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 performed by an OPC UA client includes importing a node set file pertaining to an OPC UA-enabled automation device, the nodeset file defining validation logic used to validate data to be written to the automation device; preparing data to be written to the automation device; and using the validation logic to validate the prepared data. An alternative method includes importing a nodeset file pertaining to an automation device in which a OPC UA server is embedded, the nodeset file defining validation logic used to validate data to be written to the automation device; receiving data to be written to the automation device; and using the validation logic to validate the received data.

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 for determining an interdependency between a plurality of elements in an industrial processing system includes: providing a process flow diagram (PFD) of a topology of the processing system; transforming the PFD into a directed graph, each element of the plurality of elements being transformed into a node and each relation between the plurality of elements being transformed into a directed edge; selecting one node of the plurality of nodes as a starting node; and constructing a subgraph, the subgraph including all the nodes that are forward-connected from the starting node so as to show at least one interdependency between the plurality of elements in the subgraph.

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 for providing a controlling frontend for an operating device configured for operating a field device includes providing an operational frame, wherein the operational frame serves as a generic user interface and is based on a companion specification; reading a field device specification from a database, wherein the field device specification comprises a structured set of field device attributes, which are related to the operating elements; and generating, based on the field device specification and the operational frame, a structured set of display elements for the controlling frontend, wherein at least some of the display elements of the controlling frontend are connected to the operating elements of the field device.

Abstract: An automated maintenance schedule generation method includes: receiving planning data for designing a modular plant comprising physical modules as received planning data; selecting digital modules, correlating to respective physical modules, from a database, depending on the received planning data as respective correlating physical modules, the digital modules including maintenance information of the respective correlating physical modules; associating the selected digital modules depending on the received planning data; determining an expected maintenance need including an expected maintenance issue and/or an expected maintenance issue date for the selected physical modules depending on the received maintenance information as a determined maintenance need; and generating a maintenance schedule for the modular plant depending on the determined maintenance need.

Abstract: A method of providing a control software configuration for a module of a modular plant, the method including, in a module engineering phase: receiving a user definition for the module; and automatically generating the control software configuration for the module based on the user definition, the automatically generating including: specifying parameters for the module that are not specific to any target system; and providing the control software configuration as a controller-agnostic configuration file for subsequent binding of controller software instantiated according to the controller-agnostic configuration file to a hardware controller of the module when the module is integrated into a target system during a plant engineering phase.

Abstract: A system and method for connecting a process controller to one or more peer devices includes providing a process controller interface for bidirectional communication; using a peer device interface for bidirectional OPC UA communication with the peer devices; and providing a logic unit that determines one or more to-be-performed actions from the one or more inputs according to a predetermined logic; determines, according to the predetermined logic, one or more outputs which, when supplied to the process controller, and/or to the peer devices, cause the to-be-performed actions to be performed; and supply these outputs to the process controller, and/or to the one or more peer devices.

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 computer-implemented method for providing a service-based control application for an industrial plant includes automatically segmenting an initial control code for the industrial plant into a plurality of code blocks and automatically creating a plurality of services, each service implementing the functionality of one or more of the plurality of code blocks. The automatically creating of the plurality of services is carried out considering a similarity of a criticality assigned to each of the plurality of code blocks, such that code blocks having more similar criticality are more likely to be implemented within the same service.

Abstract: A method of providing a control software configuration for a module of a modular plant, the method including, in a module engineering phase: receiving a user definition for the module; and automatically generating the control software configuration for the module based on the user definition, the automatically generating including: specifying parameters for the module that are not specific to any target system; and providing the control software configuration as a controller-agnostic configuration file for subsequent binding of controller software instantiated according to the controller-agnostic configuration file to a hardware controller of the module when the module is integrated into a target system during a plant engineering phase.

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: The present disclosure is directed at a façade server. The façade server provides a configurable façade having a configurable address space and serving as an interface for a client and to provide a mapping between the configurable address space of the façade and a data space and/or an address space of an external server.