JP2005321943A - Micro general measurement controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a distributed and micro general measurement controller for executing autonomous distributed processing or reflection functional processing by connecting through a communication line to a host computer, and for freely increasing/decreasing the number of input/output in a wide range, and for miniaturizing the whole device even where there are a plurality of inputs and outputs. <P>SOLUTION: This micro general measurement controller is provided with a single CPU module 10 where a CPU and an ROM and RAM for storing data or a program are mounted on a flat circuit board and at least one device module 20 where any semiconductor device other than a central processing unit is mounted on the circuit board whose shape is almost the same as that of the CPU module. The CPU module 10 and the device module 20 are provided with connectors 2 for a common bus laminated in the thickness direction of the circuit board so as to be directly connected to each other, and the common bus is constituted of parallel buses and serial buses. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a distributed and ultra-compact general-purpose measurement control device that can be connected to a host computer via a communication line to perform autonomous distributed processing, reflection function processing, and the like.

  In general, one-chip microcomputers and microprocessors having analog and digital input / output functions have been conventionally used for simple robot control. Such a one-chip microcomputer or microprocessor is configured such that a central processing unit (CPU), an auxiliary storage device, an input / output device, a communication control device, and the like are configured on a single board as in a general computer. . FIG. 12 shows a configuration diagram of a general computer.

  On the other hand, more advanced robots require many sensors and actuators in order to sense the environment and perform flexible operations. For this reason, a controller for controlling such a robot requires a large number of input / output ports and high computing power, and is difficult to handle with the above-described one-chip microcomputer or microprocessor. Therefore, Patent Documents 1 and 2, Non-Patent Document 1, and the like have been proposed as such robot control devices.

As shown in FIG. 13, the “embedded control computer” of Patent Document 1 includes a high-speed serial communication control circuit, a PC card control circuit and a PC card slot, and an embedded control computer 51 and a control computer. And a plurality of intermediate nodes 53 connected in cascade via a serial bus 52, and a plurality of servo systems or sensor systems connected to each intermediate node 53 are controlled by an embedded control computer.
The control device of Patent Document 1 is known as Titech-wire developed at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hirose Laboratory. This Titech-wire has a structure in which input and output are distributed, and a general-purpose operating system (OS) is operated in the main controller. Further, the plurality of distributed input / output devices and the main controller do not have a unified bus, but are connected in cascade with a high-speed serial bus.

  The “robot device” of Patent Document 2 is a robot device having a movable part that is movable with respect to a main body part and a drive unit that drives the movable part. A master device 61 that calculates a control value for controlling the driving of the unit, a slave device 62 that is provided in the movable unit and controls the driving of the driving unit, and a serial bus that transmits and receives communication data between the slave device and the master device The slave device receives a control value from the master device as communication data and drives the drive unit.

JP 2003-127080 A, “Embedded Control Computer” Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-001195, “Robot Device”

Shinya Hirano, Shiwei Rao, et al., “Development of distributed general-purpose controllers for environmentally adaptive robots”, 21st Annual Conference of the Robotics Society of Japan, September 2003.

The control devices of Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above include modules (intermediate nodes and slave devices) connected via a serial bus, but the central processing unit (CPU) includes only a built-in control computer and a master device. Therefore, the network structure becomes a one-to-many connection form, and there is a problem that the time required for computation processing and communication processing of the host program increases as the number of modules increases.
For this reason, the input / output device is large and the CPU is not built in the input / output device, so that there is a problem that distributed processing cannot be performed.

In order to solve these problems, the inventors of the present invention have already proposed a distributed controller in Non-Patent Document 1. This distributed controller is a plurality of controllers connected to a host computer via a communication line, and each controller includes a basic module composed of a CPU module and a communication module, and a plurality of functional blocks connected via a network. The input / output module is connected to each functional block.
With this configuration, the functional block can be arranged at an appropriate location inside the robot, so that the wiring is not concentrated on one place, and the controller can be easily built into the robot. In addition, since the communication module is a multi-master type serial communication that can be connected to the bus, the overhead of communication processing hardly occurs. Furthermore, since data can be directly transmitted and received within a functional block without going through a host computer, autonomous distributed processing and reflective functional processing can be performed.

  However, the basic modules, functional blocks, and input / output modules that make up the distributed controller described above are small in size, but when these are connected and integrated via a general-purpose connector, the overall size is large with large irregularities. There is a problem that it becomes difficult to arrange the robot inside the robot. Therefore, a multi-input, multi-output distributed controller is too large to be used.

  The present invention has been developed to solve the above-described problems. In other words, the object of the present invention is to perform autonomous distributed processing and reflective functional processing by connecting to a host computer via a communication line, to freely increase / decrease the number of inputs / outputs, and to have multiple inputs and multiple outputs. However, an object of the present invention is to provide a distributed and ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device that can be downsized as a whole.

According to the present invention, a single CPU module in which a CPU, a ROM and a RAM for storing data and programs are mounted on a flat circuit board, and a central processing unit on a circuit board having substantially the same shape as the CPU module. Comprising at least one device module mounted with a semiconductor device other than
The CPU module and the device module have a common bus connector that can be directly stacked by stacking in the thickness direction of the substrate, and the common bus is composed of a parallel bus and a serial bus. A measurement control device is provided.

With this configuration, since the CPU module is mounted with the CPU, ROM, and RAM, the necessary program is built in and autonomous distributed processing and reflective functional processing can be performed independently.
In addition, the CPU module and the device module have a common bus connector that can be directly connected by laminating substrates of almost the same shape in the thickness direction, so that the whole can be formed into a compact block without unevenness by direct coupling and lamination. .
Further, since the common bus is composed of a parallel bus and a serial bus, the board can be reduced in size by taking the parallel bus and the serial bus into the common bus.
Furthermore, since the parallel bus and serial bus can operate independently, high-speed control is possible.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the device module is a shared memory communication module capable of transmitting data between a CPU module and another device module using a parallel bus in the common bus. The memory communication module includes a shared memory that stores data shared by the CPU module and other device modules.
With this configuration, data shared in the shared memory can be stored, and data can be transmitted between modules at high speed using the parallel bus in the common bus.

The device module is a serial communication module capable of transmitting data between the CPU module and another device module using a parallel bus in the common bus. The serial communication module includes an infrared communication encoder, It has a serial communication IC with a built-in decoder.
With this configuration, the parallel bus in the common bus is used to transmit data between modules at a high speed, and the serial communication IC can be connected to a host computer or other measurement control device via a communication line.

The device module is an AD module capable of transmitting data between the CPU module and another device module using a serial bus in the common bus, and the AD module inputs analog data of a plurality of channels. An input terminal, a buffer IC that filters the input signal of each channel, and an ADC IC that converts analog data of a plurality of channels into digital data.
With this configuration, it is possible to input multiple channels of analog data from the input terminal, filter the input signal of each channel, convert each analog data to digital data, and transmit data between modules using a serial bus it can.

The device module is a DA module capable of transmitting data between the CPU module and other device modules using a serial bus in the common bus, and the DA module converts a plurality of channels of digital data into analog data. It has a DAC IC for converting data, a buffer IC for filtering the output signal of each channel, and an output terminal for outputting analog data of a plurality of channels.
With this configuration, it is possible to transmit data between modules using a serial bus, convert each digital data to analog data, filter the output signal of each channel, and output analog data of multiple channels from the output terminal it can.

Furthermore, the device module has an ID setting switch for setting a different ID for each module.
With this configuration, different IDs can be set for each of the plurality of modules by the ID setting switch. Therefore, a multi-input / output system such as a large number of analog inputs and digital outputs can be constructed.

  As described above, the ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device of the present invention can perform autonomous distributed processing and reflective functional processing by connecting to a host computer through a communication line, and can freely increase and decrease the number of inputs and outputs over a wide range. In addition, even with multiple inputs and multiple outputs, there are excellent effects such as reduction in overall size.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view (photograph) of an ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a plurality of modules constituting the ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device separately. The coins shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are 100 yen coins for comparing the sizes.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device 1 of the present invention mounts a single CPU module 10 and a semiconductor device other than the central processing unit on a circuit board having substantially the same shape as the CPU module 10. And at least one (four in this example) device module 20 (20A to 20D).
The CPU module 10 and the device modules 20 (20A to 20D) each have a common bus connector 2 that can be stacked and directly connected in the thickness direction of the substrate. The common bus by the connector 2 includes a parallel bus and a serial bus.
Each device module 20 includes an ID setting switch 4 for setting a different ID for each module.

  The substrate size in this example is 30 mm × 40 mm, the distance between the substrates when stacked and directly connected is 4 mm, and the height at which the five modules are stacked is about 20 mm.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the front surface (left diagram) and the back surface (right diagram) of the CPU module 10.
The CPU module 10 is obtained by mounting a CPU, a ROM and a RAM for storing data and programs on a flat circuit board. In this example, H8 / 3069F, which is a CPU unit 13 of the H3 / 300H series manufactured by Renesas, is used for the CPU module 10, and a high-speed SRAM 14 (128 kbytes) is mounted outside. In addition to the CPU, the CPU unit (H8 / 3069F) has a large built-in ROM and RAM of 512 kbytes and 16 kbytes, respectively, and can mount a large program. Further, in this example, the CPU module 10 further includes a crystal oscillator 15a and a mode setting switch 15b.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a front surface (left diagram) and a rear surface (right diagram) of the shared memory communication module 20A.
The shared memory communication module 20 </ b> A is a device module that can transmit data between the CPU module 10 and another device module 20 using a parallel bus in the common bus.
In this example, the shared memory module 20A incorporates a shared memory communication IC 21 (MKY-40) manufactured by Step Technica, and enables high-speed communication of 12 Mbps. This shared memory communication IC 21 has a built-in shared memory, and when the information in the shared memory is changed, the contents are instantly reflected in other shared memory modules. A maximum of 64 stations can be connected to one network.
Further, in this example, the shared memory communication module 20A includes a crystal oscillator 22a, a termination setting switch 22b, and a driver 22c in addition to the ID setting switch 4.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the front surface (left diagram) and the back surface (right diagram) of the serial communication module 20B.
The serial communication module 20 </ b> B is a device module that can transmit data between the CPU module 10 and another device module 20 using a parallel bus in a common bus.
In this example, since the serial communication module 20B incorporates an infrared communication encoder / decoder, it can be easily connected to the infrared communication module. Also, it can be connected to a serial-Ethernet (registered trademark) conversion module or a serial-Bluetooth conversion module. Further, in this example, the serial communication module 20B is mounted with a serial communication clock 22d.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the front surface (left diagram) and the back surface (right diagram) of the AD module 20C.
The AD module 20C is a device module that can transmit data between the CPU module 10 and another device module 20 using a serial bus in a common bus.
The AD module 20C includes an input terminal 23a for inputting a plurality of channels of analog data, a buffer IC 23b for filtering an input signal of each channel, and an ADC IC 23c for converting the plurality of channels of analog data into digital data.
In this example, the AD module 20C is a single-end type and can input 8 channels. Further, buffers 23b are provided at all input stages of the ADC IC 23c C, and an AD module and a DA module can be connected to one CPU module 10 to connect 8 modules.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the front surface (left diagram) and the back surface (right diagram) of the DA module 20D.
The DA module 20D is a device module that can transmit data between the CPU module 10 and another device module 20 using a serial bus in a common bus.
The DA module 20D includes a DAC IC 24c that converts digital data of a plurality of channels into analog data, a buffer IC 24b that filters an output signal of each channel, and an output terminal 24a that outputs the analog data of the plurality of channels.
In this example, the DA module 20D is a single end type and can output an analog output of 8ch. Also, buffers 24b are provided at all output stages of the DAC IC 24c, and eight modules including AD modules and DA modules can be connected to one CPU module.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the front surface (left diagram) and the back surface (right diagram) of the download module 20E.
The download module 20E includes a debug device connection connector 25a and a level conversion IC 25b, and is used when writing a program into the CPU module 10. It is also possible to verify the program by attaching an external debugger device to the dedicated connector (debugging device connection connector 25a).

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a common bus constituting the ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device of the present invention.
The plurality of modules 10 and 20 (20A to 20E) that constitute the ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device of the present invention are connected by a C-CHIP common bus. This common bus has all terminals necessary for connecting modules, and has a structure in which modules can be directly connected by being stacked in the vertical direction (the thickness direction of the substrate). The connector (terminal) for the common bus uses a 4-pin round pin connector manufactured by Nippon Connect Kogyo Co., Ltd., so that the connection is highly reliable. Here, “C-CHIP” is a generic term for each module such as the CPU module and the device module.
The common bus includes a parallel bus 1ch and a serial bus 2ch. The parallel bus is used by the shared memory communication module and the serial communication module, and the serial bus is used by the AD module and the DA module.
The ID used by each module is set by an ID setting SW on the module board. Since the parallel bus has a maximum of 4 modules and the serial bus has a maximum of 4 modules per channel, a maximum of 8 modules can be connected with 2 channels.

Table 1 shows the pin arrangement of the common bus.
In this table, Vcc and GND are bus power supplies, the A area is used by the parallel bus, the B area is used by the serial CH0, and the C area is used by the serial CH1. Since the parallel bus and serial bus operate independently, highly efficient data transfer is possible.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of robot control using the ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device 1 of the present invention.
In this robot control, walking control of a quadruped walking robot is performed by using two ultra-small general-purpose measurement control devices 1 (controllers) of the present invention in which a CPU module 10, a shared memory communication module 20A, and a DA module 20D are combined. Realized.
That is, one controller 1 controls two robot legs via a plurality of motor drivers 5 and uses two of them to realize robot walking control. At this time, the controllers can walk by sharing timing data with the shared memory communication module 20A.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a multi-input measurement system using the ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device 1 of the present invention.
In this example, the CPU module 10 is connected with the maximum number of modules that can be connected to the AD module 20C, that is, eight. One AD module 20C can receive 8 channels of analog input from a plurality of sensors 6, and as a whole, 64 channels can be input in this system.

As described above, all the modules 10 and 20 of the ultra-small general-purpose computer control apparatus of the present invention are connected by a common bus. This common bus has all the terminals necessary for connecting the modules and has a structure in which the modules can be connected in the vertical direction. The common bus includes a parallel bus 1ch and a serial bus 2ch. The parallel bus is used by the AD module and the DA module.
The ID used by the module is set by the ID setting SW on the module board. Since the parallel bus has a maximum of 4 modules and the serial bus has a maximum of 4 modules per channel, a maximum of 8 modules can be connected in 2 channels.

A plurality of communication modules, AD modules, and DA modules can be connected to one CPU module, and a large number of sensors and actuators can be connected. Also, a distributed system in which a plurality of C-CHIPs are connected can be constructed using a shared memory communication module.
The common bus is a bus that connects the shared memory communication module, the serial communication module, the AD module, and the DA module. The shared memory communication module and serial communication module use a parallel bus, and the AD module and DA module use a serial bus. Therefore, the board can be reduced in size by incorporating the parallel bus and the serial bus into the common bus.
A maximum of 4 modules can be connected to the parallel bus and a maximum of 8 modules can be connected to the serial bus. The module has a built-in ID setting switch, and the ID of the module can be switched by the switch. Therefore, a multi-input / output system such as a maximum of 64 ch analog input and 64 ch digital output can be constructed.
In addition, since the parallel bus and the serial bus can operate independently, high-speed control is possible.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, Of course, it can change variously in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention. For example, the ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device (ultra-small controller) of the present invention can be applied in various fields such as machine tools, robots, production systems, copy machines, home appliances, medical engineering instruments, and nursing care machines. is there.

1 is an overall perspective view (photograph) of a micro general-purpose measurement control device according to the present invention. It is a figure which isolate | separates and shows the several module which comprises the ultra-small general purpose measurement control apparatus by this invention. It is a figure which shows the surface (left figure) and back surface (right figure) of CPU module 10. It is a figure which shows the front surface (left figure) and back surface (right figure) of 20 A of shared memory communication modules. It is a figure which shows the surface (left figure) and back surface (right figure) of serial communication module 20B. It is a figure which shows the surface (left figure) and back surface (right figure) of AD module 20C. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the front surface (left diagram) and the back surface (right diagram) of the DA module 20D. It is a figure which shows the surface (left figure) and back surface (right figure) of the download module 20E. It is explanatory drawing of the common bus which comprises the ultra-small general purpose measurement control apparatus of this invention. It is an Example of the robot control using the ultra-small general purpose measurement control apparatus of this invention. It is an Example of the multi-input measurement system using the ultra-small general purpose measurement control apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram of a general computer. 1 is a configuration diagram of an “embedded control computer” in Patent Document 1. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a “robot device” in Patent Document 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Ultra-small general purpose measurement control device, 2 Common bus connector,
4 ID setting switch, 5 Motor driver, 6 Sensor,
10 CPU module, 13 CPU unit, 14 high-speed SRAM,
20, 20A-20E device module,
21 shared memory communication IC, 23a input terminal, 23b buffer IC,
23c ADC IC, 24a output terminal, 24b buffer IC,
24c DAC IC, 25a Connector for connecting debugging equipment

Claims (6)

A single CPU module in which a CPU, ROM and RAM for storing data and programs are mounted on a flat circuit board, and a semiconductor device other than the central processing unit is mounted on a circuit board having the same shape as the CPU module And at least one device module
The CPU module and the device module have a common bus connector that can be directly stacked by stacking in the thickness direction of the substrate, and the common bus is composed of a parallel bus and a serial bus. Measurement control device.   The device module is a shared memory communication module capable of transmitting data to and from the CPU module and other device modules using a parallel bus in the common bus, and the shared memory communication module is a CPU module and other device modules. The ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device according to claim 1, further comprising a shared memory for storing data shared by the device modules.   The device module is a serial communication module capable of transmitting data between the CPU module and other device modules using a parallel bus in the common bus. The serial communication module includes an infrared communication encoder / decoder. The ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device according to claim 1, further comprising a built-in serial communication IC.   The device module is an AD module that can transmit data between the CPU module and another device module using a serial bus in the common bus, and the AD module inputs an analog data of a plurality of channels. 2. The ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a terminal; a buffer IC that filters an input signal of each channel; and an ADC IC that converts analog data of a plurality of channels into digital data.   The device module is a DA module capable of transmitting data between a CPU module and another device module using a serial bus in the common bus, and the DA module converts a plurality of channels of digital data into analog data. The ultra-small general-purpose measurement control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a DAC IC for conversion, a buffer IC for filtering an output signal of each channel, and an output terminal for outputting analog data of a plurality of channels. The ultra-small general-purpose measurement control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device module includes an ID setting switch for setting a different ID for each module.

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