Industrial simulation using redirected I/O module configurations

A method, comprising:

• retrieving, by a system comprising a processor, I/O module configuration information from a virtualized controller instantiated in the cloud platform, wherein the virtualized controller executes a control program, and the I/O module configuration information defines one or more clone I/O points of the virtualized controller;
• identifying, by the system, an I/O module corresponding to the I/O module configuration information;
• retrieving, by the system, a generic I/O module profile corresponding to the I/O module from cloud storage;
• customizing, by the system, the generic I/O module profile using the I/O module configuration information resulting in an available clone I/O point list identifying the one or more clone I/O points of the virtualized controller;
• converting, by the system, a communication protocol of the one or more clone I/O points to a standardized communication protocol to yield one or more converted I/O points of the virtualized controller;
• exchanging, by the system, simulation data between the one or more converted I/O points and one or more simulation data points of an industrial automation simulation in accordance with the standardized communication protocol and based on execution of the control program on the virtualized controller, wherein the industrial automation simulation simulates an industrial automation system;
• modifying, by the system, the control program executing on the virtualized controller in accordance with configuration input received from a client device communicatively connected to the cloud platform to yield a modified control program;
• and
• executing the modified control program on a physical industrial controller, wherein the executing causes the physical industrial controller to process input signals received from input devices of an industrial automation system and to control output signals directed to output devices of the industrial automation system.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, in response to execution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

• discovering an I/O module configuration corresponding to an I/O module instance defined in a virtualized controller instantiated on a cloud platform, wherein the I/O module configuration defines one or more clone I/O points of the virtualized controller, and the virtualized controller executes a control program;
• retrieving, from a module profile storage maintained on the cloud platform, a generic I/O module profile corresponding to an I/O module identified by the I/O module configuration;
• customizing the generic I/O module profile using the I/O module configuration to yield an available clone I/O point list identifying the one or more clone I/O points of the virtualized controller;
• converting a communication protocol of the one or more clone I/O points to a standardized communication protocol to yield one or more converted I/O points of the virtualized controller;
• performing a simulation sequence using the virtualized controller executing the control program and a simulation that executes on the cloud platform, wherein the simulation simulates an industrial automation system, and the performing comprises exchanging simulation data between the simulation and the virtualized controller via the one or more converted I/O points according to the standardized communication protocol and based on execution of the control program on the virtualized controller;
• modifying the control program executing on the virtualized controller based on configuration input received from a client device communicatively connected to the cloud platform to yield a modified control program;
• and
• executing the modified control program on a physical industrial controller of the industrial automation system, wherein the executing causes the physical industrial controller to process input signals received from input devices of an industrial automation system and to control output signals directed to output devices of the industrial automation system.