CN-120457403-B - Automated system including equipment inspection carriage

Abstract

An equipment inspection device comprising an equipment inspection carriage (44), the equipment inspection carriage (44) running on a track (42) into at least an automation equipment environment (31) of a first piece of automation equipment (20), the carriage (44) comprising an image capturing device (46), a sound registering means (48) and a carriage control unit (52), the carriage control unit (52) being operable to control the sound registering means (48) to register sound emitted in the automation equipment environment (31), the sound comprising sound registered at a first track position (P1) of the carriage (44), to receive sound from the sound registering means (48), the sound comprising sound emitted from a point of interest (POI) on the first piece of automation equipment (20), to determine a direction from the image capturing device (46) to the point of interest (POI) based on the received sound, and to adjust the track position of the carriage (44) and/or the orientation of the image capturing device (46) based on the determined direction.

Inventors

• John Pretlov
• Orjan Tvet
• Taco Lotsma
• Simon John HAMILTON
• Herning Kelly Neichem
• Sven Monrad

Assignees

• ABB瑞士股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20231228

Priority Date

20230102

Claims (15)

1. 1. An equipment inspection device for inspecting a first piece of automated equipment (20), the equipment inspection device comprising an equipment inspection carriage (44) adapted to run on a track (42), the track (42) entering at least a first area of an automation system (10) comprising the first piece of automated equipment (20), the first area being an automated equipment environment (31) for the first piece of automated equipment (20), the equipment inspection carriage (44) comprising an image capturing apparatus (46) and a sound registering device (48), the equipment inspection device further comprising a carriage control unit (52), the carriage control unit (52) being operable to Controlling the sound registering means (48) to register sounds emitted in the automation equipment environment (31), which sounds are one Diagnostic Data (DD) of the first piece of automation equipment (20) and comprise sounds registered at a first track position (P1) of the equipment inspection carriage (44), Receiving the sound from the sound registering device (48), the sound comprising sound emanating from a point of interest (POI) on the first piece of automated equipment (20), Determining a direction from the image capturing device (46) to the point of interest (POI) on the first piece of automated equipment (20) based on the received sound, and -Adjusting the rail position of the equipment inspection carriage (44) and/or the orientation of the image capturing device (46) based on the determined direction.
2. 2. The equipment inspection device of claim 1, wherein the carriage control unit (52) is further operable to determine a distance from the image capturing apparatus (46) to the point of interest (POI) based on the received sound, and the adjusting is further based on the determined distance.
3. 3. The equipment inspection device according to claim 2, wherein the sound registration device (48) is movable between two different device positions, and the distance is determined based on the sounds registered at the two device positions.
4. 4. The equipment inspection device of any one of the preceding claims, the carriage control unit (52) being further operable to control the image capturing apparatus (46) to capture an image of the first piece of automated equipment (20) and to receive the image from the image capturing apparatus (46), the Diagnostic Data (DD) of the first piece of automated equipment (20) further comprising the received image.
5. 5. A rig inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rig inspection carriage (44) further comprises a sensor device (50), the sensor device (50) being operable to sense a physical characteristic of the automation device environment (31), and the carriage control unit (52) being further operable to receive the sensed physical characteristic of the automation device environment (31), the Diagnostic Data (DD) of the first piece of automation equipment (20) further comprising the sensed physical characteristic of the automation device environment (31).
6. 6. An automation system (10) comprising an automation equipment (20,22,24,26,28,30), an alarm handling device and an equipment inspection apparatus according to any preceding claim, the automation equipment (20,22,24,26,28,30) comprising the first piece of automation equipment (20) in the first region of the automation system (10).
7. 7. The automation system (10) of claim 6, wherein the alarm processing device is operable to control the movement of the equipment inspection carriage (44) on the rail (42) to the first rail position (P1) in the automation equipment environment (31).
8. 8. The automated system (10) of claim 7 wherein the alarm processing apparatus is operable to obtain an alarm regarding the first piece of automated equipment (20) and control movement of the equipment inspection carriage (44) to the first track position (P1) is based on the alarm.
9. 9. The automated system (10) of any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the alarm processing device is operable to collect the Diagnostic Data (DD) from the equipment inspection carriage (44), determine an activity based on the Diagnostic Data (DD), and perform the activity in the automated system (10).
10. 10. A method of controlling an equipment inspection carriage (44) in an automation system (10), the automation system (10) comprising an automation equipment (20,22,24,26,28,30), the automation equipment (20,22,24,26,28,30) comprising a first piece of automation equipment (20) in a first area of the automation system (10), the first area being an automation equipment environment (31) for the first piece of automation equipment (20), and the equipment inspection carriage (44) comprising an image capture device (46) and a sound registration apparatus (48), the method comprising: Controlling the sound registering means (48) to register sounds emitted in the automation equipment environment (31), which sounds are one Diagnostic Data (DD) of the first piece of automation equipment (20) and comprise sounds registered at a first track position (P1) of the equipment inspection carriage (44), Receiving the sound from the sound registering device (48), the sound comprising sound emanating from a point of interest (POI) on the first piece of automated equipment (20), Determining a direction from the image capturing device (46) to the point of interest (POI) on the first piece of automated equipment (20) based on the received sound, and -Adjusting the rail position of the equipment inspection carriage (44) and/or the orientation of the image capturing device (46) based on the determined direction.
11. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising controlling the image capture device (46) to capture an image of the first piece of automated equipment (20), and receiving the image from the image capture device (46), the Diagnostic Data (DD) of the first piece of automated equipment (20) further comprising the received image.
12. 12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the equipment inspection carriage (44) further comprises a sensor device (50), the sensor device (50) being operable to sense a physical characteristic of the automation device environment (31), and the method further comprises receiving the sensed physical characteristic of the automation device environment (31), the Diagnostic Data (DD) of the first piece of automation equipment (20) further comprising the sensed physical characteristic of the automation device environment (31).
13. 13. The method according to claim 10 or 11, further comprising controlling the movement of the equipment inspection carriage (44) on the track (42) to the first track position (P1) in the automation equipment environment (31).
14. 14. The method of claim 10 or 11, further comprising obtaining an alert regarding the first piece of automated equipment (20), and wherein controlling movement of the equipment inspection carriage (44) to the first track position (P1) is based on the alert.
15. 15. The method of claim 10 or 11, further comprising collecting the Diagnostic Data (DD) from the equipment inspection carriage (44), determining an activity based on the Diagnostic Data (DD), and performing the activity in the automation system (10).

Description

Automated system including equipment inspection carriage Technical Field The present disclosure relates to equipment inspection devices, automated systems, and methods of controlling equipment inspection carriages in an automated system. Background In an automation system, such as in some process control systems, there may be areas with remotely located and/or automation equipment where the environment is not suitable for humans. The environment may be hazardous or dangerous, for example. In addition, these areas may need to be inspected for various reasons, such as alarms or warnings due to faults detected on the automation equipment. Thus, there is a need to allow for inspection of automated equipment in such areas. When a warning or alarm condition occurs in a remote area, personnel are traditionally sent to observe and evaluate the area and condition. For manned areas, this is possible, although there may be areas with limited access and thus making it somewhat difficult. For an unmanned area, this is often not possible and there may be considerable intervals before people are sent out to the area, such as in a subsequent scheduled maintenance cycle. In either case, such observations can be time consuming, ineffective, and expensive. A portion of an automated system may be inspected without dispatching a person. One example of this is disclosed in KR 10-2019-0046129, where an on-orbit camera mobile device is used to perform inspection of automated equipment in a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for image interpretation in a Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) in a gas insulated switchgear room. However, it may additionally be difficult to locate points of interest of the automated equipment that needs to be inspected, and thus also to capture images of the points of interest. This may make it difficult to determine the cause or severity of the fault. Thus, there is a need for improved inspection of automated equipment using a movable inspection device. Disclosure of Invention It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an inspection of the automation device environment of an automation system, which can be carried out in an easier manner. According to a first aspect, this is achieved by an equipment inspection device for inspecting a first piece of automated equipment, the equipment inspection device comprising an equipment inspection carriage adapted to run on a rail, the rail at least entering a first area of an automation system comprising the first piece of automated equipment, the first area being an automation equipment environment for the first piece of automated equipment, the equipment inspection carriage comprising an image capturing apparatus and a sound registering device, the equipment inspection device further comprising a carriage control unit operable to Controlling sound registration means to register sounds emitted in an environment of the automated equipment, which are diagnostic data of a first piece of automated equipment and include sounds registered at a first track position of an equipment inspection carriage, Receiving sounds from a sound registering device, the sounds including sounds emanating from points of interest on a first piece of automated equipment, Determining a direction from the image capturing device to a point of interest on the first piece of automated equipment based on the received sound, and The rail position of the equipment inspection carriage and/or the orientation of the image capturing device are adjusted based on the determined direction. According to a second aspect, the object is achieved by a method of controlling an equipment inspection carriage in an automation system, the automation system comprising an automation equipment, the automation equipment comprising a first piece of automation equipment in a first area of the automation system, the first area being an automation equipment environment for the first piece of automation equipment, and the equipment inspection carriage comprising an image capturing device and a sound registering apparatus, the method comprising: Controlling sound registration means to register sounds emitted in an environment of the automated equipment, which are diagnostic data of a first piece of automated equipment and include sounds registered at a first track position of an equipment inspection carriage, Receiving the sounds from the sound registering device, the sounds including sounds emanating from points of interest on the first piece of automated equipment, Determining a direction from the image capturing device to a point of interest on the first piece of automated equipment based on the received sound, and The rail position of the equipment inspection carriage and/or the orientation of the image capturing device are adjusted based on the determined direction. According to a first variant of the first aspect, the carriage control unit is further operable to determine a distance from the