JP2005196427A - Control system for controlling conversion into component - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct a control system of high interconnectedness and reusability, while solving the problems of actuality and the like required, by converting into a component a device that provides control depending on such hardware as a robot system. <P>SOLUTION: A command interface 2, an input interface 3, and an output interface 4, all of which communicate with the controller of a device to be controlled, are converted into modules. Of the modules, the module with a command-interface function communicates commands to the controller 1 of the device to be controlled. The module with an input-interface function and the module with an output-interface function communicate data to the controller. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  In the present invention, each element for controlling a controller of a device to be controlled such as a robot is modularized in software or hardware so as to have compatibility and reusability, and the modules are combined depending on the application. It is related with the component-ized control system which can implement | achieve various functions easily.

  Here, the term robot refers not only to a multi-degree-of-freedom work machine with programmable operation procedures such as manipulators and industrial robots, but also to sensors that detect the external environment and actuators that perform some function on the external environment. It means the general one that has an interface with the outside world as described above and performs intelligent control of the actuator part based on information inputted from the sensor part.

Conventionally, in order to communicate with a plurality of robot controllers having different communication protocols, there has been proposed an information processing system for a robot that can use common application software regardless of manufacturer or version.
JP 2001-306416 A

  In what is described in Patent Document 1, software called a kernel unit mediates between a robot controller and application software so that differences between robot controllers can be absorbed and common application software can be developed. Yes.

  On the other hand, not only robots but also various device componentization and interface development in network connection between these components are generally carried out in a form that accumulates from the hardware level.

  That is, in the architecture of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model, which is a standard model for network system communication protocols announced by ISO (International Organization for Standardization) in 1977, the network system is classified by function, physical layer, data link. It is divided into seven layers: a layer, a network layer, a transport layer, a session layer, a presentation layer, and an application layer, and an interface is developed for each of these layers.

  When constructing a system by actually combining individual devices, it is necessary to ensure consistency not only at the electrical interface (physical layer) but also at the mechanical hardware level. Interface development starting from the hardware level is considered appropriate.

  However, since the interface developed in this way is strongly dependent on the actual hardware, there is a problem that compatibility and reusability of each component are lowered.

  On the other hand, in the software world, distributed object technologies such as CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) and DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model) have been developed, and these are constructed in a logical network layer that does not depend on the physical layer of communication. Therefore, since the software has high network transparency and is created as a program, high versatility is also realized.

  However, with these distributed object technologies, it is difficult to handle a system that includes hardware operations such as a robot system that particularly concerns real-time communication between components.

  Therefore, the present invention solves the problems in the prior art as described above, and solves problems such as real-time characteristics required by componentizing a device that performs hardware-dependent control such as a robot system. However, it aims at constructing a control system with high interconnectability and high reusability.

  In order to achieve the above object, the componentized control system of the present invention modularizes a command interface, an input interface, and an output interface that communicate with a controller of a device to be controlled. Among these modules, the module having the command interface function performs command communication with the controller of the device to be controlled, and the module having the input interface function and the module having the output interface function are data with the controller. It communicates.

  In the componentized control system of the present invention, it is preferable that each of the modules is constituted by a distributed object, and each function is realized on a computer.

  In the componentized control system of the present invention, the controller of the device to be controlled and at least one of each module are provided on a network different from the other ones, via a relay device interposed between the networks. It is desirable to communicate with each other.

  In the componentized control system of the present invention, it is desirable that at least one of a module having an input interface function and a module having an output interface function exist.

  In the componentized control system of the present invention, it is desirable to transmit data from a module having an output interface function to a module having an input interface function registered in advance at a timing specified at the time of registration. More preferably, data transmission is performed in parallel.

  In the componentized control system of the present invention, communication between controllers of a plurality of devices to be controlled provided on different networks connected via a relay device and a network provided with each module. It is desirable to be able to do this directly on the network.

  It is desirable that a module having an output interface function can automatically select an optimal data communication path by additionally registering network information when registering a module having an input interface function for performing data transmission. .

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, each of the command interface, the input interface, and the output interface for communicating with a controller having strong hardware dependency such as a controller of an intelligent device such as a robot is provided as a module. As a result, the compatibility and reusability of control systems, which has been difficult in the past, can be improved, and control systems for various applications such as robots can be constructed easily and in a short period of time with a high degree of freedom. Become.

  In addition, since the part that performs command communication and the part that performs data communication are separated and modularized, it is possible to devise various devices for data communication with high hardware dependency that requires high-speed communication. Thus, it becomes possible to make a highly useful component.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, each module having command input / output, data input, and data output interface functions is used as a distributed object so that each function can be realized on a computer. A highly transparent general-purpose component can be realized.

  Further, according to the invention of claim 3, even when at least one of the controller and each module is arranged on a network different from the other, by performing communication between the networks via the relay device, These can be handled as if they were apparently arranged on one network.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since at least one of the module having the input interface function and the module having the output interface function is present in plural, the control system can be constructed with a higher degree of freedom. it can.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is not necessary to transmit a data acquisition command to a transmission destination when performing data transmission, and high-speed data communication can be performed.

  Further, according to the invention described in claim 6, by parallelizing communication according to the data transmission destination, a plurality of data can be sent simultaneously and waiting for their return at the same time. The time can be greatly reduced.

  According to the seventh aspect of the invention, since communication between a plurality of controllers is performed directly on a high-speed network, high-speed data communication can be achieved.

  According to the invention described in claim 8, since the optimum data communication path can be automatically selected by adding the network information, the physical arrangement such as on which network each module or controller is present. Regardless of this, excellent network transparency can be obtained, and the compatibility and reusability of each module can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments in the case of carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the basic structure of a component as an embodiment of the present invention. Here, a device to be controlled in the control system of the present invention is a robot, and this robot is controlled by a controller 1. Its operation is controlled.

  Here, the controller 1 controls the movement of a motor or actuator that is incorporated in the robot and performs various operations, and controls sensor data processing, output processing to a driving source such as a motor, servo It means hardware and software for realizing the element functions of the robot, including various operations and control algorithms.

  The controller 1 is connected to a modularized command interface 2, and a command signal for causing the robot to perform a desired operation is sent to the controller 1 via the command interface 2.

  The controller 1 is connected to a modularized data input interface 3. The data input interface 3 is provided in a robot that is a device to be controlled, or is sent from various sensors installed in an environment in which the robot operates, such as a load sensor or a visual sensor. It is an interface for sending sensor data to the controller 1. A plurality of data input interfaces 3 may be arranged.

  The controller 1 is connected to a modularized data output interface 4. The data output interface 4 has a function of transmitting data such as the amount of rotation of the motor, for example, output from the driving unit of the robot to the data input interface 3.

  The control system 5 of the present invention is configured by a collection of modules of the command interface 2, the input interface 3, and the output interface 4. Further, the control system 5 is combined with the controller 1 to constitute a component 6 that is a basic element of the robot.

(Distributed object)
Each interface such as command input / output, data input, and data output that is modularized is connected to a communication network. By adopting a communication protocol of a distributed object such as CORSA or DCOM as a communication protocol in this communication network, network transparency can be guaranteed.

  Hereinafter, this basic communication network is referred to as an RT network (Robot Technology Network). The RT network is a logical network and may be any physical network as long as it can pass the communication protocol of the distributed object.

  That is, each interface such as command input / output, data input, and data output is realized as a distributed object. The distributed object can be realized in software by a program or in hardware by an IC chip or the like.

  The command interface 2 receives operation commands such as ON / OFF, parameter change, and status acquisition via the RT network, and operates the controller 1 accordingly. It should be noted that this operation assigns a communication speed sufficient for the logical RT network.

(Component proxy function)
In FIG. 1 described above, the controller 1, the command interface 2, the data input interface 3, and the data output interface 4 constituting the component 6 are all arranged on the RT network. Reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus that realizes element functions of a robot to be componentized, and may be strongly dependent on hardware.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the basic structure of a proxied component as another embodiment of the present invention corresponding to such a case. In the figure, the controller 1 is connected to the RT network 7. The proxy function (proxy) of the relay device 9 is arranged on an external network 8 different from the relay network 9 and communicates with the command interface 2, the data input interface 3, and the data output interface 4 on the RT network 7 via the relay device 9. Function) allows the controller 1 to be handled as if it were on the RT network 7 in appearance.

  Here, the meaning of the external network 8 different from the RT network 7 means that the external network 8 is physically different from the RT network 7 and is physically the same but logically different. Including both.

  FIG. 3 also shows component basics as yet another embodiment of the invention in which the component 6 is directly connected to an external network 8 where the controller 1 is located via a relay device 9. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of a structure.

  FIG. 4 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, components 11, 12, 13, and 14 are all arranged on the RT network 7, and component 15 , 16 are devices (controllers) arranged on an external network 8 different from the RT network 7.

  In the figure, the component 11 performs proxy communication 17 with the device 15 via the relay device 9, and the component 14 performs proxy communication 18 with the device 16 via the relay device 9. The components 11, 12, 13, and 14 arranged on the RT network 7 can communicate with each other without being aware of it.

(Adoption of push type communication)
In the example shown in FIG. 1, the data input interface 3 and the data output interface 4 are for transmitting and receiving data at high speed. As the data communication here, push type communication can be adopted from the data output interface 4 to the data input interface 3. Here, push-type communication refers to data exchanged according to the following procedure.

(1) Prior to data communication, the data input interface 3 that is to receive data from the plurality of data input interfaces 3 is registered in the data output interface 4 in advance. This procedure is performed through the RT network 7.

(2) At the time of data communication, data is sent from the data output interface 4 to the registered data input interface 3 at the timing designated at the time of registration. This procedure is performed through the RT network 7 in the one shown in FIG. 1, but high-speed communication is possible through another high-speed external network.

  In general, in the case of pull-type communication in which data communication is performed using a data acquisition command with a distributed object, a data acquisition command is transmitted every time data is received, and data is received as a return value thereof. There is a problem that a delay time in which the signal reciprocates is generated. However, in the case of push-type communication, there is an advantage that the delay time can be reduced to half because the signal transmission is only one way.

(Use of multiple data input / output interfaces and parallelization of push type communication)
A plurality of the data input interface 3 and the data output interface 4 described above may be used as necessary.

  Furthermore, the data output interface 4 can perform higher-speed data communication by parallelizing a plurality of push-type communication. In general, in a distributed object, when data is transmitted, it is necessary to wait for the return even if it is unnecessary.

  This is not a problem when there is only one data destination, but when sending to multiple locations, if the data is sent sequentially, the next data cannot be sent until the previous data send command is returned. There is a problem that a great delay occurs.

  Therefore, by parallelizing this communication in accordance with the data transmission destination, it becomes possible to simultaneously transmit a plurality of data and wait for these returns at the same time. When there is only one physical signal path, data transmission is performed sequentially, but the next data can be transmitted without waiting for the return of the previously transmitted data. The time can be greatly reduced.

(Data communication shortcut)
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram when performing a data communication shortcut as still another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, push type communication is adopted as a communication method, and a data output interface is used. The phase in which the data input interface is registered and the signal path is secured is separated from the phase in which actual communication is performed. As shown in the figure, data communication between the proxied controllers 15 and 16 is performed in the RT network. 7 can be performed as a shortcut 19 for direct data communication on an external network 8 different from FIG.

(Automatic selection of data communication path)
In addition, if the shortcut for data communication is allowed as described above, the physical arrangement such as which network each controller is actually on, that is, the hardware dependency becomes strong, the network transparency, and thus each There is a problem that the compatibility and reusability of components deteriorates.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention for solving this problem. When registering a data input interface in a data output interface, network information 25 is added to perform data communication. The route is automatically selected.

  In the example shown in the figure, the controllers 16 and 15 are arranged in two external networks 8 and 21 different from the RT network 7, respectively, and the component 11 that proxies the controller 15 and the controller 16 are proxied. When data communication is performed between the components 14, the route of the proxy communication 22 via the relay device 20, the route of the proxy communication 23 via the relay device 9, and the route of the data communication 24 on the RT network 7 are selected. Is done.

  The componentized control system of the present invention performs intelligent control of a robot house that automatically performs various controls such as illumination and air conditioning based on sensor information, etc., in addition to a robot that performs work at a fixed position and a mobile robot. It can be widely used in the whole apparatus to perform.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows the basic structure of the component as one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a proxied component structure as another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a proxied component structure as yet another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a network including a proxied component structure as yet another embodiment of the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram in the case of performing the shortcut of data communication as another embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram in the case of performing automatic selection of a data communication path as still another embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Controller 2 Command interface 3 Data input interface 4 Data output interface 5 Control system 6 Component 7 RT network 8 External network 9 Network relay apparatus 11, 12, 13, 14 Component 15, 16 Controller
17 Proxy Communication of Component 11 18 Proxy Communication of Component 14 19 Data Communication Shortcut 20 Network Relay Device 21 External Network 22 Proxy Communication of Component 11 23 Proxy Communication of Component 14 24 Data Communication on RT Network 25 Data with Network Information Added Input interface registration

Claims (8)

The command interface, input interface, and output interface that communicate with the controller of the device to be controlled are modularized,
Among these modules, a module having a command interface function performs command communication with a controller of a device to be controlled, and a module having an input interface function and a module having an output interface function are communicated with the controller. A componentized control system characterized by performing data communication.   2. The componentized control system according to claim 1, wherein each module is constituted by a distributed object, and each function is realized on a computer.   The controller of the device to be controlled and at least one of each module are provided on a different network from the others, and communicate with each other via a relay device interposed between the networks The componentized control system according to claim 1 or 2.   4. The componentized control system according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of modules having at least one of an input interface function and a module having an output interface function.   5. The componentization according to claim 1, wherein data transmission is performed from a module having an output interface function to a module having an input interface function registered in advance at a timing designated at the time of registration. Control system.   6. The componentized control system according to claim 5, wherein data transmission is performed in parallel.   Communication between controllers of a plurality of devices to be controlled provided on different networks connected via a relay device and a network provided with each module can be directly performed on the network. The componentized control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   A module having an output interface function can automatically select an optimum data communication path by additionally registering network information when registering a module having an input interface function for performing data transmission. The componentized control system according to any one of claims 5 to 7.

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