CONSHELL: A domain-specific shell for automation system configuration

As complexity of industrial processes that have to be controlled and supervised increases rapidely automation system configuration is becoming more sophisticated, complicated and time-consuming. There is an increasing demand to assist project engineers in this task both to save time and to reach a better quality of configurations. As configuration of automation systems is based on extensive and dynamic knowledge gained from experience and reference-books the growing demand for computer assistance can only partially be met by conventional data processing methods. Thus knowledge based systems are used to assist in this task. This article describes CONSHELL, a shell to generate knowledge based systems to assist in automation system configuration. In contrast to other shell systems for configuration CONSHELL is domain specific, i.e. it contains a predefined model of automation systems and ways how basic configuration steps are performed. This model can be modified and extended according to different kinds of existing and future systems. We present some aspects of the configuration task starting with a short analysis of the problems a project engineer is confronted with. Basic requirements for CONSHELL are derived. Then the underlying knowledge representation paradigms are described and the organization of knowledge in CONSHELL is sketched. In the final section the architecture of the system is presented.