Abstract: A computer-implemented method and system for validating a component specification defining at least one component of an industrial automation system, wherein the component specification is arranged in an object-oriented data format, includes obtaining an invariant specification specifying one or more invariants that must be satisfied for the component specification to be deemed fit for use in conjunction with the industrial automation system; and validating the component specification using the invariants specified in the invariant specification.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for determining an operational state of an industrial plant includes acquiring alarms raised within the plant and adding them to a pool of important alarms, determining whether a physical state of the plant indicated by a first alarm causes a second alarm or meets a predetermined state-dependent condition and, if so, moving the first alarm to a pool of informative alarms; and determining the operational state of the plant and/or a corrective action for improving this operational state based on the alarms in the pool of important alarms.

Abstract: A method for formulation and modelling of intentions in process plant engineering includes formulating intentions of an actor by guiding the actor to provide the intentions to an assistance system, wherein the intentions are hierarchically structured and comprise at least a goal, describing the goal, an implementation, how the goal can be achieved, and a requirement for the goal and the implementation. The intentions are translated into an intention model, which is transformed into a graphical representation that is provided to the actor.

Abstract: A method of providing a software configuration for a modular plant, the method comprising providing a first function module as a parent object, wherein the first function module comprises a function information of the first function module; generating at least a second function module, wherein the second function module is a derived child object of the first function module that inherits the function information of the first function module.

Abstract: A method of automatically augmenting a knowledge model representing one or more automation engineering domains. The method comprises: obtaining instance data relating to at least one component of an industrial automation system, wherein the component represents an instance of at least one entity in the knowledge model; processing the instance data using one or more data analytics algorithms to derive knowledge to be added to the knowledge model; and augmenting the knowledge model to represent the derived knowledge. Corresponding systems are also provided.

Abstract: A method performed by an integration subsystem for integrating a plurality of automation engineering subsystems into an aggregate system, the method comprising using at least one ontological model to interface a first said automation engineering subsystem with a second said automation engineering subsystem. Interoperability of the subsystems is therefore facilitated.

Abstract: A method for non-MTP module integration includes receiving by a wrapper unit logic signals, bus signals and material signals from a non-MTP module, wherein the non-MTP module is a physical module of a process plant, wherein the logic signals comprise information of logic connections and/or functions of the non-MTP module, wherein the bus signals comprise information of outputs of a fieldbus of the non-MTP module, wherein the material signals comprise information of material connections of the non-MTP module; converting, by the wrapper unit, the bus signals to open platform communication identifier architecture, OPC UA, nodes; determining, by the wrapper unit an MTP interface using the logic signals and the material signals; and determining, by the wrapper unit, a MTP conform digital black box module, using OPC UA nodes and the MTP interface.

Abstract: A method of integrating modules into a hybrid modular plant comprising a discrete manufacturing part and a continuous manufacturing part includes integrating the discrete part into the continuous part, comprising constructing at least one module definition file mapping one or more discrete-part units of the discrete part to a continuous-part module and importing the module definition file into an orchestration layer of the continuous part. Alternatively, the method comprises integrating the continuous part into the discrete part, comprising constructing one or more interfaces representing each continuous-part module as one or more respective discrete-part units.

Abstract: A first gateway device for connecting an OPC UA client to a data-driven controller and/or control system includes a first interface implementing an OPC UA server and is configured to receive, from the OPC UA client, at least one call to invoke an OPC UA method on an OPC UA object, and a second interface that sends a request to write at least one value to at least one control variable of the data-driven controller and/or control system, and first translation logic therebetween. A second gateway device connects a data-driven controller and/or control system to a controlled device or subsystem of an industrial plant and includes a third interface that receives a value of a control variable, and a fourth interface that sends a call to invoke an OPC UA method on an OPC UA object, and second translation logic therebetween.

Abstract: A method for custom logic engineering in an industrial modular plant executing a production process includes receiving process data for the production process using at least one physical process module; determining a custom process topology by selecting, based on the received process data, at least one module type package, MTP; correlating to the at least one respective physical process module from a database, wherein the module type package is a digital representation of the respective physical process module; selecting at least one extender unit from the database based on the received process data; representing a logical function of the production process; determining connections between the extender unit(s) and the at least one MTP; setting properties of the extender unit(s) based on the received process data; and determining an extended control scheme for controlling dynamic behavior of the production process using the determined custom process topology.

Abstract: A method for verifying process orchestration logic for a modular plant includes generating a plant execution model representing the process orchestration logic; analyzing the plant execution model to identify one or more potential failure scenarios; and generating one or more test cases based on the one or more identified failure scenarios.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes obtaining an amount of a resource and/or capability of a process module, and dividing this amount by the maximum amount of the respective resource and/or capability to obtain a theoretical utilization of the resource and/or capability as the theoretical utilization of the process module. A pool of available process modules is searched to identify candidate process modules to replace the process module. The theoretical utilization for each candidate module is determined and an optimized topology of the plant is generated by replacing the process module with a candidate process module that has a same or a higher theoretical utilization than process module.

Abstract: An engineering system for orchestration of an industrial plant includes: a modular plant to be orchestrated including at least one processor from a topology having: a process orchestration layer, and a plurality of modules. A portion of the plurality of modules are formed as at least one combined module. Each combined module of the at least one combined module has at least two different modules of the portion of the plurality of modules. The process orchestration layer controls the plurality of modules. The control by the process orchestration layer includes in-direct control of the portion of the plurality of modules via control of the at least one combined module.

Abstract: A modular automation support system for modular plants includes an engineering support system comprising a control and execution engine configured to: receive data from a monitoring infrastructure of a modular plant and convert that data into semantic data which conforms to a semantic data model; use one or more semantic rules or mechanisms relating the semantic data received from the monitoring infrastructure to services provided by modules of a pipeline of the modular plant to control the pipeline in executing a process.

Abstract: A modular automation support system for modular plants comprises an automation engineering support system comprising a feedback processing component configured to modify the operation of one or more other components of the automation engineering support system based on user feedback.

Abstract: A method of generating control code for an industrial plant comprises: defining control logic for controlling the industrial plant by editing a cause-and-effect matrix provided by an engineering tool, wherein the defining comprises defining both instrument-based control logic and service-based control logic using the same cause-and-effect matrix; and generating the control code for controlling the industrial plant on the basis of the defined control logic.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for determining an operational state of an industrial plant includes acquiring alarms raised within the plant and adding them to a pool of important alarms, determining whether a physical state of the plant indicated by a first alarm causes a second alarm or meets a predetermined state-dependent condition and, if so, moving the first alarm to a pool of informative alarms; and determining the operational state of the plant and/or a corrective action for improving this operational state based on the alarms in the pool of important alarms.

Abstract: A method for custom logic engineering in an industrial modular plant executing a production process includes receiving process data for the production process using at least one physical process module; determining a custom process topology by selecting, based on the received process data, at least one module type package, MTP; correlating to the at least one respective physical process module from a database, wherein the module type package is a digital representation of the respective physical process module; selecting at least one extender unit from the database based on the received process data; representing a logical function of the production process; determining connections between the extender unit(s) and the at least one MTP; setting properties of the extender unit(s) based on the received process data; and determining an extended control scheme for controlling dynamic behavior of the production process using the determined custom process topology.

Abstract: A computer-implemented resource management method for modular plants may include: receiving data identifying a required module type to be assembled into the modular plant as part of a module pipeline including one or more modules; and executing an optimization algorithm to select, from a plurality of modules having the required module type, a module for inclusion in the module pipeline on the basis of one or more predetermined optimization criteria.

Abstract: A resource management system for modular plants includes a database providing a module library of semantic modules representing respective modules in a module pool. At least one of the semantic modules includes a semantic description of the respective module, where the semantic description includes abstract data according to a semantic data model, and where the abstract data describes attributes of the respective module not found in a standard description file for the module. Based thereon, the system facilitates automated generation and optimization of module pipelines.