Systems and methods for virtually tagging and securing industrial equipment
AssigneeRockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
InventorsDavid Main-Reade, Derek 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;
- 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 locking mechanism;
- determine whether the user is authorized to actuate the locking mechanism based on the set of user data and the plurality of user permissives;
- send a second request to a computing device associated with another user in response to the user being unauthorized to actuate the locking mechanism, wherein the computing device is configured to receive a confirmation from the other user indicative of the user being authorized to actuate the locking mechanism in response to receiving the second request;
- and
- actuate the locking mechanism in response to receiving the confirmation from the computing device.
A system, comprising:
- an electronic lock comprising:
- a first processor configured to receive a request to actuate the electronic lock from a user;
- 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 request from the first processor;
- receive a user dataset associated with the user 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 whether the user is authorized to access equipment secured by the electronic lock based on a respective user permissive of the plurality of user permissives;
- send a second request to a computing device associated with another user in response to the user being unauthorized to actuate the locking mechanism, wherein the computing device is configured to receive a confirmation from the other user indicative of the user being authorized to actuate the locking mechanism in response to receiving the second request;
- and
- send an actuation signal to the electronic lock in response to receiving the confirmation from the computing device, wherein the actuation signal is configured to actuate the locking mechanism for the user.
An electronic lock configured to selectively enable one or more users to access a machine in an industrial automation system, comprising:
- a locking mechanism;
- and a processor configured to:
- receive a current actuation request from a user 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 locking mechanism;
- determining whether the user is authorized to access the machine secured by the electronic lock based on whether 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;
- sending a request to a computing device associated with another user in response to the user being unauthorized to actuate the locking mechanism, wherein the computing device is configured to receive a confirmation from the other user indicative of the user being authorized to actuate the locking mechanism in response to receiving the request;
- and
- sending an actuation signal to the electronic lock in response to receiving the confirmation from the computing device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.