JP2003345433A - Control system and apparatus for equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control system and an apparatus for equipment for appropriately managing a control logic stored in the apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A control system 1 for the equipment is provided with an air conditioner 2, a station 5 and a managing device 6. The station 5 is connected with the air conditioner 2 to control it, and stores a control logic 91 for determining control contents of the air conditioner 2 to send equipment data 90 indicating a state of the air conditioner 2 and a logic state data 92 indicating a state of the control logic 91. The managing device 6 is connected with the station 5 and receives the equipment data 90 and logic state data 92. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an equipment control system and an equipment control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, equipment control systems for comprehensively controlling and managing various equipment such as air conditioning equipment and electric equipment have been used. The equipment control system includes equipment, an equipment controller connected to the equipment and controlling the equipment, and a management device for managing the equipment. The equipment control device transmits the equipment data indicating the status of the equipment to the management device,
The management device can manage the equipment based on the equipment data.

In such equipment control systems, equipment is often controlled by control logic stored in equipment control devices. This control logic is
For example, there are logic for determining the control content for performing optimal control of the equipment and logic for performing control for predicting a failure of the equipment, and the like, and determines the control content of the equipment. The equipment control device controls the equipment based on the judgment of the control logic. The executed control contents and control results are transmitted to the management device as facility device data. In the above example, the content of the executed optimal control, the data of the result of the optimal control, the data of the equipment for which the failure is predicted, and the like are transmitted.

As described above, according to the equipment control system, comprehensive control and management of the equipment can be performed.

[0005]

However, in such an equipment control system, the control logic stored in the equipment controller may not be properly managed.
In other words, even if the control logic that should be stored in the equipment control device does not function properly for some reason, the management device often cannot recognize these situations. For example, there may be a case where a malfunction occurs in the control logic stored in the equipment controller and the function is reduced. Further, in a facility equipment control system capable of upgrading the control logic, the control logic may be stored in an old version.
In such a case, if the management device does not grasp these situations, it is difficult to appropriately control and manage the equipment.

An object of the present invention is to provide an equipment control system and an equipment control apparatus which can appropriately manage control logic stored in the equipment control apparatus.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an equipment control system including an equipment, an equipment control device, and a management device. The equipment control device is connected to the equipment, controls the equipment, stores control logic for determining the control content of the equipment, and stores equipment data indicating the status of the equipment and logic indicating the state of the control logic. Send status data. The management device is connected to the equipment control device and receives the equipment data and the logic state data. Note that the state of the control logic means a state of the control logic necessary for the management device to grasp whether the control logic is functioning properly, such as the presence or absence of the control logic and the version of the control logic. The equipment data indicating the status of the equipment includes the executed control contents and the control results.

In this equipment control system, the equipment controller transmits logic state data indicating the state of the control logic to the management apparatus. For this reason, the management device
Based on the logic state data, the state of the control logic stored in the equipment controller can be grasped. Thereby, in this equipment control system, the control logic stored in the equipment control device can be appropriately managed.

A facility equipment control system according to a second aspect is the facility equipment control system according to the first aspect,
The equipment control device periodically sends the logic state data to the management device together with the equipment data. In this equipment control system, the equipment control device periodically sends the logic state data to the management device together with the equipment data. Therefore, the management device can periodically check the status of the control logic together with the status of the equipment. Thereby, in this equipment control system, the control logic stored in the equipment equipment control device can be managed more appropriately.

The equipment control system according to claim 3 is the equipment control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the equipment control device stores a plurality of control logics filed for each control logic. Remember. Since various control contents of the equipment can be considered, a control logic for determining the control content of the equipment is often prepared for each control content. Also, a plurality of different types of equipment may be connected to the equipment controller,
Also in this case, control logic is prepared for each type of equipment. In such a case, if a plurality of control logics are stored integrally, handling may be inconvenient. For example, it is inconvenient to delete or change some control logics or add control logics.

In this facility equipment control system, the facility equipment control device stores a plurality of control logics filed for each control logic, so that handling of each control logic is convenient. The equipment control system according to claim 4 is the equipment control system according to claim 3, wherein the logic state data is filed in order to distinguish control logic stored in the equipment control device. This is a code assigned to each logic.

In this equipment control system, the equipment controller is not the control logic itself to be stored,
The code assigned to each control logic is transmitted to the management device. Thus, the amount of transmitted logic state data can be reduced. Thereby, in this equipment control system, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication between the equipment control device and the management device required for appropriately managing the control logic.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the equipment control system is the equipment control system according to the third or fourth aspect, wherein the management device transmits the control logic converted into data, , Receive the control logic, file it and store it. In this equipment control system,
The equipment device control device stores a plurality of control logics filed for each control logic, and can receive the control logic transmitted from the management device and store it in a file. For this reason, by receiving new control logic from the management device, the equipment control device can add a control logic, upgrade the version, and the like. In addition, when adding a control logic or upgrading a stored control logic, the target control logic may be transmitted individually, and there is no need to transmit to other unrelated control logics. As a result, in this equipment control system, the amount of communication when adding a control logic or upgrading the stored control logic is reduced.

An equipment control system according to claim 6 is the equipment control system according to claim 5,
The management device stores logic management data indicating a state of the control logic stored by the equipment device control device. And
The management device compares the logic state data and the logic management data transmitted from the equipment control device, and if there is a control logic in which the logic state data and the logic management data are different, the logic state data and the logic management data are compared. Send different control logic.

In this equipment control system, the management device can grasp the state of the control device logic stored in the equipment control device by comparing the logic state data with the logic management data. Then, when there is a control logic in which the logic state data and the logic management data are different, the management device determines that the control logic is defective or has been upgraded, and transmits the control logic. For this reason, the equipment control device can update the control logic that is considered to have a malfunction with the new control logic transmitted from the management device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an equipment control system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the control logic predicts a failure of the equipment based on the equipment data. This is the prediction logic. In this equipment control system, logic state data representing the state of the prediction logic is transmitted to the management device. For this reason, the management device can grasp the state of the prediction logic stored in the equipment controller based on the logic state data. Thereby, in the equipment control system, the prediction logic stored in the equipment control device can be appropriately managed. If the prediction logic stored in the equipment controller has a problem or the prediction logic that should have been upgraded has not been upgraded, the function of predicting the failure may be reduced. In this equipment control system, the prediction logic can be appropriately managed, so that the reliability of the function of predicting a failure is improved.

An equipment control device according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is an equipment control device connected to a management device for managing the equipment and controlling the equipment, and includes a storage unit and a transmission unit. The storage unit stores control logic for determining the control content of the equipment. The transmission unit transmits, to the management device, equipment data indicating the control status of the equipment and logic state data indicating the state of the control logic.

In this equipment control apparatus, the transmission section transmits logic state data indicating the state of the control logic to the management apparatus. For this reason, the management device can grasp the state of the control logic stored in the equipment controller based on the logic state data. Thereby, according to this equipment control apparatus, the control logic stored in the equipment control apparatus can be appropriately managed.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS <Configuration of Equipment Control System> [Overview] FIG. 1 shows an equipment control system 1 to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. This equipment control system 1
Is the air conditioner 2 that performs air conditioning in the building
, And a system for remotely controlling the control of the air conditioner 2 by the management device 6.

The equipment control system 1 mainly includes a plurality of indoor units 3, outdoor units 4,
It comprises a station 5 and a management device 6. FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of each device of the equipment control system 1. [Indoor unit 3 and outdoor unit 4] The indoor unit 3 is provided in each room in the building, and sends conditioned air to each room. The indoor unit 3 is provided with an indoor heat exchanger (not shown) and an electric valve (not shown), and forms a refrigerant circuit with the outdoor unit 4. Further, the indoor unit 3 houses various sensors 30 such as a room temperature sensor.

The outdoor unit 4 is provided on the roof of a building or the like, and is connected to the indoor unit 3 by a refrigerant pipe and a communication line. The outdoor unit 4 includes an outdoor heat exchanger (not shown), an accumulator, a four-way switching valve, a compressor 40, and the like, and forms a refrigerant circuit with the indoor unit 3. Further, the outdoor unit 4 is provided with a discharge pipe temperature sensor 41 and a pressure sensor 42. The discharge pipe temperature sensor 41 is mounted on the discharge side of the compressor 40, and detects the discharge pipe temperature on the discharge side of the compressor 40. The pressure sensors 42 are provided on the discharge side and the suction side of the compressor 40, respectively, and detect the refrigerant pressure on the discharge side and the suction side of the compressor 40.

The number of outdoor units 4 is not limited to one.
A plurality of units may be arranged. Moreover, also about the indoor unit 3, several indoor units 3 are arrange | positioned, and several tens or several hundred units may be arrange | positioned. [Station 5] The station 5 is the outdoor unit 4
And a communication line, and is disposed in a management room in the building where the air conditioner 2 is disposed. The station 5 performs centralized control of a plurality of indoor units 3 connected to the outdoor unit 4. The station 5 includes a storage unit 50, a compression unit 5
1, a communication unit 52 and a control unit 53.

The storage unit 50 stores equipment data 90 of the air conditioner 2 and control logic 91 for determining the control content of the air conditioner 2. The equipment data 90 mainly includes operation data and control parameters of the air conditioner 2. The operation data includes the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor and the discharge pipe temperature sensor 41, the presence or absence of an abnormality in the air conditioner 2, the control performed by the indoor unit 3 and the outdoor unit 4, and the like. These operation data are obtained for each indoor unit 3 and each outdoor unit 4 at regular time intervals, for example, 1
It is detected every 0 minutes and stored in the storage unit 50. The control parameters include the set temperature of the indoor unit 3 and the setting of cooling and heating.

The control logic 91 mainly includes an optimum control logic for optimally controlling the air conditioner 2 under various conditions and a prediction logic for predicting a failure of the air conditioner 2. The control content determined by the optimal control logic is, for example, power demand control. The power demand control is control for suppressing the maximum demand power of the air conditioner 2 to the contract power or the management target power. In this power demand control, the control unit 53 monitors the demand power and continuously predicts the maximum demand power for each demand time period. According to the power demand control logic stored in the storage unit 50, the predicted power demand reaching the end of the demand time is calculated while monitoring the current power consumption within the demand time. When predicting that the predicted demand power amount exceeds the target power at the end of the demand time period, the control unit 53 transmits a control signal to the air conditioner 2 to stop the compressor 40 of the outdoor unit 4 or to stop the indoor unit 3.
Or the set temperature is changed by a predetermined value.

The control contents determined by the prediction logic include, for example, a failure prediction control due to an abnormality of the compressor 40 and a failure prediction due to a high pressure rise. In the failure prediction control due to the abnormality of the compressor 40, the control unit 53 controls the discharge pipe temperature detected by the discharge pipe temperature sensor 41 before starting the compressor 40 and the discharge pipe temperature before starting the compressor 40. Compare the discharge pipe temperature after a lapse of minutes. If the difference between these temperatures is equal to or more than a certain value, the control unit 53 determines that a failure may occur. In the failure prediction control based on the high pressure rise, the control unit 53 determines that a failure may occur if the pressure on the discharge side of the compressor 40 detected by the pressure sensor 42 is continuously higher than a predetermined value for 30 minutes or more. I do.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control logic 91 is stored in the storage unit 50 in a state where the control logics 91a, 91b, 91c,. The control logics 91a, 91b, 91c,.
The files are classified based on the models of the corresponding indoor unit 3 and outdoor unit 4 and the contents of control. The files include control logics 91a, 91b, 91c,.
・ The name is attached. The version of the control logic 91 can be upgraded, and the version numbers of the control logics 91a, 91b, 91c,. The control logics 91a, 91b, 91c,
.. Are transmitted as logic state data 92 representing the state of the control logic 91 from the communication unit 52 shown in FIG.

The compression means 51 is, for example, a data compression program stored in the storage unit 50 and compresses data. The compression means 51 compresses the operation data of the equipment data 90 and does not compress the control parameters. The logic state data 92, the control parameters, and the compressed operation data are sent to the communication unit 52.

The communication section 52 is connected to the communication line 8 and performs data communication with the management device 6 via the communication line 8. Note that the data transmitted and received by the station 5 is described in XML, and the station 5 and the management device 6
The data communication between is performed by TCP / IP HTTP. The communication unit 52 transmits the equipment data 90 such as the compressed operation data and control parameters to the management device 6. Further, the communication unit 52 stores the logic state data 9
Send 2. Further, the communication unit 52 receives the control logic 91 sent from the management device 6, and the received control logic 91 is stored in the storage unit 50.

The control unit 53 controls the air conditioner 2 using the control logic 91 and the equipment data 90. In addition, the control unit 53 causes the communication unit 52 to transmit the equipment data 90 for one day of the air conditioner 2 to the management device 6. The control unit 53 causes the logic state data 92 to be transmitted to the management device 6 together with the equipment data 90. [Management device 6] The management device 6 is a device that manages the air conditioner 2 connected to the station 5, and is located in a control center away from the building where the air conditioner 2 is located. The management device 6 includes a communication unit 60, a decompression unit 6
1, a management unit 62 and a storage unit 63.

The communication section 60 is connected to the communication line 8 and performs data communication with the station 5 via the communication line 8. The communication unit 60 includes the equipment data 90 and the logic state data 9 transmitted from the communication unit 52 of the station 5.
2 is received. The decompression unit 61 is, for example, a data decompression program stored in the storage unit 63 of the management device 6,
Decompress the compressed data. Since the operation data among the data received by the communication unit 60 is compressed data, the decompression means 61 decompresses the operation data. The logic state data 92, the control parameters, and the decompressed operation data are stored in the storage unit 63 of the management device 6.

The storage section 63 stores various data transmitted from the station 5. The storage unit 63 stores logic management data 93. The logic management data 93 is composed of the name and version number of the control logic 91 stored in the storage unit 50 of the station 5. That is, the logic management data 93 stores the correct control logic 9 that the station 5 should have stored.
1 is data.

The management unit 62 manages the air conditioner 2 based on the equipment data 90 transmitted from the station 5. The management unit 62 performs failure prediction and abnormality monitoring of the air conditioner 2 based on the equipment
Notify and dispatch service personnel. The management unit 6
2 verifies that the station 5 has the correct control logic 91. This verification is performed by comparing the logic management data 93 with the logic state data 92 transmitted from the station 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, the logic management data 9
3 and the logic state data 92 match,
The control logic 91 stored by the station 5 is determined to be functioning properly. As shown in FIG. 4, when the name of the control logic 91b included in the logic management data 93 is not included in the logic state data 92, the control logic 91b does not function in the station 5 or disappears. Is determined to be. FIG.
As shown in the figure, when there is a control logic 91b in which the version number included in the logic management data 93 does not match the version number included in the logic state data 92, the version of the control logic 91b of the station 5 is upgraded. And it is determined that it is still the old version. The management unit 62 corrects the correct control logic 91b of the control logic 91b which is not included in the logic state data 92 or whose version does not match.
b is transmitted from the communication unit 60 to the station 5. Further, the management unit 62 controls the control logic 91 of the station 5.
Is changed, or when a new control logic 91 is to be added to the station 5, the control logic 91 to be changed or added is transmitted to the station 5.

<Features> (1) In this equipment control system 1, the station 5 transmits the equipment data 90 to the management device 6 every day and the logic state data 92. Therefore, the management device 6 can grasp the state of the control device logic 91 stored in the station 5 by comparing the logic state data 92 with the logic management data 93. That is, when the control logic 91 stored in the station 5 has disappeared or a problem has occurred such as not being upgraded to a predetermined version, the management device 6 can grasp these situations. it can.

Then, the management device 6 transmits the normal or upgraded control logic 91b to the station 5. The station 5 can receive the control logic 91b transmitted from the management device 6, and store it in a file. For this reason, station 5
Can update the control logic 91 with the new control logic 91 transmitted from the management device 6, and can solve the above-described problems.

As described above, according to the equipment control system 1, the control logic 91 can be appropriately managed.
The reliability and accuracy of management of the air conditioner 2 performed by the management device 6 are improved. The control logic 91 stored in the station 5 is filed for each control logic 91. Therefore, when the control logic 91 is added or the stored control logic 91 is upgraded, the data of the target control logic 91b may be transmitted individually, and other unrelated control logics 91a and 91b may be used. 91c,
・ ・ It is not necessary to send to. Therefore, in the equipment control system 1, the control logic 91 can be easily added or upgraded, and the management device 6 can be easily updated.
The amount of communication when performing communication from the terminal to the station 5 is reduced.

(2) In this equipment control system 1,
The logic state data 92 transmitted by the management device 6 to grasp the state of the control logic 91 is not the control logic 91 itself stored in the station 5 but data composed of the name of the control logic 91 and the version number. . Therefore, the amount of the transmitted logic state data 92 is reduced. As a result, in the equipment control system 1, the communication amount between the station 5 and the management device 6 necessary for appropriately managing the control logic 91 is reduced.

(3) In this equipment control system 1,
The station 5 compresses and transmits the operation data of the equipment data 90. Since the operation data is time-series data detected at regular intervals, the data amount is
Usually larger. When the operation data is detected every minute as in the above example, 1440 data points are detected in one day. If this data is detected for a plurality of items such as temperature, pressure, and voltage for each of several hundred indoor units 3, the amount of operation data becomes enormous. If the time interval of the detection is shortened in order to perform fine management, the data amount further increases. Therefore,
When transmitting such operation data to the setting device, the transmission time increases. On the other hand, the control parameter has a smaller data amount than such operation data, and the transmission time does not become relatively long. In the equipment control system 1, the station 5 compresses the operation data and transmits the other data to the management device 6 without compression. For this reason,
By compressing the operation data, the communication time can be reduced, and by not compressing other data, the time required for compression / decompression can be omitted. As a result, in the equipment control system 1, the data processing time between the station 5 and the management device 6 can be reduced.

(4) In this equipment control system 1,
Data transmitted and received by the station 5 is described in XML. XML is a language with excellent extensibility, and data can be added only by adding tags.
Therefore, communication for adding the control logic 91 as described above can be easily performed. Also, XML is TCP
By implementing it on the HTTP of / IP, the communication quality can be improved, and the communication between the station 5 and the management device 6 can use the Internet network. Therefore, the system can be constructed more easily.

<Other Embodiments> In the above equipment control system 1, the compression means 51 compresses the operation data, but may compress data having a data amount equal to or larger than a predetermined value. The communication time is reduced by compressing data of a predetermined value or more that takes a long time for communication, and the data of less than the predetermined value is transmitted and received as it is to reduce the processing time required for compression / decompression. Also in this case, similarly to the above, the data processing time between the station 5 and the management device 6 can be reduced.

[0041]

In the equipment control system according to the first aspect, the equipment control device transmits logic state data indicating the state of the control logic to the management device. For this reason, the management device can grasp the state of the control logic stored in the equipment control device based on the logic state data. Thereby, in this equipment control system, the control logic stored in the equipment control device can be appropriately managed.

In the facility equipment control system according to the second aspect, the facility equipment control device periodically transmits the logic state data together with the facility equipment data to the management device. Therefore, the management device can periodically check the status of the control logic together with the status of the equipment. Thereby, in this equipment control system, the control logic stored in the equipment equipment control device can be managed more appropriately.

In the facility equipment control system according to the third aspect, since the facility equipment control device stores a plurality of control logics filed for each control logic, it is convenient to handle individual control logics. . In the facility equipment control system according to the fourth aspect, the facility equipment control device transmits not the control logic itself to be stored but the code assigned to each control logic to the management device. Thus, the amount of transmitted logic state data can be reduced. Thereby, in this equipment control system, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication between the equipment control device and the management device required for appropriately managing the control logic.

In the facility equipment control system according to the fifth aspect, the facility equipment control device stores a plurality of control logics filed for each control logic, and the data control sent from the management device. Logic can be received, filed and stored. Therefore, by receiving a new control logic file from the management device and converting the file into a file, the equipment control device can add a control logic or upgrade the version. In addition, when adding a control logic or upgrading a stored control logic, the target control logic may be transmitted individually, and there is no need to transmit to other unrelated control logics. As a result, in this equipment control system, the amount of communication when adding a control logic or upgrading the stored control logic is reduced.

In the equipment control system according to the sixth aspect, the management device can grasp the state of the control device logic stored in the equipment control device by comparing the logic state data with the logic management data. it can.
Then, when there is a control logic in which the logic state data and the logic management data are different, the management device determines that a malfunction has occurred in the control logic and transmits the control logic. For this reason, the equipment control device can update the control logic that is considered to have a failure with the new control logic transmitted from the management device, and can resolve the failure.

In the equipment control system according to the seventh aspect, logic state data indicating the state of the prediction logic is transmitted to the management apparatus. For this reason, the management device can grasp the state of the prediction logic stored in the equipment controller based on the logic state data. This allows
In this equipment control system, the prediction logic stored in the equipment controller can be appropriately managed. If a failure occurs in the prediction logic stored in the equipment control device, the function of predicting a failure may be reduced. However, this equipment control system can appropriately manage the prediction logic. Thus, the reliability of the function of predicting a failure is improved.

In the equipment control apparatus according to the eighth aspect,
The transmitting unit transmits logic state data representing the state of the control logic to the management device. For this reason, the management device can grasp the state of the control logic stored in the equipment controller based on the logic state data. Thereby, according to this equipment control apparatus, the control logic stored in the equipment control apparatus can be appropriately managed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an equipment control system.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a facility device control system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing control logic, logic state data, and logic management data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing control logic, logic state data, and logic management data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing control logic, logic state data, and logic management data.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 equipment equipment control system 2 air conditioner (equipment equipment) 5 station (equipment equipment control device) 6 management device 50 storage unit 52 communication unit (transmission unit) 90 equipment data 91 control logic 91a, 91b, 91c, ... Each control logic 92 in a file Logic state data 93 Logic management data

Claims (8)

[Claims] An equipment (2) is connected to the equipment (2), controls the equipment (2), and determines a control content of the equipment (2). An equipment control device (5) for storing equipment data (90) indicating the status of the equipment (2) and logic state data (92) indicating the state of the control logic (91); An equipment control system comprising: a management device (6) connected to the equipment control device (5) and receiving the equipment data (90) and the logic state data (92). 2. The equipment controller (5) converts the logic state data (92) into the equipment data (90).
2. The equipment control system according to claim 1, wherein the system is periodically transmitted to the management device. 3. The equipment controller (5) stores a plurality of the control logics (91a, 91b, 91c,...) Filed for each of the control logics (91). Or the equipment control system according to 2. 4. The control logic (91a, 91b, 91c, 91c, 91c, 91c, 91c) stored in the file for distinguishing the control logic (91) stored in the equipment controller (5). 4. The equipment control system according to claim 3, wherein the equipment control system is a code assigned to each of the... 5. The management device (6) transmits the control logic (91a, 91b, 91c,...) Converted into data, and the equipment control device (5) transmits the control logic (9).
The equipment control system according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the equipment equipment control system receives (1a, 91b, 91c,...) And stores the received files. 6. The management device (6) stores logic management data (93) indicating the state of the control logic (91) stored by the equipment device control device (5), and the equipment device control device (5). 5) and the logic management data (9) transmitted from the logic state data (92).
3), if there is the control logic (91) in which the logic state data (92) and the logic management data (93) are different, the logic state data (92) and the logic management data (93) The equipment control system according to claim 5, wherein the control logic (91) is different from the control logic (91). 7. The control logic according to claim 1, wherein the control logic is a prediction logic for predicting a failure of the equipment based on the equipment data. Equipment control system. 8. An equipment control device connected to a management device (6) for managing the equipment (2) and controlling the equipment (2), wherein the control content of the equipment (2) is A storage unit (50) for storing a control logic (91) for determining; equipment data (90) indicating a control state of the equipment (2); and logic state data (92) indicating a state of the control logic (91). ) To the management device (6).