Let generative AI be your design Copilot
FactoryTalk Design Studio represents Rockwell Automation’s software-defined automation (SDA) development tool. It is modern, cloud-based, multi-user and controller agnostic. “It’s also a strong collaboration tool,” explained Tony Carrara, Rockwell Automation’s business manager for FactoryTalk Design Studio, who spoke during this week’s Automation Fair event in Anaheim, Calif. “It has support for all devices, providing context across the entire system.”
The platform’s latest addition is Copilot, a generative AI assistant that helps users with industrial automation system design tasks, including project creation and product guidance. For project creation, natural-language prompts can create PLC code, Carrara said. “I could simply say, ‘Create new PLC code.’ This capability allows a controls engineer to stay in the flow of their work.”
With Design Studio, you can also write code and then allocate it to the controller where you want it to run. “I can say to allocate the new code to the default task of a particular PLC,” explained Carrara. “Design Studio features domain-specific language that Logix understands.”
It also can be used to better leverage and reuse existing code. “In a Design Studio project, you can reuse objects,” Carrara explained. For product guidance, it streamlines access to product knowledge. And for project guidance, it can aid in explaining the application, identifying optimization opportunities, and lending a hand with troubleshooting.
Remote Access enhances upcoming release
The next release, version 2.0, is due for release in January 2025 and will leverage FactoryTalk Remote Access to provide effectively unlimited reach to remote, distributed platforms. “It’ll be the first release that allows you to go directly from cloud to controller,” said Carrara.
“We also created an in-line chat panel in the ladder logic,” said Carrara. Using this in-line chat function, PLC programming can be streamlined by allowing users to generate code directly in the editor and review highlighted changes for approval. Online systems can also be queried with Copilot, allowing users to search and view live controller states and tag values.
Copilot will also be able to gather feedback on workflows. “To look at a project, create a test script and then see what Copilot might do to fix any failures,” explained Carrara.
