IP Library Granted Patent US 12711800
Granted Patent B2
US 12711800 · App. 18/279,633 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Method and device for automatic analysis of a circuit diagram

Inventors: Thiemo Gruber (Ratingen, DE); Vincent Layes (Gelsenkirchen, DE); Alexander Peters (Langenfeld, DE); Marcus Reitz (Hofheim/Taunus, DE)
Assignee: EPLAN GMBH & CO. KG
G06V30/422G06F30/31G06F2111/12
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12711800
App. No.
18/279,633
Granted
Aug 18, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

The invention relates to a method for automatic analysis of a circuit diagram, comprising: applying one or more filters to a circuit diagram for recognizing a circuit symbol defined by the respective filter in the circuit diagram; applying one or more detectors to the circuit diagram for recognizing connections between the circuit symbols; determining those recognized circuit symbols which are coupled to one another by means of the recognized connections; and for each of the recognized circuit symbols, storing an indication in a data structure of the recognized circuit symbol of each further circuit symbol coupled to this recognized circuit symbol. Furthermore, a corresponding device is described.

Claims (19)

1 . A method for automatic analysis of a circuit diagram, comprising:

applying one or more filters to a circuit diagram for recognizing a circuit symbol defined by the respective filter in the circuit diagram, wherein each filter stores only the end points and/or corner points of edges of the respective circuit symbol;

applying one or more detectors to the circuit diagram for recognizing connections between the circuit symbols;

determining those recognized circuit symbols which are coupled to one another by means of the recognized connections; and

for each of the detected circuit symbols, storing an indication in a data structure of the detected circuit symbol of each further circuit symbol coupled to this detected circuit symbol.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: generating a natural language formulation from one of the data structures, wherein the natural language formulation specifies a function of one of the recognized circuit symbols which is exerted by the circuit symbol on the circuit symbols coupled to this circuit symbol, or which are exerted on the circuit symbol by the circuit symbols coupled to this circuit symbol.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the function of a circuit symbol is predefined in the data structure, and wherein a function which is exerted on this circuit symbol by a coupled circuit symbol is determined by looking up this function in the data structure of the coupled circuit symbol.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the filter is a grayscale image or a bitmap which represents corners of a symbol as gray values or as set bits.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising producing the one or more filters to identify a respective circuit symbol, wherein producing a filter comprises:

applying one or more edge detectors to a representation of a circuit symbol to highlight horizontal, vertical and diagonal edges; and

determining end points of the horizontal, vertical and diagonal edges, and storing a corresponding bit or a corresponding gray value in a bitmap or a grayscale image as a resulting filter.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising classifying the recognized circuit symbols after applying the filters.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the user is prompted to make a selection from a plurality of circuit symbols whose filters indicate the presence of these circuit symbols at a location in the circuit diagram.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising identifying a technical discipline of the circuit diagram contained in a document containing the circuit diagram, and determining a set of circuit symbols and associated filters associated with the technical discipline to be used for automatic analysis of the circuit diagram.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more detectors are edge detectors.

10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a processor, carry out the method according to claim 1 .

11 . A device comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to carry out the method according to claim 1 .