Cloud-based collaborative industrial automation design environment

A method for cloud-based development of industrial control applications, comprising:

• rendering, by a system that executes on a cloud platform and comprises a processor, integrated development environment (IDE) interfaces on respective client devices communicatively connected to the cloud platform;
• generating, by the system, system project data based on industrial design input received from the client devices via interaction with the IDE interfaces, wherein
• the industrial design input selects automation objects to be included in an industrial control and monitoring project and defines one or more hierarchical relationships between the automation objects, and
• the automation objects represent respective industrial assets and comprise properties specific to the respective industrial assets, the properties comprising at least two of an analytic routine, an alarm, a security feature, or a graphical representation;
• in response to receiving, from a first of the IDE interfaces, a first portion of the industrial design input defining a modification to a first aspect of the system project data, determining, by the system based on the one or more hierarchical relationships between the automation objects, whether implementation of the modification will affect a second aspect of the system project data;
• and
• in response to determining that the implementation of the modification will affect the second aspect of the system project data, rendering, by the system on a second of the IDE interfaces associated with a user assigned to develop the second aspect of the system project data, a notification of the modification.

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

• delivering, via a cloud platform, integrated development environment (IDE) interfaces to respective client devices communicatively connected to a cloud platform;
• generating system project data based on industrial design input received from the client devices via interaction with the IDE interfaces, wherein
• the industrial design input selects automation objects to be included in an industrial control and monitoring project and defines one or more hierarchical relationships between the automation objects, and
• the automation objects represent respective industrial assets and comprise properties specific to the respective industrial assets, the properties comprising at least two of an analytic routine, an alarm, a security feature, or a graphical representation;
• in response to receiving a first portion of the industrial design input from a first IDE interface of a first of the client devices defining a modification to a first aspect of the system project data, determining, based on the one or more hierarchical relationships between the automation objects, whether implementation of the modification will affect a second aspect of the system project data;
• and
• in response to determining that the implementation of the modification will affect the second aspect of the system project data, sending, via a second IDE interface, a notification to a second of the client devices associated with a user designated to develop the second aspect of the system project data.