Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated

Nathaniel S Sandler

Christopher Wayne Como

Bruce T McCleave, Jr

Ryan P Dunn

Scott A Miller

Stephen C Briant

Nathan Reynolds

Kyle K Reissner

Jonathan Alan Mills

Rob Alan Entzminger

Tim S Biernat

David Christopher Mazur

Todd A Wiese

Michael J Anthony

David Allen Johnston

James Joseph Kay

Karl Staas

Patrick E Ozimek

Chris Softley

James M Teal

Taryl Jon Jasper

Charles Martin Rischar

Chirayu S Shah

Ryan Coon

John Ethan Belcher

Roman Vitek

Bruce T Mccleave, Jr

Nabin Acharya

Anoop Mohan

Julie Nguyen

Bart Nieuwborg

Systems and methods are disclosed for performing a local update from a global catalog of device and system attributes. In certain embodiments, a system may comprise an edge server of an industrial automation environment, configured to update a local catalog from a cloud-based global catalog. The edge server may perform a device discovery operation to identify an industrial device connected to a local network on premises with the edge server, access the global catalog to obtain data about the industrial device, store the data about the industrial device to the local catalog, and respond to a query about the industrial device based on the data about the industrial device from the local catalog.

Local update from global catalog of device and system attributes

A computer readable medium stores instructions that cause a processor to receive an indication of a request for analysis of a simulation model associated with an industrial automation system, wherein the industrial automation system includes a plurality of devices, wherein each of the plurality of devices includes a respective compute surface configured to perform one or more software tasks, identify a first device of the plurality of devices having sufficient resources to perform the analysis, and deploy a container to the first device. The container is configured to collect data from one or more sensors disposed in or around the industrial automation system, update the simulation model based on the collected data, and provide the updated simulation model for distribution to one or more other devices of the plurality devices.

Systems and methods managing containers in an operational technology network

A non-transitory computer readable medium stores instructions that cause a processor to receive an indication of an event associated with an industrial automation system, wherein the industrial automation system includes a plurality of devices configured to perform a plurality of operations within the industrial automation system, and wherein each of the plurality of devices includes a compute surface configured to perform one or more software tasks, determine a plurality of data processing tasks to perform based on the event, identify a portion of the plurality of devices to perform the plurality of data processing tasks based on the compute surface available for each of the plurality of devices, and deploy a container to each of the portion of the plurality of devices, wherein each container of each of the portion of the plurality of devices is configured to perform at least one of the plurality of data processing tasks.

Systems and methods for condition-based deployment of chainable compute operations for constrained computing devices

A method may include receiving an indication of an available updated container. The method may also involve identifying one or more compute surfaces comprising a first container and a second container that correspond to the available container, such that the first container may control one or more operations of an operational technology (OT) device. The method may also include scheduling a deployment of the updated container to replace the second container, receiving expected output data associated with a digital model associated with the OT device, and scheduling a switchover of control of the one or more operations to the second container based on the expected output data.

Containerized modeling of device updates or modifications via digital twins

An industrial development hub (IDH) supports industrial development and testing capabilities that are offered as a cloud-based service. The IDH comprises an enhanced storage platform and associated design tools that serve as a repository on which customers can store control project code, device configurations, and other digital aspects of an industrial automation project. The IDH system can facilitate discovery and management of digital content associated with control systems, and can be used for system backup and restore, code conversion, and version management. The IDH also supports simulation-based design and testing tools.

Digital engineering on an industrial development hub

An industrial information hub (IDH) serves as a single industrial ecosystem platform where multiple participants can deliver repeatable and standardized services relevant to their core competencies. The IIH system is centered around the development of an ecosystem that creates and delivers value to users—including industrial enterprises, OEMs, system integrators, vendors, etc.—through the aggregation of digital content and domain expertise. The IIH system serves as a trusted information broker between the ecosystem and the OT environments of plant facilities, and provides a platform for connecting assets, contextualizing asset data and providing secure access to the ecosystem. Additionally, the IIH system provides tools and support to OEMs and other subject matter experts, allowing those experts to enable their digital assets for use in the ecosystem. The IIH system reduces the cost and risks for digital transformation of industrial assets.

Data modeling and asset management using an industrial information hub

An industrial development hub (IDH) supports industrial development and testing capabilities that are offered as a cloud-based service. The IDH comprises an enhanced storage platform and associated design tools that serve as a repository on which customers can store control project code, device configurations, and other digital aspects of an industrial automation project. The IDH system can facilitate discovery and management of digital content associated with control systems, and can be used for system backup and restore, code conversion, and version management.

Industrial automation asset and control project analysis

A method may include receiving, via a secure deployment management (SDM) system, data associated with one or more operations of an industrial device from a secure deployment management (SDM) node associated with the industrial device. The data is received via a secure communication channel established by the SDM system with the SDM node and security protocols. The method also includes sending the data to a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) container component may perform tasks in conjunction with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) process, such that the CMMS container component may communicate with the CMMS process via a first firewall through which the SDM system is incapable of communicating. The SDM system may enable the data associated with the operations to communicate with the SDM node through a second firewall between the SDM system and the SDM node, the second firewall being different from the first firewall.

Coordinating maintenance management operations via a secure deployment system

A method may include receiving, via a secure deployment management (SDM) system, data associated with operations of an industrial device from a SDM node associated with the industrial device. The data is received via a secure communication channel established by the SDM system with the SDM node and security protocols. The SDM node is communicatively coupled with a machine learning system for sending and receiving data. The machine learning system may generate an updated machine learning model based on the data and a machine learning model representative of expected outputs associated with the operations of the industrial device and generate updated configuration data based on the updated machine learning model. The method may then include receiving the updated configuration data from the SDM node via the secure communication channel and sending the updated configuration data to the industrial device without performing security operations on the updated configuration data.

Implementing device modifications based on machine learning processes performed within a secure deployment system

A method may include receiving, via a secure deployment management (SDM) system, a notification indicative of a change in configuration data associated with an industrial device from a secure deployment management (SDM) node associated with the industrial device. The notification is received via a secure communication channel established by the SDM system with the SDM node and one or more security protocols. The method also includes retrieving, via the SDM system, the configuration data associated with the industrial device from a data source in response to receiving the notification and sending, via the SDM system, the configuration data to the SDM node via the secure communication channel. The industrial device may receive the configuration data from the SDM node without performing one or more security operations on the configuration data.

Managing firmware and software updates within a secure deployment system

A non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to receive, via the processor, a characteristic of data to be collected from an operational technology (OT) device disposed within an OT network associated with an industrial automation system configured to perform an industrial automation process, determine, via the processor, that the characteristic exceeds a threshold value, and deploy, via the processor, in response to determining that the characteristic exceeds the threshold value, a container to a compute surface within the OT network that is disposed within a threshold distance of the OT device. The container is configured to receive the data from the OT device and process the received data.

Systems and methods for container-based data collection and analysis in an operational technology network

An industrial development hub (IDH) supports industrial development and testing capabilities that are offered as a cloud-based service. The IDH comprises an enhanced storage platform and associated design tools that serve as a repository on which customers can store control project code, device configurations, and other digital aspects of an industrial automation project. The IDH system can facilitate discovery and management of digital content associated with control systems, and can be used for system backup and restore, code conversion, and version management. The IDH also supports storage and instantiation of virtual machine images preconfigured with digital engineering applications that can be instantiated and executed remotely as part of a digital engineering services framework.

Digital engineering virtual machine infrastructure

A method may include receiving, via a secure deployment management (SDM) system, configuration data associated with an industrial device, identifying, via the SDM system, a presence of a secure deployment management (SDM) node associated with the industrial device, and establishing, via the SDM system, a secure communication channel between the SDM system and the SDM node using one or more security protocols. The method may also involve sending, via the SDM system, the configuration data to the industrial device via the secure communication channel. The industrial device may receive the configuration data without performing one or more security operations on the configuration data.

Facilitating direct device-to-cloud communications within a secure deployment management system

A method may include receiving, via a first computing node of a cluster of computing nodes in a container orchestration system, a pod from a second computing node in the cluster of computing nodes. The method may also involve retrieving an image file that includes containers from a registry, such that the pod detail an indication of a location of the image file in the registry. The method then involves generating a package based on the one or more containers and one or more mapped commands implementable by a control system in an operational technology (OT) domain. The mapped commands correspond to operations performable by the control system that corresponds to commands specified in the containers. The method may then involve storing the package in a filesystem shared with the control system.

Integrating container orchestration systems with operational technology devices

An industrial development hub (IDH) supports industrial development and testing capabilities that are offered as a cloud-based service. The IDH comprises an enhanced storage platform and associated design tools that serve as a repository on which customers can store control project code, device configurations, and other digital aspects of an industrial automation project. The IDH system can facilitate discovery and management of digital content associated with control systems, and can be used for system backup and restore, code conversion, and version management. The IDH also supports storage and instantiation of virtual machine images preconfigured with digital engineering applications or project conversion that can be instantiated and executed remotely as part of a digital engineering services framework.

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Chagrin Falls, OH, United States of America

Nathaniel S Sandler