JP2007072825A - Diagnosis support system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a diagnosis support system, capable of preparing a FAQ of a plant information collection device indicating systematic procedures for a solution to trouble and capable of improving the operating efficiency for maintenance and support by operating together various tools for supporting the solution of the trouble. <P>SOLUTION: The diagnosis support system supports the user in solving the troubles generated in the plant information collection device for collecting various plant information (process data and event information) obtained by a process control system. The diagnosis support system has a FAQ-storing means for storing FAQ database which describes countermeasures of the troubles, a display means for displaying contents of the FAQ database, and an operating means for operating a test tool to support analysis of the troubles. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a diagnosis support apparatus that supports a user in solving a problem that has occurred in a plant information collection apparatus that collects various types of plant information (process data, event information, etc.) obtained by a process control system.

  When a problem occurs in the plant information collection device, it is necessary to collect information at the customer site in order to solve the problem. At this time, an in-house support person communicates the operation procedure directly or indirectly to the customer worker by mail or telephone.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a problem solving procedure in a conventional plant information collecting apparatus.
An OPC (OLE for Process Control) server 11 of the plant information collection apparatus 10 can be connected to various process control systems 20 and provides process data to an OPC client 31 via an OPC interface. The OPC client 31 collects and sets process data of various plant control systems 20 and receives alarm events.

When a failure occurs in the plant information collection device 10, the customer worker informs the in-house support staff. The person in charge of support informs the worker of the work procedure suitable for the situation from the procedure manual or the know-how 40 so far by mail or telephone. The worker collects information by operating the test tool 12 in accordance with instructions from the support staff, and transmits the information to the support staff again.
In this way, the cause of the failure is investigated and the problem is solved while exchanging between the in-house support staff and the customer worker.

  As the test tool 12, for example, one that obtains process data from the OPC server 11 by performing the same function as the OPC client 31, one that obtains management information of the OPC server 11, one that obtains historical information of the OPC server 11, etc. There is.

  As a client-server type monitoring control device provided with an OPC interface, for example, there is one described in Patent Document 1.

JP 2002-73166 A

The conventional example of FIG. 4 has the following problems.
Since the OPC server does not have a human interface, it is necessary to communicate the operating procedure from the support staff in the company to the customer's worker by mail or telephone, and it is difficult to investigate the cause when a problem occurs. There was a problem.
Specifically, it is easy for human error such as omission of procedure to be instructed, transmission error, work error, etc., and it takes time and effort to accurately transmit the operation procedure, and the support person who receives repeated inquiries The burden of was also heavy.

  Further, the specification of the OPC interface is also difficult, and there is a problem that it is not easy for the user to investigate the cause using a test tool.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and creates a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) of a plant information collection device that systematically shows a procedure for solving a problem, and supports the solution of the problem. The object is to realize a diagnosis support apparatus that improves the work efficiency of maintenance and support by linking various tools.

In order to achieve such a subject, the present invention is configured as follows.
(1) A diagnosis support apparatus that assists a user in solving a problem occurring in a plant information collection apparatus that collects various types of plant information obtained by a process control system,
FAQ storage means storing a FAQ database that describes how to deal with the problem;
Display means for displaying the contents of the FAQ database;
Operating means for operating a test tool that supports the analysis of the defect;
A diagnostic support apparatus comprising:

(2) The FAQ database is composed of a phenomenon database describing a failure phenomenon and a procedure database describing a procedure for analyzing the failure, and the display means associates the phenomenon database with the procedure database to generate a phenomenon. The diagnosis support apparatus according to (1), wherein data and procedure data for analyzing the data are displayed as a set.

(3) The diagnosis support apparatus according to (1) or (2), wherein the FAQ database is generated in an HTML format.

(4) The operation means includes a tool activation means for activating the test tool, and by operating the tool activation means, selective display is performed on the display means by an association means that associates FAQ data with the test tool. The diagnostic support apparatus according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein a test tool corresponding to the FAQ is started.

(5) The operation unit includes a result acquisition unit that acquires the execution result of the test tool, and acquires data from the execution result storage unit that stores the execution result of the test tool by operating the result acquisition unit. The diagnosis support apparatus according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the diagnosis support apparatus displays the information on the display unit.

(6) The diagnosis support apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the FAQ storage unit communicates with other FAQ storage units to transmit and receive FAQ data.

The present invention has the following effects.
Communication between the worker and the person in charge of support becomes unnecessary, and the operation procedure is provided together as FAQ, so that human error is unlikely to occur.
In addition, by linking FAQ and various test tools, it is possible to connect to an actual server and clearly indicate the operation result and the location of the problem, thereby facilitating the resolution of problems at the front end, enabling efficient maintenance and support. .

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in the previous figure are given the same reference numerals.
The FAQ holding means 51 stores a FAQ database that describes how to deal with problems that have occurred in the plant information collecting apparatus 10. Since the FAQ database is generated in the HTML format, it is possible to add a table of contents or search. The display means 52 displays the contents of the FAQ database. By searching for and displaying FAQ items that match the phenomenon of the failure, it is possible to confirm a coping method for the phenomenon.

The associating means 53 is associated in advance with a test tool 12 suitable for solving the problem for each FAQ item in the FAQ database. When the tool activation unit 54a of the operation unit 54 is activated, an appropriate test tool 12 that collects information for analyzing a failure is selected and activated by the association unit 53. The operator operates the test tool 12 in accordance with the FAQ operation procedure displayed on the display means 52.
The execution result of the test tool 12 is stored in the execution result storage means 55 in a character string format. When the result acquisition unit 54 b of the operation unit 54 is activated, the execution result of the test tool 12 is displayed on the display unit 52.

In this way, the operator can quickly cope with the malfunction by FAQ without having to interact with the support staff.
In addition, since the trouble phenomenon and operation procedure are provided in an easy-to-understand manner as a FAQ, it is possible to easily determine the trouble phenomenon, and it is possible to perform an accurate trouble analysis that is less likely to cause human error. .
Furthermore, by linking the FAQ and the test tool 12, it is possible to connect to an actual server and clearly indicate the operation result and the failure location, thereby facilitating failure analysis at the front end and reducing maintenance and support man-hours. it can.

  Here, an example in which the FAQ database is in the plant information collecting apparatus 10 is shown. However, since the OPC server 11 and the test tool 12 exchange with each other via the OPC interface, the FAQ database is a client different from the plant information collecting apparatus 10. It is good also as a structure installed in PC30.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.
1 shows a case where the FAQ database shown in FIG. 1 includes a phenomenon database stored in the FAQ storage unit 51a and a procedure database stored in the FAQ storage unit 51b.
The display means 52 associates the phenomenon database with the procedure database, and displays the phenomenon data and the procedure data for analyzing the phenomenon data as a set.
The test tool 12 that collects information for analyzing a certain defect may also be used when analyzing another defect. In this case, a procedure database that describes the operation procedure of the test tool 12 is also used. By separately displaying the phenomenon database and the procedure database and displaying them in association with each other, the useless database storage area can be reduced, and database management is facilitated.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
A FAQ parent database is provided in the in-house FAQ storage means 61 to exchange data with the customer's FAQ database. By interpreting the execution result of the test tool 12 against the contents of the FAQ database, it is suggested that the test tool 12 may correspond to another FAQ item, or another work instruction is displayed on the display means 52 interactively. The problem can be solved.
In this way, the customer can obtain the latest information from the parent database and further improve the efficiency of problem solving.
Conversely, the FAQ database can be accumulated by feeding back the work result at the customer to the parent database.

It is a block diagram which shows one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the problem solution procedure in the conventional plant information collection apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Plant information collection apparatus 12 Test tool 51, 51a, 51b FAQ storage means 52 Display means 53 Association means 54 Operation means 54a Tool starting means 54b Result acquisition means 55 Execution result storage means

Claims (6)

A diagnosis support apparatus that assists a user in solving problems that occur in a plant information collection apparatus that collects various types of plant information obtained by a process control system,
FAQ storage means storing a FAQ database that describes how to deal with the problem;
Display means for displaying the contents of the FAQ database;
Operating means for operating a test tool that supports the analysis of the defect;
A diagnostic support apparatus comprising:   The FAQ database is composed of a phenomenon database describing a failure phenomenon and a procedure database describing a procedure for analyzing the failure, and the display means associates the phenomenon database with the procedure database, The diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the procedure data for analyzing the data is displayed as a set.   The diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the FAQ database is generated in an HTML format.   The operation means includes tool activation means for activating the test tool, and by operating the tool activation means, the FAQ selected and displayed on the display means by the association means associating the FAQ data with the test tool. The diagnostic support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a test tool corresponding to the above is activated.   The operation means has a result acquisition means for acquiring the execution result of the test tool, and operates the result acquisition means to acquire data from an execution result storage means for storing the execution result of the test tool, The diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diagnosis support apparatus displays the information on a display unit. 6. The diagnosis support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the FAQ storage unit communicates with other FAQ storage units to transmit and receive FAQ data.

Images