U.S. patent application number 11/765497 was filed with the patent office on 2007-10-18 for location based diagnostics method and apparatus.
Invention is credited to John Joseph Baier, Brian A. Batke, David Michael Callaghan, David W. Farchmin, Daniel P. Noonen, Scot A. Tutkovics, David Alan Vasko.
Application Number | 20070245169 11/765497 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34679407 |
Filed Date | 2007-10-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070245169 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Farchmin; David W. ; et
al. |
October 18, 2007 |
Location Based Diagnostics Method And Apparatus
Abstract
A method and system for use with an enterprise operation and at
least one processor linked to the operation, the method for
requesting service from a most optimal enterprise user when at
least one interesting condition related to the operation occurs,
the method comprising the steps of providing a wireless information
device (WID) to each enterprise user, monitoring the operation for
at least one diagnostically interesting condition, when at least
one diagnostically interesting condition is identified, identifying
at least one of the enterprise users as the most optimal user to
address the diagnostically interesting condition and suggesting,
via the user's WID, an appointment to address the interesting
condition that may be added to the schedule of the most optimal
user.
Inventors: |
Farchmin; David W.;
(Grafton, WI) ; Vasko; David Alan; (Macedonia,
OH) ; Batke; Brian A.; (Novelty, OH) ; Noonen;
Daniel P.; (Mentor, OH) ; Callaghan; David
Michael; (Concord, OH) ; Baier; John Joseph;
(Mentor, OH) ; Tutkovics; Scot A.; (Sagamore
Hills, OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC./(QB)
ATTENTION: SUSAN M. DONAHUE, E-7F19
1201 SOUTH SECOND STREET
MILWAUKEE
WI
53204
US
|
Family ID: |
34679407 |
Appl. No.: |
11/765497 |
Filed: |
June 20, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10774276 |
Feb 6, 2004 |
7251535 |
|
|
11765497 |
Jun 20, 2007 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
714/25 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G05B 2219/31365
20130101; Y02P 90/14 20151101; Y02P 90/20 20151101; G05B 23/027
20130101; Y02P 90/02 20151101; Y02P 90/80 20151101; Y02P 90/86
20151101; Y02P 90/18 20151101; G05B 19/4184 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
714/025 |
International
Class: |
G06F 11/00 20060101
G06F011/00 |
Claims
1. A method for use with an enterprise operation and at least one
processor linked to the operation, the method for requesting
service from a most optimal enterprise user when at least one
interesting condition related to the operation occurs, the method
comprising the steps of: providing a wireless information device
(WID) to each enterprise user; monitoring the operation for at
least one diagnostically interesting condition; when at least one
diagnostically interesting condition is identified, identifying at
least one of the enterprise users as the most optimal user to
address the diagnostically interesting condition; and suggesting,
via the user's WID, an appointment to address the interesting
condition that may be added to the schedule of the most optimal
user.
2. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of, via the
WID, requesting acceptance of the appointment from the optimal user
and, when the appointment is accepted, amending the optimal user's
schedule.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of requesting acceptance
includes starting a timer after requesting acceptance and, after a
query period expires, identifying a next most optimal user to
address the interesting condition.
4. The method of claim 3 further including the steps of suggesting,
via the user's WID, an appointment to address the interesting
condition that may be added to the schedule of the next most
optimal user and requesting acceptance of the appointment from the
next most optimal user.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of identifying includes
identifying the location of at least one WID and identifying the
user of the WID that is most proximate the operation as the most
optimal user.
6. The method of claim 5 further including the step of providing a
plurality of access points within the enterprise, the step of
determining the relative location of the WID including transmitting
signals from one of the WID and at least a subset of the access
points to the other of the WID and at least a subset of the access
points and using the transmitted signals to determine the location
of the WID.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of identifying includes
identifying a sub-set of the users that is qualified to address the
diagnostically interesting condition and selecting one of the
qualified users as the most optimal user.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of selecting includes
selecting the one of the qualified users that is most proximate the
operation.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of identifying includes
accessing a schedule database that indicates the schedules of the
enterprise users.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of identifying further
includes identifying a sub-set of the enterprise users that is
currently unoccupied and selecting one of the unoccupied users as
the most optimal user.
11. A system for use with an enterprise operation and at least one
processor linked to the operation, the system for requesting
service from a most optimal enterprise user when at least one
interesting condition related to the operation occurs, the system
comprising: a plurality of wireless information devices (WIDs), a
separate WID for each enterprise user; a processor running a
program to perform the steps of monitoring the operation for at
least one diagnostically interesting condition, when at least one
diagnostically interesting condition is identified, identifying at
least one of the enterprise users as the most optimal user to
address the diagnostically interesting condition and suggesting,
via the user's WID, an appointment to address the interesting
condition that may be added to the schedule of the most optimal
user.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the controller suggests an
appointment by requesting acceptance of the appointment from the
optimal user and, when an appointment is accepted, the WID is
programmed to transmit an acceptance message to the processor, the
processor further programmed to, when an acceptance message is
received, amend the optimal user's schedule.
13. The system of claim 12 wherein, when acceptance is requested,
the processor is programmed to start a timer and, after a query
period expires, identify a next most optimal user to address the
interesting condition.
14. The system of claim 13 wherein the processor is further
programmed to perform the steps of suggesting, via the user's WID,
an appointment to address the interesting condition that may be
added to the schedule of the next most optimal user and requesting
acceptance of the appointment from the next most optimal user.
15. The system of claim 11 wherein the processor is programmed to
identify by identifying the location of at least one WID and
identifying the user of the WID that is most proximate the
operation as the most optimal user.
16. The system of claim 15 further including a plurality of access
points within the enterprise, the processor programmed to determine
WID location by transmitting signals from at least one of the WID
and at least a subset of the access points to the other of the WID
and at least a subset of the access points and using the
transmitted signals to determine the location of the WID.
17. The system of claim 11 wherein the processor is programmed to
identify by identifying a sub-set of the users that is qualified to
address the diagnostically interesting condition and selecting one
of the qualified users as the most optimal user.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the processor is programmed to
select by selecting the one of the qualified users that is most
proximate the operation.
19. The system of claim 11 wherein the processor is programmed to
identify by accessing a schedule database that indicates the
schedules of the enterprise users.
20. The system of claim 19 wherein the processor is programmed to
identify by identifying a sub-set of the enterprise users that is
currently unoccupied and selecting one of the unoccupied users as
the most optimal user.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.
10/774,276 which was filed on Feb. 6, 2004 that is titled Location
Based Diagnostics Method And Apparatus.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This section of this document is intended to introduce
various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of
the present invention described and/or claimed below. This section
provides background information to facilitate a better
understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. It
should be understood that the statements in this section of this
document are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of
prior art.
[0004] This invention relates generally to diagnostic systems and
more specifically to diagnostic systems and methods that perform
diagnostic functions at optimal times and that generate diagnostic
warnings in an optimal fashion.
[0005] Unless indicated otherwise, in order to simplify this
explanation, the present invention will be described hereinafter in
the context of the industrial automation industry. Nevertheless, it
should be appreciated that the present invention includes various
methods and apparatus that may be used in any of several different
industries including, but not limited to, industrial automation and
building automation as well as the medical field and other
businesses where electronic and/or mechanical resource operations
are analyzed to determine if tell tale signs of interesting
conditions (e.g., a likely failure condition or an unexpected
condition) occur.
[0006] Many industries employ complex automated manufacturing
systems that include hundreds and even thousands of different
electronic and mechanical resources that are integrated into
machine lines for performing manufacturing processes. Most
electronic and mechanical resources and systems have an expected
useful life after which some or all of the components have to be
replaced or repaired. In addition, most resources may malfunction
prematurely under certain operating conditions or due to
imperfections in the resources when the resources themselves were
manufactured.
[0007] As with most electronic and mechanical devices, the useful
lives of machine line resources can be extended via proper and
routine maintenance. To this end, many large manufacturing concerns
employ a number of different maintenance engineers charged with
routinely maintaining resources. Here, in the case of mechanical
resources maintenance may simply include keeping resources well
lubricated and periodically replacing worn components. In the case
of electronic components and some mechanical components,
maintenance may include diagnostically analyzing operating data
during normal operation of the resources. For example, for a
specific set of resources there may be a range of acceptable
operating parameters. A trend over several weeks toward one end or
the other of the acceptable range of operating parameters may
indicate a likely pending failure of certain components. When a
trend is slow, prior experience may indicate that the likely time
prior to failure will be relatively long and, when a trend is
rapid, experience may indicate that failure is imminent. In some
cases diagnostic processes may also include specific operations
over and above normal resource operating procedures and analysis of
resulting diagnostic data.
[0008] Experience generally guides development of diagnostic
processes. For example, in the case of a first resource sub-set,
experience may indicate that trend data should be obtained and
analyzed on a weekly basis to avoid malfunctions and downtime
whereas, in the case of a second resource sub-set, experience may
indicate that trend data should be obtained and analyzed on a
monthly basis.
[0009] As the number of manufacturing lines within facilities
become greater, the number of diagnostic processes required to
service facility resources increases. In addition, as the machine
lines become more complex, the complexity of diagnostic processes
also often increases. Moreover, as diagnostic results are examined,
new diagnostic procedures are often developed that take into
account new trends in diagnostic results and, in some cases, normal
system operating data.
[0010] While diagnostic processes are advantageous and necessary,
unfortunately diagnostic requirements increase manufacturing costs
appreciably. To this end, large manufacturing concerns often
include a large number of different resource types integrated into
many different machine lines where the diagnostics required for
each of the lines may be unique to the specific machine line. Here,
maintenance engineers have to be relatively highly skilled in order
to provide services to all lines within a concern's facilities. In
addition, in most cases, diagnostic results do not warrant
immediate maintenance. Thus, in cases where an engineer has to be
present to perform diagnostic processes, if the engineer's presence
is not immediately required to address problems related to the
diagnostic results, valuable engineer time is wasted.
[0011] Many manufacturing concerns have reduced maintenance
engineer or technician training requirements by training specific
engineers to service specific machine lines and/or resources. For
instance, a large manufacturing concern having twenty manufacturing
facilities and many buildings at each facility may employ a total
of ten maintenance engineers including two engineers in each of
five different maintenance classes. Here each engineer need only be
versed in maintaining one fifth of the entire set of resources
employed by the concern. A specific engineer may routinely work at
a different facility each day of a two week cycle and may be on
call to address specific unforeseen interesting conditions in any
of the facilities when the conditions occur.
[0012] To reduce the amount of time engineers have to spend
performing routine diagnostic processes, in some cases diagnostic
processes have been automated. For example, where a diagnostic
process must be performed every week on a resource sub-set, a
controller for the resource sub-set may be programmed to
automatically perform the process at 5 AM every Monday morning.
Similarly, where a process has to be performed every month, the
controller may be programmed to automatically perform the process
at 5 AM on the first of every month. In these cases either the
controller or some other processor is programmed to examine the
diagnostic results and, where an interesting condition occurs, to
indicate that the interesting condition occurred. In any event, the
diagnostic results may be stored for processing via subsequent
trend type diagnostic analysis.
[0013] Automated diagnostics and multiple classes of maintenance
engineers have solved many of the problems associated with
maintenance programs. Nevertheless, some shortcomings still exist.
For example, where an automatic diagnostic process is performed at
5 AM on the first of every month and a maintenance engineer is in a
specific facility on February 27th and is not scheduled to be back
in the facility until one week later, if the diagnostic process on
March 1 indicates an interesting condition that requires
consideration by an engineer, the engineer will have to make an
additional and unforeseen trip back to the facility on March 1. In
addition to wasting travel time, the additional trip may also throw
off the engineer's regular schedule.
[0014] As another example, when an interesting condition is
identified, often a signal is sent to a central facility or concern
monitoring or service station which then contacts an engineer to
resolve the condition. Here, in most cases, a monitoring employee
must assess the situation, identify a qualified engineer to address
the condition and then issue a work request of some type to the
engineer. This process requires that the monitoring employee be
familiar with engineer qualifications which is not always the
case--especially in the case of large concerns where engineer and
monitoring employee turnover may be routine.
[0015] In addition, at any given time there is usually a specific
engineer within the sub-set of qualified engineers that is optimal
for addressing a specific interesting condition and known systems
fail to enable the monitoring employee to identify the optimal
engineer. In this regard, all other things being equal, the
qualified engineer that is currently least busy should address an
occurring interesting condition. Similarly, all other things being
equal, the qualified engineer that is currently closest to the
location of the interesting condition should address the occurring
interesting condition. In addition, all other things being equal,
if an interesting condition occurs at a facility location where a
qualified engineer is scheduled to be within a short period to
perform other maintenance duties, that engineer may be the optimal
engineer to address the condition. Known current systems do not
enable a monitoring employee to optimally assign tasks to
maintenance engineers as a function of various factors such as
proximity, qualifications, availability, etc.
[0016] One other problem that has been recognized with existing
diagnostic systems is that often there are broad location related
trends that cannot be appreciated at the resource level. To this
end, where a rash of interesting conditions occurs within a
specific area of a facility there may be some environmental cause
(e.g., temperature, excess humidity, magnetic field, etc.) that is
affecting resource operations. Current known systems have no way of
grouping together location based interesting conditions.
[0017] Yet one other problem with addressing diagnostically
interesting conditions is related to mobile resources. One recent
trend in manufacturing resources is to provide resources that are
rapidly reconfigurable so that many different products can be
manufactured using different integrated resource subsets so that
one resource may be used at different times with different resource
sub-sets. For example, a dryer machine may be wheeled between
several facility locations to be used at different times with
different plastic molding resource sub-assemblies. Here, where
interesting conditions are noticed to service stations, known
systems fail to provide a mechanism for determining which of
several different stations should receive notice of interesting
conditions associated with the mobile resource.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0018] Certain aspects commensurate in scope with the originally
claimed invention are set forth below. It should be understood that
these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a
brief summary of certain forms the invention might take and that
these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Indeed, the invention may encompass a variety of aspects that may
not be set forth below.
[0019] It has been recognized that optimal timing for performing
diagnostic processes can be tied to the occurrence of triggering
circumstances that periodically occur within a facility. For
instance, in at least some cases it has been recognized that it is
optimal to perform diagnostics when a facility employee (e.g., a
maintenance engineer) is proximate an assembly such that, if an
interesting condition occurs, the engineer can address the
interesting condition. More specifically, in some cases it is
optimal to perform diagnostics only when a maintenance engineer
that is qualified to address possible interesting conditions is
proximate an assembly and is available (i.e., is not performing
other processes for at least some period) to address conditions
that may occur. As another instance, where a schedule indicates
that an engineer will be proximate an assembly at a specific future
time and that the engineer will be available for at least a period,
it may be optimal to perform diagnostics at that time and to
therefore automatically schedule diagnostic processes for that
time. Other optimal triggering circumstances or relationships are
contemplated.
[0020] Moreover, it has been recognized that where diagnostic
summary processes are periodically performed (e.g., every other
Monday morning at 5 A.M.), when an interesting condition occurs,
information regarding engineer qualifications (i.e., the types of
interesting conditions that the engineer is trained to address),
locations, availability, perceived urgency of the condition, etc.,
can be used to identify and then, in at least some cases, notify an
optimal engineer of the condition. In some cases where a condition
is not urgent a system may automatically amend the schedule of an
engineer to add an interesting condition thereto in an optimal
fashion.
[0021] Consistent with the above comments, at least some
embodiments of the present invention include method for use with an
enterprise operation and at least one processor programmed to
perform at least one diagnostic process on the operation and to at
least periodically perform at least one summary process on the
operation, the method for commencing the at least one summary
process and comprising the steps of specifying at least one
triggering relationship between at least a first enterprise user
and the operation that is to initiate the at least one summary
process, determining when the at least one triggering relationship
occurs and when the at least one triggering relationship occurs,
causing the processor to perform the at least one summary
process.
[0022] In at least some embodiments the at least one triggering
relationship specifies a first relative juxtaposition of the
operation and the first enterprise user. Here, the method may
further include the steps of monitoring a period since the last
performance of the at least one summary process, performing the at
least one summary process at least once every Y hours independent
of the occurrence of the at least one triggering relationship and,
after the at least one triggering relationship occurs, resetting
the period.
[0023] In some cases the method may further include the step of
monitoring the period since the last performance of the at least
one summary process wherein the at least one triggering
relationship specifies that the at least one summary process should
be performed when the first user and the assembly are in the first
relative juxtaposition and when the period since the last
performance of the at least one process exceeds X hours.
[0024] At least some of the inventive methods include a method for
use with a component assembly that forms part of an enterprise and
at least one processor, the processor programmed to perform at
least one diagnostic process on the assembly and to at least
periodically perform at least one summary process on the assembly,
the method for commencing the at least one summary process and
comprising the steps of specifying at least a first relative
juxtaposition of the assembly and a qualified enterprise user that
is to initiate the at least one summary process wherein the
qualified user is any user that is qualified to use the results of
the at least first summary process, determining when at least one
qualified user is in the at least first relative juxtaposition with
respect to the assembly and when at least one qualified user is in
the at least first relative juxtaposition with respect to the
assembly, causing the processor to perform the at least one summary
process.
[0025] Some inventive methods include a method for use with a
plurality of devices that are spaced out within a facility, the
method for identifying when at least one interesting condition
occurs within the facility and comprising the steps of specifying
at least a first pattern of diagnostically interesting incidences
that correspond to the at least one interesting condition where the
at least a first pattern is at least in part related to relative
juxtapositions of the diagnostically interesting incidences,
performing diagnostic processes related to each of the devices and
identifying diagnostically interesting incidences, when a
diagnostically interesting incident is identified, identifying the
relative juxtapositions of the identified incident with respect to
at least a sub-set of previously identified diagnostically
interesting incidences, comparing the relative juxtapositions to
the at least a first pattern and where the relative juxtapositions
match the at least a first pattern, indicating that the first
pattern has occurred.
[0026] According to one aspect of the invention some embodiments
include a method for use with a component assembly that forms part
of an enterprise and at least one processor linked to the assembly,
the method for requesting service from a most optimal enterprise
user when at least one interesting condition related to the
component assembly occurs, the method comprising the steps of
monitoring the assembly for at least one diagnostically interesting
condition, when at least one diagnostically interesting condition
is identified, identifying at least one of the enterprise users as
the most optimal user to address the diagnostically interesting
condition and indicate the most optimal user.
[0027] According to one other aspect some embodiments of the
invention include a method for use with an assembly to be located
within an enterprise, the method for associating the assembly with
an optimal service resource for reporting diagnostically
interesting incidences related to the assembly, the method
comprising the steps of positioning at least first and second
service resources within the enterprise, positioning the assembly
within the enterprise, identifying an optimal one of the at least
first and second service resources for monitoring assembly
operations based at least in part on the relative juxtaposition of
the assembly to each of the first and second service resources,
monitoring the assembly for the occurrence of at least one
diagnostically interesting incident and when a diagnostically
interesting incident occurs, indicating the incident to the optimal
one of the first and second service resources.
[0028] These and other objects, advantages and aspects of the
invention will become apparent from the following description. In
the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings
which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown a preferred
embodiment of the invention. Such embodiment does not necessarily
represent the full scope of the invention and reference is made
therefore, to the claims herein for interpreting the scope of the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] The invention will hereafter be described with reference to
the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote
like elements, and:
[0030] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an enterprise
according to one embodiment of the present invention;
[0031] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating one of the
buildings in FIG. 1 and associated assemblies and other components
according to one aspect of the present invention;
[0032] FIG. 3a is a perspective view of an exemplary wireless
information device (WID) that may be used to facilitate some
inventive methods;
[0033] FIG. 3b is a schematic diagram illustrating various
components of the WID of FIG. 3a;
[0034] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an optimal engineer
database according to one aspect of the present invention;
[0035] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a diagnostics database according to
one aspect of the present invention;
[0036] FIG. 6 is a flow char illustrating a simple method according
to one aspect of the present invention;
[0037] FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 6, albeit illustrating a more
complex method according to the present invention;
[0038] FIG. 8 is another flow chart illustrating yet another method
according to the present invention;
[0039] FIG. 9 is a sub-process that may be substituted for a
portion of the process illustrated in FIG. 8;
[0040] FIG. 10 is a sub-process that, like FIG. 9, may be
substituted for the portion of the process illustrated in FIG.
8;
[0041] FIG. 11 is a flow chart of another method according to the
present invention;
[0042] FIG. 12 is a flow chart of another method according to the
present invention; and
[0043] FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating one additional
sub-process that may be substituted for a portion of the process
illustrated in FIG. 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0044] One or more specific embodiments of the present invention
will be described below. It should be appreciated that in the
development of any such actual implementation, as in any
engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific
decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals,
such as compliance with system-related and business related
constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another.
Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort
might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a
routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for
those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
[0045] Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numbers
correspond to similar elements throughout the several views and,
more specifically, referring to FIG. 1, the present invention will
be described in the context of an exemplary, albeit simplified, set
100 of related manufacturing facilities 102, 104, 106, 108, etc.
Hereinafter, unless indicated otherwise, set 100 will be referred
to as an enterprise 100. Each facility includes a number of
different buildings. For example, a first facility 102 includes six
separate buildings 114, 116, 118, 120, 122 and 124 that are
arranged on a campus that comprises facility 102. Although no
detail is shown for the other facilities 116-124, here it is
assumed that each of the other facilities includes at least one,
and in many cases, several separate buildings. In some cases it is
contemplated that one or more facilities may not include buildings,
but instead, may include outdoor space.
[0046] In the present example, the buildings in each facility
102-108 each include machines or mechanical and electrical
resources that are integrated together to form various automated
assemblies or machine lines for performing manufacturing processes.
To this end, referring to FIG. 2, a simplified schematic plan view
of exemplary building 114 is illustrated. Here it is assumed that
the plan views of each of the other buildings in FIG. 1 would be
similar to the view of building 114 in FIG. 2. In the interest of
simplifying this explanation only the plan view of the first
building 114 will be described in detail.
[0047] First building 114 includes a rectilinear facility floor
space or area 13 confined by four facility walls collectively
identified by numeral 12. In the exemplary building 114, entire
area 13 comprises a single room (i.e., there are no wall partitions
within building 114 and all of the building resides on a single
level). A doorway 16 is provided to allow access to area 13.
[0048] Exemplary building 114 include ten separate automated
assemblies identified by labels M1 through M10. The exemplary
automated assemblies M1 through M10 may include any type of
manufacturing assembly such as a mill, a drill, a transfer line, a
laser cutting device, a vision system, any of several different
types of robots, clamps, etc., or any combination of cooperating
components. The automated assemblies M1 through M10 are shown as
being different sizes to visually illustrate that the automated
assemblies may have different physical footprints. For example,
assembly M4 is illustrated as having a much larger physical
footprint than assembly M8. In general, automated assemblies M1-M10
are spaced out within area 13 although, in some cases, automated
assemblies may be positioned directly next to each other such as,
for instance, assemblies M7 and M8.
[0049] It is contemplated that each of automated assemblies M1-M10
includes at least one and, in many cases, a plurality of sensing
devices (not illustrated) that sense assembly operating
characteristics and provide signals that can be used to facilitate
assembly monitoring via an interface (i.e., a WID). For instance,
in the case of a drilling assembly, sensors may include limit
switches that are tripped when a drill slide reaches various
positions along a travel path, on/off switches, speed sensing
switches, motor operating characteristic sensors, etc. It is also
contemplated that most if not all of assemblies M1-M10 will include
a plurality of actuators for causing the assembly components to
perform assembly functions.
[0050] In addition to including sensing devices and actuators, it
is contemplated that most, if not all, of automated assemblies
M1-M10 will include some type of control interface to facilitate
control and control adjustment. For example, again, in the case of
a drilling assembly, drill slide stroke length may be altered,
drill speed may be altered, the angle at which a drill bit enters a
work piece may be altered, etc. In FIG. 2 human-machine interfaces
are referred to by labels I1 through I8 where HMIs are shown next
to assemblies that the HMIs are associated with. For instance, HMI
I1 is associated with assembly M1, HMI I2 is associated with
assembly M2, and so on.
[0051] In addition to the components described above, building 114
also includes a plurality of communication sensor or access points
11 (only two numbered), a local server/controller 105, at least one
wireless information device (WID) 30, a plurality (two illustrated)
of service stations 169 and 171 and a two-way data bus 35 (e.g.,
LAN, Ethernet, etc.) linked to controller 105 that form a
network.
[0052] Controller 105 may be positioned within building 114 or may
be located at some remote location such as, for instance, in a
separate building within first facility 102 or at a completely
different location such as a remote facility (e.g, 104) associated
with building 114 and within enterprise 100. In FIG. 2, controller
105 is typically linked to at least some components in each of
automated assemblies M1-M10 via two-way data bus 34 that allows
controller 105 to monitor assembly operating characteristics as
well as control assembly operation. For instance, in some cases
controller 105 may be linked via an Ethernet connection 34 to a
proximity sensor that is part of assembly M1 and to an actuator
that is part of assembly M3, and so on.
[0053] Controller 105 is a processor based workstation capable of
running various types of computer programs. For instance, some
programs are assembly control programs that enable controller 105
to either separately control each assembly M1-M10 or, safely and
precisely, sequence assembly operation thereby allowing relatively
complex manufacturing processes to be performed in an efficient
manner. In addition, other controller programs may allow controller
105 to derive various assembly operating characteristics from
monitored or sensed characteristics (e.g., motor voltage and
current data is useful to derive stator and rotor resistance
estimates, system inductances, identify harmonics, determine system
torques, etc.).
[0054] Moreover, controller 105 is programmed to run complex
diagnostic processes and algorithms to generate diagnostic data and
then to identify operating trends, alarm conditions, potentially
hazardous conditions, maintenance requirements, raw material
requirements and so on as a function of the diagnostic data.
Furthermore, controller 105 may also run programs that facilitate
data management and warehousing so that subsequent diagnostic
algorithms may be applied to warehoused data to identify historical
operating patterns for various purposes. When potentially hazardous
conditions occur, controller 105 may be programmed to cause the
automated assemblies M1-M10 to assume non-hazardous operating
conditions (e.g., a reduced set of operations or, in some cases, a
state in which all mechanical components are parked).
[0055] Controller 105 may also run programs designed to facilitate
interfacing with facility operators (e.g., maintenance personnel,
process engineers, etc.) thereby providing control capabilities and
system monitoring capabilities. To this end, controller 105 may
include its own input and output interfacing devices such as a
display screen, a keyboard, a pointing and selecting device such as
a mouse or trackball or any other types of interfacing devices
known in the art. In the present example it is assumed that a
separate controller 105 is located within each of the facility
buildings that is programmed to run building and assembly specific
diagnostic processes either routinely or periodically for
assemblies that are located within the specific building.
[0056] In the present example it is assumed that each of HMIs I1-I8
also facilitates interfacing with facility operators thereby
providing at least some level of control and system monitoring. To
this end, HMIs I1-I8 are linked to controller 105 via data bus 34
so that monitored information can be shared therebetween and so
that some level of proximate control can be accessed near at least
a sub-set of the assemblies. Thus, for instance, controller 105 may
monitor all operating characteristics of assembly M1 and may
publish data related thereto for access by HMI I1 so that interface
I1 needn't separately monitor the same information. Similarly,
controller 105 may perform some information analysis and publish
the results for use by interface I1. In addition, because HMIs
I1-I8 are linked to controller 105 and controller 105 controls
assemblies M1-M10, each HMI I1-I8 can also be used to control an
associated assembly vis bus 34 and controller 105. While at least
some HMIs may be linked directly to associated assemblies M1-M10
for monitoring and control purposes, hereinafter it will be assumed
that each HMI I1-I8 accesses data and facilitates control via
controller 105.
[0057] Two service stations 169 and 171 are spaced apart within
building 114 and are linked to controller 105 via data bus 34. Each
service station 169 and 171 typically includes at least a work
station of some type. Usually a facility employee will be stationed
at each station to monitor at least a sub-set of assembly
operations within building 114. Referring again to FIG. 1, in some
cases a single service station (not identified in FIG. 1) in one of
the facility buildings may be programmed to monitor resources in a
subset of the facility buildings 114 through 124. Here, the
employee at a station may monitor assembly operations to identify
any "interesting conditions" that may occur such as, for instance,
malfunctioning assemblies, unexpected operations, depleted raw
material levels, etc.
[0058] When an interesting condition is identified, it is
contemplated that facility 102 or enterprise 100 will have some
specific protocol designed for dealing with the condition. For
instance, in some cases the protocol may be for the monitoring
employee to notify a maintenance engineer that an interesting
condition has occurred. In other cases the protocol may require the
monitoring employee to initiate additional diagnostic procedures to
generate more information about the interesting condition. Other
protocols are contemplated.
[0059] Referring still to FIG. 2, each communication access point
11 includes a two-way wireless transceiver that, as well known in
the computer arts, is capable of transmitting and receiving
electromagnetic (e.g., radio or infrared) signals within an area
proximate the transceiver. Wireless transceivers like access points
11 are well known in the industry and therefore, in the interest of
simplifying this explanation, will not be described here in detail.
For the purposes of the present invention, it should suffice to say
that each transceiver 11 transmits information signals which
decrease in strength as distance from the transceiver increases. In
the illustrated example, six separate access points 11 are provided
within area 13 and are generally equi-spaced within area 13.
Typically, access points 11 will be mounted on the ceiling within
an area 13 to allow relatively unobstructed communication between
an access point 11 and other devices that communicate therewith.
While access points 11 are illustrated as being substantially
equi-spaced within area 13, it should be appreciated that other
access point arrangements are contemplated and that, in many cases,
other access point arrangements may be most suitable given specific
assembly layouts, the physical characteristics of each assembly and
assembly zone layouts (described below).
[0060] Controller 105 is linked to each access point 11 via two-way
data bus 34 that allows controller 105 to receive information from
the access points 11 and also allows controller 105 to provide
information to each of the access points 11 for transmission within
area 13 to WIDs or the like. Information transmitted from each
access point 11 to controller 105 is typically tagged by the access
point so that controller 105 can determine which access point 11
provided the received information. This tagging may either be
performed by the access point 11 earmarking data packets with an
access point identifier (e.g., an access point number) or, in the
alternative, may be facilitated by simply providing separate
hardwires from each of the access points 11 to the controller 105.
In a similar fashion, controller 105 and access points 11 are
configured such that controller 105 can address information to each
separate and specific access point 11.
[0061] Referring still to FIG. 2, according to at least one
embodiment of the present invention, sub-spaces within area 13 are
earmarked or identified as diagnostic zones or locations associated
with different sets of automated assemblies M1-M10 wherein, when a
WID 30 (i.e., a person carrying a WID) is within the zone, some
diagnostic process may be performed. The exemplary different zones
Z1 through Z3 in FIG. 2 are identified by hatched rectilinear
blocks. For instance, a space identified by label Z1 includes
approximately the upper one third of space 13 as illustrated in
FIG. 2, a space labeled Z2 including approximately the middle one
third of space 13 and a space Z3 including approximately the lower
one third of space 13. In some cases, each of the assemblies that
reside within a zone may be diagnostically associated therewith.
For instance, in FIG. 2 assemblies M1 M2, M3 may be associated with
zone Z1 while assemblies M7, M8, M9 and M10 are associated with
zone Z3.
[0062] Although not illustrated, in some cases, no diagnostic zones
may be specified for one or more of the facility automated
assemblies. Moreover, some zones that are associated with specific
automated assemblies may not be immediately adjacent the associated
automated assemblies but instead may be separated from the
associated automated assemblies. Some zones may include all or a
part of other zones and, in fact, in some cases, a zone may include
an entire building or facility (e.g., 102 in FIG. 1).
[0063] In the example that follows, it will be assumed that
assembly M1 is diagnostically associated with zone Z1, assembly M2
is diagnostically associated with entire building 114 (i.e., B1)
(see again FIG. 1) and that assembly M3 is diagnostically
associated with the entire first facility 102 (i.e., F1).
[0064] Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, bus 34 is linked to a
single communication network 112 (e.g., an Ethernet, a local area
network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), etc.) and thereby to a
remote diagnostic controller 110. As its label implies, diagnostic
controller 110 is programmed to manage all diagnostic processes
that occur within enterprise 100. To this end, controller 110 runs
one or several algorithms to determine when diagnostic processes
should be performed and, when a specific procedure should be
performed for a specific assembly, controller 110 transmits
commands to the local controller 105 associated with the specific
assembly thereby causing the local controller 105 to perform the
process.
[0065] In addition, in at least some embodiments of the invention,
diagnostic controller 110 is also programmed to manage maintenance
scheduling as a function of results of diagnostic processes. To
this end, once diagnostic data has been generated, either one of
the local controllers 105 or the diagnostic controller may analyze
the data to identify any interesting conditions. Where a local
controller identifies an interesting condition the local controller
publishes the condition via network 112 and diagnostic controller
110 receives the publication off the network 112. When an
interesting condition occurs, controller 110 is, in at least some
embodiments, programmed to identify an optimal engineer to address
the condition and then notifies the optimal engineer.
[0066] Referring still to FIG. 1, in at least some embodiments, a
plurality of access points 11 are also spaced apart throughout each
of the separate facilities 102, 104, etc. and are linked to network
112. Here, one of the controllers linked to network 112 may be
programmed to perform a WID locating process to track WID locations
within each of the facilities. For instance, in some cases, one of
the local controllers 105 may be responsible for tracking WID
locations outside the buildings and within the facilities 102
through 108. In other cases diagnostics controller 110 may be
programmed to track WID locations within enterprise 100 and outside
the buildings.
[0067] To manage diagnostic processes, controller 110 is linked to
a database 111 that, in at least some embodiments, includes four
sub-databases 170, 140, 350 and 360. Referring also to FIGS. 4 and
5, two of the sub-databases are a diagnostics database and an
optimal engineer database identified by numerals 170 and 140,
respectively. Diagnostics database 170 includes information that
specifies diagnostic processes that are to be performed for each of
the automated assemblies and specific sets of circumstances that
rigger when the diagnostic processes are to be performed. Herein,
in at least some cases, the triggering sets of circumstances
include some specific spatial relationship between a facility
employee and a specific automated assembly and therefore, the
circumstance sets are generally referred to as triggering
relationships. For instance, an exemplary triggering relationship
may specify that an associated diagnostic process for assembly M1
should be performed whenever a facility employee enters zone Z1
(see again FIG. 2) or that a process for assembly M2 should be
performed whenever a facility employee enters building B1. Many
other and more complex triggering relationships are contemplated, a
sampling of which are described in greater detail below.
[0068] Referring still to FIG. 5, diagnostics database 170 includes
an assembly column 172, a diagnostic processes column 174, a time
range column 176, a proximity requirement column 178 and a
qualifications column 180. Assembly column 172 lists each of the
assemblies or machines M1, M2, M3, etc. that reside within
enterprise 100.
[0069] For each assembly in column 172, diagnostics column 174
lists a set of diagnostic processes associated therewith. For
instance, for assembly M1, column 174 lists processes P12 and P14.
Here, each of processors P12 and P14 may be very simple or, in some
cases may be extremely complex. For instance, process P12 may
require an assembly to actually halt normal operations, perform
some sequence of mechanical machinations and/or measurements,
perform an algorithm on the measurements, analyze the algorithm
and, when an interesting condition occurs, report the interesting
condition in some fashion. As another instance, diagnostics may be
routinely performed by assembly M1 and, process P14 may simply
include reporting the results of the diagnostic process in some
fashion. Many other diagnostic processes are contemplated.
[0070] Referring still to FIG. 5, time range column 176 specifies a
time range that indicates specific time periods during which each
of the diagnostic processes in column 174 should be performed. In
column 176 a "t" indicates the beginning of a timing period and "d"
indicates days. The time range for processes P12 and P14 associated
with assembly M1 is between 10 and 14 days after the most recent
performance of those processes (i.e., 10d<t<14d). Thus, if
processes P12 and P14 were performed on May 1, processes P12 and
P14 next must be performed on any one of the days between May 11
and May 15 including May 11 and May 15. Similarly, the time range
for processes P9, P10 and P11 associated with assembly M2 is
between 27 and 33 days after the most recent performance of those
processes (i.e., 27d<t<33d).
[0071] Referring still to column 175, while a single time range is
specified for each sub-set of processes associated with each of the
assemblies in column 172, in at least some cases different time
ranges will be specified for each of the processes associated with
a specific assembly. For instance, a first time range may be
specified for process P12 in column 174 for assembly M1 while a
second and different time range may be specified for process P14 in
column 174 for assembly M1.
[0072] Proximity requirement column 178 indicates a relative
juxtaposition of an employee to the assembly in column 172 that
will trigger the processes in column 174 if the time range criteria
column 176 is met. Thus, for instance, referring also to FIG. 2,
when an employee is located within zone Z1 during the time range
(10d-t<14d--see also column 176 in FIG. 5), processes P12 and
P14 may be performed by or on assembly M1. Similarly, when an
employee is located within building B1 during the time range
(27t<t<33d--see column 176 in FIG. 5), processes P9, P10 and
P11 may be performed by or on assembly M2. In column 178, "F"
indicates a facility so, for instance, F1 indicates the first
facility 102 in FIG. 1.
[0073] Referring still to column 178, while a single proximity
requirement is specified for each sub-set of processes associated
with each of the assemblies in column 172, in at least some cases
different proximity requirements will be specified for each of the
processes associated with a specific assembly. For instance, a
first proximity requirement may be specified for process P12 in
column 174 for assembly M1 while a second and different proximity
requirement may be specified for process P14 in column 174 for
assembly M1.
[0074] Qualifications column 180 indicates a specific set of
qualifications that an employee must have in order for a triggering
relationship to occur. In this regard, it is recognized that not
all facility employees will be trained to address all interesting
conditions that occur within the facility set 100. Thus, in at
least some embodiments of the invention, diagnostic processes will
only be triggered when a qualified employee is juxtaposed within
the location specified by an associated proximity requirement in
column 178. In column 180 different sets of interesting conditions
that may occur for a specific assembly are identified by different
capital letters (e.g., A, B, C, etc.). Thus, for instance, for
assembly M1, the set of potential interesting conditions that may
occur is identified as set A. Similarly, for assembly M2, the set
of potential interesting conditions that may occur is identified as
set B. Here, set A may include a plurality (e.g., 10, 20 etc.) of
separate interesting conditions where one or a sub-set of the
interesting conditions may occur at any time. In some cases the
interesting conditions may be listed independently in database 170
and each may be separately considered when identifying an optimal
engineer.
[0075] While a simplified diagnostics database is illustrated in
FIG. 5, it should be appreciated that other types of diagnostic
databases are contemplated, some of which may be even simpler than
database 170 and some of which may be more complex. For example, in
at least some cases, it is contemplated that the only qualification
for triggering a diagnostic process may be that an employee meets
the proximity requirements (column 178) for a specific set of
processes. In this case, a simplified version of database 170 would
suffice that does not include the time range and qualifications 176
and 180, respectively. Similarly, in some cases it may be that an
additional triggering characteristic is that the employee that is
qualified and that meets the proximity requirements in column 178
within the time range specified by column 176 must be "available"
to address interesting conditions if they occur. Here, if the
employee meeting the other criteria in database 170 has a
completely booked schedule that cannot be altered, it may make no
sense to perform a diagnostic process since, even if an interesting
condition occurs, the employee would not be able to address the
condition. Here, an additional column may be added to database 170
that indicates whether or not availability to address conditions is
a factor in determining if processes should be performed.
[0076] Referring now to FIG. 4, optimal engineer database 140
includes information related to specific engineers that are
employed by enterprise 100 to address interesting conditions as
they occur within the enterprise 100. More specifically, a separate
sub-database is provided for each of the employed engineers, three
of the sub-databases identified by numerals 142, 144 and 146. Each
of the sub-databases is similar and therefore, unless indicated
otherwise, in the interest of simplifying this explanation, only
sub-database 142 is described here in detail.
[0077] Sub-database 142 includes two separate sections, a
qualifications section 154 and a schedule/location section 156.
Qualifications section 154, as the label implies, indicates one or
more qualification sets that the specific engineer has that are
related to addressing the results of diagnostic processes (e.g.,
P12, P14, etc.) and, in a fashion similar to that in column 180 of
database 170, distinguishes qualification sets by capital letters
A, B, etc. Here, as above, the capital letters indicate sets of
interesting conditions that the specific engineers have been
trained to address. Thus, for instance, the first engineer
associated with sub-database 142 is qualified to address each of
the interesting conditions in each of sets A and B. Referring also
to FIG. 5, because diagnostic processes P12 and P14 require an
engineer qualified to address the interesting condition set A, (see
column 180 in FIG. 5), the first engineer would be qualified to
address the results of processes P12 and P14. However, referring
still to FIG. 4, the second engineer associated with sub-database
144 is only qualified to address the interesting conditions in set
B and therefore would not be qualified to address the results of
processes P12 and P14.
[0078] Referring still to FIG. 4, as its label implies,
schedule/location database section 156 includes indicators related
to the engineer's weekly schedule. To this end, section 156
includes a table having a time slot column 158 and a series of day
columns 160, 162, etc. Time slot column 158 identifies the
different hours of a work day in separate rows. The exemplary
column 158 divides a typical work day by hours from 8 AM to 5 PM.
Each of the day columns is assigned to a different day of the work
week from Monday through Saturday where the Monday and Tuesday
columns are independently identified by numerals 160 and 162,
respectively.
[0079] Within each of the day columns information is inserted for
each of the time slots in column 158. The information in each of
the day columns is similar and therefore, unless indicated
otherwise, only information in column 160 is described here in
detail. Referring specifically to the entry in column 160 that is
aligned with the 5 PM time slot in column 158, the exemplary entry
includes two types of information. First, the entry includes an
indication 164 of whether or not the specific engineer is available
at the specific time on the specific day. Here, three separate
indicators are used to indicate different levels of availability. A
first indicator "F" indicates that the engineer is free or
unoccupied during the specific time slot. A second indicator "N"
indicates that the engineer is occupied during the time slot and
that the engineer's schedule cannot be altered because the tasks
assigned during that slot have to be completed during that specific
time. A third indicator "O" indicates that the engineer is occupied
during that time slot but that the engineer's schedule may be
altered during the specific slot because the tasks assigned to the
engineer during the specific slot are not time sensitive. In the 5
PM time slot for the Monday column 160 the indicator "O" 165
indicates that the first engineer is occupied but that the
engineer's schedule may be altered.
[0080] Referring still to FIG. 4, second, the entry in column 160
for the 5 PM time slot indicates the location at which the engineer
is scheduled to be during the specific time slot. In the example
the location 166 is indicated as L10 which would be a specific
location within enterprise 100. Where an engineer is free during a
time slot no location information is provided--here proximity to
the most recent location may be assumed in some cases.
[0081] As in the case of the diagnostics database 170, it is
contemplated that the optimal engineer database 140 may take many
other forms and may be either more complex or, in some cases, more
simple than the form illustrated and described above.
[0082] Referring now to FIGS. 3a and 3b, a first relatively simple
exemplary WID 30 is illustrated. Exemplary WID 30 includes,
generally, a plurality of components that are mounted within a
hardened plastic or metallic housing identified by numeral 32. WID
30 components include a processor 71, an input device (e.g,.
keyboard 36), a display screen 34, a speaker 51 for audio output, a
transceiver 38 and a memory 69. Processor 71 is linked to each of
the input device, display screen 34, speaker 51, transceiver 38 and
memory 69 for communication therewith. Processor 71 is equipped to
run various programs for both displaying information via screen 34
and for receiving control signals and communicating those control
signals to access points 11 (see again FIGS. 1 and 2) via
transceiver 38.
[0083] The input device may include any of several different types
of input components including a typical push-button keyboard 36,
separate selection buttons 40 and 42, a rocker-type selection
button 44, and/or selectable icons that may be provided via display
screen 34 such as, for instance, icons 45. It is contemplated that,
in at least one embodiment, a pointing cursor 46 may be movable
about screen 34 and placed over one of the selectable icons (e.g.,
45) after which a conventional type mouse clicking action may be
used to select one of the icons to cause some display or control
function to occur. In other embodiments display 34 may comprise a
touch screen where icons are selectable via a stylus or the tip of
an operations finger.
[0084] Display screen 34 may be any type of conventional display
screen suitable for a handheld device and, for example, may be
equipped to display numeric information, icons, graphs such as
graph 47, bar charts, or any other type of monitoring and control
information that may be associated with facility machines. Speaker
51 is a conventional small audio output speaker which may be used
for any purpose such as providing an audible indication when a WID
30 is removed from a zone, providing operating characteristics in
an audible manner, etc.
[0085] Transceiver 38 is mounted proximate the top end of housing
32. As in the case of the transceivers that comprise access points
11, transceiver 38 is capable of transmitting electromagnetic
signals and also receiving such signals so that information can be
provided to controller 105 or received from controller 105 via
access points 11.
[0086] Memory 69 stores the programs performed by processor 71 and
also, in at least some embodiments of the invention, stores a WID
identifier (e.g., a WID number, a WID user identification number,
etc.). It is contemplated that some WIDs 30 may only be configured
to provide access information and, in this case, the programs
stored in memory 69 may only be access type programs. Where a WID
30 is equipped with control capabilities, control programs are
stored in memory 69.
[0087] Hereinafter a number of different methods that are
consistent with various aspects of the present invention are
described. While all of the methods have some similar
characteristics, each is different and each generally has its own
level of complexity. In this regard, as indicated above, some of
the methods may employ all of the information in the diagnostic
database 170 and the optimal engineer database 140 and indeed may
employee additional information while other methods may only employ
a sub-set of the information in databases 140 and 170. Where only a
sub-set of the information in the databases is required, obviously,
simplified databases 140 and 170 may be employed and, where
additional information is required for one of the methods, a more
complex set of databases is required.
[0088] Here it should be recognized that, while some diagnostic
controllers 110 in certain systems may be programmed to perform
only one of the methods described hereinafter, in other systems,
the diagnostic controller 110 may be programmed to perform
different methods for different automated assemblies and under
differing circumstances. Thus, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, while
diagnostic controller 110 may perform a relatively simple procedure
to determine whether or not a diagnostic process should be
performed for assembly M1, controller 110 may perform a relatively
complex procedure to determine whether or not the diagnostic
processes associated with assembly M2 should be commenced and may
perform an even more complex process to determine if diagnostics
should be performed for assembly M7.
[0089] Generally, herein, it is contemplated that the processes
hereinafter may be performed in parallel for each of the assemblies
(e.g., M1, M2, etc.) within enterprise 100. To simplify this
explanation, unless indicated otherwise, the methods hereinafter
will be described in the context of assembly M1 and data in
diagnostics database 170 related thereto. Similarly, unless
indicated otherwise, the methods will be described in the context
of the first engineer associated with sub-database 142 illustrated
in FIG. 4.
[0090] Moreover, while many different ways for determining the
locations of engineers within enterprise 100 are contemplated, the
exemplary invention will be described in the context of a system
wherein each engineer is issued a handheld WID 30 (see again FIGS.
3a-3b) and where the WIDs 30 and access points 11 generate data
used by either the local controllers (e.g., 105 in FIG. 2) or by
diagnostics controller 110 in FIG. 1 to determine WID and hence
engineer location. Where controllers 105 determine WID locations
that information is published via network 34-112 and is obtained by
controller 110. Referring again to FIG. 2, in the present example,
it is contemplated that when a WID 30 is activated within an
enterprise building (e.g., 114) or, for that matter, within any of
the enterprise facilities 102-108, signals will be transmitted from
one of the WIDs 30 and at least a subset of the access points 11 to
the other of the WID 30 and the access point subset that are then
useable via any of several well known methods to determine the
location of the WID within the area in questions (e.g., the
facilities, the building, etc.). The location determining method
may be based on signal strength or time of flight triangulation or,
in some cases, a statistical analysis of received or generated
data.
[0091] Referring now to FIG. 6, one simplified method 182 that is
consistent with certain aspects of the present invention is
illustrated. Method 182 describes a process whereby diagnostics
controller 110 determines whether or not a simple triggering
relationship between any of the facility set engineers and a
specific automated assembly occurs and, when the triggering
relationship occurs, causes diagnostic processes for the specific
assembly to be performed. Thereafter, when the results of the
diagnostic process are consistent with any interesting condition,
the interesting condition is indicated in some fashion.
[0092] Referring still to FIG. 6 and to FIGS. 1 and 2, at block 184
diagnostic controller 110 determines the locations of all of the
engineers within enterprise 100. Referring also to FIG. 5, the
proximity requirement in column 178 for resource M1 in column 172
is that a WID be located within zone Z1. Therefore, at block 186,
controller 110 determines whether or not a WID 30 is within zone
Z1. Where no WIDs are within zone Z1, control passes back up to
block 184 where the process described above is repeated. Where at
least one WID is located within zone Z1, control passes to block
188 where controller 110 causes the diagnostic processes identified
in column 174 (e.g., P12 and P14) be performed. At block 190,
controller 110 analyzes the results of the diagnostic processes to
determine if an interesting condition has occurred. Where no
interesting conditions have occurred, control passes back up to
block 184. Where an interesting condition has occurred at block
190, control passes to block 192. At block 192, controller 110
indicates that an interesting condition has occurred. Here, blocks
190 and 192 may comprise part of the diagnostic processes. In some
cases blocks 190 and 192 and other sub-processes similar thereto
will be referred to as summary processes as they summarize the end
diagnostic results.
[0093] Indication of an interesting condition can take any of
several different forms including sending a message to one of the
service stations 169, 171 to indicate that an interesting condition
has occurred. Thereafter, a monitoring employee at the service
station may either choose to ignore the interesting condition or
dispatch one of the facility engineers to address the interesting
condition. Where an employee is to be dispatched to address the
interesting condition, in many cases, because of the proximity of
the employee whose WID was sensed within zone Z1, the employee
within zone Z1 should be dispatched. Dispatch may simply include
transmitting a message to the appropriate employee via the
employee's WID. In some cases, controller 110 may indicate an
interesting condition by automatically transmitting a message to
the employee within zone Z1 indicating that an interesting
condition has occurred and the specific location at which the
interesting condition has occurred along with additional
information that may be required by or useful to the dispatched
engineers.
[0094] Referring now to FIG. 7, a more complex method 196 is
illustrated where the triggering relationship includes several
requirements. Specifically, in FIG. 7, the diagnostic controller
110 (see again FIG. 1) triggers diagnostic processes only when an
engineer having specific qualifications required to address
diagnostic results is in a juxtaposition such that his position
meets the proximity requirements for a specific assembly and the
engineer meets the proximity requirements within the time range
specified in column 176 of database 170 (see again FIG. 5) for the
specific assembly. Thus, referring once again to FIG. 5 and, more
specifically to the row of information corresponding to assembly
M1, when an engineer having qualification set A is within zone Z1
within the time range of between ten and fourteen days since the
last time the diagnostic processes P12 and P14 were performed for
assembly M1, the triggering relationship exists and diagnostic
controller 110 causes diagnostic processes P12 and P14 to again to
be performed.
[0095] Referring still to FIG. 7 and also to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, at
block 198 diagnostic controller 110 tracks the time since
diagnostic processes P12 and P14 were last performed for assembly
M1 via a time counter. Thus, if diagnostic processes P12 and P14
were last performed for assembly M1 eleven days ago, the time
counter indicates a time of eleven days and some hours since the
most recent diagnostic process performance. At block 200,
diagnostic controller 110 compares the time tracked by the time
counter with the time range specified in column 176 for the
specific diagnostic processes. Where the time counter duration is
not within the specified time range, control passes back up to
block 198 and the process continues to loop. At block 200, when the
time counter duration is within the time range specified in column
176, control passes to block 202. At block 202, diagnostic
controller 110 determines the locations and identifies of the
engineers within enterprise 100. At block 204, controller 110
access the proximity requirement information in column 178
corresponding to assembly M1. In the present example, the proximity
requirement requires that a WID be located within zone Z1. Where no
WID is located within zone Z1, control passes back up to block 198.
Where at least one WID is located within zone Z1, control passes to
block 206.
[0096] At block 206, controller 110 accesses column 180 in database
170 and determines the qualifications required of an engineer to
address the diagnostic results associated with processes P12 and
P14 in column 174. Next, at block 206, controller 110 access
optimal engineer database 140 and, more specifically, the
sub-database of database 140 that corresponds to the engineer whose
WID is currently located within zone Z1. Here it will be assumed
that the first engineer corresponding to sub-database 142 is the
engineer whose WID is located in zone Z1 and therefore, controller
110 accesses sub-database 142. More specifically, controller 110
accesses the qualifications section 154 of sub-database 142 and, at
block 206, compares the qualifications in section 154 with the
qualifications in column 180. Where the qualifications in section
154 are different than the qualifications in column 180, control
passes back up to block 198 where the process described above is
repeated. However, at block 206, where the qualifications in
section 154 are identical to the qualifications in column 180,
control passes to block 208. In the present example, the
qualifications in column 180 corresponding to assembly M1 include
set A and at least one of the sets of qualifications in section 154
for the first engineer also includes set A and therefore, control
passes to block 208.
[0097] At block 208, controller 110 accesses the schedule/location
section 156 of sub-database 142 for the first engineer to determine
whether or not the first engineer is available to address any
interesting conditions that may result from performance of
diagnostic processes P12 and P14 at the current time. Here, for
example, if the current time is 8:00 a.m., as illustrated in column
160 of section 156, the first engineer is not available (i.e., an
"N" is in column 160). Where the first engineer is not available to
address possible interesting conditions, control again passes back
up to block 198. However, referring again to column 160 in FIG. 4,
if the time is 3:00 P.M. and therefore the first engineer is free
to address possible interesting conditions (i.e., an "F" is in
column 160), control passes from block 208 to block 210 where
controller 110 causes diagnostic processes P12 and P14 to be
performed.
[0098] After block 210, control passes to block 212 where
controller 110 determines whether or not any interesting conditions
have occurred. Where no interesting conditions have occurred,
control passes to block 216 where the diagnostic process time
counter is reset to zero after which control passes back up to
block 198 and the process above is repeated. Referring once again
to block 212, where an interesting condition does occur, control
passes to block 214 where the interesting condition is again
indicated after which control passes to block 216.
[0099] Once again, indication of the interesting condition can take
any of several different forms including transmitting an indication
of the interesting condition to the first engineer via the
engineer's WID, transmission of some type of indication to a
service station or the like, etc.
[0100] Here, it should be appreciated that, in at least some
embodiments, where no interesting condition occurs, the entire
process described above will be done behind the scenes and the
first engineer will have no indication that the process every
occurred. However, where an interesting condition does occur and
the first engineer is qualified to address the condition and has
the time to address the condition, the engineer will be notified of
the condition and will be able to address the condition. In some
cases, even when no interesting condition occurs, some type of
notice may be provided to a proximate and "triggering" engineer via
the engineer's WID thereby affirmatively confirming for the
engineer that the diagnostic process triggering method is operating
properly.
[0101] Referring once again to FIG. 5, it is contemplated that, in
some cases, the triggering relationship specified by database 170
may not occur within the time range specified in column 176. In
this case, where the diagnostic processes in column 174 have to be
performed periodically and, at least once within the longest
duration specified by the time range, in at least some cases, if
the longest duration specified by the time range occurs prior to
the triggering relationship occurring, diagnostic controller 110
will automatically cause the diagnostic processes in column 174 to
be performed. Thus, for instance, referring once again to the row
of information correspond to assembly M1 in column 172, if the
triggering relationship specified by columns 176, 178 and 180 does
not occur prior to fourteen days since the last time diagnostic
processes P12 and P14 were performed, controller 110 automatically
performs processes P12 and P14. In this case, if at least one
interesting condition is identified after processes P12 and P14
have been performed, controller 110 may perform some type of
indicating process.
[0102] Referring now to FIG. 8, a method 230 consistent with the
comments above and that may run either separately or in parallel
with one of the methods described above is illustrated. Method 230,
is a method for, when a diagnostic process is performed and at
least one interesting condition is identified, providing
notification to an optimal enterprise engineer so that the
interesting condition can be optimally addressed. To this end,
referring also to FIGS. 1 and 2, at process block 232, controller
110 tracks the time since the last diagnostic process was
performed, again using the time counter described above. At block
234, controller 110 determines whether or not the time limit
specified by the time range in column 176 has occurred. Prior to
the time limit occurring, control passes back up to block 232.
After the time limit is reached, control passes to block 236. In
the present example, with respect to assembly M1, the maximum limit
of the time range specified in column 176 in fourteen days.
Therefore, after fourteen days since the most recent performance of
diagnostic processes P12 and P14, control passes to block 236. At
block 236, controller 110 performs the diagnostic processes P12 and
P14. At block 238, controller 110 determines whether or not any
interesting conditions have been identified in the diagnostic
processes results. Where no interesting conditions have occurred,
control passes to block 246 where the time counter is reset to zero
and restarted.
[0103] Referring once again to block 238, where an interesting
condition does occur, control passes to block 240 where controller
110 identifies the optimal engineer to address the interesting
condition. At block 242, controller 110 notifies the optimal
engineer that the interesting condition has occurred after which
control passes to block 246 and the time counter is again set to
zero and restarted. After block 246, control passes again to block
232 where the time counter duration is again monitored.
[0104] Many different sub-processes for identifying the optimal
engineer to address identified interesting conditions are
contemplated, some of which are very complex and others of which
are relatively simple. Referring now to FIG. 9, one exemplary
sub-process that may be used to replace process block 240 in FIG. 8
is illustrated. Referring also to FIG. 8, after an interesting
condition occurs at block 238, according to the sub-process of FIG.
9, control passes to block 250 where controller 110 identifies the
qualification requirement set corresponding to the expired time
range in column 176. In the present example, qualification set A
corresponds to the expired time range associated with assembly M1.
After block 250, control passes to block 252.
[0105] At block 252 controller 110 identifies the next closest
engineer as a current engineer. In this case, for example,
referring again to FIG. 2, where only two engineers using WIDs are
located within space 13 and the first engineer is proximate
assembly M4 (see WID 30 in FIG. 2) while the second engineer is
proximate assembly M10 (see WID 30' in FIG. 2), controller 110
identifies the first engineer as the current engineer because the
first engineer is the closest engineer to assembly M1. Continuing,
at block 254, controller 110 determines whether or not the current
engineer is qualified. In this regard, controller 110 accesses the
sub-database corresponding to the current engineer and specifically
the qualifications section of that sub-database and compares the
qualifications of the current engineer to the qualifications from
column 180. Where the current engineer is not qualified to address
the interesting conditions for the specific assembly, control
passes back up to block 252 and controller 110 identifies the next
closest engineer as the current engineer. In the example above,
where the first engineer is proximate assembly M4 and a second
engineer is proximate assembly M10 in FIG. 2, if the first engineer
is not qualified at block 254, the next time through block 252
controller 110 selects the second engineer proximate assembly M10
(i.e., the engineer associated with WID 30) as the current engineer
and control loops back down to block 254. In the present example it
will be assumed that the first engineer is qualified as consistent
with the example above and therefore control passes to block
256.
[0106] Referring still to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9, at block 256,
controller 110 determines whether or not the current engineer is
available to address the interesting condition by accessing the
optimal engineer database 140 and, more specifically
schedule/location section 156 thereof. Where the current engineer
is not available, control again loops back up to block 252 where
controller 110 again identifies the next closest engineer as the
current engineer and the process described above is repeated.
Eventually, at block 256, one of the engineers will be identified
as current and available and at that point, control will drop back
to block 258.
[0107] At block 258, the current engineer is set equal to the
optimal engineer. After block 258 control passes back to block 242
in FIG. 8 where the optimal engineer is notified of the interesting
condition so that the engineer can address the condition.
[0108] In some cases, an interesting condition may not be urgent
and, in these cases, it may be preferably to wait until an
available qualified engineer is scheduled to be within the general
location in which the interesting condition occurs so that existing
schedules for engineers do not have to be altered more than
necessary. To this end, FIG. 10 illustrates a sub-process 240 that
may be used to replace a portion of the process of FIG. 8 described
above wherein, when an interesting condition occurs, when the
interesting condition is urgent, the closest qualified and
available engineer is notified of the condition and, when an
interesting condition is not urgent, the next qualified engineer
that is available and that will next meet the proximity requirement
is notified via an amendment to the engineer's schedule to add an
interesting condition thereto to be addressed.
[0109] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 10, after an
interesting condition has been identified at block 238 in FIG. 8
control passes to block 260 in FIG. 10. At block 260, controller
110 accesses database 170 (see again FIG. 5) and identifies the
qualification set of an engineer that is qualified to address the
interesting conditions as specified in column 180. After block 160,
control passes to block 262 where controller 100 determine whether
or not the interesting condition is urgent. Here, although not
illustrated above, diagnostic database 170 may include another
column that indicates specific instances of interesting conditions
and whether or not those conditions are deemed to be urgent or not
urgent. In this case, controller 110 uses the information in the
additional column to determine whether or not a condition is
urgent. Where a condition is urgent at decision block 262, control
passes to block 268. Blocks 268, 270, 272 and 274 in FIG. 10 are
identical to blocks 252, 254, 256, 258 in FIG. 9 and therefore, in
the interest of simplifying this explanation, will not be described
here in detail. Here it should suffice to say that the loop
including blocks 268, 270, 272 and 274 yields an optimal engineer
to be notified of an interesting condition when the interesting
condition is urgent. After block 274 control passes back to block
242 in FIG. 8 where the optimal engineer is notified as described
above.
[0110] Referring still to FIG. 10, and, once again to block 262,
when an interesting condition that was previously identified is not
considered urgent, control passes to block 264. At block 264
controller 110 identifies the next qualified and available engineer
that will meet the proximity requirement as the optimal engineer.
To this end, at block 264 controller 110 accesses database 140 (see
again FIG. 4) and searches the location information in the day
columns for each of the engineers that is qualified to address the
interesting condition that occurred. Once a location in an existing
schedule that is proximate that assembly at which the interesting
condition occurred is identified, controller 110 amends the optimal
engineer's schedule to add the interesting condition at block 266.
For example, referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, where an interesting
condition corresponding assembly M1 occurs at 1:00 P.M. on Monday
afternoon and location L9 is proximate assembly M1, controller 110
may amend the schedule associated with the first engineer to add
the interesting condition to the engineer's schedule for the 3:00
P.M. time slot (see column 160 wherein the "F" indicator in the
3:00 P.M. time slot indicates that the first engineer is free at
that time). After block 266, in the illustrated method, control
passes back to block 242 in FIG. 8 where the optimal engineer is
notified that his schedule has been amended. This notification may
indicate the time and date affected as well as the nature of the
interesting condition, the assembly associated with the interesting
condition, the location of the interesting condition, and so
on.
[0111] Referring once again to FIG. 1, according to an additional
aspect of the present invention, diagnostic controller 110 may be
programmed to analyze patterns of diagnostic problems or
interesting conditions that occur and, based on those patterns, to
indicate when specific potentially problematic patterns are
identified. For example, in FIG. 1 where a large number of
interesting conditions occur in a small area with facility 102 such
as, for example, in the first and second buildings 114 and 116, it
may be that some environmental problem is causing the interesting
conditions to occur. Hence, one potentially problematic pattern may
be when more than twenty interesting conditions occur within a
specific time frame within a specific sub-section of any of the
facilities 102, 104, 106 or 108. Another interesting condition
pattern that may be problematic may be when a certain percentage of
total interesting conditions that occur within a specific facility
(e.g., 102 in FIG. 1) occur within a small area of the facility.
For instance, when 40% of all interesting conditions that occur
within a single week occur within building number 4, that pattern
may be a sign that something is wrong in building number 4.
[0112] While problematic patterns are described above in the
context of a facility-wide system, it should be appreciated that
similar problematic or potentially problematic patterns may be
specified for sub-spaces within each or any one or a sub-set of the
buildings within a facility. For example, referring also to FIG. 2,
within building 114, one problematic pattern to be monitored by a
diagnostic controller 110 may be whenever ten or more interesting
conditions occur within 30 feet of any location within space 13.
Many other problematic interesting condition patterns are
contemplated by the present invention.
[0113] Referring now to FIG. 11, one method 300 for identifying
problematic interesting condition patterns is illustrated.
Referring also to FIGS. 1 and 2, at block 302, problematic patterns
are defined that correspond to separate buildings (e.g., 114),
facilities and, in some cases within the entire enterprise. The
problematic patterns may be stored in database 350 as illustrated
in FIG. 1. After block 302, control passes to block 304 where,
during normal system operation, diagnostic controller 110 monitors
for interesting conditions in any of the manners described above.
At block 306, where no interesting condition occurs, control loops
back up to block 304 where monitoring continues. At block 306 when
an interesting condition occurs, control passes down to block 308
where the interesting condition that has recently occurred is added
to an interesting condition map which may also be stored in
database 111 (although not illustrated in FIG. 1). After block 308,
at block 310, controller 110 compare the interesting condition map
or, sections thereof, to the defined problematic patterns (i.e.,
the patterns that were defined at block 302). Where the interesting
condition map or sections thereof do not match one of the defined
patterns, control again loops back up to block 304 where the
process as described above is repeated. At block 310, however, when
the map or section thereof does match one of the defined patterns,
control passes to block 312 where the defined pattern that has
occurred is indicated in some manner. Here as in many of the
methods as described above, indication of the occurrence of a
defined pattern may include transmitting some type of a warning to
a service station or, in some cases, to a qualified and available
engineer within the general vicinity in which the pattern has
occurred.
[0114] According to yet one other aspect of the present invention,
in some cases it is contemplated that one or more of the assemblies
within one of the buildings that comprise a facility may be mobile.
For example, referring once again to FIG. 2, it may be that
assembly M10 is mobile and therefore may be movable within building
114 or, through doorway 16 out of building 114 and to any other
location within the first facility 102 (see again FIG. 1). In this
case, while assembly M10 may have various diagnostic procedures
associated therewith, the association between assembly M10 and the
service stations (i.e., 169 and 171 in FIG. 2) will be altered such
that the optimal service station for receiving indications of
interesting conditions with respect to assembly M10 may be altered.
To this end, the present invention contemplates at least one method
whereby, when assembly M10 is moved within a facility or, in deed
within an entire enterprise 100, association between assembly M10
and the service stations may be altered to ensure optimal
association under all circumstances. To this end, one method 320
for modifying assembly/service station association as a function of
location is illustrated in FIG. 12.
[0115] Referring to FIG. 12 and also again to FIGS. 1 and 2, at
block 322 a rule set for selecting service stations that at least
in part is based upon juxtaposition of mobile assemblies is
specified. The rule set 360 may be stored in database 111 as
illustrated in FIG. 1. At block 324, after an assembly M10 has been
moved to a location at which assembly M10 will operate, controller
110 determines the location of the assembly. Next, at block 326,
controller 110 applies the rule set to identify which station
assembly M10 should be associated with for diagnostic purposes.
Referring specifically to FIG. 2, where the rule set indicates that
mobile assemblies should be associated with the closest service
stations within the building in which the mobile assemblies are
located, with assembly M10 located as illustrated, the service
station selected is the second service station 171. Continuing, at
block 328, controller 110 forms an association or, where assembly
M10 has already been associated previously with another service
station, a reassociation of assembly M10 with the optimal service
station based on the current location of assembly M10. Thereafter,
whenever a diagnostically interesting condition occurs at assembly
M10, notice thereof is sent to second station 171.
[0116] While the invention may be susceptible to various
modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been
shown by way of example in the drawings and have been described in
detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention
is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed.
For example, while a WID and access points 11 are used to determine
location of engineers in the exemplary system described above, it
should be appreciated that other location determining systems are
contemplated. For instance, when an engineer enters a facility 102
or a specific building (e.g., 114) within a facility, the engineer
may be required to use a card key to gain access. Thus, general
location may be determinable via most recent key access. Similarly,
when an engineer addresses an interesting condition or otherwise
interfaces with an assembly, the engineer may have to log onto one
of the HMIs (e.g., I1-I8) and therefore HMI location may be used to
determine engineer location.
[0117] In addition, in some cases a diagnostic process may require
excessive time to perform such as, for instance, an entire hour. In
these cases controller 100 may be programmed to analyze schedules
of qualified engineers in advance to determine when an engineer
will be within the general vicinity of an assembly within a
specified time range and will have at least some time to address
possible interesting conditions. If a time and engineer are
identified, controller 110 may start the diagnostic process in
advance (e.g., 1.5 hours) of the time when the engineer will be
proximate and available so that any interesting conditions that
occur can be addressed in a manner consistent with the engineer's
schedule. Here, another factor in determining if the process should
be started in advance may be a determination in advance that the
engineer is on schedule. For instance, in the example above where a
diagnostic process requires an hour, controller 110 may determine
that an engineer that is identified to address possible interesting
conditions at a first assembly is located at a location consistent
with the engineers schedule one hour prior to the time at which the
engineer is free to address first assembly conditions. Here, in at
least some cases controller 110 may not commence the diagnostics
processes for the first assembly if the engineer is off
schedule.
[0118] In addition, another factor when determining whether or not
diagnostic processes should commence may be current status of an
assembly. For instance, where a diagnostic process requires that a
machine's normal operating schedule be interrupted, it may not be
optimal to alter normal operations due to resulting downtime. Here,
the pre-scheduling concepts described above are particularly
important.
[0119] Furthermore, it is contemplated that any facility engineer
may desire to receive specific interesting condition notices
associated with specific assemblies independent of whether or not
the engineer is the optimal engineer at a subsequent time. For
instance, if one engineer has dealt with a specific interesting
condition often in the past it may be suitable for that engineer to
address the condition when it occurs again or at least be consulted
regarding the next occurrence. Here, to support this concept, an
exceptions field (e.g., one labeled 370 in FIG. 4) may be provided
in each of the engineer sub-databases (e.g., 142 in FIG. 4) that
stores data indicating exceptions selected via the specific
engineer. In FIG. 4 exemplary exceptions are indicated via assembly
indicators although more specific and separate interesting
condition indicators are contemplated.
[0120] In addition, while the examples above assume generally that
diagnostic processes are commenced after triggering relationships
occur or after a time period has expired, it is also contemplated
that diagnostic processes and data gathering may be continual and
that triggering relationships simply kick off summary processes or
the final steps in the diagnostic processes. For instance, in some
cases a triggering relationship may simply call for transmission of
summary diagnostic results or current results. In other cases a
triggering relationship may commence performance of an algorithm on
historically collected and archived data to identify interesting
conditions and then notice thereof.
[0121] Moreover, while specific orders of process steps are
described above, it should be understood that in many cases the
order of steps may be altered. For example, in FIG. 7, the order of
decision blocks 206 and 208 may be switched. Other step orders are
contemplated.
[0122] Furthermore, in some cases it may be that when an
interesting condition occurs and notice is provided to a specific
optimal engineer, affirmative acceptance of the task addressing the
condition has to be indicated by the engineer within a given accept
period or else a next most optimal engineer will be identified and
given notice. To this end, a sub-process 378 that may be
substituted for blocks 238 through 246 in FIG. 8 is illustrated in
FIG. 13.
[0123] Referring also to FIGS. 1, 2 and 8, after a diagnostic
process has been performed at block 236, control passes to block
380 in FIG. 13. At block 380, controller 110 determines whether or
not an interesting condition has been identified. Where no
interesting condition has been identified, control passes to block
392 where the diagnostic timer is reset and, also, a second timer,
referred to herein as an acceptance timer, is also reset. The
acceptance timer, as described hereinafter, is a timer that tracks
the time since an optimal engineer has been notified of the
occurrence of an interesting condition.
[0124] Referring again to block 380, where an interesting condition
has been identified, control passes to block 382. At block 382,
controller 110 identifies the next optimal engineer based on
whatever criteria have been specified for making that
identification. At block 384 the optimal engineer is notified of
the interesting condition and, as part of the notification, a query
is provided to the optimal engineer requesting that the optimal
engineer affirmatively accept responsibility for addressing the
condition. Here, the task request may comprise presentation of a
request to the engineer via the engineer's WID 30 along with
selectable accept and reject icons provided on display 34.
[0125] Continuing, at block 386 the acceptance timer is turned on.
At block 388, controller 110 determines whether or not an
indication has been received from the optimal engineer that the
optimal engineer has accepted the task. Where the task is accepted,
control passes to block 392 where, again, the diagnostic and
acceptance timers are both reset. At block 388, where the task has
not been accepted, control passes to block 390. At block 390,
controller 110 determines whether or not the accept period has
expired. Where the accept period has not expired, control passes
back up to block 388 where the loop described above is repeated.
Where the accept period has expired at block 390, control loops
back up to block 382 where a next optimal engineer is identified
and the process above continues. Once the diagnostic and acceptance
timers have been reset at block 392, control passes back to block
232 in FIG. 8.
[0126] In the claims that follow the term "operation" is sometimes
used to refer to an enterprise process where one type of enterprise
process may be an operating assembly. Other enterprise processes
may include monitoring of process temperatures, pressures, volumes
and so on. Thus, the term "operation is used to express a broader
concept than a simple mechanical and/or electronic assembly.
[0127] Thus, the invention is to cover all modifications,
equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope
of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.
[0128] To apprise the public of the scope of this invention, the
following claims are made:
* * * * *