JP2010191875A - Voice information system of abnormality of contact system in programmable controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To take emergent measures when a contact or a device has an abnormality. <P>SOLUTION: This system for informing of an abnormality of a contact system to the outside in PLC (programmable controller) for scanning cyclically a ladder program to the contact system formed by connecting each device to a plurality of input/output contacts respectively includes: abnormality determination means (a contact state monitoring part 7, a CPU 11) for monitoring or diagnosing a state of the contact system, and determining whether the result is abnormal or not; an abnormal spot specification means (abnormal spot specification part 13) for specifying a contact system determined to be abnormal by the abnormality determination means; and a voice informing means (a voice conversion part 15, a voice output part 16, a voice data storage table 17, a CPU 11) for informing by a voice of information of the contact system specified by the abnormal spot specification means. In the system, an abnormal spot of the contact system is specified, and the abnormality specification spot is informed of by a voice. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for voice notification of an abnormality of an input contact, an output contact, or various devices connected to the contact system in a programmable controller (hereinafter referred to as PLC).

  A PLC is used as a control device for factory automation (FA) installed in a production factory or the like. This PLC has a CPU, an I / O memory, a program memory, etc., and this CPU performs an IN refresh process for fetching a signal from an input device input from an input contact into the I / O memory, and the program memory Executes the calculation based on the sequence program, performs the OUT refresh process that writes the result of the calculation to the I / O memory and sends it to the output device from the output contact, and transmits / receives data to / from other PLCs on the communication network. A series of processing for performing peripheral processing such as data transmission / reception with an external personal computer or the like via a port is cyclically repeated. Such a cyclic scan can be referred to, for example, Patent Document 1.

  An input device such as a sensor is connected to the input contact, and an output device such as an actuator is connected to the output contact. An input device such as a sensor senses the state of various machines such as machine tools and other devices, inputs a signal related to the sensing to an internal circuit via an input contact, and outputs a signal related to control from the internal circuit. Via the contact, it is sent to an output device such as an actuator or a motor that drives the machine or apparatus, and the output device is driven and controlled.

  Input contacts and output contacts in the above PLC are provided on the equipment panel, and input / output devices such as sensors and actuators on the user side are connected to these operation power supplies.

  The input / output contact or the input / output device may lose its function due to various factors. Therefore, in order to monitor or diagnose the loss of function, etc., it is usually necessary to check or rewrite the PLC ladder program, etc., or replace the input / output contacts and input / output devices that appear to be abnormal. Has been done.

  However, it is not easy even for a skilled engineer to check or rewrite the above ladder program, or to determine which input / output contact or device is used. If there is a shortage or absence of skilled engineers, it can be expected that production under PLC control must be stopped. In such a case, it has been desired to be able to identify such an abnormal contact system even if it is not a skilled engineer so that emergency measures can be taken against the above situation.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-259079

  The present invention makes it easy to determine which abnormal contact system is on-site without requiring specialized knowledge such as a ladder program when an abnormality occurs in the contact system consisting of each contact or each device. It is to be able to take specific first aid measures.

  In the PLC according to the present invention, the contact system abnormality audio notification method is a method of notifying the contact system abnormality to the outside in a programmable controller that executes a ladder program for a contact system including a plurality of contacts to which a device is connected. , Monitoring or diagnosing the state of the contact system and determining whether the result is abnormal, an abnormality determining unit for specifying the contact system determined to be abnormal by the abnormality determining unit, and the abnormality Voice notification means for notifying the information of the contact system specified by the location specifying means by voice, identifying the abnormal part of the contact system and notifying the specified abnormal part by voice. It is characterized by being possible.

  The contact system includes contacts and devices. This contact includes an input contact, an output contact, and an input / output contact. Devices can include input devices and output devices.

  In the present invention, when the abnormal state of the contact system is determined by the abnormality determining unit, the contact point system is specified by the abnormal part specifying unit, and the specified abnormal part is notified by voice by the voice notification unit. As a result, it is possible to identify emergency contact systems and take emergency measures without requiring specialized knowledge such as ladder programs.

  In the present invention, a preferred aspect is that the abnormal part specifying means specifies a contact or a device determined to be abnormal in synchronization with a cyclic scan of a ladder program.

  Here, the cyclic scan is to repeatedly execute the program stored in the program memory. There are various programs such as a ladder diagram method and an SFC (sequential function chart) method, and the program is not limited to the type of the method.

  In the above aspect, since the timing of abnormality determination is synchronized with the cyclic scan of the ladder program, it is possible to specify which contact system has an abnormality from the cyclic scan synchronization position of the ladder program.

  In the present invention, another preferable aspect is that the abnormality determination unit is configured to output an abnormality determination result by addressing each contact or device constituting the contact system, while the abnormality location specifying unit includes: The contact or device determined to be abnormal is identified with reference to the address from the abnormality determining means.

 In this aspect, it is possible to easily identify an abnormal part of the contact system from the address.

  In the present invention, another preferable aspect is that the voice notification means notifies the information specifying the abnormal part of the contact system by voice.

 In the above aspect, since the abnormal part is notified by voice, the operator can easily take an emergency measure for the abnormal contact system.

  In the present invention, another preferred embodiment is a contact or a device connected to the contact system.

  According to the present invention, when there is an abnormality in the contact system, the abnormality part is notified by voice, so even an operator who does not have specialized knowledge such as a ladder program does not need to pay a cost on site. , You can easily apply first aid to the contacts and devices.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a PLC according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation pattern in the PLC of FIG.

  DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A detailed description will now be given of a contact system abnormality sound notification system in a PLC according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. The PLC of the embodiment can be applied to both a building block type and an integral type. In the embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the building block type and the integrated type will be described without distinction. FIG. 1 shows a schematic block configuration of a PLC implementing a system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a device operation pattern.

  Referring to FIG. 1, this PLC includes a plurality of input contacts 2a, 2b,..., 2n (hereinafter simply referred to as “input devices 1”) connected to a plurality of input devices 1a, 1b,. Input contacts 2) and a plurality of output contacts 4a, 4b,..., 4n (hereinafter simply referred to as output contacts 4) to which a plurality of output devices 3a, 3b,. Is provided. In the embodiment, the input / output contacts 2 and 4 and the input / output devices 1 and 3 are defined as a contact system.

  The plurality of input contacts 2 and the plurality of output contacts 4 are connected to an input circuit 5 and an output circuit 6, respectively. The states of the input contact 2 and the output contact 4 are monitored by a contact state monitoring unit 7. In this monitoring, for example, the state of the input contact 2 is monitored based on whether or not the voltage level of the input signal input to the input circuit 5 is equal to or lower than a predetermined value. It is done by judging. Further, the state of the output contact 4 is monitored based on whether or not the voltage level of the output signal output to the output circuit 6 is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and if it is equal to or lower than the predetermined value, it is determined that the output contact 4 is abnormal. Do.

  The contact state monitoring means described above is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

  The contact state monitoring data from the contact state monitoring unit 7 is output in synchronization with the cyclic scan of the input contact 2 and the output contact 4 on the ladder program.

  The PLC according to the embodiment includes a standard device operation pattern storage unit 8, a normal device operation pattern storage unit 9, and an operation pattern comparison unit 10. The standard device operation pattern storage unit 8 stores in advance a standard device operation pattern shown as an example in FIG. The standard device operation pattern Ps shown in FIG. 2A has a standard operation pattern width Ts and an operation pattern accuracy adjustment width Ta before and after the standard operation pattern width Ts. The standard device operation pattern storage unit 8 corresponds to each of the plurality of input / output devices 1 and 3 connected to each of the plurality of input / output contacts 2 and 4, although not particularly illustrated in order to avoid complexity of illustration. A plurality of standard device operation patterns are stored. Further, the operation pattern accuracy adjustment width Ta before and after the standard operation pattern width Ts can be set corresponding to each standard device operation pattern.

  In the normal device operation pattern storage unit 9, the CPU 11 processes the signals of the input device 1 and the output device 3 input from the input circuit 5 and the output circuit 6 and stores them as normal device operation patterns. . The normal device operation pattern is updated by storing a plurality of normal device operation patterns corresponding to the plurality of input / output devices 1 and 3 connected to the plurality of input / output contacts 2 and 4 for each cyclic scan. Has been. An example of this normal device operation pattern is shown in FIG. The normal device operation patterns P011 and P012 shown in FIG. 2B have normal device operation pattern widths T011 and T012, respectively. The standard operation pattern width Ts of the standard device operation pattern Ps and the operation pattern accuracy adjustment before and after the normal device operation pattern Ps. It is within the width Ta and is normal. On the other hand, in the normal device operation pattern P021, P022 shown in FIG. 2C, the normal device operation pattern width is T021, T022, and the standard operation pattern width Ts of the standard device operation pattern Ps and the operation patterns before and after the normal device operation pattern Ps. It is abnormal because it does not fall within the accuracy adjustment width Ta.

  Then, the operation pattern comparison unit 10 compares the standard device operation pattern Ps of FIG. 2A with the normal device operation patterns P011, P012, P021, and P022 of FIG. 2B and FIG. A comparison output indicating that the normal device operation patterns P011 and P012 of FIG. 2B are normal and the normal device operation patterns P021 and P022 of FIG. 2C are abnormal is output to the device state diagnosis unit 12. The device state diagnosis unit 12 diagnoses the device state from the comparison output, and outputs the diagnosis result to the CPU 11 in synchronization with the cyclic scan.

  When the CPU 11 performs a cyclic scan of a ladder program stored in a memory (not shown), the contact point monitoring unit 7 and the device state diagnosis unit 12 determine an abnormality in synchronization with the cyclic scan. The location (address) of the connected contact system is specified. A memory in which a system program for the CPU 11 to perform various calculations and control processes is written, a ladder program as a user program, a work area for calculation processes, a memory for temporarily storing data, etc. The memory is also not shown.

  The abnormal part specifying unit 13 inputs the state monitoring data of the input / output contacts 2 and 4 and the state diagnostic data of the devices 1 and 3 from the contact state monitoring unit 7 and the device state diagnosis unit 12, respectively. It is possible to determine the synchronization between the occurrence timing and the cyclic scan timing and to identify which input / output contact 2, 4 and device 1, 3 are abnormal from the synchronization position.

  Note that the contact status monitoring unit 7 and the device status diagnosis unit 12 address the input contact 2, the output contact 4, the input device 1, and the output device 3. It can also be output to the abnormal part specifying unit 13 together with the determination result. In such a case, an abnormal contact or device can be identified from a plurality of contacts or devices from the address regardless of cyclic scan synchronization.

  As described above, the information on the abnormal contacts 2 and 4 and the devices 1 and 3 specified by the abnormal part specifying unit 13 is displayed on the display unit 14 and converted into voice by the voice conversion unit 15 and then the voice output unit 16. Will be notified by voice. In this case, the audio data storage table 17 stores the audio data corresponding to the abnormal location, and the CPU 11 stores the abnormal location from the audio data storage table 17 corresponding to the abnormal location specified by the abnormal location specifying unit 13. Corresponding audio data is selected, and the audio conversion unit 15 can convert the audio. Further, the CPU 11 can control the audio wireless transmission unit 18 to transmit the audio wirelessly from the transmission antenna 19.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the CPU 11 has an abnormality in the contact system of the contacts 2 and 4 and the devices 1 and 3 as an abnormality determination means based on the monitoring or diagnosis result of the contact state monitoring unit 7 and the device state diagnosis unit 12. The CPU 11 further acquires data on which contacts 2, 4 and devices 1, 3 are abnormal in the abnormal part specifying unit 13, and the voice conversion unit 15 and the voice output unit 16 are voice notification means. In this way, the specified abnormal part is notified by voice, while wireless transmission is performed from the voice wireless transmission unit 18, so that it is an operator who does not require specialized knowledge such as a ladder program or a worker who is absent from the site. However, it becomes possible to identify an abnormal contact system and take emergency measures.

  In this application, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-209589 is similar in terms of audio output. This publication discloses a technique for outputting the state of a machine tool with a voice that can be recognized by a user. However, this disclosed technology is provided outside the PLC, not outside the PLC, and the individual status of each of the PLC input / output contacts and the individual status of the devices connected to each input / output contact. A technique capable of recognizing and processing the information is not disclosed.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-152470 discloses a technique for outputting a diagnosis result based on both normal and comparative patterns regarding a robot, but it is provided outside the PLC instead of inside the PLC. There is no disclosure of a technology that can recognize and process individual statuses of a plurality of input / output contacts of a PLC and individual statuses of a plurality of devices connected to the respective input / output contacts.

1a-1n input device 2a-2n input contact 3a-3n output device 4a-4n output contact 5 input circuit 6 output circuit 7 contact state monitoring unit 8 standard device operation pattern storage unit 9 normal device operation pattern storage unit 10 operation pattern comparison unit 11 CPU
12 Device state diagnosis unit 13 Abnormal part identification unit 15 Audio conversion unit 16 Audio output unit 17 Audio data storage table

Claims (5)

In a programmable controller that executes a ladder program for a contact system including a plurality of contacts to which a device is connected, it is a method for informing the outside of the abnormality of the contact system,
An abnormality determining means for monitoring or diagnosing the state of the contact system and determining whether the result is abnormal;
An abnormal part specifying means for specifying a contact system determined to be abnormal by the abnormality determining means;
Voice notification means for notifying the information of the contact system specified by the abnormal part specifying means by voice;
By providing the system, it is possible to identify an abnormal part of the contact system and notify the specified abnormal part by voice.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the abnormal part specifying means specifies a contact or a device determined to be abnormal in synchronization with a cyclic scan of a ladder program.   The abnormality determination means addresses each contact or device constituting the contact system and outputs an abnormality determination result, while the abnormality location specifying means refers to the address from the abnormality determination means. The method according to claim 1, wherein the contact or device determined to be abnormal is identified.   The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the voice notification means notifies the information specifying the abnormal part of the contact system by voice.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the contact system is a contact or a device connected thereto.

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