JP2857381B2 - Dynamic simulator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is for performing a simulation process in place of plant equipment that cannot be actually connected when a test of a production management system is performed in a factory where the system is introduced. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional simulation system will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional simulation system shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 79; This simulation system consists of a master data creation unit that extracts the master data of the target production system from the production management system that manages the target production system to be simulated, changes in the input plan, changes in the priority of lots, and the operating rate of the equipment. Simulation parameter setting means for setting simulation parameters according to the above, and simulation model data matching the input data specifications of the simulator from the master data extracted by the master data creation means and the simulation parameters set by the simulation parameter setting means. Model data creating means for creating, simulation executing means for reading the model data and executing a simulation, and a simulation result generated by the simulation executing means. From the data, and a work-in-progress data for any time during the simulation period, and a work-in-progress data reconstruction means for reconstructing the in-process data in the same format that is extracted in the master data generation means.

[0003] With such a configuration, simulation execution conditions can be changed according to the state of the production line at any time during the simulation period.

[0004]

According to the conventional simulation system, in order to perform processing in the same manner as ordinary production control, data having the same configuration as the in-process data of the production management system must be separately provided as a simulation system. There was a problem that did not become.

Further, in the conventional simulation system, since the intervals of the commands received by the production management system are not considered so as to be processed in the same manner as those from the actual plant equipment, it is necessary to connect the actual plant equipment. When the test is performed in such a manner, the processing timing is shifted, and a problem may occur.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems in the conventional simulation system, eliminates data duplication, makes the configuration simpler, and reduces the time of a command received by the production management system in the actual plant equipment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dynamic simulator that can approach a conventional simulator and improve the quality of a factory test.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a dynamic simulator according to the present invention comprises a reception processing means for processing command data received from a production management system to be simulated, and a queue for transmission processing. The transmission management means includes a transmission processing waiting management means for managing, a transmission processing means for performing transmission processing of command data to be transmitted to the production management system, and an apparatus management means for managing an apparatus state grasped by the production management system.

Further, the dynamic simulator of the present invention is characterized in that a simulation is executed by effectively utilizing data held in the production management system.

Further, the dynamic simulator of the present invention has a scenario data table in which a transmission command to be transmitted to the production management system is described. In the scenario data table, the transmission timing of the transmission command corresponds to the transmission timing from the actual plant equipment. It is possible to set the same timing.

Further, the dynamic simulator of the present invention refers to a process flow table and a transport device definition table possessed by the production management system, and stores a transport device for transporting a lot between processes in a scenario data table. And all the simulation processes can be automated.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a dynamic simulator according to the present invention. This dynamic simulator is a combination of four tasks of a reception processing task 11, a transmission processing waiting management task 12, a transmission processing task 13, and a device management task 14.

Also, a scenario data table 16 in which a transmission command for continuously performing processing is described, a reception processing queue 15 for storing received data, a transmission processing queue 18 for storing transmission data, and a waiting for transmission processing. It comprises a transmission processing waiting table 17 for storing data, and a device availability classification table 19 describing availability in a simulation.

The production management system 1 to be simulated has a transport equipment definition table 2 for defining which equipment is to be used as the transport means between the equipment of the lots to be processed and processed by the plant equipment. And an apparatus status table 3 which holds which state (equipment status) such as "Waiting", "Processing", or "Failure", and a correspondence relationship between an apparatus number and an apparatus group. And a process flow table 5 in which the flow of processes from lot formation to completion is described.

The dynamic simulator according to the present invention executes a simulation while transmitting and receiving various commands to and from the production management system 1 in place of actual plant equipment, and performs a test of the production management system 1. At this time, since the process is performed using data held in each table of the production management system 1 described above, double holding of data can be eliminated and a simpler configuration can be achieved. Hereinafter, each operation of the dynamic simulator will be described.

Reception Processing Hereinafter, the reception processing operation will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the reception processing task 11 acquires data sent from the production management system 1 held by the reception processing queue 15 (211). The acquired data is deleted from the reception processing queue 15. The contents of the reception processing queue 15 are shown in FIG. 3, and are composed of a device number and a reception command.

The reception processing task 11 obtains a device group from the device numbers included in the received data (212). This device group is a group of the same device in the plant device, and is effective, for example, in a case where a simulation is executed by using a device in the device group. The association between the device number and the device group uses the device list table 4 of the production management system 1 described above. The contents of the device list table 4 are shown in FIG.

The transmission command and the processing time of the device are obtained from the scenario data table 16 using the obtained device group and the received command included in the received data as a search key (213). The contents of the scenario data table 16 are shown in FIG.

The next record number in the scenario data table 16 describes a record position in which a command to be transmitted next is described. The next transmission command can be obtained from the scenario data table 16 based on this value. When the next record number is 0, it indicates that there is no command to be transmitted next. That is, when the next record number in the scenario data table 16 is other than 0, it indicates that there are a plurality of transmission commands for the reception command. As described above, it is possible to register a plurality of transmission commands for one reception command in the scenario data table 16.

The processing time of the device is added to a timer managed by the dynamic simulator, and is used to determine the transmission processing time of the transmission command (2).
14). By setting the processing time of the actual plant equipment in the processing time of this equipment, the transmission command can be transmitted from the dynamic simulator to the production management system at the same timing as in the actual control. Therefore, the operation at the same timing as the actual control can be measured by the simulation processing.

As described above, the dynamic simulator according to the present invention can use the scenario data table 16 to continuously execute a simulation at the same timing as when controlling an actual plant device.

The transmission data for which the transmission processing time has been obtained is added to the transmission processing waiting table 17 to form a (215) transmission processing queue. The contents of the transmission processing waiting table 17 are shown in FIG. 5, and are composed of the transmission time, the device number, and the transmission command obtained as described above.

Transmission Processing Waiting Management Next, the transmission processing waiting management operation will be described with reference to FIGS. The transmission processing waiting management task 12 refers to the transmission processing waiting table 17 and checks whether there is any data whose transmission time has elapsed. If there is data whose transmission time has elapsed, the data is acquired from the transmission processing waiting table 17 (221). The acquired data is deleted from the transmission processing waiting table 17. The transmission processing waiting table 17 stores the data shown in FIG.
, It is also preferable to rearrange the processing order according to the transmission time.

The acquired data is added to the transmission processing queue 18 (222). The contents of the transmission processing queue 18 are as follows:
As shown in FIG. 7, it is composed of an apparatus number and a transmission command transmitted from the apparatus to the production management system 1.

Transmission Processing Next, the transmission processing operation will be described with reference to FIGS. The transmission processing task 13 checks whether there is data in the transmission processing queue 18. If data exists here,
Data is acquired from the transmission processing queue 18 and transmission processing is performed to the production management system 1. (241) The transmitted data is deleted from the transmission processing queue 18.

Device Management Next, the device management operation will be described with reference to FIGS. The device management task 14 for managing the state of the dynamic simulator independently of the flow of each operation described above.
There is. The device management task 14 is started at the start of the simulation and is resident, and monitors the device status described above. The device management task 14 refers to the device status table 3 of the production management system 1 and the device availability classification table 19.

The contents of the device status table 3 are shown in FIG.
1, the device number and the status of the device, that is, data such as "waiting", "processing", and "failure". Such a device status is a status of the device set in the production management system 1. Only when the state is “waiting”, it is possible to accept the processing of the next lot.

FIG. 8 shows the contents of the device availability section table 19, which is composed of the device number and data on the availability of the device. This availability data is valid only for the simulation system and is used to determine whether or not it can be used in the simulation processing. As a result, it is possible to select in advance only the device for which the simulation is to be performed. Also, in an actual plant device, it is conceivable that a specific device cannot be used due to, for example, maintenance or the like, and the device can be used for executing a simulation assuming such a situation.

The device management task 14 acquires a device number indicating that the device status is "Waiting" and the device can be used or not, that is, a device number that can process a lot (23).
1).

Next, the device management task 14 creates a lot request command for the processable device NO (23).
2). With this command, the production management system 1 can know that the lot can be processed by the device.

As in the case of the transmission processing wait management task 12, the created command is directly added to the transmission processing queue 18 (233).

Interruption Processing Next, the interruption processing operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In some cases, the settings of the production management system 1 are changed to evaluate a production plan. In particular, when changing the settings of the production management system 1 during the simulation process, the process must be interrupted while retaining the simulation state up to that time.

When the simulation is interrupted by the dynamic simulator, the processing of the transmission processing wait management task 12 is stopped. As a result, no new data to be processed is generated, and the transmission processing task 13
The simulation processing can be interrupted when the transmission processing of all the data in 8 ends.

When the transmission processing waiting management task 12 stops, the timer managed by the simulator is stopped. Thus, even if the simulation processing is restarted, it is not necessary to recalculate the transmission processing time. If the simulation processing is interrupted and the transmission processing wait table 17 and the lot status of the production management system 1, that is, information on which process the lot is in and the device status table 3 are stored, the data can be reorganized. There is no need to perform a new generation, and the same re-simulation processing can be performed at any time.

Although the transmission process of the present simulator depends on the scenario data table 16 as described above, the transmission process is partially executed by editing the contents of the transmission process waiting table 17 at the time of interruption. It is also possible to customize.

Continuous Processing Next, the continuous processing operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In the conventional simulation process using a single device, one processing operation is completed until the lot is taken out of the storage rack of the lot owned by the device, transported to the device, transported from the device to the storage shelf after processing is completed, and stored. I was

On the other hand, in a case where a plurality of devices are simulated continuously, in addition to the above-described process, as in the actual operation in a factory, a transport process for transferring a lot to a storage shelf owned by another device must be performed. Must. The production management system 1 has a process flow table 5 which describes a process flow from lot formation to completion. The simulator refers to the process flow table 5 to determine a device group for the next process. The contents of the process flow table 5 are shown in FIG. 9, and are configured by the order of the processes and the device groups used for each process.

Further, with respect to the transfer of the lot between the apparatuses,
The transport device to be used is determined by referring to the transport device definition table 2 which defines which device is to be used for the transport means. The contents of the transfer device definition table 2 are shown in FIG. 12 and are between processes (From-To) in which a lot is transferred.
The transport equipment to be used is defined corresponding to.

In the present dynamic simulator, the command of the equipment used for the transfer processing is also registered in the scenario data table 16 according to the process described in the process flow table 5. This makes it possible to automatically cope with the transfer processing between the apparatuses.

[0040]

Since the dynamic simulator utilizes a database held by the production management system, there is no need to create in-process data of a lot as a simulation system, and the dynamic simulator can be realized with a simple configuration. .

The present dynamic simulator also supports a transfer process between devices, and can perform a continuous simulation process for a plurality of devices, so that all the processes can be performed automatically without manual intervention. As a result, it is possible to eliminate manual intervention that causes a reduction in test efficiency, improve test efficiency by automating all simulation processes, and perform tests in a short period of time.

Further, even when the simulation processing is interrupted and the setting of the production management system is changed, it is possible to restart the simulation processing continued from the point of interruption. In this case, by saving the transmission processing waiting table and the lot status and the equipment status table of the production management system when the simulation processing is interrupted, there is no need to reorganize the data or newly generate the data. Can perform the same simulation process.

Also, the transmission process can be customized by editing the contents of the transmission process waiting table, so that exception processes such as abnormal processes can be easily set.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system configuration of a dynamic simulator of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of a simulation process of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a reception processing queue for receiving reception data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a table describing a scenario data table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a transmission processing waiting table;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing order of transmission data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a transmission processing queue for storing transmission data.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a device usable / unusable division table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a process flow table held by the production management system.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an apparatus list table held by the production management system.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an apparatus status table held by the production management system.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a transport device definition table held by the production management system.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional simulation system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Production management system, 2 Transport equipment definition table, 3
Device status table, 4 Device list table, 5
Process flow table, 10 dynamic simulator, 11 reception processing task, 12 transmission processing waiting management task, 13 transmission processing task, 14 device management task,
15 reception processing queue, 16 scenario data table, 17 transmission processing waiting table, 18 transmission processing queue, 19 device usable / unusable division table, 21 reception processing means, 22 transmission processing waiting management means, 23 device management means, 24 transmission processing means.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ identification code FI G06F 17/00 G06F 15/21 R 17/60 G05B 15/02 Z (58) Investigated field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G05B 19 / 4068 G05B 15/02 G05B 19/418 G05B 23/02 G06F 9/46 340 G06F 17/00 G06F 17/60

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A reception processing means for processing command data received from a production management system to be simulated, a transmission processing waiting management means for managing a queue of transmission processing, and transmitting command data to be transmitted to the production management system. A dynamic simulator comprising transmission processing means for processing, and device management means for managing a device state recognized by a production management system. 2. The dynamic simulator according to claim 1, wherein a simulation is executed by effectively utilizing data held by said production management system. 3. A scenario data table in which a transmission command to be transmitted to the production management system is described. In the scenario data table, the transmission timing of the transmission command is set to the same timing as that from an actual plant device. The dynamic simulator according to claim 1, wherein the dynamic simulator is capable of performing the operation. 4. A transport device for transporting a lot between each process is registered in the scenario data table with reference to a process flow table and a transport device definition table held by the production management system. 4. The dynamic simulator according to claim 3, wherein all simulation processes can be automated.