a multi-agent system having a plurality of robots. Each of the robots execute the following method cyclically until a target system state is achieved: starting from an instantaneous system state, determining possible options where progress is made along a path of system states in a predefined, deterministic finite automaton; the options defining actions through which a transition from a current to a subsequent system state can be achieved; determining a cost value for each of the possible options to carry out an action specified by the option; performing an auction, the cost values ascertained for each option being considered by each of the remaining robots; and executing an action, which corresponds to one of the options, as a function of all of the cost values which are determined or received for the respective option.

Exemplary embodiments pertain to a system that can include a high-level controller coupled to a low-level controller for controlling a physical asset. In one exemplary implementation, the high-level controller executes a first finite state machine for controlling a power generation unit via a network. The low-level controller executes a second finite state machine that may have fewer states than the first finite state machine. The second finite state machine places the low-level controller in a default mode of operation for controlling the power generation unit under various conditions such as when the high-level controller is controlling the physical asset during a normal mode of operation; when the high-level controller is revising the first finite state machine; when the high-level controller is controlling the physical asset using a revised first finite state machine; and/or upon detecting a loss of communications between the high-level controller and the low-level controller.