Configuring an industrial automation system for internet-of-things accessibility

A method of configuring an industrial automation system for internet-of-things accessibility, the industrial automation system having a system hierarchy including low-level devices, automation devices and supervision and production control devices, the method comprising:

• a) receiving, at a computing device, a first user input indicative of a functional object representing one or more of said low-level devices, and/or one or more of said automation devices, and/or one or more of said supervising and production control devices in the industrial automation system;
• b) receiving, at the computing device, a second user input indicative of a cloud object representing a cloud service provider being external to the industrial automation system;
• c) receiving, at the computing device, a third user input indicative of a user terminal object representing a user terminal device being external to the industrial automation system;
• and
• d) causing, by the computing device, the cloud service provider to enable communication between the user terminal device and at least one of the devices in the industrial automation system as represented by the functional object via the cloud service provider,
• wherein the functional object, the cloud object and the user terminal object are objects which may be selected by a user dragging from a selection area and dropped onto a workspace or canvas area of an automation system configuration program executed on or by the computing device, and
• wherein the functional object, the cloud object and the user terminal object are connected to each other in the workspace or canvas area prior to said step d) of causing, by the computing device, the cloud service provider to enable communication between the user terminal device and at least one of the devices in the industrial automation system as represented by the functional object via the cloud service provider.

A method of configuring an industrial automation system for internet-of-things accessibility, the industrial automation system having a system hierarchy including low-level devices, automation devices and supervision and production control devices, the method comprising:

• a) receiving, at a computing device, a first user input indicative of a functional object representing one or more of said low-level devices, and/or one or more of said automation devices, and/or one or more of said supervising and production control devices in the industrial automation system;
• b) receiving, at the computing device, a second user input indicative of a cloud object representing a cloud service provider being external to the industrial automation system;
• c) receiving, at the computing device, a third user input indicative of a user terminal object representing a user terminal device being external to the industrial automation system;
• and
• d) causing, by the computing device, the cloud service provider to enable communication between the user terminal device and at least one of the devices in the industrial automation system as represented by the functional object via the cloud service provider,
• wherein said step d) of causing the cloud service provider to enable communication between the user terminal device and at least one of the devices in the industrial automation system comprises:
• generating web application program code to be read and performed by the user terminal device in order to communicate with said at least one of the devices in the industrial automation system;
• generating and/or administrating a link to the generated web application program code;
• and
• providing the link to the user terminal device, thereby enabling the user terminal device to use the link to retrieve the generated web application program code.