JP2011188623A - Safety control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce cost by sharing a communication device for a safety device and a controller. <P>SOLUTION: A data separator is provided among a communication device, controller and safety device. The communication data separator is equipped with a receiving buffer which registers communication data acquired from each device; a priority managing table which stores a dependence value where each bit corresponds to that at a transfer destination of communication data and a priority value which is determined by the kind of data; a processing order list which stores the order of transfer processing; a priority register means which determines the dependence value and the priority value of communication data acquired from the receiving buffer with reference to the priority managing table, and determines the order of transfer processing of the communication data acquired from the receiving buffer and registers it in the processing order list by using the dependence value and the priority value of the communication data and the dependence value and the priority value of the communication data registered in the processing order list; and a communication data transfer means which executes the transfer processing of the communication data, according to the order registered in the processing order list. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a safety control system that has a safety monitoring function of a controlled device such as a power converter, and controls the controlled device based on a control signal given via a network. The present invention relates to a safety control system that can effectively perform communication processing and realize high functional safety in a configuration in which is separated.

  Conventionally, functional safety is required for controlled devices such as power converters, and functional safety standards represented by IEC61508 have been established. With the advent of various networks in recent years, this functional safety standard also defines means for combining networks in addition to hardware mechanisms such as ensuring redundancy and controlling during an emergency stop. On the other hand, in recent years, communication methods such as EtherCAT (registered trademark, same hereinafter) and Ethernet / IP (registered trademark, same hereinafter) have been diversified.

  FIG. 13 shows a configuration of a conventional general network-compatible safety control system 90. In this figure, a conventional safety control system 90 is provided with a control device 40 responsible for the control function of the power converter, and a safety device 50 for performing safety monitoring control of the control device 40, and each of the control device 40 and the safety device 50 is provided. On the other hand, communication devices 10a and 10b for network connection are provided. In many cases, the safety device 50 has redundant monitoring processors in order to improve reliability.

  However, in the configuration of FIG. 13, since communication devices are provided in both the control device and the safety device, two network station numbers exist independently in the system. For this reason, when an external controller connected via a network manages a plurality of systems, many station numbers are handled, and there is a problem that management becomes complicated. In addition, since communication devices are expensive, there is a problem of how to reduce the number of communication devices to realize cost reduction of the system. Furthermore, it is necessary to deal with various network standards without cost.

  On the other hand, as a technology related to a safety function of a system that controls a device via a network, for example, Patent Document 1 relays an external safety controller and an input device / output device designed in conformity with a safety standard to the network. An apparatus is described for. However, this apparatus implements a safety function by performing input processing and output processing with separate devices and connecting each device with redundant terminals, and does not solve the above problem. .

JP 2006-325390 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances. In a network-compatible safety control system, the number of communication devices is reduced to reduce the number of costs and station numbers, and communication data is sent to the safety device and the control device. An object of the present invention is to provide a safety control system that can be transferred efficiently.

  In order to achieve the above object, a safety control system according to the present invention includes a communication device that transmits and receives communication data to and from an external controller via a network, and communication that is sent from the external controller via the communication device. A control device that receives data and outputs a control signal to a power converter based on the communication data, and receives communication data sent from the external controller via the communication device, and is set by the communication data In a safety control system having a safety device that detects an abnormality of the power converter or the control device by a safety function performed and outputs a stop command to the power converter, the communication device, the control device, and the Each communication device is connected to a safety device, and the communication data acquired from the communication device, the control device, and the safety device is classified for each transmission destination. A communication data separating device for transferring the data, the communication data separating device comprising: one reception buffer for registering communication data acquired from the communication device, the control device, and the safety device; Referring to the priority management table for storing the dependency value corresponding to the transfer destination and the priority value determined by the data type, the processing order list for storing the order of the transfer processing, and the priority management table, While determining the dependency value and priority value of the communication data acquired from the reception buffer, using the dependency value and priority value of the communication data and the dependency value and priority value of the communication data registered in the processing order list, Priority registration means for determining the order of transfer processing of communication data acquired from the reception buffer and registering it in the processing order list, and registering in the processing order list Characterized in that it comprises a communication data transfer means for executing transfer processing of the communication data in the order in which.

  In the present invention, communication data is transferred between the communication device, the control device, and the safety device constituting the safety control system via the communication data separation device. At this time, the priority of processing of the communication data to be transferred is determined using the dependency value corresponding to the transfer destination of the communication data and the priority value determined by the data type (safety-related signal, non-safety-related signal, etc.). Thus, communication data with high priority is transferred quickly, while the order of data transmitted to each device is guaranteed.

Further, in the safety control device according to the present invention, the safety device has a redundant processor, and the communication data separation device uses a dependency value in which a bit is assigned to each redundant processor. A transfer process is executed.
The present invention enables efficient transfer processing for each redundant processor.

  According to the present invention, since the data received by the communication device is separated into the safety-related signal and the non-safety-related signal by the communication data separation device and transferred to each device, the network connection between the control device and the safety device Therefore, it is possible to consolidate expensive communication devices into one, and to make the entire system conform to functional safety standards at low cost.

  In addition, the order of transfer processing is determined according to the priority of communication data, and the order of transfer is maintained for the same transfer destination, so that an efficient and reliable system can be realized. it can.

  In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to deal with a wide variety of networks by simply replacing the communication device. Furthermore, depending on the level of functional safety, the setting of transfer processing can be easily changed by changing the table, corresponding to the system configuration from a single processor to a redundant multiprocessor, and maintainability can be improved.

1 is a configuration diagram of a safety control system and peripheral devices according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the format of the communication data delivered between the external controller 2 and the safety control system 1 of FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the communication data separator 20 of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the communication data separation apparatus 20 of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the structure and header of the priority management table 32 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the communication data acquisition means 24 of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the dependent value by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the priority registration means 25 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the communication data transfer means 26 of FIG. It is a block diagram of the destination table 34 by the other Example 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the safety device 50 of CPU duplication structure by other Example 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the destination table 34 by the other Example 2 of this invention. 1 is a configuration diagram of a general network-compatible safety control system according to a conventional technique.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 12 are drawings for explaining an embodiment according to the safety control system of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited by these drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a safety control system and peripheral devices according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, a safety control system 1 is connected to an external controller (control command unit) 2 via a network 3. The external controller 2 performs monitoring by transmitting a control function and a command signal related to the safety function to the safety control system 1 and receiving monitoring data from the safety control system 1. On the other hand, the safety control system 1 monitors and controls the electric motor 4 that is a control target based on a command signal sent from the external controller 2.

  The safety control system 1 includes a communication device 10 that communicates with an external controller 2 via a network 3, a communication data separation device 20 that separates and transfers received data for each transmission destination, and a command sent from the external controller 2. The control device 40 that outputs a control signal based on the signal, the power converter 60 that drives the electric motor 4 by the control signal output from the control device 40, the presence or absence of abnormality of the power converter 60, the control device 40, etc. are monitored, A safety device 50 that outputs a stop command to the power converter 60 is provided. The communication data separation device 20, the control device 40, and the safety device 50 are connected by connection means such as cables and connectors that can be separated and connected. The communication device 10 and the communication data separation device 20 are also connected by the same connection means. Each device of the safety control system 1 may be realized by a unit configuration or a substrate configuration.

  The functional outline of each device constituting the safety control system 1 will be described. First, the control device 40 determines the voltage / current / current of the power converter 60 based on the command signal of the external controller 2 passed from the communication data separation device 20. A frequency or the like is determined, and a control signal is generated and output to the power converter 60. Then, the power converter 60 supplies or stops power for operating the electric motor 4 according to a control command from the control device 40 or a stop command from the safety device 50. The safety device 50 performs a memory check of the control device 40, an emergency stop control by a safety function setting signal from the external controller 2, a notification process to the external controller 2 of a safe state, and the like.

Next, an outline of a communication method between each device of the external controller 2 and the safety control system 1 will be described.
The external controller 2 and the communication device 10 of the safety control system 1 are connected via the network 3 and send data by designating each other's address. For this communication, general-purpose communication standards such as EtherCAT, Profibus (registered trademark, the same shall apply hereinafter), and Ethernet / IP can be used. As shown in FIG. 2, the data body portion (so-called payload portion) of communication data is composed of a header and data. As shown in FIG. 5, the header is roughly divided into a non-safety-related signal and a safety-related signal. However, the header is further divided into more detailed functions. Can be identified.

  When the communication data separator 20 receives the communication data from the communication device 10, the communication data separator 20 stores it in the reception buffer 31. The communication data separation device 20 determines whether it is a safety-related signal or a non-safety-related signal from the header portion of the communication data, transfers the safety-related signal to the safety device 50 as a safety function setting signal, and other signals are command signals. To the control device 40.

On the other hand, the control device 40 and the safety device 50 also send monitoring information such as a response to the communication data from the external controller 2 and abnormality detection to the external controller 2. At this time, the control device 40 and the safety device 50 pass the communication data to be transmitted to the external controller 2 to the communication data separation device 20. This communication data is composed of a header and data, similar to the format of the payload portion shown in FIG.
The communication data separation device 20 transmits the received communication data to the external controller 2 via the communication device 10.

  As described above, in the safety control system 1 according to the present embodiment, the communication data sent from the external controller 2 delivered from the communication device 10, the communication data delivered from the safety device 50, and the communication data delivered from the control device 40 are Are all received by the communication data separator 20 and are once registered in the reception buffer in the communication data separator 20. Then, the communication data separation device 20 transmits this communication data to the transfer destination in descending order of priority according to the procedure described below.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the communication data separator 20 which is the main function of the safety control system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the communication data separator 20 of FIG. In this figure, the arithmetic processing unit 29 of the communication data separation device 20 includes a communication function interface unit 21 that exchanges data with the communication device 10 and a control function interface unit that exchanges data with the control device 40. 22, safety function interface means 23 for exchanging data with safety device 50, communication data acquisition means 24 for acquiring received data from each means 21 to 23 and storing it in the reception buffer, and reception data in the reception buffer It has priority registration means 25 for judging priority and registering it in the processing order list in order of priority, and communication data transfer means 26 for sequentially transferring data registered in the processing order list. Each means 21-26 is realizable by a program as a function of CPU.

Next, the operation of the communication data separator 20 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
<Communication data acquisition processing>
When the communication function interface unit 21, the control function interface unit 22, and the safety function interface unit 23 receive communication data sent from each connection destination, they generate an interrupt signal and activate the communication data acquisition unit 24.

  When the communication data acquisition unit 24 is activated by an interrupt signal, it acquires communication data from any one of the units 21 to 23 that are the interrupt generation sources (S101), and stores this in the reception buffer 31 (S102). FIG. 4 shows the data configuration of the reception buffer 31. The communication data passed from each means 21 to 23 is composed of a header portion that represents the type of data and the like, and a data portion that represents a data value. The data is registered in the reception buffer 31 in a data format common to the system.

  An example of the header portion is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, for example, the safe connection request indicates a connection request from the external controller 2 to the safety device 50, and the safe connection response indicates a response from the safety device 50 to the safe connection request. The safety setting represents setting of various parameters related to the safety function, and represents a safety function setting signal transmitted from the external controller 2 to the safety device 50. The speed command is a command signal sent from the external controller 2 to the control device 40, and the speed monitoring is a state monitoring signal transmitted from the control device 40 to the external controller 2.

  FIG. 6 shows a processing procedure of the communication data acquisition unit 24. In this process, when the communication data acquisition means 24 is activated by the generation of an interrupt signal, it receives communication data from any of the means 21 to 23 that are the interrupt generation sources (S101), and a reception buffer provided in the storage unit 30 31 is temporarily stored (S102). The reception buffer 31 functions as a FIFO type data list.

  Note that the header in the reception buffer 31 only needs to be able to distinguish at least whether it is a safety-related signal or a non-safety-related signal (ie, “type”) and the transfer destination. (Payload part) may be included, or the header part may be generated by combining the type and the destination address of the communication data.

<Priority registration process>
Next, the operation of the priority registration unit 25 will be described with reference to FIG.
The priority registration unit 25 is activated by an activation command from the unit 24 after completion of data storage in the reception buffer 31 of the fixed period or communication data acquisition unit 24. When activated, the priority registration means 25 extracts the communication data stored in the reception buffer 31 in order from the previously registered data and executes the priority registration process. In this process, the priority registration unit 25 reads the header portion of the communication data acquired from the reception buffer 31 (S201), and refers to the priority management table 32. FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of the priority management table 32. In the priority management table 32, priority values and dependency values are set in advance according to the header.

  FIG. 7 shows the configuration of dependency values and the assignment of each process. Assume that each type of processing such as safety / non-safety and transfer destination type is assigned to each bit of an 8-bit bit flag, for example. The first bit is transmission of safety data (safety transmission), and the second bit is reception of safety data (safety reception).

The priority registration unit 25 refers to the priority management table 32 for the communication data acquired from the reception buffer 31, and extracts a priority value and a dependency value corresponding to the header of the communication data (S202). Next, the priority registration means 25 sets 1 to the variable i (S203), and sets the communication data in the processing order list i-th (highest priority) to the variable A (S204).
Then, the priority registration unit 25 executes priority determination calculation described below (S205, S206).

  First, the priority registration means 25 performs an AND operation for each bit corresponding to the dependence value of the communication data set in the variable A and the dependence value extracted in step S202, and sets the result to the variable Y (S205). . If any bit of the variable Y is 1, 0 is set in the variable X. If all the bits of the variable Y are 0, the variable X is set to the priority value extracted in step S202 (S206). . In the process of step S206 in FIG. 8, NOT (Y0 | Y1 |...) Means a logical negation of the OR of each bit of the variable Y. The process of step S206 means that the product of the result of this logical negation (that is, 1 or 0) and the priority value extracted in step S202 is substituted for the variable X.

  Next, the priority registration unit 25 determines whether or not the variable X is 0. If the variable X is 0, the variable i is incremented (S209), the process proceeds to step S204, and the subsequent processing is repeated.

  If the variable X is not 0 in step S207, it is next determined whether or not the value of the variable X is larger than the priority value of the variable A (S208). If the result of this determination is that the value of variable X is less than or equal to the priority value of variable A, variable i is incremented (S209), the process proceeds to step S204, and the subsequent processing is repeated.

  On the other hand, when the value of the variable X is larger than the priority value of the variable A in step S208, the i-th interrupt is registered in the processing order list 33 (S210). Specifically, the order of the i-th and subsequent communication data already registered in the processing order list 33 is lowered one by one, and the communication data of the variable A is registered in the i-th in the processing order list 33.

  This priority determination calculation is performed when the communication data acquired from the reception buffer 31 is compared with the dependence value of the communication data registered in the processing order list 33 and 1 is set in the same bit position. This means that even if communication data acquired from the reception buffer 31 has a higher priority value, the order of the processing order list is not changed. In other words, the transfer order is changed according to the priority only for communication data having different transfer destinations, and when the same transfer destination is included, the order is not changed according to the priority.

  As a result, even when the order of setting becomes a problem, such as when setting operating parameters, the order of the data is guaranteed for each function, while the system as a whole can execute high-priority processing quickly. There is an effect that can be done.

  Furthermore, in the communication data separation device, it is possible to increase the memory efficiency by using a common reception buffer, and the dependency values determined corresponding to the transfer destination are managed in a table, and the same transfer destination can be calculated by calculation. Since the order is guaranteed, the branching of the program can be reduced and the processing capability can be improved.

<Communication data transfer processing>
The communication data transfer means 26 extracts communication data from the processing order list 33 registered in order of high priority in order of priority, and transmits it to the transfer destination determined by the dependency value.

This processing procedure will be described with reference to FIG.
When the communication data transfer unit 26 is periodically activated, it is determined whether or not communication data is registered in the processing order list 33 (S301). If it is not registered, the communication data transfer unit 26 ends. The first (highest priority) communication data in the processing order list 33 is acquired (S302). And communication data is output to the means 21-23 corresponding to the bit of the dependence value of a header part. Thereby, each means 21-23 can transmit communication data to a connecting point.

For example, when the dependency value Y1 = 1, the communication data is passed to the safety function interface unit 23. When the dependency value Y0 = 1 or Y2 = 1, the communication data is passed to the communication function interface means 21. When the dependency value Y3 = 1, the communication data is passed to the control function interface unit 22.
After step S303, the communication data transfer unit 26 deletes the first communication data in the processing order list, moves up the second and subsequent ranks in order (S304), moves to step S301, and repeats the subsequent processes.

  When the communication data is transferred from the communication data transfer means 26, the interface means 21 to 23 send the communication data to the connected devices 10, 40, and 50, respectively. Each device 10, 40, 50 executes processing corresponding to the communication data. For example, when the communication device 10 receives data from the communication data separation device 20, the communication device 10 transmits the communication data to the external controller 2 by a predetermined communication procedure. The control device 40 and the safety device 50 execute processing corresponding to the communication data as a command signal and a safety function setting signal, respectively.

(Other Example 1)
In the above description, the communication data is passed to the interface means 21 to 23 determined in advance corresponding to the bit position of the dependency value. The transfer destination may be determined with reference to the destination table 34 shown in FIG. Thereby, it is possible to flexibly cope with a change in the dependency value and the transfer destination.

(Other Example 2)
As shown in FIG. 11, the safety device 50 has a dual CPU configuration, and the communication data is sent to each CPU via the bridge circuit 51.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, when the dependency value bit Y1 = 1, the safety function interface means 23 has an address 1 (address to the CPU 1 of the safety device 50), and when the dependency value bit Y4 = 1, the address 2 (Address of CPU 2 of safety device 50) is set, and each communication data is sent to safety device 50. In the safety device 50, each CPU corresponding to the address 1 and the address 2 receives the communication data, and executes a process corresponding to the received communication data.

  Alternatively, when the safety device 50 is a single CPU, the safety function interface unit 23 communicates with only one CPU by always setting the bit Y4 of the dependency value in the priority management table 32 to 0. A single CPU safety device 50 can be easily accommodated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the case where the redundant CPU is always subjected to the same calculation, even when different processing is performed, a header corresponding to the processing is created and the processing is executed. The function distribution can be easily realized by setting the bit of the dependency value corresponding to the transfer destination CPU to 1.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the data is once received by the communication data separator and transferred in the order of priority, the memory can be saved and the data can be efficiently transmitted and received.

  Further, from the external controller 2, it is only necessary to exchange data with respect to one address assigned to the safety control system 1, and the internal configuration of the CPU of the safety device 50 of the safety control system 1 is made to be a single CPU or a duplex. If this occurs, it is only necessary to change the priority management table 32 of the communication data separation device, so that it is possible to flexibly cope with a change in the device configuration.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, when supporting different network standards such as EtherCAT, Profibus, Ethernet / IP, etc., it is possible to replace the communication device 10 designed for each standard, or replace the software. It is possible, and maintenance of the control device 40 and the safety device 50 can be made unnecessary. Further, since the external controller 2 only needs to communicate with a single address assigned to the safety control system 1, it is possible to use an efficient address.

  Further, by using the priority management table 32, even when the number of headers is large and complicated, the headers can be converted into numerical values only by performing memory access. For this reason, it is not necessary to branch the CPU for each header, and the load on the CPU can be reduced.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, in the device configuration of the safety control system, it is not necessary to provide each device independently as shown in FIG. 1. For example, the communication data separation device 20 and the safety device 50 may be constructed integrally.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Safety control system 2 External controller 3 Network 4 Electric motor 10, 10a, 10b Communication apparatus 20 Communication data separation apparatus 21 Communication function interface means 22 Control function interface means 23 Safety function interface means 24 Communication data acquisition means 25 Priority registration means 26 Communication data Transfer means 29 Operation processing unit 30 Storage unit 31 Reception buffer 32 Priority management table 33 Processing order list 34 Destination table 40 Control device 50 Safety device 51 Bridge circuit 60 Power converter 90 Conventional safety control system

Claims (2)

A communication device that transmits / receives communication data to / from an external controller via a network, receives communication data sent from the external controller via the communication device, and receives a control signal to a power converter based on the communication data And a communication device that receives communication data sent from the external controller via the communication device, and detects an abnormality of the power converter or the control device by a safety function set by the communication data And a safety control system having a safety device that outputs a stop command to the power converter,
A communication data separation device that connects to the communication device, the control device, and the safety device, and separates and transfers communication data acquired from the communication device, the control device, and the safety device for each destination; And
The communication data separation device comprises:
A reception buffer for registering communication data acquired from the communication device, the control device, and the safety device;
A priority management table in which each bit stores a dependency value corresponding to a transfer destination of communication data and a priority value determined by the type of data;
A processing order list for storing the order of transfer processing;
Referring to the priority management table, the dependence value and priority value of the communication data acquired from the reception buffer are determined, and the dependence value and priority value of the communication data and the communication data registered in the processing order list Priority registration means for determining the order of transfer processing of communication data acquired from the reception buffer and registering it in the processing order list using the dependency value and the priority value of
Communication data transfer means for executing communication data transfer processing according to the order registered in the processing order list;
A safety control system comprising: The safety device has a redundant processor;
The safety control system according to claim 1, wherein the communication data separation device executes a transfer process using a dependency value in which a bit is assigned to each redundant processor.