Graphical interface for configuration of industrial automation systems

Abstract

Exemplified herein is a graphical user interface for an industrial automation system that provides, in a single aggregated and eloquent view, a configuration workspace to discover and present configuration details of control components within an industrial automation system. These components may include industrial controllers, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, programmable automation controllers (PACs), and the like, which have modules (as well as submodules) connected thereto. Among other things, the configuration workspace enables a holistic view of identified hardware configuration and the modular reconciliation and troubleshoot of the network device and module configurations.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for configuring hardware devices in an industrial automation system, the method comprising:
 presenting, by a processor, via a display, on a first pane of a development workspace, a plurality of graphical elements comprising a list of one or more controller hardware devices, wherein each of the one or more controller hardware devices is coupled to a plurality of input-output hardware devices, each having a plurality of input-output modules;   upon selection, in the first pane, of a graphical element associated with a given controller hardware device from the plurality of presented graphical elements, determining, by the processor, a plurality of associated input-output hardware devices connected to the controller device; and   generating, by the processor, via the display, on a second pane of the development workspace, a visual representation of the selected controller device and the determined plurality of associated input-output hardware devices,   wherein the visual representation comprises a first graphical element of the selected controller device and a second graphical element of each of the determined plurality of associated input-output hardware devices, wherein each of the second graphical element comprises a third graphical element for each input-output module associated with the input-output hardware device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 presenting, by the processor, via the display, on the second pane of a development workspace, one or more selectable widgets, each configured to allow selection of an input-output hardware device presented as the second graphical element for update of the hardware configuration data associated therewith;   receiving, by the processor, a selection of a prompt to auto-discover and update the hardware configuration of one or more input-output hardware devices associated with selectable widgets selected via the display; and   in response to the selection of the prompt, i) retrieving hardware configuration of the input-output hardware devices associated with the selected selectable widgets and ii) updating the presented first, second, and third graphical elements with the retrieved hardware configuration.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the retrieved hardware configuration of the input-output hardware devices includes module data, input-output channel configuration data, and input-output parameter data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , comprising, in response to the selection of the prompt, presenting, via the display, on the first pane, within the list of one or more controller hardware devices, fourth graphical elements corresponding to input-output modules operatively coupled to each respective input-output hardware devices. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the development workspace comprises a second widget to enable a workspace for converting, on-the-fly, software configuration of the development workspace from auto-discovered device configuration, the method comprising:
 receiving, by the processor, input from a graphical user interface (GUI);   in response to the GUI input coinciding with activation of the second widget, generating, by the processor, via the display, on the second pane of the development workspace, a visual representation of a comparison between the hardware configuration and the software configuration of the given input-output hardware device, wherein the visual representation of the comparison comprises:   i) a plurality of fifth graphical elements associated with a first matched or mismatched configuration state of the software configuration for the given input-output hardware device, and   ii) a plurality of sixth graphical elements associated with a second matched or mismatched configuration state of the hardware configuration for the given input-output hardware device.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein each of the plurality of fifth graphical elements and the plurality of sixth graphical elements includes an empty configuration state for each input-output module location in the given input-output hardware device not having a connected input-output module. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , comprising:
 for each of the plurality of fifth graphical elements and the plurality of sixth graphical element, comparing configuration data associated with a given fifth graphical element with configuration data associated with a given sixth graphical element;   for each mismatched state between the compared configuration data, generating, by the processor, via the display, on the second pane of the development workspace, one or more seventh graphical elements at a location between respective mismatched fifth graphical element and mismatched sixth graphical element, wherein each of the one or more seventh graphical elements includes either a matched symbol or a mismatched symbol.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , comprising:
 for each mismatched state between the compared configuration data, generating, by the processor, via the display, on the second pane of the development workspace, one or more eighth graphical elements at a location proximal to the sixth graphical elements, each of the one or more eighth graphical elements comprising a widget for a selection of the configuration data associated with the hardware configuration to replace the configuration data associated with the corresponding software configuration.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , comprising, in response to a selection of a widget associated with an eighth graphical element of the one or more eighth graphical elements, updating, by the processor, the configuration data of the software configuration with the retrieved hardware configuration. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , comprising:
 in response to the GUI input coinciding with a given generated seventh graphical element, retrieving, by the processor, configuration data for the software configuration and the configuration data for the hardware configuration for the given input-output hardware device; and   generating, by the processor, a ninth graphical element as a dynamic overlay of the first and second configuration data, the overlay being disposed at the determined pointer location proximal to the given generated seventh graphical element.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more seventh graphical elements include a first set of symbols associated with a mismatched between the hardware configuration and the software configuration for each input-output module of the input-output hardware device. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising:
 wherein the one or more seventh graphical elements include a second set of symbols associated with a matched state between the hardware configuration and the software configuration for the input-output hardware device.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising:
 wherein each of the one or more seventh graphical elements comprises a first color value and a second color value, wherein the first color value is presented when all parameters of the hardware configuration and software configuration for a given input-output module of the input-output hardware device have a matched state, and wherein the second color value is presented when any parameters of the hardware configuration and software configuration for the given input-output module of the input-output hardware device has a mismatched state.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising, upon the selection, in the first pane, of a graphical element associated with the given controller hardware device, determining, by the processor, an identifier and one or more network parameters associated with the input-output hardware devices associated with the selected controller hardware device;
 generating, by the processor, on the second pane of the development workspace, a widget having a presentation of the determined identifier and the determined one or more network parameters, wherein the widget is rendered proximal to the respective second graphical element associated with the determined input-output hardware device;   receiving, by the processor, via the presented widget, one or more modified values for the one or more network parameters; and   for each modified values received via the presented widget, causing, by the processor, the modified values of the one or more network parameters to be updated to the determined input-output hardware device.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more network parameters for the determined input-output hardware device are updated automatically and without further user input. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 receiving, by the processor, input from a graphical user interface;   determining, by the processor, a location of a pointer based on the input and generating a visual representation of the pointer on the display;   in response to the location of the pointer coinciding with the visual representation of a third graphical element of an input-output module presented in the second pane, retrieving, by the processor, configuration information of the respective input-output module; and   generating, by the processor, an eleventh graphical element as a dynamic overlay, the overlay being disposed at the determined pointer location over the third graphical element.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , comprising, for each submodule coupled to the input-output module, presenting, via the eleventh graphical element, a selectable pane to display configuration data associated with a given submodule. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the configuration information comprises:
 a first data having a slot value associated with a slot location of the input-output submodule within the input-output hardware devices;   a second data having a description value associated with the input-output hardware device; and   a third data having a category value associated with the input-output hardware device.   
     
     
         19 . A system comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 present, via a display, on a first pane of a development workspace, a plurality of graphical elements comprising a list of one or more controller hardware devices, wherein each of the one or more controller hardware devices is coupled to a plurality of input-output hardware devices, each having a plurality of input-output submodules; 
 upon selection, in the first pane, of a graphical element associated with a given controller hardware device from the plurality of presented graphical elements, determine a plurality of associated input-output hardware devices connected to the controller device; and 
 generate, via the display, on a second pane of the development workspace, a visual representation of the selected controller device and the determined plurality of associated input-output hardware devices, 
 wherein the visual representation comprises a first graphical element of the selected controller device and a second graphical element of each of the determined plurality of associated input-output hardware devices, wherein each of the second graphical element comprises a third graphical element for each input-output submodule associated with the input-output hardware device. 
   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
 present, via a display of a computing device, on a first pane of a development workspace, a plurality of graphical elements comprising a list (e.g., a tree of distributed IO devices) of one or more controller hardware devices, wherein each of the one or more controller hardware devices is coupled to a plurality of input-output hardware devices, each having a plurality of input-output submodules, (e.g., wherein the hardware devices, input-output hardware devices, and input-output submodules, collectively, form the industrial automation system);   upon selection, in the first pane, of a graphical element associated with a given controller hardware device from the plurality of presented graphical elements, determine a plurality of associated input-output hardware devices connected to the controller device; and   generate, via the display, on a second pane of the development workspace, a visual representation of the selected controller device and the determined plurality of associated input-output hardware devices,   wherein the visual representation comprises a first graphical element of the selected controller device and a second graphical element of each of the determined plurality of associated input-output hardware devices, wherein each of the second graphical element comprises a third graphical element for each input-output submodule associated with the input-output hardware device.