Systems and methods for virtually tagging and securing industrial equipment
AssigneeRockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
InventorsDavid Main-Reade, Derek W. Jones, David A. Vasko
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable medium may include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, may cause processor to receive a set of user data associated with a user that is attempting to access an electronic lock, receive a request to actuate a locking mechanism of the electronic lock configured to prevent the user from accessing a machine in an industrial automation system, actuate the locking mechanism in response to the request and the set of user data corresponding to an expected set of data, store a log of the request and the set of user data, and send the log to a cloud-based computing system.
Claims20
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, are configured to cause the processor to:
- receive a set of user data associated with a user that is attempting to access an electronic lock;
- receive a request to actuate a locking mechanism of the electronic lock configured to prevent the user from accessing a machine in an industrial automation system;
- actuate the locking mechanism in response to the request and the set of user data corresponding to an expected set of data;
- store a log of the request and the set of user data;
- and
- send the log to a cloud-based computing system.
A system, comprising:
- an electronic lock comprising:
- a first processor configured to receive a plurality of requests to actuate the electronic lock from a plurality of users;
- and
- a locking mechanism of the electronic lock configured to physically actuate the electronic lock;
- and
- a cloud-based computing system comprising a second processor configured to:
- receive the plurality of requests from the first processor;
- receive a user dataset associated with each user of the plurality of users via one or more sensors disposed on the electronic lock;
- access a database comprising a plurality of user permissives, wherein each user permissive of the plurality of user permissives corresponds to one or more conditions associated with allowing an individual to actuate the electronic lock;
- determine a ranking of the plurality of users based on the user dataset associated with each user of the plurality of users and the plurality of user permissives;
- and
- send an actuation signal to the electronic lock, wherein the actuation signal is configured to actuate the locking mechanism for a first user of the plurality of users having a higher ranking than a second user of the plurality of users according to the ranking.
An electronic lock configured to selectively enable one or more users to access a machine in an industrial automation system, comprising:
- a locking mechanism;
- a transceiver configured to send data associated with the locking mechanism to a cloud-based computing system, wherein the data comprises a log of users that actuated or attempted to actuate the locking mechanism;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- record the log of users that actuated or attempted to actuate the locking mechanism;
- receive a current actuation request from a user of the one or more users to actuate the locking mechanism;
- and
- actuate the locking mechanism in response to:
- determining that the current actuation request corresponds to one or more expected actuation requests for the user determined based on the log of users that actuated or attempted to actuate the locking mechanism;
- and
- determining that the current actuation request is associated with a plurality of conditions that correspond to a user permissive indicative of when the user can actuate the locking mechanism.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.