Visual interlock specification for industrial automation

A method for visualizing a rule of an industrial process or processing system, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a topology model of the industrial process, wherein the industrial process comprises at least one sensor and at least one actuator;
• attributing the topology model with a rule, wherein the rule comprises a triple <cause, traversal, effect>,
• wherein:
• the cause comprises a range of values from the at least one sensor,
• the effect comprises an action performed by the at least one actuator, and
• the traversal comprises a relation between the cause and the effect;
• marking the cause, the traversal and/or the effect;
• and
• visualizing the elements of the rule in the topology model,
• wherein the topology model comprises a plurality of rules,
• when at least two rules relate to the same sensor, checking the related causes for overlapping ranges and/or gaps between their ranges, and/or
• when at least two rules relate to the same actuator, checking the related effects for intersections.