IP Library Granted Patent US 12675099
Granted Patent B2
US 12675099 · App. 18/343,986 · Granted Jul 7, 2026

Industrial control program component exploration and playback

Inventors: Leo T Kilfoy (San Diego, CA); Michael J Tresh (Manchester, NH); Bruce T. McCleave, Jr. (Mission Viejo, CA); Daniel C. Rischar (Mayfield Heights, OH); Stephen C. Briant (Moon Township, PA); Ryan P. Dunn (Mayfield Heights, OH)
Assignee: ROCKWELL AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
G05B19/41865G05B19/4185
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12675099
App. No.
18/343,986
Granted
Jul 7, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A cloud-based Industrial Development Hub (IDH) supports development and testing capabilities for industrial customers that are easy to use and offered as a service. The IDH comprises an enhanced storage platform and associated design tools—collectively referred to as the Vault—which serves as a repository on which customers can store control project code, device configurations, and other digital aspects of an industrial automation project. The IDH system can facilitate discovery and management of digital content associated with control systems, and can be used for system backup and restore, code conversion, and version management. In addition, the IDH includes analytic tools that can analyze industrial control projects submitted by user and generate project telemetry data based on the analysis. The system can translate this project telemetry data to various types of relational maps that visualized dependencies between data producers and consumers from a control standpoint.

Claims (54)

1 . A system, comprising:

a memory that stores executable components; and

a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, that executes the executable components, the executable components comprising:

a user interface component configured to receive, via a cloud platform, an industrial control project comprising at least a configuration file of an edge gateway device or instance;

a project telemetry component configured to generate project telemetry data based on analysis of the industrial control project; and

a project analysis component configured to determine, based on analysis of the project telemetry data, dependencies between the edge gateway device or instance and data tags of industrial devices that connect to the edge gateway device or instance,

wherein the user interface component is further configured to render, on a client device, a relational dependency map that graphically displays connections between the edge gateway device and the data tags based on the dependencies.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the project analysis component is configured to store the industrial control project on either of cloud-based storage associated with the system or an on-premise repository associated with an owner of the industrial control project based on storage preference data submitted by the customer.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein

the relational dependency map is a first relational dependency map,

the industrial control project further comprises control programming and device configuration data that, in response to execution on one or more industrial devices, facilitate monitoring and control of an industrial automation system,

the project telemetry data defines characteristics of the one or more industrial devices based on the analysis,

the project analysis component is further configured to determine, based on the analysis of the project telemetry data, dependencies between entities that make up the industrial automation system, and

the user interface component is further configured to render, on the client device, a second relational dependency map that graphically displays the dependencies between the entities.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein

the dependencies between the entities comprise at least one of relationships between data tags of a specified data type defined in the industrial control project, relationships between devices of the industrial automation system, access gearing relationships, relationships between motion axes of a motion system controlled by the industrial control project, relationships between add-on-instructions defined by the industrial control project, or relationships between automation objects defined in the industrial control project.

5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the second relational dependency map graphically displays a communication link between a human-machine interface terminal and one or more industrial controllers associated with the industrial automation system.

6 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the second relational dependency map graphically displays connections between respective points of an I/O module of an industrial controller and one or more devices that provide data to the respective I/O points or consume data output by the respective I/O points.

7 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the second relational dependency map renders icons representing the entities, and further renders a connective line between pairs of the entities having a dependency relationship.

8 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the project telemetry data comprises at least one of network configuration information, device inventory information identifying data producing and data consuming devices associated with the industrial automation system, an I/O module configuration of an industrial controller, or identities of industrial equipment connected to I/O modules of an industrial controller.

9 . The system of claim 3 , further comprising a device interface component configured to receive runtime data from the one or more industrial devices during operation of the industrial automation system,

wherein

the project analysis component is further configured to determine updated dependencies between the entities based on analysis of the runtime data, and

the user interface component is further configured to render an as-built version of the second relational dependency map that graphically displays the updated dependencies.

10 . The system of claim 3 , further comprising a device interface component configured to receive runtime data from the one or more industrial devices during operation of the industrial automation system,

wherein the user interface component is further configured to populate the second relational dependency map with live status information representing current statuses of the entities obtained from the runtime data.

11 . A method, comprising:

receiving, by a system comprising a processor via a cloud platform, an industrial control project comprising at least a configuration file of an edge gateway device or instance;

generating, by the system, project telemetry data based on analysis of the industrial control project;

determining, by the system based on analysis of the project telemetry data, dependencies between the edge gateway device or instance and data tags of industrial devices that connect to the edge gateway device or instance; and

rendering, by the system on a client device, a relational dependency map that graphically displays connections between the edge gateway device and the data tags based on the dependencies.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein

the relational dependency map is a first relational dependency map,

the industrial control project further comprises at least control programming and device configuration data that, in response to execution on one or more industrial devices, facilitate monitoring and control of an industrial automation system,

the project telemetry data defines characteristics of the one or more industrial devices identified based on the analysis,

the determining further comprises determining, based on the analysis of the project telemetry data, dependencies between entities that make up the industrial automation system, and

the method further comprises rendering, by the system on the client device, a second relational dependency map that graphically displays the dependencies between the entities.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the entities comprise at least one of data tags of a specified data type defined in the industrial control project, devices of the industrial automation system, access gearings, motion axes of a motion system controlled by the industrial control project, add-on-instructions defined by the industrial control project, or automation objects defined in the industrial control project.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the rendering of the second relational dependency map comprises graphically displaying a connecting line between a first icon representing a human-machine interface and a second icon representing an industrial controller, the connecting line representing a communication link between the human-machine interface and the industrial controller identified based on the analysis of the project telemetry data.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the rendering of the second relational dependency map comprises graphically displaying connections between respective points of an I/O module of an industrial controller and one or more devices that provide data to the respective I/O points or consume data that is output by the respective I/O points.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the rendering of the second relational dependency map comprises:

rendering icons representing the entities, and

rendering a connective line between pairs of the entities having a dependency relationship.

17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the project telemetry data comprises at least one of network configuration information, device inventory information identifying data producing and data consuming devices associated with the industrial automation system, an I/O module configuration of an industrial controller, or identities of industrial equipment connected to I/O modules of an industrial controller.

18 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving, by the system, runtime data from the one or more industrial devices during operation of the industrial automation system,

determining, by the system, updated dependencies between the entities based on analysis of the runtime data, and

rendering, by the system, an as-built version of the second relational dependency map that graphically displays the updated dependencies.

19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving, via a cloud platform, an industrial control project comprising at least a configuration file of an edge gateway device or instance;

generating project telemetry data based on analysis of the industrial control project;

determining, based on analysis of the project telemetry data, dependencies between the edge gateway device or instance and data tags of industrial devices that connect to the edge gateway device or instance; and

displaying, on a client device, a relational dependency map that graphically displays connections between the edge gateway device and the data tags based on the determining.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise storing the industrial control project on either of cloud-based storage associated with the system or an on-premise repository associated with an owner of the industrial control project based on storage preference data submitted by the customer.