CN116830056A - Production management device, production system, production management method, and production management program - Google Patents

Abstract

The production management device wirelessly communicates with a plurality of robots in a production system having the plurality of robots, and further comprises an information storage unit (190), a communication failure determination unit (112), and a failure condition analysis unit (114). An information storage unit (190) stores robot information including information indicating the outer shape of the robot and wireless quality information indicating the quality of wireless communication between the robot and the production management device. A communication failure determination unit (112) uses the wireless quality information to determine whether or not there is a communication failure in wireless communication. When it is determined that there is a communication failure, a failure condition analysis unit (114) uses the robot information to analyze a failure condition that is a condition in which the communication failure has occurred.

Description

Production management device, production system, production management method, and production management program

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a production management apparatus, a production system, a production management method, and a production management program.

Background

Due to the development of wireless communication technologies such as 5G (5 th Generation), the full use of wireless communication is expected to be advanced in industrial applications with a high technical threshold, particularly FA (Factory Automation) applications. In addition, it is considered that a particularly good effect is obtained if wireless communication is applied to a moving device such as an autonomous mobile robot or an automatic conveyor, which is difficult to wire.

However, no matter how reliable the wireless communication is, there are numerous factors that affect the quality of the wireless communication, such as the operation state of the robot and the surrounding environment, and it is difficult to take countermeasures against all the factors. Therefore, communication failures such as communication interruption may occur. In order to seek an improvement countermeasure for preventing the occurrence of a communication failure again when the communication failure occurs, it is necessary to analyze a phenomenon occurring when the communication failure occurs.

Patent document 1: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2012-137909

Disclosure of Invention

Patent document 1 discloses a method for avoiding a failure related to wireless communication by grasping position information and wireless quality information in advance by holding a map.

However, in some cases, the robot applied to the production system performs an operation such as changing the posture of the robot or changing the shape of the arm of the robot, and the operation other than the change in position affects the quality of wireless communication. Therefore, there are cases where the cause of a communication failure related to wireless communication of the robot cannot be properly analyzed by using only the position information.

The purpose of the present invention is to analyze the cause of communication failure related to wireless communication using information of a robot, that is, information indicating an operation other than a change in the position of the robot, in a production system having a robot that performs wireless communication.

The present invention relates to a production management device which performs wireless communication with a plurality of robots in a production system having the plurality of robots, the production management device comprising:

an information storage unit that stores a plurality of pieces of robot information including information indicating the respective outer shapes of the plurality of robots and a plurality of pieces of wireless quality information indicating the quality of wireless communication performed by the plurality of robots and the production management device, respectively;

a communication failure determination unit that determines whether or not communication failure has occurred in each of the wireless communications using each of the plurality of pieces of wireless quality information; and

a fault condition analyzing unit that analyzes a fault condition, which is a condition in which the communication fault is generated, using at least 2 pieces of robot information among the plurality of pieces of robot information when it is determined that the communication fault is present,

the robots are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the robot information,

the robots are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the wireless quality information.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, the condition causing the communication failure, i.e., the failure condition is analyzed using the robot information. Therefore, according to the present invention, in a production system including a robot that performs wireless communication, the cause of a communication failure related to wireless communication can be analyzed using information of the robot, that is, information indicating an operation other than a change in the position of the robot.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a production system 90 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of each of the production management device 100, the radio base station 300, and the robot 500 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of the radio quality information.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of robot information.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the control unit 110 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the production management device 100 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the robot 500 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the production management device 100 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the production management device 100 according to a modification of embodiment 1.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the control unit 110 according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the production management device 100 according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating the operation of production system 90 according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the control unit 110 according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the production management device 100 according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 15 is a diagram illustrating the operation of production system 90 according to embodiment 3.

Detailed Description

In the description of the embodiments and the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same elements and corresponding elements. The descriptions of the elements labeled with the same reference numerals will be omitted or simplified as appropriate. Arrows in the figure mainly represent the stream of data or stream of processing. In addition, "part" may be replaced with "circuit", "process", "step", "process", or "circuitry" as appropriate.

Embodiment 1

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

* Description of the structure

Fig. 1 shows a specific example of the structure of a production system 90. As shown in the figure, the production system 90 includes a production management device 100, a wireless base station 300, and a plurality of robots 500.

The production management device 100 performs wireless communication with each of the plurality of robots 500 via the wireless base station 300, manages all production activities performed by the robots 500, collects data from the robots 500, and when a communication failure occurs in the robots 500, analyzes the data collected from the robots 500 to estimate the cause of the communication failure. The communication failure is a failure related to wireless communication between the wireless base station 300 and the robot 500.

The wireless base station 300 realizes wireless communication between the production management apparatus 100 and the robot 500. For the purpose of improving the reliability of wireless communication, a plurality of wireless base stations 300 may be provided. Path1 through Path4 show an overview of Path. Path is a Path from a transmission source to a transmission destination in wireless communication.

The robot 500 is a device that performs a production-related job, and has a wireless unit 510, a job unit 520, a control unit 530, a moving unit 540, and a display unit 550. The robot 500 may not have a part of the units, may perform any work, and may perform work while moving. The production system 90 typically has a plurality of robots 500. The respective functions of the plurality of robots 500 may be different from each other.

The wireless unit 510 has a function of performing wireless communication.

The job unit 520 has a function of executing a job related to production. In the present example, the working unit 520 has a robot arm, but the working unit 520 may have other devices.

The control unit 530 has a function of appropriately communicating data with each unit of the robot 500 and controlling each unit of the robot 500.

The moving unit 540 has a function of changing the position of the robot 500. In the present example, the moving unit 540 has a tire as the moving member, but the moving unit 540 may have other moving members. The robot 500 may not have the moving unit 540, and may be moved by another robot 500 or the like.

The display unit 550 has a function of displaying information.

Fig. 2 shows a hardware configuration example and a functional configuration example of each of the production management apparatus 100, the wireless base station 300, and the robot 500.

The wireless base station 300 has an apparatus IF (Interface) unit 310 and a robot IF unit 320, and wireless communication between the production management apparatus 100 and the robot 500 is realized using the apparatus IF unit 310 and the robot IF unit 320.

The device IF unit 310 controls communication with the production management device 100.

The robot IF unit 320 controls communication with the robot 500.

The radio unit 510 includes a radio quality analysis unit 511, a base station IF unit 512, and a control unit IF unit 513.

The wireless quality analysis unit 511 analyzes the quality of the wireless communication based on information indicating the intensity of electromagnetic waves associated with the wireless communication between the wireless base station 300 and the robot 500, and generates wireless quality information indicating the quality of the analyzed wireless communication. The radio quality analysis unit 511 may generate radio quality information for each radio related parameter such as Path (or antenna). The radio quality information may also include information indicating a communication failure. The plurality of wireless quality information indicates the quality of wireless communication performed by each of the plurality of robots 500 and the production management apparatus 100. The plurality of robots 500 are in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of wireless quality information, respectively.

The base station IF unit 512 is connected to an antenna for wireless communication, and controls communication with the wireless base station 300.

The control unit IF section 513 controls communication with the control unit 530.

Fig. 3 shows a specific example of time series data representing radio quality information in the form of a graph. In the graph, radio quality corresponding to each of Path1 to Path4 is shown, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents a value of radio quality. Radio quality may not be 1-dimensional data. As a representative specific example of the index indicating the radio quality, there are a received power and an error rate. The radio quality may be a value obtained by using a plurality of pieces of information.

The job unit 520 has a job control part 521 and a control unit IF part 522.

The job control unit 521 controls a job executed by the job unit 520.

The control unit IF section 522 controls communication with the control unit 530.

The control unit 530 includes a control unit 531, a wireless unit IF unit 532, a work unit IF unit 533, a mobile unit IF unit 534, and a display unit IF unit 535.

The control unit 531 controls each unit of the robot 500. The control unit 531 may control each unit of the robot 500 using the robot information. The robot information includes control information indicating control of each of the plurality of robots 500, position information indicating positions where each of the plurality of robots 500 is located, and information indicating time corresponding to each of the pieces of information. Specifically, the time corresponding to the information is the time at which the information was acquired. The control information includes information indicating the external shape of each of the plurality of robots 500. Specifically, the external shape of the robot 500 includes the posture and orientation of the robot 500 and the state of the device of the robot 500. As a specific example, in the case where the device is a robot arm, the state of the device is the shape of the robot arm, an object gripped by the robot arm, and a space occupied by the object. The control unit 531 may communicate with each unit included in the robot 500 to acquire robot information, or may generate robot information using information acquired by communicating with each unit included in the robot 500. The plurality of robot information includes information indicating the outer shape of each of the plurality of robots 500. The plurality of robots 500 are in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of robot information, respectively.

The wireless unit IF unit 532 controls communication with the wireless unit 510.

Work unit IF unit 533 controls communication with work unit 520.

The mobile unit IF unit 534 controls communication with the mobile unit 540.

The display unit IF section 535 controls communication with the display unit 550.

The production management apparatus 100 includes a control unit 110, a base station IF unit 120, and an information storage unit 190.

The control unit 110 controls the operation of the production management device 100.

The base station IF unit 120 controls communication with the radio base station 300.

The information storage unit 190 stores robot information and wireless quality information. When the production system 90 includes a plurality of robots 500, the information storage 190 stores a plurality of pieces of robot information and a plurality of pieces of wireless quality information, which correspond to the plurality of robots 500, respectively.

Fig. 4 shows a specific example of robot information in a table format. In the present figure, the "tag" is an identifier given to each piece of information constituting the robot information. The "control input/output bit signal" is input/output data used by the control unit 530 to control each unit of the robot 500, and each bit of the "control input/output bit signal" is shown in this table. The size of the information corresponding to each tag is 16 bits, and numerals 1 to 16 directly below the flag "control input/output bit signal" represent the numbers of bits.

The production management device 100 acquires the robot information shown in the figure from each robot 500 at each time, and accumulates the robot information corresponding to each robot 500 in time series.

The moving unit 540 has a movement control section 541 and a control unit IF section 542.

The movement control unit 541 controls an operation related to movement of the moving unit 540.

The control unit IF section 542 controls communication with the control unit 530.

The display unit 550 has a display control section 551 and a control unit IF section 552.

The display control unit 551 controls operations related to the display of the display unit 550.

The control unit IF section 552 controls communication with the control unit 530.

Fig. 5 shows an example of the structure of the control unit 110. As shown in the figure, the control unit 110 includes an information accumulation unit 111, a communication failure determination unit 112, an analysis need/non-need determination unit 113, a failure condition analysis unit 114, and a display control unit 115.

The information accumulating unit 111 accumulates information received from the robot 500 in the information holding unit 190.

The communication failure determination unit 112 determines the presence or absence of a communication failure related to each of the wireless communications of the plurality of robots 500 using each of the plurality of wireless quality information. When it is determined that there is a communication failure, the communication failure determination unit 112 may determine the time when the communication failure occurs, the duration of the communication failure, or the like.

The analysis necessity determining unit 113 determines whether or not to analyze the communication failure.

When it is determined that there is a communication failure, the failure condition analysis unit 114 analyzes the failure condition using the robot information corresponding to the time when the communication failure occurred. In this case, typically, the fault condition analyzing unit 114 uses at least 2 pieces of robot information among the plurality of pieces of robot information. The fault condition is a condition that causes a communication fault, and may include a condition that is considered to be a cause of the communication fault and a condition that has a correlation with the communication fault. Specifically, the fault condition includes a date and time or place where the wireless quality is reduced, a condition of the robot 500 and the periphery of the robot 500 after the wireless quality is reduced, and a state of other robots 500. The fault condition analysis unit 114 may store the determined fault condition in the information storage unit 190. The fault condition analyzing unit 114 may analyze the fault condition corresponding to the communication failure of the wireless communication performed by the target robot using the robot information corresponding to the target robot, which is the robot 500 performing the wireless communication determined to have the communication failure, and the robot information corresponding to the robot 500 other than the target robot.

When the robot 500 has a communication failure, the failure condition analysis unit 114 may use only the robot information of the robot 500 that has a communication failure before and after the time when the communication failure has occurred when analyzing the failure condition corresponding to the communication failure. In this case, the fault condition analysis unit 114 may use, in addition to the robot information, the robot information of the robots 500 existing in the vicinity of the robot 500 that has caused the communication fault at this time, or may use the robot information of all other robots 500 existing in the production system 90.

The display control unit 115 controls the content displayed on the display device.

Fig. 6 shows a hardware configuration example of the production management device 100 according to the present embodiment in more detail. The production management device 100 is constituted by a computer. The production management device 100 may be constituted by a plurality of computers.

As shown in the figure, the computer is a computer having hardware such as a processor 11, a memory 12, an auxiliary storage device 13, an input/output IF 14, and a communication device 15. These pieces of hardware are connected to each other via signal lines 19.

The processor 11 performs arithmetic processing IC (Integrated Circuit) and controls hardware included in the computer. As specific examples, the processor 11 is CPU (Central Processing Unit), DSP (Digital Signal Processor) or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

The production management device 100 may also have a plurality of processors instead of the processor 11. The multiple processors share the responsibilities of processor 11.

Memory 12 is typically a volatile memory device. The memory 12 is also referred to as a main storage device or main memory. As a specific example, the memory 12 is RAM (Random Access Memory). The data stored in the memory 12 is saved to the auxiliary storage device 13 as needed.

The secondary storage device 13 is typically a non-volatile storage device. As a specific example, the auxiliary storage device 13 is ROM (Read Only Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or flash memory. The data stored in the auxiliary storage device 13 is loaded into the memory 12 as needed.

The memory 12 and the auxiliary storage device 13 may be integrally formed.

The input/output IF 14 is a port connected to an input device and an output device. Specifically, the input/output IF 14 is a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal. Specifically, the input device is a keyboard and a mouse. As a specific example, the output device is a display.

The communication device 15 is a receiver and a transmitter. Specifically, the communication device 15 is a communication chip or NIC (Network Interface Card).

The communication device 15 can be used appropriately by each part of the production management device 100 when communicating with other devices and the like.

When each unit of the production management apparatus 100 receives data, each unit of the production management apparatus 100 may receive data via the input/output IF 14, or may receive data via the communication apparatus 15.

The auxiliary storage device 13 stores a production management program. The production management program is a program for causing a computer to realize the functions of each unit included in the production management apparatus 100. The production management program may also be composed of a plurality of files. The production management program is loaded into the memory 12 and executed by the processor 11. The functions of the respective units included in the production management apparatus 100 are realized by software.

The data used when the production management program is executed, the data obtained by executing the production management program, and the like are appropriately stored in the storage device. Each part of the production management apparatus 100 uses a storage device as appropriate. Specifically, the storage device is configured by at least one of the memory 12, the auxiliary storage device 13, a register in the processor 11, and a cache memory in the processor 11. In addition, data and information sometimes have the same meaning. The storage device may also be independent of the computer. The information storage 190 may be constituted by a storage device.

The functions of the memory 12 and the auxiliary storage device 13 may be implemented by other storage devices, respectively.

The production management program may be recorded on a computer-readable nonvolatile recording medium. Specifically, the nonvolatile recording medium is an optical disk or a flash memory. The production management program may also be provided as a program product.

* Description of the actions

The operation flow of the production management apparatus 100 corresponds to a production management method. The program for realizing the operation of the production management apparatus 100 corresponds to the production management program.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the robot 500. The operation of the robot 500 will be described with reference to this figure.

(step S101: action execution processing)

The robot 500 performs a previously designated action.

(step S102: robot information transmitting process)

The control unit IF section 513 acquires robot information from the control unit 530.

The base station IF unit 512 transmits the robot information acquired by the control unit IF unit 513 and information indicating a time corresponding to the robot information to the production management apparatus 100 via the wireless base station 300.

(step S103: quality information transmitting process)

The radio quality analysis unit 511 analyzes the radio communication to generate radio quality information.

The base station IF unit 512 acquires the radio quality information from the radio quality analysis unit 511 together with information indicating the time corresponding to the radio quality information, and transmits the acquired radio quality information and information indicating the time corresponding to the radio quality information to the production management apparatus 100 via the radio base station 300.

(step S104: failure determination processing)

The radio quality analysis unit 511 analyzes radio communication and determines whether or not a communication failure has occurred.

When a communication failure occurs, the robot 500 proceeds to step S105. Otherwise, the robot 500 proceeds to step S101.

(step S105: failure information transmitting process)

The base station IF unit 512 transmits information indicating that a communication failure has occurred to the production management apparatus 100 via the radio base station 300.

In the case where the base station IF unit 512 cannot normally transmit data to the production management apparatus 100 due to occurrence of a communication failure, the robot 500 may not execute the processing of this step.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the production management device 100. The operation of the production management apparatus 100 will be described with reference to this drawing.

(step S121: robot information accumulation processing)

The base station IF unit 120 receives robot information from the robot 500. The information accumulating unit 111 accumulates the received robot information in the information holding unit 190.

(step S122: quality information accumulation processing)

The base station IF unit 120 receives wireless quality information from the robot 500. The information accumulating unit 111 accumulates the received wireless quality information in the information holding unit 190.

(step S123: communication failure determination processing)

The communication failure determination unit 112 determines whether or not a communication failure has occurred using the radio quality information accumulated by the information storage unit 190. The control unit 110 may determine that a communication failure has occurred based on a notification from the robot 500.

In the case where the communication failure occurs, the production management device 100 proceeds to step S124. Otherwise, the production management device 100 proceeds to step S121.

(step S124: analysis need or not determination processing)

The analysis necessity determining unit 113 determines whether or not to analyze the communication failure.

The control unit 110 may automatically determine to analyze the communication failure based on a rule or the like, or may determine to analyze the communication failure when the user instructs to analyze the communication failure. The user is a user of the production system 90.

When the communication failure is analyzed, the production management device 100 proceeds to step S125. Otherwise, the production management device 100 proceeds to step S121.

(step S125: fault condition extraction processing)

The fault condition analysis unit 114 analyzes the fault condition based on the robot information and the wireless quality information accumulated by the information storage unit 190. The fault condition analysis unit 114 analyzes the correlation between the time, place, robot operation, and the like and the wireless quality using the information accumulated by the information storage unit 190. The robot 500 determined by the communication failure determination unit 112 as having a communication failure is hereinafter referred to as the target robot. In addition, the general term of the robot information and the wireless quality information may be simply expressed as information.

Specifically, the fault condition analysis unit 114 analyzes information acquired or generated by the target robot, and extracts information highly correlated with the occurrence of a communication fault as a fault condition.

In this case, the fault condition analyzing unit 114 may analyze not only the information transmitted from the target robot but also the information transmitted from the other robots 500 to extract the fault condition. One of the effects obtained by the fault condition analyzing unit 114 using the information of the other robots 500 is an increase in the analysis information. Since the fault condition analyzing unit 114 also uses the past information of the other robots 500 that have experienced a situation similar to the situation of the robot 500 in which the communication fault has occurred as the analysis target, the information analyzed by the fault condition analyzing unit 114 increases, and thus the fault condition analyzing unit 114 is expected to analyze the communication fault with higher accuracy. The fault condition analysis unit 114 can verify whether or not the influence of the other robots 500 on the wireless quality of the target robot is present by making full use of the positional information of the other robots 500 at the time when the communication fault occurs in the target robot.

Further, the fault condition analyzing unit 114 may analyze not only the information related to the robot 500 but also position information of an operator in the production system 90 and other information that is considered to affect the wireless quality due to the possibility of shielding or reflection of wireless communication, such as materials of each device, and extract a fault condition. In addition, as a specific example, the production management apparatus 100 can acquire the other information from a monitoring camera that monitors the production system 90, a sensor provided in the production system 90, input information input by a user in advance, or the like.

(step S126: display control processing)

The display control unit 115 displays the fault condition on the display device.

* Description of effects of embodiment 1

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the system manager or the like can check the condition relating to the decrease in radio quality. The system manager is a manager of the production system 90.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it becomes easier for the system manager to take countermeasures related to communication failure.

* Other structures

< modification 1>

Fig. 9 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the production management device 100 according to the present modification.

As shown in the figure, the production management device 100 includes a processing circuit 18 in place of at least 1 of the processor 11, the memory 12, and the auxiliary storage device 13.

The processing circuit 18 is hardware for realizing at least a part of each section included in the production management apparatus 100.

The processing circuit 18 may be dedicated hardware or may be a processor that executes a program stored in the memory 12.

In the case where the processing circuit 18 is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 18 is, as specific examples, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (ASIC is Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof.

The production management device 100 may also have a plurality of processing circuits in place of the processing circuit 18. Multiple processing circuits share the responsibilities of processing circuit 18.

In the production management apparatus 100, a part of the functions may be realized by dedicated hardware, and the remaining functions may be realized by software or firmware.

As a specific example, the processing circuit 18 is implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

The processor 11, the memory 12, the auxiliary storage 13, and the processing circuit 18 are collectively referred to as "processing circuitry". That is, the functions of the respective functional components of the production management apparatus 100 are realized by the processing circuit system.

Embodiment 2

The differences from the foregoing embodiments will be mainly described below with reference to the drawings.

* Description of the structure

The configuration of the production system 90 according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the production system 90 according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 10 shows an example of the configuration of the control unit 110 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the control unit 110 includes a robot information calculation unit 116 and a quality information calculation unit 117 in addition to the components included in the control unit 110 according to embodiment 1.

The robot information calculation unit 116 calculates, as predicted robot information, robot information corresponding to each robot 500, which is robot information at each time in the future, using the information stored in the information storage unit 190. The robot information calculation unit 116 may select each robot 500 as the selected robot, and calculate predicted robot information corresponding to the selected robot by using the robot information corresponding to the selected robot. The predicted robot information is a lower concept of the robot information. Each future time point represents at least 1 future time point, and may be any future time point. Typically, the robot information calculation unit 116 obtains predicted robot information using the robot information.

The quality information calculation unit 117 calculates wireless quality information corresponding to each robot 500, which is wireless quality information at each future time, as predicted quality information using the information stored in the information storage unit 190. The quality information calculation unit 117 may calculate predicted quality information corresponding to the selected robot using predicted robot information corresponding to the selected robot. The predicted quality information is a lower concept of the radio quality information, and is also information indicating an expected value of the radio quality. Typically, the quality information calculation unit 117 obtains predicted quality information using predicted robot information. The quality information calculation unit 117 calculates the predicted quality information at a certain time, taking into consideration the position and the shape of each robot 500 at the certain time.

The quality information calculation unit 117 may calculate the predicted quality information with reference to a failure condition of a communication failure occurring in the past.

The communication failure determination unit 112 uses the predicted quality information as radio quality information, and determines whether or not a future communication failure is present.

The fault condition analyzing unit 114 analyzes a fault condition of a communication fault that may occur in the future, using predicted robot information corresponding to a time when the communication fault is predicted to occur. The fault condition analysis unit 114 may refer to a fault condition or the like related to a communication fault occurring in the past when extracting the fault condition.

The information storage unit 190 stores, as robot information, operation information set in each robot 500. That is, the robot information includes information indicating the operation of each robot 500. The operation information is information indicating the operation of each robot 500. The operation information may include information indicating a movement path of the robot 500 and information indicating an operation of a device included in the robot 500. The motion information may be information indicating the determined motion, or may be information indicating a rule for dynamically determining the motion of the robot 500 according to the status of the production activity or the like. The operation information stored in the information storage 190 may be information acquired from the robot 500 by the production management device 100, or may be information input to the production management device 100 by a system manager or the like.

* Description of the actions

The respective functional configurations of the hardware configurations of the production management apparatus 100, the wireless base station 300, and the robot 500 are the same as those of embodiment 1.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the production management device 100. The operation of the production management apparatus 100 will be described with reference to this drawing. The production management device 100 simulates the operation of each robot 500 and the wireless quality corresponding to each robot 500, and thereby determines whether or not communication failure occurs in each robot 500 in the future. The operation of each robot 500 includes movement of each robot 500 and control of the device of each robot 500.

(step S201: predictive robot information calculation processing)

The robot information calculation unit 116 calculates predicted robot information corresponding to each robot 500 using the information stored in the information storage unit 190, and stores the calculated predicted robot information in the information storage unit 190.

(step S202: prediction quality information calculation processing)

The quality information calculation unit 117 calculates predicted quality information corresponding to each robot 500 using the information stored in the information storage unit 190, and stores the calculated predicted quality information in the information storage unit 190.

(step S203: risk determination processing)

The communication failure determination unit 112 determines whether or not there is a risk of occurrence of a communication failure in the future with reference to an expected value shown in the predicted quality information for each robot 500.

In the case where there is a risk of communication failure in at least 1 robot 500 in the future, the production management device 100 proceeds to step S204. Otherwise, the production management device 100 proceeds to step S205.

(step S204: display control processing)

The display control unit 115 displays the fact that no communication failure occurs in all robots 500 on the display device.

(step S205: fault condition extraction processing)

The fault condition analyzing unit 114 performs the same processing as in step S125, thereby extracting a fault condition corresponding to a communication fault that may occur in the future.

When there is a risk of communication failure of the plurality of robots 500, the failure condition analysis unit 114 extracts failure conditions corresponding to the plurality of robots 500, respectively.

(step S206: display control processing)

The display control unit 115 displays information of the robot 500 and the extracted fault condition, which may cause degradation of the wireless quality, on the display device.

Fig. 12 shows an outline of the operation of the production management device 100. The START position represents the position of each robot 500 at the START time point of the simulation. A "-1" or the like following the number is a flag for distinguishing each radio base station 300 or each robot 500. Each robot 500 is represented by a circle. The arrow extending from each robot 500 at the START position indicates a movement path predicted to advance each robot 500 after the simulation STARTs. The robot information calculation unit 116 obtains a movement path shown in the figure by using the operation information of each robot 500.

The position of each robot 500 at a time t, which is a future time, is indicated by a circle with a broken line. At time t, robot 500-2 is present between robot 500-1 and wireless base station 300-1, and robot 500-3 is present between robot 500-1 and wireless base station 300-2. Therefore, the quality information calculation unit 117 predicts that the wireless quality of the robot 500-1 decreases at time t.

* Description of effects of embodiment 2

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the production management device 100 simulates the operation of the robot 500, and calculates the expected value of the wireless quality for each position of each robot 500 using the robot information and the wireless quality information of each robot 500 accumulated up to this point. As a result of the simulation, when it is determined that the expected value of the wireless quality is low, the risk of communication failure in the operation of the robot 500 set in advance is presented to the system manager by displaying the information of the robot 500 whose wireless quality is reduced together with the condition considered to cause the reduction of the wireless quality.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the production management device 100 evaluates the risk associated with the future communication failure. The production system 90 can avoid the risk of communication failure by making full use of the risk information evaluated by the production management apparatus 100.

Embodiment 3

The differences from the foregoing embodiments will be mainly described below with reference to the drawings.

* Description of the structure

The configuration of the production system 90 according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the production system 90 according to the foregoing embodiment.

Fig. 13 shows an example of the configuration of the control unit 110 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the control unit 110 includes an avoidance scheme derivation unit 118 in addition to the components included in the control unit 110 according to embodiment 2.

When it is determined that there is a communication failure in the future, the avoidance scheme derivation unit 118 derives a failure avoidance scheme corresponding to the communication failure based on a failure condition corresponding to the communication failure, and notifies the derived failure avoidance scheme to the robot 500. The failure avoidance scheme is a scheme that avoids a communication failure predicted to be generated in the future. The failure avoidance scheme may be an instruction to take an avoidance action for the robot 500, or may be information indicating a failure condition corresponding to a communication failure. The avoidance action is an action for avoiding a communication failure. The robot 500 may automatically take evasive action with reference to the received fault condition when the fault condition is received. The failure avoidance scheme is not limited to the instruction or the like to the robot 500 predicted to generate the communication failure, and may include an instruction or the like to another robot 500 related to the communication failure.

In addition, when the robot 500 changes the predetermined operation based on the instruction from the avoidance scheme derivation unit 118, the production management device 100 may re-perform simulation based on the information indicating the operation of the robot 500 after the change, and the avoidance scheme derivation unit 118 may notify the robot 500 of the new instruction based on the result of the re-performed simulation.

* Description of the actions

The production management device 100 according to embodiment 2 performs simulation with reference to the operation information set in the robot 500 and the information accumulated in the past. On the other hand, the production management device 100 according to the present embodiment acquires real-time data online, and performs simulation while fully utilizing the acquired real-time data. In the present embodiment, each of the plurality of pieces of robot information includes robot information as real-time data, and each of the plurality of pieces of wireless quality information includes wireless quality information as real-time data.

Each robot 500 appropriately notifies the production management device 100 of information of each robot 500, that is, information as real-time data.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the production management device 100. The operation of the production management apparatus 100 will be described with reference to this drawing.

(step S301: robot information accumulation processing)

The present process is the same as the robot information accumulation process according to embodiment 1.

The robot information calculation unit 116 may calculate predicted robot information and store the calculated predicted robot information in the information storage unit 190.

(step S302: quality information accumulation processing)

The present process is the same as the quality information accumulation process according to embodiment 1.

(step S303: prediction quality information calculation processing)

The present process is the same as the predicted quality information calculation process according to embodiment 2.

(step S304: risk determination processing)

The present process is the same as the risk determination process according to embodiment 2.

In the case where there is a risk of communication failure occurring in at least 1 robot 500 in the future, the production management device 100 proceeds to step S305. Otherwise, the production management device 100 proceeds to step S301.

(step S305: avoidance scheme derivation processing)

The avoidance scheme derivation section 118 derives a failure avoidance scheme corresponding to a communication failure having a risk of occurrence.

(step S306: avoidance instruction processing)

The avoidance scheme derivation unit 118 instructs the robot 500 to avoid degradation of wireless quality based on the derived failure avoidance scheme.

Fig. 15 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the simulation of the operation of each robot 500 in the future by the production management device 100 according to the present embodiment.

In the present figure, the production management device 100 receives real-time data from each robot 500, analyzes a communication failure generated in the future using the received real-time data, and instructs each robot 500 based on the result of the analysis. When it is determined that there is a risk of a communication failure occurring in the future, the production management device 100 instructs the robot 500 to take an avoidance action for avoiding the communication failure. The robot 500 takes the evasive action instructed by the production management apparatus 100. Further, the robots 500 may also communicate with each other to determine what evasive action each robot 500 takes.

In addition, within the box shown above the mark "simulation", an overview of the simulation performed by the production management apparatus 100 is shown. The production management device 100 performs simulation in the same manner as the production management device 100 according to embodiment 2. Further, the "danger" flag indicates that there is a risk of occurrence of communication failure when the robot 500-4 enters a place corresponding to the "danger". The production management device 100 instructs each robot 500 to avoid the communication failure.

* Description of effects of embodiment 3

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the robot 500 can avoid a communication failure predicted to occur in the future based on an instruction from the production management apparatus 100. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the robot 500 can be operated more stably in the production system 90.

* Other embodiments

The above-described embodiments may be freely combined, any constituent elements of the embodiments may be modified, or any constituent elements may be omitted in the embodiments.

The embodiments are not limited to the embodiments described in embodiments 1 to 3, and various modifications may be made as necessary. The flow described using the flow chart and the like may be changed as appropriate.

Description of the reference numerals

The system comprises a processor 11, a memory 12, an auxiliary storage device 13, an input/output IF (input/output) 15, a communication device 18, a processing circuit 19, a signal line 90, a production system 100, a production management device 110, a control unit 111, an information accumulation unit 112, a communication failure determination unit 113, a determination unit for determining whether to analyze the need, a failure condition analysis unit 114, a display control unit 115, a robot information calculation unit 116, a quality information calculation unit 117, a scheme deriving unit 118, a base station IF unit 120, an information storage unit 190, a wireless base station 300, a device IF unit 310, a robot IF unit 320, a robot 500, a wireless unit 510, a wireless quality analysis unit 511, a base station IF unit 512, a base station IF unit 513, a control unit IF unit 520, a work unit 521, a control unit IF unit 522, a control unit IF unit 530, a control unit 531, a control unit IF unit 533, a display unit IF unit 534, a display unit IF unit 535, a mobile unit 540, a mobile unit 541, a mobile control unit 541, a control unit 542, a control unit IF unit 550, a display 551, a display control unit, and a control unit IF unit 552.

Claims (9)

1. A production management device which performs wireless communication with a plurality of robots in a production system having the plurality of robots, respectively,

Wherein the production management device comprises:

an information storage unit that stores a plurality of pieces of robot information including information indicating the respective outer shapes of the plurality of robots and a plurality of pieces of wireless quality information indicating the quality of wireless communication performed by the plurality of robots and the production management device, respectively;

a communication failure determination unit that determines whether or not communication failure has occurred in each of the wireless communications using each of the plurality of pieces of wireless quality information; and

a fault condition analyzing unit that analyzes a fault condition, which is a condition in which the communication fault is generated, using at least 2 pieces of robot information among the plurality of pieces of robot information when it is determined that the communication fault is present,

the robots are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the robot information,

the robots are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the wireless quality information.

2. The production management device according to claim 1, wherein,

each of the plurality of robot information includes information indicating a position where each of the plurality of robots is located.

3. The production management device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the fault condition analysis unit analyzes a fault condition corresponding to a communication failure of wireless communication performed by the target robot using robot information corresponding to the target robot performing wireless communication determined to have the communication failure and at least 1 piece of robot information corresponding to at least 1 piece of robots other than the target robot.

4. The production management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein,

each of the plurality of robot information includes information indicating an operation of each of the plurality of robots,

the production management device further includes:

a robot information calculation unit that obtains predicted robot information indicating future robot information corresponding to a selected robot included in the plurality of robots, using the robot information corresponding to the selected robot; and

a quality information calculation unit that obtains predicted quality information indicating future wireless quality information corresponding to the selected robot using the predicted robot information,

the failure determination unit uses the predicted quality information as the wireless quality information, and determines whether or not there is a communication failure in wireless communication by the selection robot in the future.

5. The production management device according to claim 4, wherein,

the production management device further includes an avoidance scheme derivation unit that derives a failure avoidance scheme that avoids a communication failure of the wireless communication performed by the selection robot in the future, when it is determined that the wireless communication performed by the selection robot in the future has a communication failure.

6. The production management apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein,

the plurality of robot information each include robot information as real-time data,

the plurality of wireless quality information each includes wireless quality information as real-time data.

7. A production system having a plurality of robots and the production management device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in which,

the plurality of robots are each in wireless communication with the production management device, and transmit, to the production management device, robot information including information indicating the respective outer shapes of the plurality of robots and wireless quality information indicating the quality of wireless communication performed by the plurality of robots and the production management device, respectively.

8. A production management method executed by a production management device that performs wireless communication with a plurality of robots, respectively, in a production system having the plurality of robots, in which the production management method,

an information storage unit stores a plurality of pieces of robot information including information indicating the respective outer shapes of the plurality of robots and a plurality of pieces of wireless quality information indicating the quality of wireless communication performed by the plurality of robots and the production management device,

A communication failure determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a communication failure in each of the wireless communications using each of the plurality of pieces of wireless quality information,

when it is determined that the communication failure exists, the failure condition analyzing unit analyzes a failure condition, which is a condition in which the communication failure occurs, using at least 2 pieces of robot information among the plurality of pieces of robot information,

the robots are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the robot information,

the robots are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the wireless quality information.

9. A production management program for causing a computer as a production management device that performs communication failure determination processing and failure condition analysis processing, the production management device performing wireless communication with each of a plurality of robots in a production system having the plurality of robots, the computer storing a plurality of pieces of robot information including information indicating the respective outer shapes of the plurality of robots and a plurality of pieces of wireless quality information indicating the quality of the wireless communication performed by each of the plurality of robots and the production management device,

in the communication failure determination processing, the presence or absence of communication failure in each of the wireless communications is determined using each of the plurality of pieces of wireless quality information,

In the fault condition analysis processing, when it is determined that the communication fault exists, the fault condition which is the condition generating the communication fault is analyzed by using at least 2 pieces of robot information among the plurality of pieces of robot information,

the robots are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the robot information,

the robots are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the wireless quality information.