JP2006072412A - Event collection block and controller incorporated with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an event collection block and a controller incorporated with the event collection block for recording not only a digital signal but also an analog signal as an event by storing a value when an event occurs, and setting an identifier. <P>SOLUTION: A general-purpose event collection block for, when a trigger signal expressing the event occurrence of an integer type data, real number type data or an analog signal changes, storing those data is defined, and an identifier is set in the event collection block. Thus, it is possible to deal with the event of any type of data, and to easily specify the generation source of the event. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an event collection block for recording a process state of a plant, and more particularly to an event collection block capable of collecting an event of an analog value and easily specifying an occurrence location of the event, and a controller incorporating the event collection block. Is.

  In order to automate the operation of the plant, a diagnosis function for preventing a failure, a risk prevention function when a failure occurs, and a problem solving function are required. For this purpose, the sequence event record function is used.

  The sequence event record (SER) function is a function that records a change in the process state of the plant and allows the user to analyze the cause of the abnormality by re-tracing the record later. In particular, a safety instrumentation system must have a function that records changes in input channel data when an event such as a shutdown occurs as a record and can perform post-analysis.

  For a sequence event (SOE), it is important that not only the accuracy of the time at which the event occurred, but also that the event can be easily grasped and analyzed easily. It is also an important requirement to be able to easily and arbitrarily specify which signals are collected as events.

  FIG. 6 shows a process control system incorporating a conventional sequence event record function. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 8 denotes a control station, which includes an I / O master card 81 and a CPU module 82. A contact input signal is input from the contact input module 5 to the I / O master card 81. The I / O master card 81 is independent from the CPU module 82.

  The contact data collected by the I / O master card 81 is collected and stored in the SOE server 72 via Ethernet (registered trademark). The SOE viewer personal computer 71 displays an event list with reference to information collected by the SOE server 72 which is a dedicated server. That is, in this system, only the contact input is subject to the event.

  FIG. 7 shows the sequence event record function of the safety instrumented system. The safety instrumentation system 9 includes a CPU module 91 and contact input modules 92 and 93. The CPU module 91 includes an SOE_LOG block 911 and SOE_REC blocks 912 and 913.

  The SOE_REC blocks 912 and 913 are blocks for collecting contact input events, and events generated by the contact input modules 92 and 93 are input. The SOE_LOG block 911 is a block for collecting events of Boolean variables, and Boolean variables are input. The SOE_LOG block can be used by defining a block for collecting sequence events.

  The events collected in these blocks 911 to 913 are input to the SOE viewer personal computer 71 connected by the module bus. The SOE viewer personal computer 71 displays a list of these events.

  Since a Boolean variable can be input to the SOE_LOG block 911, an event of an analog input value can be handled using this. That is, an analog input value is determined by a determination unit (not shown), converted to a Boolean value, and this Boolean value may be input to the SOE_LOG block 911.

  Patent Document 1 describes a distributed control system in which SOE functions are integrated.

JP 2004-46475 A

  However, such an event collection function has the following problems. In an actual plant, analog data obtained from an analog input module is often used as control data. In the safety instrumented system shown in FIG. 7, an analog value event can be indirectly handled by converting the analog value to a Boolean value. However, the analog value at the time of the event occurrence is not stored, so it is analyzed sufficiently. There was a problem that it was not possible.

  In addition, since the location where the event occurred is not saved, it is necessary to identify the location where the event occurred from the event information and further analyze the conditions for the event occurrence to identify which analog input it is. There was also.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an event collection block capable of storing a digital signal as well as an analog signal as an event by enabling the storage of a value at the time of event occurrence and setting an identifier. It is to provide a controller with built-in.

In order to achieve such a problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is:
Event data and a trigger signal indicating that an event has occurred are input, and an event data storage unit that stores the event data when the trigger signal changes,
An ID storage unit for storing the identifier;
Is provided. Arbitrary values such as analog signals can be handled as well as contacts and Boolean values, and event occurrence locations can be easily identified.

The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1,
At least one of integer type data, real number type data, and an analog signal can be used as the data. Arbitrary formats of data can be handled.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2,
A character string is used as the identifier. Intuitively grasp the source of the event.

The invention according to claim 4
A comparison operation unit that receives data and set values, compares these data with the set values, and outputs the results;
An event data storage unit that stores the data when the data and the output of the comparison operation unit are input and the output of the comparison operation unit changes;
An ID storage unit for storing the identifier;
Is provided. Since the comparison calculation unit and the event collection block are integrated, it is easy to handle.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 4,
A setting value related to the data and the scale is inputted, and an output thereof is input to the comparison operation unit and the event data storage unit. The scale operation unit performs scale conversion of the data. It is a thing. Since scale conversion can be performed with one block, it is easy to handle.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 4 or claim 5,
At least one of integer type data, real number type data, and an analog signal can be used as the data. Arbitrary data can be handled.

The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to claim 4 or claim 6,
A character string is used as the identifier. Intuitively grasp the source of the event.

The invention described in claim 8
Contact input event collection unit that receives the output of the contact input module and collects the event of this contact input,
Contact output event collection unit that receives contact output data and collects this contact output event;
An event collection block that receives data and a trigger signal and stores the data and an identifier is set when the trigger signal changes;
The event collection block, the contact output event collection unit, and the output of the contact input event collection unit are inputted, and the output is stored, and the event storage / transmission unit that transmits the stored data when requested. When,
Is provided. All data events can be handled.

The invention according to claim 9 is the invention according to claim 8,
At least one of integer type data, real number type data, and an analog signal can be input to the event collection unit. Arbitrary formats of data can be handled.

The invention described in claim 10 is the invention described in claim 8 or claim 9, wherein
A character string is used as an identifier input to the event collection block. Intuitively grasp the source of the event.

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects.
According to the present invention, data is stored when a trigger signal representing the occurrence of an event changes, and a unique identifier is set.

  Since data events such as integer type data, real number type data, and analog signals that could not be handled conventionally can be handled, there is an effect that the operation status of the entire plant can be recorded as an event. Therefore, there is an effect that the analysis of the trouble becomes easy.

  In addition, since the function for collecting events is collected as a general-purpose block, there is an effect that the user can freely incorporate it into the application.

  Furthermore, since an identifier can be set in this block, there is also an effect that an event generation source can be easily grasped. By making it possible to use a character string as this identifier, it is possible to intuitively understand the cause of the event.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an event collection block according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an event collection block, which includes an event data storage unit 11 and an ID storage unit 12.

  The event data storage unit 11 receives integer type data IN and a trigger signal TRIG. The event data storage unit 11 stores the value of the data IN when the trigger signal TRIG changes from “0” to “1”. In the case of a contact input signal, the time at which the contact signal changes can be set as the event occurrence time. However, since the integer type data cannot be used to know when the event has occurred only by the data, the trigger signal TRIG The data IN is taken with the time of change as the event occurrence time. The stored data is output from the terminal OUT when requested.

  The ID storage unit 12 stores an identifier ID for the user to identify an event. A character string of up to 32 bytes can be set for this identifier. Since it is difficult to specify where the data is from the captured data alone, which data is specified by this identifier ID.

  The identifier ID does not necessarily need to be stored internally. A plurality of terminals for setting the identifier ID may be provided, and a value may be set for this terminal. Further, the identifier ID may be a fixed value or may be arbitrarily changed.

  TRP is a terminal to which a binary signal specifying the importance of an event is input. If the signal input to this terminal is “1”, the event collection block 1 recognizes the input event as a trip signal (information indicating that the event is particularly important for the plant).

  Thus, by making a dedicated block for handling event collection as an event collection block, it is possible to make the block easier to handle. Since it becomes difficult to specify which signal is handled when it is made into a component, it can be easily identified by a character string set in the ID storage unit 12. This event collection block can be configured only by software.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the data input to the data input terminal IN is integer data, but real data or analog data may be input.

  FIG. 2 shows an application example of the event collection block 1 described in FIG. In this application example, an event is generated when the water level of the tank exceeds a predetermined set value, and the water level data at that time is captured.

  In FIG. 2, 1 is the event collection block described in FIG. An analog input module 21 receives analog data from a level meter (not shown), converts the data into a digital value, and outputs the digital value. This digital data is input to the IN terminal of the event collection block 1. In addition, a character string “tank 01 water level abnormality occurrence” is set as the identifier ID of the event collection block 1. Thus, by using the character string indicating the cause of the event as the identifier ID, the source of the event can be immediately grasped.

  A comparison operation block 22 has two input terminals IN1 and IN2 and an output terminal OUT. The output of the analog input module 21 is input to the input terminal IN1, and a set value of, for example, 90.0 is input to the input terminal IN2. The comparison operation block 22 compares the data of the input terminals IN1 and IN2, and outputs “1” when the data of IN1 is large and “0” otherwise. This output is input to the TRIG terminal of the event collection block 1.

  In such a configuration, when the output of the level meter exceeds the set value (90.0), the output of the comparison operation block 22 changes from “0” to “1”. The event collection block 1 captures and stores the output value of the analog input module 21. These captured data are output from the OUT terminal when the event is analyzed later.

  FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the event collection block. In this embodiment, a scale conversion function and an alarm generation function are added to the event collection block. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 31 denotes an event collection block, which includes a scale calculation unit 311, a comparison calculation unit 312, an event data storage unit 313, and an ID storage unit 314.

  The scale calculation unit 311 receives the analog signal IN, the scale upper limit value SH, and the scale lower limit value SL, and scales and outputs the analog signal IN based on the scale upper limit value SH and the scale lower limit value SL. The scale-converted value is output from the terminal OUT1.

  The comparison calculation unit 312 receives the output of the scale calculation unit 311 and the HI-side alarm set value HH, the HI-side pre-alarm set value PH, the LO-side pre-alarm set value PL, and the LO-side alarm set value LL. The comparison calculation unit 312 compares the output of the scale calculation unit 311 with these set values and outputs the result.

  That is, when the output of the scale calculator 311 becomes larger than the LO alarm set value LL, the LO alarm signal LTRP is changed from “0” to “1”. Similarly, the output of the scale calculator 311 is compared with the LO pre-alarm set value PL, the HI pre-alarm set value PH, and the HI-side alarm set value HH, and the comparison results are compared with the LO pre-alarm signal forces LLL and HI, respectively. This is reflected in the side pre-alarm signal HHH and the HI side alarm signal HTRP.

  The event data storage unit 313 receives the signal SOER, the output of the scale calculation unit 311, and the HI side alarm signal HTRP and the LO side alarm signal LTRP. The signal SOER is a signal for selecting whether or not to store event data. When the SOER signal is “1”, the event is stored. That is, when the LO alarm signal LTRP or the HI alarm signal HTRP changes from “0” to “1”, the output of the scale calculation unit 311 at that time is stored.

  The ID storage unit 314 stores identifier data in the same manner as the ID storage unit 12 of FIG. 1 embodiment. A character string of up to 32 bytes can be set as this identifier data.

  In this embodiment, the upper and lower limit values of the scale are input to the scale calculation unit 311. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any set value related to the scale can be used.

  This will be further described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, 32 is a graph showing the change of the scale-converted analog input signal output from the OUT1 terminal, and HH, PH, PL, and LL on the vertical axis are settings set to the input terminals with the same name. Value. When 32 becomes equal to LL, the value of the LTRP terminal changes from “0” to “1”. If the SOER terminal is “1” at this time, the data at that time is stored.

  Similarly, the value of the LLL terminal changes when equal to PL, and the HHH terminal changes when equal to PH. These two act as pre-alarms. When it becomes equal to HH, the value of the HTRP terminal changes, and when the SOER terminal is “1”, the data at that time is stored.

  In this way, the comparison between the scale conversion and the set value and the event occurrence are aggregated into one block, so that the user-friendly block can be obtained. Note that if the scale-converted data is input to the IN terminal, the scale conversion function can be omitted.

  FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a process control apparatus using this event collection block. In FIG. 5, 4 is an SOE viewer personal computer, 5 is a controller, and 6 is a contact input module. The controller 5 includes a user application 51, a contact output event collection unit 52, a contact input event collection unit 53, an event storage / transmission unit 54, and an event storage buffer 55. In the user application 51, the event collection block 511 described with reference to FIGS.

  The contact input event collection unit 53 collects contact input change events from the contact input module 6 and outputs them to the event storage / transmission unit 54. The value of the contact output is created by the controller 5. The contact output event collection unit 52 collects the generated contact output events and outputs them to the event storage / transmission unit 54.

  The event collection block 511 creates integer type data or real number type data created by the user application 51 or an analog input event inputted from a sensor (not shown), and outputs the event to the event storage / transmission unit 54. The event storage / transmission unit 54 stores the input event data in the event storage buffer 55, and reads the event data stored in the event storage buffer 55 in response to a request from the SOE viewer personal computer 4 to read the SOE viewer personal computer 4. Send to. The SOE viewer personal computer 4 organizes and displays these event data.

  By doing so, contact input, contact output, integer type data and real number type data, and further analog signal change event data can be saved, so that the cause of the abnormality can be easily identified.

It is a block diagram which shows one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the application of one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other Example of this invention. It is a characteristic view for demonstrating operation | movement of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the conventional process control system. It is a block diagram of the conventional safety instrumentation system.

Explanation of symbols

1, 31, 511 Event collection block 11, 313 Event data storage unit 12, 314 ID storage unit 311 Scale operation unit 312 Comparison operation unit 5 Controller 51 User application 52 Contact output event collection unit 53 Contact input event collection unit 54 Event storage / Transmitter

Claims (10)

Event data and a trigger signal indicating that an event has occurred are input, and an event data storage unit that stores the event data when the trigger signal changes,
An ID storage unit for storing the identifier;
An event collection block comprising:   2. The event collection block according to claim 1, wherein the data is at least one of integer type data, real number type data, and an analog signal.   3. The event collection block according to claim 1, wherein the identifier is a character string. A comparison operation unit that receives data and set values, compares these data with the set values, and outputs the results;
An event data storage unit that stores the data when the data and the output of the comparison operation unit are input and the output of the comparison operation unit changes;
An ID storage unit for storing the identifier;
An event collection block comprising:   A setting value related to the data and the scale is inputted, and an output thereof is input to the comparison operation unit and the event data storage unit. The scale operation unit performs scale conversion of the data. The event collection block according to claim 4, wherein   6. The event collection block according to claim 4, wherein the data is at least one of integer type data, real number type data, and an analog signal.   7. The event collection block according to claim 4, wherein the identifier is a character string. Contact input event collection unit that receives the output of the contact input module and collects the event of this contact input,
Contact output event collection unit that receives contact output data and collects this contact output event;
An event collection block that receives data and a trigger signal and stores the data and an identifier is set when the trigger signal changes;
The event collection block, the contact output event collection unit, and the output of the contact input event collection unit are inputted, and the output is stored, and the event storage / transmission unit that transmits the stored data when requested. When,
The controller characterized by comprising.   9. The controller according to claim 8, wherein the data input to the event collection unit is at least one of integer type data, real number type data, and an analog signal. 10. The event collection block according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the identifier input to the event collection block is a character string.

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