WO2002048907A1

WO2002048907A1 - Method of and information search system for searching for information in process control environment

Info

Publication number: WO2002048907A1
Application number: PCT/FI2001/001087
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hannu Paunonen
Original assignee: Metso Automation Networks Oy
Priority date: 2000-12-13
Filing date: 2001-12-12
Publication date: 2002-06-20
Also published as: FI20002736A0; AU2002217192A1; FI20002736A

Abstract

A method of and an information search system for searching for information in a process control environment, which comprises a process control system arranged to control and monitor the process, and in which method and information search system process-control-related information is input and displayed or expressed in textual form. The contents of the input information is compared to the contents of information stored previously in the information search system in order to retrieve information with similar contents, and the retrieved information with similar contents is displayed to the user.

Description

METHOD OF AND INFORMATION SEARCH SYSTEM FOR SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION IN PROCESS CONTROL ENVIRONMENT

[0001] The invention relates to a method of searching for information in a process control environment, which comprises a process control sys- tern arranged to control and monitor the process, which method comprises inputting process-control-related information and searching for information that is similar in contents to the information to be input from the previously input and stored information.

[0002] The invention further relates to an information search system for searching for information in a process control environment, which comprises a process control system arranged to control and monitor the process, process-control-related information being arranged to be input into the information search system, which is arranged to search for information that is similar in contents to the information to be input from the previously input and stored in- formation.

[0003] Process control systems are typically used to control and monitor large-scale manufacturing processes, such as paper machines in pa- permaking, or systems supporting the production, such as power supply systems of industrial plants. Process control systems were previously mainly sys- terns intended for production process automation, wherein the operation of the process and the related actuators could be controlled and monitored in a centralized manner from a control room, and values of process variables measured from the process could be transmitted to the control room for inspection by the operator. Such process control systems are known per se to those skilled in the art. Due to increasingly higher demands set for the efficiency of production processes and industrial plants in general, modern process control systems are being converted into combined automation and information management systems, which simultaneously control and monitor the process and collect history data and information for example about the current process stage or the process production for possible later use. Modern process control systems therefore comprise different tools for knowledge management, such as electronic diaries (logs), specifications and comments thereon, and e-mail messages, which operators use by inputting information in textual form into the process control system. A large number of different descriptions of process failures and instructions on how to solve process failures are typically input into these knowledge management tools. However, since the operator usually con- trols alone a very large process, a problem is that for example during a process failure he cannot in practice find instructions needed to solve the failure rapidly enough from a large amount of information. Another problem is that operation of the process does not traditionally require input of text into the proc- ess control system, and the users are not accustomed to expressing themselves in writing, wherefore it may be difficult for them to start using knowledge management tools and input of information. However, in order to clarify process events during a failure and the causes of failures, the operator should be able to rapidly locate data to support his work during process failure situations. It would also be useful if different users could describe similar events approximately in the same manner and sufficiently accurately. In such a case, for example several different fault reports or fault descriptions could be easily connected to the one and the same process event, process section or component, and operations required to solve malfunctions or to fix failures could be easily and rapidly directed at correct targets.

[0004] JP 8,320,720 discloses a method of identifying a process state and informing the operator about it. The method comprises determining, based on process state data, a state vector that describes the process state, and comparing the vector to previously stored reference vectors in order to lo- cate a reference vector that corresponds to the state vector in question. The reference vector, in turn, is used to locate a description of the current state of the process, which is then printed to the process operator. The arrangement disclosed in the above application is intended for monitoring a dynamic process state. [0005] US 6,005,565 discloses a tool for a general computer and

Internet environment for simultaneous search of desired information from different information sources, such as the Word Wide Web and program guides that are transmitted in connection with different cable TV broadcasts. The tool can be used to determine the search criteria that describe the information to be retrieved and the information sources to be searched, so that the tool can simultaneously search for information from several different sources with the same criteria. Thus, the search criteria and the information sources to be searched have to be defined only once and the search is similarly carried out only once in each information source. When the search is complete, the search results, i.e. the items describing the information to be searched, are displayed to the user for example on the computer screen, such that the items retrieved from each information source are displayed in a separate window on the screen. Thus, in the arrangement disclosed in the aforementioned publication, a search method that is familiar from the Internet has been applied to other forms of electronic media. [0006] US 5,666,481 discloses an arrangement for facilitating repair of faults in communication networks, such as local area networks. According to this arrangement, when a fault first occurs, a fault report or a "trouble ticket" is filled, i.e. information that describes the fault is input into the fields in the card. The information in these fields is compared, by means of a rulebase, to fields of trouble tickets stored previously in a database and describing faults that have already been solved. Information must be input and stored in a predetermined form by means of predetermined fault codes. When a trouble ticket corresponding to a similar fault that has already been solved is retrieved based on the comparison, suggestions are made on how to solve the new fault on the basis of the repair operation carried out on the old fault. US 5,533,093 discloses a similar arrangement based on trouble tickets and rulebases for identifying faults in a telephone network and for determining repair strategies. JP 6,326,751 and 8,181 ,693 also disclose similar arrangements based on a trouble ticket for supporting repair of faults in computer networks. The arrange- ments disclosed in the aforementioned publications only aim at indicating and solving the faults, and a problem is that the information must be input into the trouble ticket in a particular form and into a particular place. Therefore these arrangements are not applicable in situations where the information must be displayed in textual information whose form and contents are not determined in advance.

[0007] US 5,414,798 discloses an expert system used in a process control environment for automatically monitoring and collecting process data related to process control. The system comprises determining the significance of each collected piece of data. If the collected data is determined to be signifi- cant, knowledge information related to the process data is output on the screen for the operator to see. The operator can further modify and supplement the knowledge information output on the screen and he can store it in a database of the expert system. The knowledge information to be stored is compared to knowledge information that has been stored previously in the system knowl- edge database, and the knowledge information is stored in the database only if it is not already contained therein and it has acceptable contents for storage. In this arrangement, the data to be monitored and collected is related to process events and it is in a specified form, wherefore it can be collected and processed in the expert system by means of reference operations stored in advance in the system. However, this arrangement is not useful when the infor- mation to be fed into the system should be displayed and processed as textual information whose form and contents are not predetermined.

[0008] An objective of the present invention is to provide an arrangement, which facilitates, in a process control environment, information search from and input of new information into the process control system. [0009] A method according to the invention is characterized by inputting the general process-control-related information that does not cause any activity or functions by itself, displaying or expressing the information to be input in textual form, comparing the contents of the information to be input to the contents of information stored previously in textual form in order to retrieve in- formation with similar contents from the previously stored information, and displaying the retrieved information that is similar in contents to the information to be input.

[0010] The information search system according to the invention is characterized in that the information search system comprises means for input- ting, into the information search system, general process-control-related information that does not cause any activity or functions by itself, means for displaying or expressing the information to be input in textual form, means for storing the input information in textual form, means for comparing the contents of the information to be input to the contents of previously stored information in order to retrieve information with similar contents from the previously stored information, and means for displaying the retrieved information that is similar in contents to the information to be input.

[0011] According to a basic idea of the invention, a process control environment, which comprises a process control system arranged to control and monitor the process, utilizes an information search system, to which users input general process-control-related information that does not cause any activity or functions by itself and that is displayed or presented in the system in textual form. Furthermore, according to a basic idea of the invention, the contents of the input information are compared to the contents of process-control- related information stored previously in textual form in the information search system in order to retrieve information with similar contents from all the stored information, and the retrieved information is displayed to the user. The information to be input can be used only to search the information search system for previously stored information, or the information to be input can also be stored in the information search system among the previously stored information. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, information is input in the form of a speech signal, which is then converted into textual form.

[0012] An advantage of the invention is that the information search system supports the operator for example during a process failure by searching for text material with similar contents to solve the failure while the operator is inputting a failure description into the system. Furthermore, information about previously stored information with similar contents is obtained simultaneously with the input of new information, whereupon the contents of this similar previously stored information can be utilized in the input of new information for example by means of copying. This makes inputting of information faster and easier for the user. Further, it will be easier to work out afterwards process events during a failure and the underlying reasons, since similar events will be more likely described in the same manner when it is possible to use previously stored text material with similar contents. Also, information can be input rapidly and easily by means of speech. [0013] 'Text material with similar contents' refers to text material that is similar or comparable in content or that contains a sufficient number of similarities.

[0014] The invention will be described in more detail in the accompanying figure, which shows schematically an information search system ac- cording to the invention.

[0015] The figure shows schematically an information search system according to the invention in a process control environment for searching for general process-control-related information in textual form and with similar contents in a process control system, which is intended to control and monitor the operation of an industrial process and possibly also to store information on the process and the operation thereof. Examples of industrial processes where a process control system is used include a papermaking or a boardmaking process, power supply systems of an industrial plant or an electric company, energy production plants, sewage treatment plants or chemical industrial proc- esses. General process-control-related information in textual form or information and knowledge in textual form refers for example to electronic diary or log entries describing process events, for example descriptions of events during a work shift, such as grade changes, or fault descriptions related to process operation or component. Other corresponding examples of general process- control-related information include different comments, instructions, notes, e- mail messages and other kinds of information, which can also relate to the organization, the actual production or mode of operation, and which do not cause any activity or functions by itself. An example of this type of general information is the following report on a failure of a process component: "The feed pump is noisy and the pressure at the delivery side fluctuates. A bearing failure was detected and the bearing was replaced." For the sake of simplicity, the figure does not show any process or process control system, the basic structure and operation of which are known per se to those skilled in the art.

[0016] The information search system shown in the figure comprises an input field 1 , where the information to be input is displayed in textual form. The information to be input can be written into the input field 1 for example by means of a keyboard 5 and/or a mouse 6, which can also be used to control the information search system. The information can also be input into the information search system by means of speech, in which case the system comprises a microphone 7 for receiving a speech signal, and a speech-coding unit 8, which converts the speech signal into text that is fed into the input field

1. The information search system further comprises an information search unit

2, which searches a storage unit 3 for information that is similar or corresponding in contents to the information fed into the input field 1 , i.e. text material with similar contents. The storage unit 3 stores the information input previously into the information search system in textual form and it is preferably a type of mass memory, such as a hard disk, which is used by means of suitable control software as a database for the information search system to permanently store the information input thereto, unless specifically deleted therefrom.

[0017] The information search unit 2 compares the contents of the text fed into the input field 1 with the contents of the information stored in the storage unit 3. When the information search unit 2 has retrieved, from the storage unit 3, text material that is similar in contents to the text fed into the input field 1 , a list of the text materials with similar contents retrieved from the storage unit 3 is printed on a result field 4. This list can be arranged according to the degree of similarity of the input textual-form information. For example, the top of the list contains the text material retrieved from the storage unit 3 that is closest in contents to the information to be input. The aforementioned fault report is described in a database of the storage unit 3 for example as follows:

Header: Feed pump Description: Pump is noisy and delivery side pressure fluctuates

Causes: Bearing failure

Actions: Bearing replaced on morning shift on 22 March.

Text materials with similar contents can be described by means of a header, or a header and a summary, or the mere content of the text. When the user next feeds information about the feed pump into the input field 1 , the information search unit 2 retrieves the information according to the aforementioned example from the storage unit 3 and prints for example the mere header information on the result field 4. The user can then access the entire information for exam- pie by moving the mouse 6 pointer to the header and by clicking the mouse 6 button. The information that is accessed can be displayed under the header in the same result field 4, or it can be displayed in a separate field, and it can thus be viewed in the fields and copied 9 therefrom either partly or in full to the input field 1. When the information to be fed into the input field 1 is in its final form, it can be stored 10 in the storage unit 3.

[0018] The information search unit 2 comprises a search program, which searches the storage unit 3 for text material with similar contents, based on the text fed into the input field 1. The search for text material with similar contents can be conducted either simultaneously with the input of text into the input field 1 , or the search can only be started after the user feels he has described the event to be input to a sufficient extent. The search can be intelligent, which means that the search program understands the contents and linguistic structures to some extent. Alternatively, the search can be based on mere words, or on the identification of given or automatically retrieved terms from the text. The search programs can be generally used commercial programs known per se, but customized programs can also be used. The search programs can also consist of entities of more than one program or software.

[0019] The operation of the input field 1 , the information search unit 2, the storage unit 3 and the result field 4, and the control thereof are prefera- bly carried out by software. Therefore it is fast and easy to apply the information search system according to the invention to a general-purpose or special- purpose computer. Also, the operation of the information search system can be controlled easily by means of peripheral devices, such as monitors, keyboards and mice, attached to computers. Information search can be activated for example by selecting with the mouse 6 a button displayed on the monitor screen for activating the function. A similar button or a mechanical button located for example in the keyboard 5 can be used to select the method of information input from speech and writing. The input field 1 and the result field 4 are output on the monitor display. Different alternatives of the operation of the information search unit 2, such as the search criteria or database sections to be searched, can be selected by means of the mouse 6 and/or the keyboard 5. The correct location of the input information in a database formed in the storage unit 3 can be selected by the mouse 6 and/or the keyboard 5 from menus and indexed organizations output on the screen. The functions of the information search system can also be controlled by means of commands given verbally via the microphone 7.

[0020] The information search system according to the invention can be easily implemented as a fixed part of both the software and hardware of the process control system since the process control system typically comprises a large number of computers for executing process control and monitor- ing tasks. An information search system can be implemented either entirely in a single computer, or the functions thereof can be distributed to several different computers. An information search system can also be executed separately from the process control system, but it is used by means of the same equipment as the process control system. Furthermore, the information search sys- tem can be implemented in a process control environment totally separately from the process control system, which means that the information search system is completely separate from both the software and hardware of the process control system. The information search system can thus be carried out for example in a portable computer, which can be integrated into the process con- trol system, if needed.

[0021] An advantage of the invention is that the input of information provides information about previously stored information with similar contents, which can be utilized for inputting new information. This makes it simpler to input information and expedites the execution of a task or solving of a problem as well as information input. The information input system is easy to use, since the information to be processed in the system is not required to be in any particular form or of any maximum or minimum length.

[0022] The drawing and the related description are only intended to illustrate the inventive idea. The details of the invention can vary within the scope of the claims. It is thus clear that even though in practice the information search system according to the invention is typically located in a control room, it can also be provided with either a fixed or a wireless connection from outside the control room, so that it can also be used from outside the control room or even from outside the entire industrial plant. It is also clear that the information search system can comprise more than one input field 1 , information search unit 2, storage unit 3 and result field 4, and that for example the physical structure and storage method of different storage units, i.e. the technology on which the storage of information is based, can vary. The information search system can further comprise a speech synthesizer and a loudspeaker, so that the ma- terial with similar contents retrieved from the storage unit 3 can be converted into a speech signal in the speech synthesizer and listened to via the loudspeaker. It is also clear that the information search system according to the invention can be used to only retrieve the desired information from the storage unit 3 in the information search system, in which case the information fed into the input field 1 is not to be stored in the storage unit 3. In this case it is possible that the input field 1 is hidden from the user and the correct form of the information to be input does not have to be checked since the information will not be stored. However, even in this case the input field 1 is needed to express the input information in textual form, so that the contents of the information can be compared with the contents of the information stored in the storage unit 3.

Claims

1. A method of searching for information in a process control environment, which comprises a process control system arranged to control and monitor the process, which method comprises inputting process-control-related information and searching for information that is similar in contents to the information to be input from the previously input and stored information, characterized by inputting the general process-control-related information that does not cause any activity or functions by itself, displaying or expressing the information to be input in textual form, comparing the contents of the information to be input to the contents of information stored previously in textual form in order to retrieve information with similar contents from the previously stored information, and displaying the retrieved information that is similar in contents to the information to be input.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the comparison of information contents is based on identification of information contents and linguistic structures.

3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the comparison of information contents is based on identification of words.

4. A method according to claim ^ characterized in that the comparison of information contents is based on identification of given or automatically retrieved terms.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by displaying the information that is similar in contents to the information to be input as a list of text materials with similar contents, where the text materials are arranged according to the similarity of the input information.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by storing the information to be input in textual form among the previously stored information.

7. A method according to claim 6, characterized by copying at least a part of the contents of the previously stored information to be a part of the information to be input before it is stored.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by inputting the information by means of speech, and by converting the information input as a speech signal into textual form.

9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, char- acterized in that the process-control-related information consists of electronic diary entries, instructions, fault descriptions or notes related to process control.

10. An information search system for searching for information in a process control environment, which comprises a process control system ar- ranged to control and monitor the process, process-control-related information being arranged to be input into the information search system, which is arranged to search for information that is similar in contents to the information to be input from the previously input and stored information, characterized in that the information search system comprises means for inputting, into the information search system, general process-control-related information that does not cause any activity or functions by itself, means for displaying or expressing the information to be input in textual form, means for storing the input information in textual form, means for comparing the contents of the information to be input to the contents of previously stored information in order to retrieve information with similar contents from the previously stored information, and means for displaying the retrieved information that is similar in contents to the information to be input.

11. An information search system according to claim 10, characterized in that the comparison of information contents is arranged to be based on identification of information contents and linguistic structures.

12. An information search system according to claim 10, characterized in that the comparison of information contents is arranged to be based on identification of words.

13. An information search system according to claim 10, characterized in that the comparison of information contents is arranged to be based on identification of given or automatically retrieved terms.

14. An information search system according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the retrieved information that is similar in contents to the information to be input is arranged to be displayed as a list of text materials with similar contents, which are arranged according to the simi- larity of the input information.

15. An information search system according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that the information search system further comprises means for copying at least a part of the contents of the previously stored information to be a part of the information to be input.

16. An information search system according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that the information search system comprises means for receiving a speech signal and means for converting the information contained in the speech signal into textual form.

17. An information search system according to any one of claims 10 to 16, characterized in that the process-control-related information consists of electronic diary entries, instructions, fault descriptions or notes related to process control.