Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
  • G05B19/00—Programme-control systems
  • G05B19/02—Programme-control systems electric
  • G05B19/04—Programme control other than numerical control, i.e. in sequence controllers or logic controllers
  • G05B19/05—Programmable logic controllers, e.g. simulating logic interconnections of signals according to ladder diagrams or function charts
  • G05B19/056—Programming the PLC
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
  • G05B11/00—Automatic controllers
  • G05B11/01—Automatic controllers electric
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
  • G05B2219/00—Program-control systems
  • G05B2219/10—Plc systems
  • G05B2219/15—Plc structure of the system
  • G05B2219/15115—Pc serves as plc, programming panel, monitoring panel

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a control device for an automation system comprising control elements connected to said control device by different BUS type links via at least one interface circuit.
• This kind of device finds important applications. In particular, it makes it possible to define the controls and also to monitor automation systems that may have a complex structure.
• This known device proposes to use a plurality of control assemblies for components to be controlled. This device therefore has a complex structure whose operation seems difficult to control.
• the present invention provides a device of the type mentioned in the preamble that wants to avoid complications and presents facilities for the design and implementation of the automation to which the device of the invention is affected. .
• control device is under the control of a PC and is constituted from a control environment, operating from an interpreted language and being formed of a part of development to determine the management of the different organs to be piloted and an operational part to act on said organs to be piloted.
• the invention proposes to centralize the control of the automation system, both for its operation and for its development.
• the use of interpreted language makes it easy to modify the commands and establish operating phases very simply.
• PCs currently have good speed characteristics and the interpretation of commands does not affect the speed of the system.
• the presence of a PC allows the use of high capacity memory which provides great facilities for the management of automation systems assigned to it.
• FIG. 1 shows the diagram of a device according to the invention
• FIG. 2 shows the structure of an interface circuit adapted to receive the commands of the device of the invention
• FIG. 3 shows a diagram illustrating the operation of the control device of the invention
• FIG. 4 shows a first screen displayed at the level of the screen of the control device according to the invention, relating to the initialization of the operating program of the control device of the invention
• FIG. 5 shows a second screen displayed. at the level of the control device according to the invention, relating to the main screen
• FIG. 6 shows a third screen appearing on the screen of the control device according to the invention, relating to the management of graphics of the type " grafcet "or similar,
• FIG. 7 shows a fourth screen appearing on the screen of the control device according to the invention relating to the display of elements of the automation system.
• FIG. 1 shows a device according to the invention.
• This device essentially comprises an industrial computer type computer 25.
• This computer 25 is supplied with 12 continuous volts either by a power supply unit 26 or by a battery 27 if the device is part of a system is on board.
• a set of peripherals 28 consisting essentially of a screen 30, a keyboard 32, a printer 34, a mouse 36 and a modem 38 for linking via the Internet.
• This computer 25 works in cooperation with a set of software cooperating with a set of program memory 40.
• To connect the computer 25 to the various control members 42, 43 and 44 for example: thermometers, manometers, solenoid valves, Various measures are proposed, since communication between this computer 25 and these devices must be managed, the operating phases of which must be managed.
• a first BUS line 50 and a second line 51 connected to the computer 25 are provided. These lines are preferably of the RJ485 type and transmit data.
• the link cable of lines 50 and 51 also transmits power to all interfaces 55, 56, 57, ...
• Line 50 is connected to different interface circuits 55, 56 and 57 using interconnection boxes 60, 61 and 62.
• interconnection boxes 60, 61 and 62 For the sake of clarity explanations, we will not mention the interconnections with the line 51, these being made from the same way.
• the program memory assembly includes memory spaces 65 and 66 dedicated to instructions that respectively make it possible to determine the management of the organs to be controlled and to act on these organs during operation.
• FIG. 2 shows the structure common to all the usable interfaces, in particular the circuits 55, 56 and 57, by the system of the invention. These interface circuits are formed from the same base circuit 70 to which adapted circuits 72 are associated. These adapted circuits 72 allow the dialogue with the blocks or functional units.
• the base circuit 70 essentially comprises a microcontroller 75 which must be programmed by a program injected on its terminal JTAG formed in fact by 4 access for conducting wires, a set of converters 77 which, starting from the voltages conveyed by the line 50, provides the voltages required for supplying the various components of the interface circuit, for example voltages of 5 Vdc and 3.3 Vdc, an RS485 / RS232 protocol converter, whose reference is 79, which converts the signals of the bus 50 into signals responding to the RS232 protocol to be admitted by the microcontroller 75.
• a backup battery 80 which allows operation of the microcontroller 75, in particular by saving certain important data, the state of the memories of the microcontroller and also offers the possibility of executing essential functions in case of power failure.
• the microcontroller communicates with the computer via an RS232 port.
• the presence of the RS485 / RS232 converter, whose reference is 79, is justified for the following reason. Indeed an RS232 link does not allow to transmit the signal over a distance greater than 30m at 9600 bauds.
• the RS485 protocol tolerates much greater distances which gives great flexibility for the implementation of the system of the invention.
• the microcontroller program is written the memory of the microcontroller at the factory by the JTAG link. Its initialization to define the identification address and the functions to be used is through the bus lines 50 and 51.
• Figure 3 shows the organization of the operation of the control device. This organization is based on information implemented in memory 40 of the computer 25. This organization uses in particular the system clock 300 of the computer 25 and its mass memory 305. The screen 30 is also used. Other elements of the computer components may also be used.
• a complete automation and data acquisition development environment is used which is more particularly usable with the automation system. Once the operating phases have been established, it is then possible using the same machine to implement the application at the customer, that is to say the end user.
• “Grafcets” developed to define the different actions to be performed with the functional blocks (see box K5). These different phases are shown in boxes K1 1, K12, K13 and K14 relating respectively to automations, variables, actions to be taken at the level of the organs to be controlled and the screens to be developed.
• the software has a screen generator for creating supervisory user interfaces. It is possible to visualize the variables, to create animations. Some buttons can act directly on the interfaces allowing to have a manual action for example to initialize them.
• the action on a button on the screen can trigger an operation that changes the value of a variable. Changing the value of the variable can make the condition of starting an automatism true.
• the automation can trigger a dialogue with an interface circuit via the BUS 50 line. This dialog can change the value of a variable which is displayed. In the declaration of the variable, one may have asked that it be recorded in the mass memory so that it takes again the last known value in case of revival of the program. This event can occur for example in case of power failure. In this case, the file containing the value of the variable will be modified. The screen will also be modified and will display the new value of the variable.
• Figure 4 shows the screen 30. This screen shows the initialization phase. Some lines are shown as an example.
• the lines L1 to L3 relate to parameters relating to system components:
• the lines L4 to L6 relate to variables assigned to the different organs to be controlled. For example, in the context of an example concerning the cleaning of industrial-type boilers (incineration plant, oil or coal-fired power plant, etc.), parameters are assigned to lances injecting liquids. cleaning inside boilers (line L4), injection pumps (line L5) and other variables (line L6).
• the line L7 is relative to the variables of the main cycle of "grafcets", the line L8 to the pumps etc.
• Figure 5 shows various parameters that govern the appearance of the main screen that the user views.
• Line L20 is relative to the name that is assigned to this screen.
• Line L21 defines a frame for a VLT object.
• the set of lines EL10 is relative to a set of indexed images (Vlt1 to Vlt12) s according to the value of the index which varies between 1 and 12, an image will be selected.
• the set of lines EL1 1 is relative to different buttons that can be shown and can, when selected, perform different tasks.
• Figure 6 shows a diagram "grafcet” established to define the operation of the automation system. This "grafcet” can be modified by the software editor incorporated in said control device. This diagram shows a double box
• FIG. 7 schematizes a visualization of the position of flaps 201, 202, 203, 204 attached to windows 21 1, 212, 213, 214 still in the context of an example.
• the automation is intended to determine the lowering of these components to manage for example the temperature of the parts they are supposed to control.
• Figure 7 shows the flaps located North (N) South (S) East (E) and West (W).
• the lowering of these flaps is measured by the positioning of a sensor located at their level and the value of this positioning is transmitted to the control device which finally determines the value of the index of the different images illustrating this lowering representing at best the 'actual lowering.
• This is an approach to the supervision of the system to be controlled. It is also possible to display different measured values at the system level in order to check the correct operation of the system. All the indicated operations are carried out by a programming language operating according to the interpreted mode specific to the software allowing to manage several languages.
• Supervision can consist of opening a window with an index indicating the current step. To determine an anomaly, breakpoints can be assigned to these steps and the value of critical variables can be checked. The supervision will indicate the values and also the designation of this variable.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
• Programmable Controllers (AREA)
• Control By Computers (AREA)

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• 2013
  • 2013-01-31 FR FR1350821A patent/FR3001553B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2013-02-20 US US13/771,522 patent/US20140214178A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-04-02 BR BRBR102013007897-2A patent/BR102013007897A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2013-06-03 CA CA2817553A patent/CA2817553A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-07-23 MX MX2013008540A patent/MX2013008540A/es unknown
  • 2013-10-23 EP EP13791855.3A patent/EP2951651A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2013-10-23 WO PCT/FR2013/052540 patent/WO2014118443A1/fr active Application Filing

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