DE102022209987B3 - Manufacturing plant and method for operating a manufacturing plant with a robot and a programmable logic controller with relative addressing - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for operating a production system with a robot (2) and a programmable logic controller (3), the robot (2) being able to use a number of technologies (41, 42, 43) and a number of functional units (51, 52, 53 , 54) is set up, with communication between the robot (2), a functional unit (51, 52) assigned to the robot (2) and the programmable logic controller (3) taking place via a fieldbus, with initialization of the robot (2) Signal declarations for the technologies (41, 42, 43) and signal declarations for the functional units (51, 52, 53, 54) are each assigned a plurality of address areas (8) comprising address fields (7) that can be accessed via the fieldbus , wherein the signal declarations of each technology (41, 42, 43) and the signal declarations of each functional unit (51, 52, 53, 54) are each assigned a start address (9), and the respective start address (9) is relative to a fix specified reference address (11, 12) is specified and called. Furthermore, the invention relates to a production plant set up for carrying out the method.

Description

The invention relates to a method for operating a production system with a robot and a programmable logic controller, the robot being set up to use a number of technologies and a number of functional units, in particular a number of tools and/or devices, with communication between the robot and one assigned to the robot Functional unit and the programmable logic controller takes place via a fieldbus, with signal declarations for the technologies and signal declarations for the functional units each being assigned a plurality of address fields comprising address areas that can be accessed via the fieldbus during initialization of the robot, and with the signal declarations being assigned a a start address is assigned to each technology and the signal declarations of each functional unit. The signal declarations for the technologies and the signal declarations for the functional units specify in particular how control is to take place for operation and in particular how signals are sent and received via the fieldbus for this purpose.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a production system with a robot that is set up for the use of several technologies and several functional units, with a programmable logic controller, and with at least one functional unit that is assigned to the robot, the robot, the functional unit assigned to the robot and the programmable logic controller for the transmission of signals are connected via a fieldbus.

Manufacturing plants of this type, which in particular include mechanical and electronic components, and methods for operating a manufacturing plant are known in the prior art. For example, the DE 103 04 706 A1 a method for controlling an industrial production plant with a number of industrial robots using a programmable logic controller, with historical process data being fed into the programmable logic controller and processed by program logic.

In addition, the DE 10 2014 105 381 A1 a method for operating a production plant, in which the functionality of a programmable logic controller is provided by a computer program, and better integration between the computer program for the programmable logic controller and a numerical controller for controlling a robot is to be made possible.

Also in the DE 10 2010 022 931 A1 a control of robots by means of a central programmable logic controller via network data connections is described. A control is explained that makes it possible to deactivate selected safety functions of the robot so that the robot can also be operated without a fully established network data connection.

Furthermore, from the DE 10 2019 134 794 B4 It is known that teaching methods can be used as an alternative to completely manual programming of a robot. The DE 10 2019 134 794 B4 proposes a hand-held device with which the movements and activities of a robot can be trained. A handset-external device can have a data processing system that is set up to generate the program code or control information.

In addition, the DE 102 34 233 A1 a method for exchanging data between robot controllers, whereby the problem is dealt with that the controllers usually do not communicate directly via fieldbus, but via an intermediate programmable logic controller (PLC), so that in this PLC a 1:1 mapping of the inputs/ Outputs must be taken into account, and therefore when the communication between the controllers is expanded, the control programs must be changed with regard to the input and output configuration. The DE 102 34 233 A1 provided that a first controller generates an instruction to be transmitted with data to be sent to a second controller and with an identifier representing this second controller. The instruction to be transmitted is provided with an identifier of the first controller, with the first controller sending the instruction to be transmitted to the second controller, with the second controller evaluating the data of the instruction and providing feedback to the first controller. The instruction to be transferred contains, among other things, the address of the controller to which the instructions are to be transferred.

Furthermore, from the U.S. 2016/0179085 A1 discloses a control system for controlling the operation of a numerically controlled machine tool, the system comprising a back-end controller and a front-end controller in communication with the back-end controller. A universal, efficient and reliable remote control should be enabled by means of a configuration of the control system.

In particular, such highly automated production plants are used in the automotive industry for motor vehicle construction, especially in so-called body shell plants. For example, a robot of such a production facility can be set up for welding and clinching as possible technologies. A robot set up for welding includes, for example, a WPS gun (WPS: resistance spot welding) as a functional unit. However, a robot can be set up to use a number of the same or different technologies and to use a number of the same or different tools and process devices as functional units. A technology is present, expressed abstractly, in particular an encapsulated range of functions that can be instantiated as often as desired and in particular expands the basic functions of the robot in order to implement special tasks within the manufacturing process, such as gripping a component or welding. Furthermore, a technology can in particular include functions in order to make an associated functional unit or functional units usable with the robot controller. In addition, the technology can contain functions in particular for exchanging signals with the higher-level programmable logic controller (in short: PLC).

The electronic components of the production plant, also known as field devices, are connected to one another via a field bus and communicate via this bus. Components of the production plant or field devices are in particular SPS, robots, welding controls, tool changers, grippers, stations, conveyor technology, etc., with functional units being subordinate field devices in particular to the robot control. The fieldbus connects the field devices to an automation device in a known manner and is used for the digital, bidirectional exchange of data, in particular signals and/or other information. For the communication between the field devices, in particular between a robot and a functional unit, a previously defined and limited address range is available according to the current state of the art in such a production plant, in which it is specified how the field devices send and receive data via the fieldbus . Each field device is assigned its own address range on the fieldbus. During the initialization of the robot, in turn, signals are assigned to the address areas of the field devices on the fieldbus. This assignment is usually defined and prescribed by the OEM (OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer). Different technologies take up different sized address areas. Since there are significantly more technologies than address ranges, the address ranges must be assigned multiple times, which is to be made clear using the following table, where "I/O" stands for "input/output", and thus data exchange, and "PLC" for "programmable logic control".

This means that a start address A, for example bit "0", is the constant start address of the basic interface for all three robot variants. The start address is the first address of a respective field device. The end address B, for example bit "127", is the constant end address of the basic interface for the three robot variants. The start address C, for example bit "128", is the constant start address of technology interface 1 for the robot "Variant 1". The start address D, for example bit "180", is the constant start address of technology interface 2 for the robot " Variant 1" and "Variant 2" or the constant start address of the technology interface 5 for the robot "Variant 3". The start address E, for example bit "253", is the constant start address of the technology interface 3 for the robots "Variant 1" and "Variant 3". The start address F, for example bit "386", for the robots "Variant 1" and "Variant 2" the constant start address of the technology interface 4 or for the robot "Variant 3" the constant start address of the technology interface 7. For all three robots the end address G, for example at bit "4096", forms the constant end address of the technology interfaces.

However, such a static specification of the technologies means that the technologies cannot be combined with one another as desired. Only certain technology combinations are available. For example, technology 2 cannot be provided in addition to technology 5 for the “Variant 3” robot, since the corresponding address range has already been assigned. This reduces the Flexibility in the use of the robots of the production plants and leads to the number of robots increasing in the worst case so that the required technologies can be used. In addition to the lack of flexibility, a previous OEM standard is also tied to the fact that different manufacturers of a functional unit implement an identical and/or a specified I/O interface. In addition, these functional units from different manufacturers must behave in approximately the same way so that the production plant can be operated as intended.

Against this background, it is an object of the present invention to improve a method for operating a manufacturing plant with a robot and a programmable logic controller and a manufacturing plant with a robot and a programmable logic controller, in particular to the effect that the robots are more flexible for predeterminable technologies and functional units, such as tools and other process devices, can be used in extensive combination.

To solve this problem, a method for operating a production plant according to claim 1 and a production plant according to the independent claim are proposed. Further advantageous configurations of the invention are described in the dependent claims and the description as well as shown in the figures.

The proposed solution provides a method for operating a production facility with a robot and a programmable logic controller, the robot being set up to use a number of technologies and a number of functional units. Communication between the robot, a functional unit assigned to the robot, in particular a tool or another type of field device, and the programmable logic controller (PLC) takes place via a fieldbus, with address areas being assigned to signal declarations for the technologies and signal declarations for the functional units during the initialization of the robot , each of which comprises a plurality of address fields and which can be accessed via the fieldbus. A start address is assigned to the signal declarations of each technology and the signal declarations of each functional unit, with the respective start address being defined relative to a fixed reference address. In particular, dynamically calculated signal addresses are used for the configuration of a necessary signal exchange between the individual functional units. A start address is advantageously assigned to the signal areas for the technology-related signal exchange with the PLC and for the signal exchange with the process-relevant technology devices, with the respective start address advantageously being defined relative to a fixed reference address. The respective start address is in particular the first address of a respective field device. In particular, it is provided that the signal declarations of each technology are each assigned a start address relative to a first fixed reference address and the signal declarations of each functional unit are each assigned a start address relative to a fixed second reference address. This advantageously enables flexible and technology-independent serialization of technology and/or device address areas, which in turn advantageously enables diverse combinations of technologies and functional units that a robot can use.

The relative indices of the signal declarations for the PLC and the associated functional units advantageously define the respective technology. Further advantageously, during initialization, each field device receives its own signal area in the robot controller, which in turn is advantageously assigned to the corresponding address area on the fieldbus. This address range is used in particular for signal exchange, in particular for signal exchange with the higher-level controller, in particular with the PLC and/or the robot, further in particular for processing inputs and/or providing outputs. If a technology contains a number of functional units, it is advantageously provided that the signal areas are contiguous and form a higher-level signal area of the technology entity. In particular, a signal area comprises a plurality of signal declarations, and each technology comprises in particular a plurality of signal declarations.

It is further provided in particular that the production facility is a highly automated production facility, in particular a highly automated motor vehicle production facility. In particular, the production facility can include a plurality of robots. Each robot of the production plant can be set up in particular to use several of the same technologies, for example to carry out several welding processes, to use the same and different technologies, for example to carry out several welding processes and for clinching, or to use only different technologies, for example for punch riveting, gluing and riveting. In addition, a robot can be designed to use one or more functional units, esp special one or more tools and/or other process devices. In this case, a number of identical functional units, identical and different functional units or only different functional units can be assigned to a robot. Advantageously, the start addresses for the different technologies and the start addresses for the different functional units are no longer assigned exclusively to fixed address areas, which each start at fixed, defined bit positions. Instead, as already explained, the start addresses are advantageously defined relative to a fixed reference address, it being possible for the reference address to be different in each case, in particular for the technologies and the functional units.

According to an advantageous embodiment, it is provided that the reference address is equal to the first start address of signal declarations of a first technology, ie the reference address corresponds to the first start address of signal declarations of a first technology. This start address advantageously follows the end address of a basic interface in which basic inputs and outputs are defined. This first start address of the first technology is advantageously used for the relative determination of the start addresses for all further technologies. Advantageously, there is only one fixed reference address for the technologies. In particular, it can also be provided that the start addresses for the functional units are also defined in relation to this first start address of the first technology. However, it is preferred that a first start address of signal declarations of a first functional unit is assigned to a further fixed reference address, which is independent of the first start address of signal declarations of the first technology. In this way, the assignment of signal declarations of the technologies and the assignment of signal declarations of the functional units is advantageously clearly separated. In addition, an implementation can be simplified as a result. In addition, this can simplify daily use.

Advantageously, for the robot-side initialization, the signal declarations of a respective technology are serially assigned to the address area, beginning with the reference address. Further advantageously, for the robot-side initialization, the signal declarations of a respective functional unit are serially assigned to the address range, beginning with the reference address. The serialization is advantageously based on the fact that flexible start addresses are defined and the technologies or the functional units are then arranged in series. Advantageously, better use can thus be made of the available address areas.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the signal declarations for the technologies are assigned to directly consecutive address areas, the start address of signal declarations of a subsequent technology being assigned to an address field that follows a last address field occupied by signal declarations of a preceding technology. The address areas are thus advantageously lined up additively, with advantageously only exactly the number of address fields or bits required in each case being assigned for each technology. This number of address fields or bits for a particular technology is also referred to below as the technology width. The address ranges result in particular in addition to "first start address of the first technology" + "technology width 1" + "technology width 2" + ... + "technology width n". Advantageously, any combination of technologies can thus be made possible flexibly and, if required, new technologies can be integrated in a simplified manner.

A further advantageous embodiment provides that the signal declarations for the functional units are assigned to directly consecutive address areas, the start address of signal declarations of a subsequent functional unit being assigned to an address field which follows a last address field occupied by signal declarations of a preceding functional unit. The address areas are thus advantageously lined up additively, with each functional unit advantageously only ever being assigned precisely the respectively necessary number of address fields or bits. This number of address fields or bits for a respective functional unit is also referred to below as the functional unit width. The address areas result in particular in addition to "first start address of the first functional unit" + "functional unit width 1" + "functional unit width 2" + ... + "functional unit width n" or alternatively to the first starting address of the first technology" + "technology width 1" + " Technology width 2" + ... + "technology width n" + "functional unit width 1" + "functional unit width 2" + ... + "functional unit width n". Advantageously, any combination of functional units can be flexibly enabled and, if necessary, new functional units can be integrated in a simplified manner .

Due to the fact that the signal declarations are advantageously assigned to directly consecutive address areas, the limited resource “address area” is advantageously used very well. In addition, a number of technologies and/or functional units can advantageously be assigned to one robot, especially in the case of longer cycle times.

A further embodiment provides that the start address of signal declarations for a first functional unit is assigned to an address field that follows an address range that follows a last address field occupied by signal declarations of a last technology. This increases flexibility even further. According to an advantageous embodiment variant, however, the start address of signal declarations for a first functional unit is assigned to an address field with a further fixed reference address. This separation of technologies and functional units advantageously entails various simplifications in practice, in particular with regard to current production systems. In particular, there can be several unoccupied address fields between the address field of a last signal declaration of a last technology and the fixed reference address.

With the assignment of signal declarations for a respective technology to an address area, inputs and outputs for the respective technology are advantageously configured in each case for a device fieldbus interface of the production plant. With the assignment of signal declarations for a respective technology to an address range, inputs and outputs for the respective technology are configured in each case for a PLC fieldbus interface of the programmable logic controller. Advantageously, the respective technology can then be used directly.

In particular, with the assignment of signal declarations for a respective technology to an address area, technology information about the respective technology is stored in a memory unit of the robot. This technology information relates in particular to the start addresses for signal exchange with the PLC and the functional units. In addition, the distinction between technologies of the same type that differ with regard to the functional units can be stored. In particular, in the case of a specific technology, a distinction can be made between the different implementations in terms of signal configuration and process between manufacturer A and manufacturer B. Advantageously, the number of functional units can also be configured. It is possible to use different manufacturers in one technology.

Provision is also advantageously made for a number of address fields, which is occupied for a respective technology in an address area, to be stored. Advantageously, this results in the technology breadth or functional unit breadth. The stored information is then advantageously used, for example, when a technology is called, in order to determine the start address of the called technology based on the reference address and the respective number of address fields.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the method, it is provided that in addition to the initialization of the robot, the programmable logic controller is initialized, the programmable logic controller being initialized in particular parallel to the initialization of the robot. Advantageously, the respective technologies and/or functional units are gradually set up completely for an application.

Furthermore, the data representing the different technologies are advantageously instantiated and parameterized during the initialization of the programmable logic controller. The technologies are advantageously adapted in this way for the specific application.

A further advantageous refinement of the method provides that, in order to execute one of the technologies using the robot, the respective start address is called up relative to the fixed reference address. In particular, to execute one of the technologies using the robot, the respective start address is called up relative to the first start address of the first technology, with the respective start address of a technology "n" in particular being the sum of "first start address of the first technology" + "technology width 1" + "technology width 2" + ... + "Technology width n-1".

Further advantageously, for the use of one of the functional units using the robot, the respective start address is called up relative to the fixed reference address, in particular relative to the fixed further reference address. In particular, for the execution of one of the functional units in connection with the use of the robot, the respective start address is relative to the first start address ress of the first functional unit is called, with the respective start address of a functional unit "m" being called in particular as the sum of "first start address of the first functional unit" + "functional unit width 1" + "functional unit width 2" + ... + "functional unit width m-1".

In particular, it is provided that when a technology command related to one of the technologies is called, a query is made regarding the start address of the corresponding technology. The distance, ie the number of address fields, between the start address of the corresponding technology and the first start address of the first technology is determined in particular. This distance is also referred to below as the "I/O offset" (I/O: input/output).

A start address of signal declarations to be called is advantageously called starting from the reference address as the sum of the number of address fields of subsequent signal declarations for the technologies and/or for the functional units up to a last address field of signal declarations immediately preceding the target data. The signal declarations to be called up are the signal declarations stored in the address area for the selected technology or the selected functional unit. For calling the start address of signal declarations of a technology to be called, the reference address is in particular equal to the first start address of the first technology. For calling the start address of signal declarations of a functional unit to be called, the reference address is in particular equal to the first start address of the first functional unit.

For communication between the robot and the programmable logic controller, when a technology command is executed, an address field distance between the reference address and a respective start address is advantageously used in each case. An address field spacing between the further reference address and a respective start address of a functional unit is also advantageously used for communication between the robot and a respective functional unit. Advantageously, no fixed addresses have to be defined for each technology and each functional unit in order to be able to execute a technology command. Since the address field spacing can change with changes in the technology combinations or with changes in the combinations of the functional units, a respective technology can advantageously continue to be called via the changed address field spacing, advantageously without having to make further adjustments.

An advantageous assignment of the address areas, as explained above, is to be illustrated on the basis of the following table. "I/O" stands for "input/output", "PLC" for "programmable logic controller", TB for technology width and FB for functional unit width.

In this embodiment, a start address A is the start address of the base interface, which, however, could in principle also be set flexibly to a fixed reference address. The end address of the basic interface is located at the end address B, but this also does not have to be fixed. The first start address C of technology 1 is fixed as the first reference address for the technologies that can be used by the robot. TB1 is the flexible width of the technology interface for technology 1 and is a specific number of address fields. TB2 is the flexible width of the technology interface for technology 2 and also has a specific number of address fields. The end address D is the flexible end address that results for the technology interfaces. The first start address E of the functional unit 1 is fixed as the second fixed reference address for the functional units that can be used by the robot. FB1 is the flexible width of the functional unit interface for functional unit 1 and is a certain number of address fields. FB2 is the flexible width of the functional unit interface for functional unit 2 and is a certain number of address fields. The end address F is the flexible end address resulting for the functional unit interfaces.

The production plant that is also proposed to solve the task mentioned at the outset, with a robot that is set up to use a number of technologies and a number of functional units, a programmable logic controller, and at least one functional unit that is assigned to the robot, with the robot being the functional unit assigned to the robot and the programmable logic controller for the transmission of data via a fieldbus are connected for operation in accordance with a method designed according to the invention. In particular, the production system is set up so that a respective start address of a technology or a functional unit is defined relative to a fixed reference address and the respective start address of a technology or a functional unit is called up relative to the fixed reference address. In particular, the production facility is a highly automated production facility, in particular a motor vehicle production facility.

• 1a in einer stark vereinfachten schematischen Darstellung ein Ausführungsbeispiel für eine erfindungsgemäß ausgebildete Fertigungsanlage;
• 1b in einer schematischen Darstellung ein Ausführungsbeispiel für eine Adressierung von Technologien und Funktionen gemäß einem erfindungsgemäß ausgebildeten Verfahren; und
• 2 in einem Ablaufdiagramm ein Ausführungsbeispiel für eine Ausführung eines erfindungsgemäß ausgebildeten Verfahrens.

Further advantageous details, features and design details of the invention are explained in more detail in connection with the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the figures (Fig.: Figure). It shows:

• 1a in a highly simplified schematic representation, an exemplary embodiment of a production plant designed according to the invention;
• 1b in a schematic representation, an exemplary embodiment for addressing technologies and functions according to a method designed according to the invention; and
• 2 in a flowchart, an exemplary embodiment for an execution of a method designed according to the invention.

With reference to 1a and 1b an exemplary embodiment of a production system 1 designed according to the invention with a robot 2, a programmable logic controller 3 and two functional units 51, 52 assigned to the robot 2 is explained. The robot 2 is set up to use a number of technologies 41, 42, 43 and a number of functional units 51, 52, 53, 54. In this exemplary embodiment, it is provided that the robot 2 is set up to use the technologies of spot welding 41 , gripping 42 and 43 riveting. This means that the robot 2 is set up to execute these technologies 41, 42, 43 with appropriate activation. In addition, the robot 2 in this exemplary embodiment is set up for using the functional units spot welding control 51 , cap milling cutter 52 , valve terminal 53 and hollow punch rivet control 54 . These functional units 51, 52, 53, 54 are in connection with the technologies 41, 42, 43, for the use of which the robot 2 is set up. In this exemplary embodiment, however, the robot 2 is only assigned a tip milling cutter 52 and a spot welding controller 51 as functional units. In addition, the robot 2 in this exemplary embodiment includes a WPS gun 22 (WPS: resistance spot welding), which is not defined as a further functional unit, but is assigned directly to the robot 2 and, like the entire robot 2, is controlled via the robot controller 21 . The robot 2, the robot controller 21, the programmable logic controller 3, the tip milling cutter 52 assigned to the robot 2 and the spot welding controller 51 assigned to the robot 2 are connected to one another via a fieldbus 6, with data required for operating the production system being transmitted via this fieldbus 6 . In particular, a data packet includes at least one address and the binary information. The binary information describes in particular signals that can represent in particular the measurement data of a sensor or the switching state of an actuator.

The robot controller 21 itself is a field device that is connected both to the higher-level programmable logic controller and to subordinate field devices, such as the spot welding controller 51 in this exemplary embodiment. In this exemplary embodiment, the robot controller 21 uses signal declarations that can be formed both internally from variables in the robot controller 21 itself and in address areas of the field bus 6 . During the control sequence, these signal declarations can be used numerically, in particular via an index, or symbolically, in particular via a name. The arrangement of these signal declarations is, in particular, independent of the respective address ranges of the field bus 6. The assignment of address to signal declaration for the robot control is defined during initialization during commissioning.

In order to be able to operate the production system 1, signal declarations for the various technologies 41, 42, 43 and signal declarations for the various functional units 51, 52, 53, 54 are each assigned address areas 8 for an initialization of the robot 2, as in 1b shown, which can be accessed via the fieldbus 6. In this case, the address areas 8 have a plurality of address fields 7 which can each be addressed via an address. The signal declarations of each technology 41, 42, 43 are each assigned a start address 9, which is defined and called relative to a fixed first reference address 11, and the signal declarations of each functional unit 51, 52, 53, 54 are each assigned a start address 9 , which is defined and called up relative to a fixed second reference address 12 . The signal declarations for the technologies 41, 42, 43 are serially assigned to the address area 8 starting at the first reference address 11 and the signal Declarations for the functional units 51, 52, 53, 54 are serially assigned to the address range 8 starting at the second reference address 12.

In a first address area 8, which in this exemplary embodiment, as in 1b shown, is defined from a bit "1" as the start address 9 to a bit "512" as the end address 10, a basic package of signal declarations is initially stored, which particularly relates to robot interlocks, quality data, etc. The signal declarations of the first spot welding technology 41 are assigned to the directly adjoining address area 8 with bit “513” as start address 9. The signal declarations of the first spot welding technology 41 occupy sixteen address fields 7, so that the technology width is 16 bits. For the first technology 41 and the other technologies 42, 43, the start address 9 for the spot welding 41 is set at bit "513" as a fixed reference address.

The signal declarations of the other technologies 42, 43 are then assigned to directly consecutive address areas 8, the start address 9 of signal declarations of a subsequent technology being assigned to an address field 7 that follows a last address field 7 occupied by signal declarations of a preceding technology. This means that the start address 9 for the second gripping technology 42 results from the reference address "513" and the address field spacing 15 resulting from the technology width, which in this case is 16 bits, as the sum of 513 and 16 to 529. Since the second technology gripping 42 has a technology width of 32 bits in this exemplary embodiment, the address field distance to the reference address is 513 bits, i.e. 16+32, and the start address for the third technology riveting 43 results in the sum of 513+16+32. There are no blank address fields 7 between the spot welding 41 and gripping 42 technologies and between the gripping 42 and riveting 43 technologies. The address areas 8 are thus optimally used. However, a number of unused address fields 7, ie address fields 7 to which no signal declarations are assigned, are provided between the end address of the latest technology 43 and the start address 9 of the first spot welding controller 51 functional unit. The start address 9 of the first functional unit spot welding controller 51 is at bit “1032” and is the reference address 12 for this functional unit 51 and the other functional units 52, 53, 54 for assigning and calling the respective start address 9 of a respective functional unit. Here, too, the address areas 8 starting from the reference address 12 with the signal declarations for the functional units 51, 52, 53, 54 are written directly one after the other and the functional unit width, i.e. the address distance starting from the start address to the end address of the signal declarations for a respective functional unit, is stored in order to to call up the start addresses for use. In this exemplary embodiment, the spot welding control functional unit 51 has an address field spacing of 124 bits, the cap milling cutter functional unit 52 has an address field spacing of 124+8 bits, the valve terminal functional unit 53 has an address field spacing of 124+8+64 bits and the hollow punch rivet control functional unit 54 has an address field spacing of 124 +8+64+40 to reference address 12 at bit "1032". This type of relative definition of the start addresses allows further technologies and further functional units to be easily supplemented or exchanged for existing ones in order to be able to convert the robot 2 accordingly. The combinability of technologies and the combinability of functional units is therefore only subject to the limitation of the address field area 8, which is limited overall, but not limited by permanently assigned and fixed start addresses for technologies and functional units anchored in standards, which is illustrated using the table below.

State-of-the-art combinability:

Combinability according to the invention:

In this context, technology 1 can mean, for example, riveting, entity 1, for example, first riveting control, and entity 2, for example, second riveting control.

In 2 FIG placed. In particular, the manufacturing plant can be a manufacturing plant, as with reference to 1a and 1b explained, be. The designation I/O offset corresponds to the term address field spacing.

In this case, the robot-side and the PLC-side initialization within the scope of a technology configuration is shown in block B1. The technologies to be configured are successively initialized. During the initialization of the programmable logic controller, the data representing the different technologies are successively instantiated and parameterized. In addition, with the assignment of data for a respective technology to an address range (field: "Initialize next technology"), inputs and outputs for the respective technology are configured for a device fieldbus interface as a functional unit fieldbus interface and for a PLC fieldbus interface of the programmable logic controller inputs and outputs configured for the respective technology, which is in 2 denoted by "I/O configuration".

In addition, with the assignment of signal declarations for a respective technology to an address area, technology information for the respective technology is stored in a memory unit of the robot, in 2 referred to as “robot memory”, and a number of address fields that are occupied in an address range for a particular technology are stored. Since the signal declarations for the technology are written serially, the information regarding the number of occupied address fields for a respective technology is relative to a reference address for addressing the respective technology, as described above with reference to FIG 1b already explained, used when calling a technology command (block B2). To execute an initialized technology using the robot, the respective start address of the selected technology is called relative to the fixed reference address. To do this, when a technology command related to one of the technologies is called, a query is made regarding the start address of the corresponding technology, which can be done with the field "Determine I/O offsets" in 2 is shown. There are therefore no fixed start addresses stored for the technologies, but the respective start address must first be determined. The same applies accordingly to the functional units.

The exemplary embodiments illustrated in the figures and explained in connection with these serve to explain the invention and are not restrictive of it.

Reference List

1

manufacturing plant

2

robot

21

robot controller

22

WPS pliers

3

programmable logic controller

41

first technology

42

second technology

43

third technology

51

first functional unit

52

second functional unit

53

third functional unit

54

fourth functional unit

6

fieldbus

7

address field

8th

address range

9

start address

10

end address

11

first reference address

12

second reference address

15

address field spacing

B1

"Initialization" block

B2

"Execution of technology commands" block

Claims (19)

Method for operating a production system (1) with a robot (2) and a programmable logic controller (3), the robot (2) being able to use a number of technologies (41, 42, 43) and a number of functional units (51, 52, 53, 54 ) is set up, wherein communication between the robot (2), a functional unit (51, 52) assigned to the robot (2) and the programmable logic controller (3) takes place via a field bus (6), wherein during an initialization of the robot (2 ) Signal declarations for the technologies (41, 42, 43) and signal declarations for the functional units (51, 52, 53, 54) each have a plurality of address fields (7) comprising address areas (8) which can be accessed via the fieldbus (6). can be assigned, and wherein the signal declarations of each technology (41, 42, 43) and the signal declarations of each functional unit (51, 52, 53, 54) are each assigned a start address (9), characterized in that the respective start address (9) relative to a fixed reference address (11, 12). procedure after claim 1 , characterized in that the reference address (11) corresponds to the first start address of signal declarations of a first technology (41). procedure after claim 1 or claim 2 , characterized in that for the robot-side initialization, the signal declarations of a respective technology (41, 42, 43) and the signal declarations of a respective functional unit (51, 52, 53, 54) are assigned serially starting with the reference address (11, 12) to the address range (8th ) be assigned to. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the signal declarations for the technologies (41, 42, 43) are assigned to directly consecutive address areas (8), the start address (9) of signal declarations of a subsequent technology (42, 43) being an address field (7) which follows a last address field (7) occupied by signal declarations of a preceding technology (41, 42). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the signal declarations for the functional units (51, 52, 53, 54) are assigned to directly consecutive address areas (8), the start address (9) of signal declarations of a subsequent functional unit (52, 53, 54) is assigned to an address field which follows a last address field occupied by signal declarations of a preceding functional unit (51, 52, 53). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the start address of signal declarations for a first functional unit (51) is assigned to an address field which follows an address range (8) which refers to a last signal declaration of a last technology (43). address field. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the start address (9) of signal declarations for a first functional unit (51) is assigned to an address field (7) with a further fixed reference address (12). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that with the assignment of signal declarations for a respective technology (41, 42, 43) to an address area (8), inputs and outputs for the respective technology (41, 42, 43) can be configured. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that with the assignment of signal declarations for a respective technology (41, 42, 43) to an address area (8), respectively inputs and outputs for the respective technology (41, 42, 43) can be configured for a PLC fieldbus interface of the programmable logic controller (3). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that with the assignment of signal declarations for a respective technology (41, 42, 43) to an address area (8), technology information about the respective technology (41, 42, 43) in a memory unit of the robot (2) be saved. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a number of address fields which are occupied in an address area (8) for a respective technology (41, 42, 43) are stored. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the programmable logic controller (3) is initialized in addition to the initialization of the robot (2). procedure after claim 12 , characterized in that the data representing the different technologies (41, 42, 43) are instantiated and parameterized during the initialization of the programmable logic controller (3). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that to execute one of the technologies (41, 42, 43) using the robot (2), the respective start address (9) is called relative to the fixed reference address (11). Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that to use one of the functional units (51, 52, 53, 54) using the robot (2), the respective start address (9) relative to the fixed reference address (11) or relative to the permanently defined further reference address (12) is called up. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when a technology command relating to one of the technologies (41, 42, 43) is called up, the start address (9) of the corresponding technology (41, 42, 43) is queried. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a start address (9) of signal declarations to be called based on the reference address (11, 12) as the sum of the number of address fields (7) of subsequent signal declarations for the technologies (41, 42, 43) and/or for the functional units (51, 52, 53, 54) is called up to a last address field of signal declarations immediately preceding the signal declarations to be called. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an address field spacing (15) between the reference address (11) and a respective start address (9) for communication between the robot (2) and the programmable logic controller (3) when executing a technology command is used and/or that an address field distance (15) between the further reference address (12) and a respective start address (9) is used for communication between the robot (2) and a respective functional unit (51, 52, 53, 54). becomes. Production plant (1) with a robot (2) which is set up for using a number of technologies (41, 42, 43) and a number of functional units (51, 52, 53, 54), a programmable logic controller (3), and at least one functional unit ( 51, 52) which is assigned to the robot (2), the robot (2), the at least one functional unit (51, 52) assigned to the robot and the programmable logic controller (3) for the transmission of data via a field bus (6) are connected, characterized in that the production plant (1) for operation according to one of Claims 1 until 18 is set up.

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