IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,573,147
Granted Patent B1
US 10,573,147 · App. 16/120,863 · Granted Feb 25, 2020

Technologies for managing safety at industrial sites

Inventors: Mirrasoul J. Mousavi (Cary, NC); Mithun P. Acharya (Cary, NC); Brian D. Barr (Cordova, TN)
Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
G08B21/02G08B27/00H04L63/1425
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,573,147
App. No.
16/120,863
Granted
Feb 25, 2020
Kind
B1
Abstract

Technologies for managing safety at an industrial site include a method. The method includes receiving, by a compute device in a cloud data center, condition data indicative of a sensed or determined condition at the industrial site. The condition data was produced at least in part by an edge device at the industrial site. The method also includes analyzing, by the compute device and with a model that associates conditions with corresponding safety statuses, the received condition data to determine a corresponding safety status associated with the industrial site. Further, the method includes determining, by the compute device and as a function of the determined safety status, whether a responsive action is to be performed at the industrial site. Additionally, the method includes sending, by the compute device, to the edge device at the industrial site and in response to a determination that a responsive action is to be performed at the industrial site, responsive data indicative of the responsive action to be performed.

Claims (39)

1. A method for managing safety at an industrial site, the method comprising:

receiving, by a compute device in a cloud data center, condition data indicative of a sensed or determined condition at the industrial site, wherein the condition data was produced at least in part by an edge device at the industrial site;

analyzing, by the compute device and with a model that associates conditions with corresponding safety statuses, the received condition data to determine a corresponding safety status associated with the industrial site;

determining, by the compute device and as a function of the determined safety status, whether a responsive action is to be performed at the industrial site;

sending, by the compute device, to the edge device at the industrial site and in response to a determination that a responsive action is to be performed at the industrial site, responsive data indicative of the responsive action to be performed;

receiving, by the compute device and from a human or another cloud data center, feedback on the determined safety status; and

updating, by the compute device, the model as a function of the received feedback.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, by the compute device, at least a portion of the model to the edge device at the industrial site.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the received condition data comprises performing a majority vote analysis to resolve conflicts in condition data received from multiple edge devices.

4. A compute device for a cloud data center, the compute device comprising:

a compute engine configured to:

receive condition data indicative of a sensed or determined condition at an industrial site, wherein the condition data was produced at least in part by an edge device at the industrial site;

analyze, with a model that associates conditions with corresponding safety statuses, the received condition data to determine a corresponding safety status associated with the industrial site;

determine, as a function of the determined safety status, whether a responsive action is to be performed at the industrial site;

send, to the edge device at the industrial site and in response to a determination that a responsive action is to be performed at the industrial site, responsive data indicative of the responsive action to be performed;

receive, from a human or another cloud data center, feedback on the determined safety status; and

update the model as a function of the received feedback.

5. The compute device of claim 4 , wherein the compute engine is further configured to send at least a portion of the model to the edge device at the industrial site.

6. The compute device of claim 4 , wherein to analyze the received condition data comprises to perform a majority vote analysis to resolve conflicts in condition data received from multiple edge devices.

7. The compute device of claim 4 , wherein to analyze the received condition data comprises to compare the received condition data to a set of patterns indicative of corresponding safety statuses.

8. The compute device of claim 7 , wherein to compare the received condition data to a set of patterns comprises to compare the received condition data to a set of previously-identified patterns of condition data obtained from multiple industrial sites.

9. The compute device of claim 4 , wherein to analyze the received condition data comprises to determine whether a leak has occurred.

10. The compute device of claim 4 , wherein to analyze the received condition data comprises to determine whether a component at the industrial site will cause an unsafe condition within a predefined time period.

11. The compute device of claim 4 , wherein to send responsive data comprises to send instructions to the edge device to broadcast a warning to avoid a predefined area at the industrial site.

12. The compute device of claim 4 , wherein to send responsive data comprises to send instructions to the edge device to perform a corrective action to mitigate a safety hazard.

13. The compute device of claim 4 , wherein to send responsive data comprises to send instructions to deactivate one or more devices in a predefined area of the industrial site.

14. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, in response to being executed, cause a compute device to:

receive condition data indicative of a sensed or determined condition at an industrial site, wherein the condition data was produced at least in part by an edge device at the industrial site;

analyze, with a model that associates conditions with corresponding safety statuses, the received condition data to determine a corresponding safety status associated with the industrial site;

determine, as a function of the determined safety status, whether a responsive action is to be performed at the industrial site;

send, to the edge device at the industrial site and in response to a determination that a responsive action is to be performed at the industrial site, responsive data indicative of the responsive action to be performed;

receive, from a human or a cloud data center, feedback on the determined safety status; and

update the model as a function of the received feedback.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving data indicative of a leak.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving data indicative of a predefined level of wear on a component.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving data indicative of a malfunction of a component.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the received condition data comprises determining whether a component at the industrial site will cause an unsafe condition within a predefined time period.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising distributing, by the compute device, at least a portion of the model to one or more other devices.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the received condition data comprises determining whether a robot is entering a zone of the industrial site.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 12, 2018
From: MOUSAVI, MIRRASOUL J.; ACHARYA, MITHUN P.; BARR, BRIAN D.
To: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
Reel/Frame 047755/0466 →
Cited By (1)
US 12,242,236