Photo by Keith Larson
Tony Carrara, Rockwell Automation’s business manager for FactoryTalk Design Studio

Let generative AI be your design Copilot

Nov. 21, 2024
Rockwell Automation adds a helping hand to its FactoryTalk Design Studio

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.

About the Author

Mike Bacidore | Control Design

Mike Bacidore is chief editor of Control Design and has been an integral part of the Endeavor Business Media editorial team since 2007. Previously, he was editorial director at Hughes Communications and a portfolio manager of the human resources and labor law areas at Wolters Kluwer. Bacidore holds a BA from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He is an award-winning columnist, earning multiple regional and national awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He may be reached at [email protected]

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