JP4305201B2 - Method and apparatus for reproducing operation status of production equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a production facility operation state reproduction method and apparatus capable of reproducing an operation state in a short time.

  An automobile production line is composed of a plurality of stages, and each stage is arranged in series in the conveyance direction of the automobile. Each stage is provided with many production facilities such as robots and actuators, and these production facilities are controlled independently for each stage.

  Generally, in preparation for trouble occurrence, the production line is equipped with a monitoring device that monitors the operating states of all stages and production facilities. As described in Patent Document 1 or 2 below, the monitoring device has a function of sequentially storing the operating state of each production facility, and a function of displaying an animation of the operation of the production facility based on the stored operating state. I have.

When trouble occurs in the production facility, the monitoring device reads the history data stored until the trouble occurs, and displays the animation of the operation of the production facility based on the history data. Investigate the cause of trouble. When the operation of the production facility is reproduced with animation, it is possible to know how the trouble has occurred and to assist in the recovery of the trouble.
JP 2003-117863 A JP 2003-150217 A

  However, as described above, since the production equipment is controlled independently for each stage, the operation timings of the production equipment installed at the boundary portion of each stage often do not match. For this reason, in order to be able to reliably monitor the occurrence of troubles at all production facilities, including the production equipment installed at the boundary of each stage, the operation status of the entire production line, not every stage, is collectively Must be monitored. In order to perform this monitoring, it is necessary to sequentially detect and store the operating states of all the production facilities constituting the production line along the time axis. I need a device.

  Moreover, even if the storage device is provided, in order to read the history data of all the production equipment stored until the trouble occurs, and to display the animation of the operation of the production equipment based on the history data Since the monitoring device will perform enormous computations, the operating status cannot be quickly reproduced, and the trouble cannot be quickly recovered.

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the conventional monitoring device as described above, and the operation status can be reproduced in a short time while suppressing an increase in the capacity of the storage device required for trouble monitoring. An object is to provide a method and apparatus for reproducing the operational status of possible production facilities.

  In order to achieve the above object, the production facility operation status reproduction method according to the present invention includes a step of setting a reference time for reproducing the operation status of a plurality of production facilities, and an actual operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities. Storing in association with the reference time, comparing the actual operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities in time series while taking into account the reference operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities and the reference time, When the actual operation history of any production facility exceeds the allowable range set for the reference operation history, the operation status of the production facility is reproduced based on the actual operation history after the time exceeding the allowable range. Creating animation data for the first time, and animation up to a time exceeding the allowable range created in advance based on a standard operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities The stage of combining the animation data and the animation data after the time exceeding the allowable range created based on the actual operation history of the production equipment, and displaying the combined animation data to show the operating status of all the production equipment And a step of reproducing.

  The step of storing the actual operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities in association with the reference time includes the step of recording the operation status of the components of the production facility when the production facility is operated for at least one cycle; The method includes a step of allocating a free space of the memory according to the operation state and a step of storing an actual operation history in each divided area of the memory.

  In order to achieve the above object, the production facility operation status reproduction apparatus according to the present invention includes a reference time setting means for setting a reference time for reproducing the operation status of a plurality of production facilities, and the plurality of production facilities. Actual operation history storage means for storing each actual operation history in association with the reference time, reference operation history storage means for storing reference operation history for each of the plurality of production facilities, and actual operation for each of the plurality of production facilities An operation history comparing means for comparing history in a time series while taking into account the reference operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities and the reference time, and an actual operation history of any production facility is provided for the reference operation history When the allowable range is exceeded, animation data is created to reproduce the operation status of the production facility based on the actual operation history after the time exceeding the allowable range. Created based on motion animation data creation means and animation data up to the time exceeding the allowable range created in advance based on the reference motion history of each of the plurality of production facilities and the actual motion history of the production facility Animation data combining means for combining animation data after the time exceeding the allowable range, and operation status reproduction means for displaying the combined animation data and reproducing the operation status of all production facilities. Features.

  According to the method for reproducing the operating status of a production facility according to the present invention, when the actual operation history of any production facility exceeds the allowable range provided for the reference operation history, the actual operation after the time exceeding the allowable range is reached. Since animation data for reproducing the operation status of the production facility is created based on the operation history, the animation data to be newly created only needs to be for a specific time of the production facility. Since the amount of calculation can be greatly reduced, the operating status of all production facilities can be quickly reproduced.

  In addition, according to the method for reproducing the operation status of the production facility according to the present invention, since the operation status of the components of the production facility is efficiently stored using the free capacity of the memory, the operation status is stored. There is no need to install new memory.

  Furthermore, according to the production facility operation status reproduction apparatus according to the present invention, the animation data to be newly created is only required for a specific time of the production facility, so that the calculation amount of the animation data can be greatly reduced. It is possible to quickly reproduce the operating status of all production facilities.

  Hereinafter, based on an accompanying drawing, the operation situation reproduction method of a production facility concerning the present invention and its device are explained in detail.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a vehicle body assembly production line to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system of the vehicle body assembly production line.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle body assembly production line is composed of first to seventh stages for performing the operations of steps 1 to 7. The first stage is a stage for performing a workpiece transfer operation (step 1), and this stage is provided with a single-axis positioning device. The second stage is also a stage for performing a workpiece transfer operation (step 2), and a workpiece transfer robot is disposed on this stage. The third stage is a stage for performing a welding operation (step 3). A three-axis positioning device, a single-axis positioning device, and a plurality of welding robots are arranged on this stage. The fourth stage is a stage for performing a workpiece transfer operation (step 4), and a single-axis positioning device and a workpiece transfer robot are arranged on this stage. The fifth stage is a stage for performing a welding operation (step 5), and is a stage for welding another part to the workpiece subjected to the welding operation in step 3. A welding robot is arranged on this stage. The sixth stage is also a stage for performing a workpiece transfer operation (step 6), and a workpiece transfer robot is disposed on this stage. The seventh stage is also a stage for performing a workpiece transfer operation (step 7), and a workpiece transfer robot is arranged on this stage.

  FIG. 2 shows the control system of the vehicle body assembly production line shown in FIG. 1, but mainly shows the control system of the third stage. Each stage is provided with a control device (PLC) 100 that comprehensively controls production equipment such as a three-axis positioning device, a one-axis positioning device, or a robot arranged on the stage. Accordingly, seven control devices 100 are provided in the vehicle body assembly production line shown in FIG.

  In the case of the third stage, since the three-axis positioning device, the one-axis positioning device, and a plurality of welding robots are arranged, the control device 100 includes a three-axis positioning device controller 10 that controls the operation of the three-axis positioning device. 1-axis positioning device controller 20 for controlling the operation of the axis positioning device, robot controller 30 for controlling the operation of the welding robot, remote I / O 40, 3-axis positioning device controller 10, 1-axis positioning device controller 20, robot controller 30 and remote A sub-operation panel (graphic display) 50 for grasping the operation status of the I / O 40 is connected.

  The control device 100 provided for each stage is connected to a main operation panel (PC) 200 that grasps the operating status of all production facilities constituting the production line via a cable constituting the network. The main operation panel 200 includes reference time setting means for setting a reference time for reproducing the operation status of all the production facilities constituting the production line on the same time axis. The control device 100 includes actual operation history storage means for storing the actual operation history of each production facility in association with the reference time. The actual operation history is control information of each production facility detected when the production line is actually in operation. For example, limit switch ON / OFF state, current, position information of movable part, etc. Are arranged in time series. It is.

  The sub-operation panel 50 compares reference operation history storage means for storing the reference operation history of each production facility, and compares the actual operation history of each production facility in time series while taking into account the reference operation history and reference time of each production facility. If the actual operation history of one of the production facilities exceeds the allowable range set for the reference operation history, the production facility's operation history is compared based on the actual operation history after the time exceeding the allowable range. Actual motion animation data creation means for creating animation data to reproduce the operation status, and animation data up to the time exceeding the allowable range created in advance based on the standard motion history of each production facility and the actual production facility Animation data combining the animation data after the time exceeding the allowable range created based on the operation history Means, operation status reproduction means for displaying the combined animation data to reproduce the operation status of all production facilities, and animation for reproducing the operation status of each production facility based on the standard operation history of each production facility Reference motion animation data creating means for creating data in advance is provided. The reference operation history is the control information of each production facility detected when the production line is operating normally, and the animation data is the operation history (actual operation history or This is data created based on the reference operation history.

  In general, the production facility operation status reproduction apparatus configured as described above operates as shown in the flowcharts of FIG. FIG. 3 is a main flowchart of the production facility operation status reproduction apparatus according to the present invention.

  When the production line shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 starts operation, the main operation panel 200 sets a reference time (S1). When reproducing the operation of the production facility, the reference time is used to match all the time axes of the production facility operating in a scattered manner for each stage. Next, each control device 100 stores the operation status of each production facility connected to the control device 100 as an actual operation history in time series (S2). The process of this step includes a process of first dividing memory areas and determining what type of actual operation history is stored in each area. This process will be described in detail in a subroutine flowchart described later.

  Each control device 100 determines whether or not an abnormality has occurred in any of the production facilities (S3). If it is not determined that an abnormality has occurred (S3: No), the process of S2 is continued and the storage of the actual operation history of the production facility is repeated. If it is determined that an abnormality has occurred (S3: Yes), the sub operation panel 50 reads the actual operation history stored in the control device 100, and compares the read actual operation history with each reference operation history in time series. To do. Then, when the actual operation history exceeds the allowable range set for the reference operation history, animation data is created to reproduce the operation status of the production equipment based on the actual operation history after the time exceeding the allowable range. To do. The main operation panel 200 or the sub-operation panel 50 is created based on the animation data up to the time exceeding the allowable range created in advance based on the standard operation history of each production facility and the actual operation history of the production facility. The animation data after the time exceeding the allowable range is combined, and the combined animation data is displayed to reproduce the operation status of all production facilities. In this way, the worker reproduces their operations by matching the time axes of all the production facilities constituting the production line, and searches for the cause of the abnormality (S4).

  4 and 5 are subroutine flowcharts constituting a part of step S2 of FIG. This flowchart is executed for each type of control program (for each vehicle type) before the vehicle body assembly production line is completed and its operation is started, and shows a memory initialization process.

  For example, the control device 100 of the stage 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an I / O device included in the three-axis positioning device controller 10, the one-axis positioning device controller 20, the robot controller 30, and the remote I / O 40. The number of operations (while the stage operates for one cycle) is recorded (S21). Next, the number of operations and the operation time of the three-axis positioning device controller 10 and the one-axis positioning device controller 20 are recorded (S22). Then, the time data (on / off timing) and state data (on / off state) for one operation are multiplied by a value obtained by adding a margin to the number of operations recorded in the above steps. The value calculated by this calculation is the amount of data necessary to reproduce the on / off state for two cycles of all the production facilities of stage 3 (S23).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the ring buffer reservation has been completed for all the I / O devices (S24). If the reservation has not been completed (S24: No), the processing of step S23 is repeated until the reservation is completed. . If the reservation of the ring buffer is completed for all the I / O devices (S24: Yes), the time until all the production facilities in the stage 3 are completed in one cycle is divided by the sequencer scan cycle of the control device 100 (S25). A memory capacity corresponding to the value is allocated as a ring buffer for holding history during chattering (S26). Then, the memory size of the empty area is confirmed (S27).

  The control device 100 determines whether or not the ring buffer reservation has been completed for all positioning devices (S28). If the reservation of the ring buffer has been completed (S28: Yes), it is determined whether or not there is a remainder in the ring buffer (S29). If there is a remainder (S29: Yes), each I / O device is determined. The ring buffer is equally distributed and the process returns to the main routine of FIG. On the other hand, if there is no remainder (S29: No), the process is terminated as it is, and the process returns to the main routine.

  If it is determined in step S28 that the reservation of the ring buffer has not been completed for all positioning devices, the memory is divided in proportion to the number of operations of each positioning device (S31). Next, the sampling period is calculated based on the data amount necessary for one sampling. This calculation is performed as follows. If the memory capacity divided in step S31 is N, the amount of one sampling data (time data, position data current data, etc.) of the positioning device is A, and the operation time of one cycle of the positioning device is T, A · A sampling period is obtained by calculating T / N (S32).

  And it is judged whether the calculated | required sampling period is realizable. That is, it is determined whether or not the sampling period exceeds the actual sampling period (S33). If this sampling period does not exceed the actual sampling period (S33: Yes), the ring buffer of the positioning device is allocated to the divided area (S34). On the other hand, if the sampling period is exceeded (S33: No), the number of samplings is calculated by dividing the operation time of one cycle of the positioning device by the actual sampling period (S35), and a margin is provided for the calculated number of samplings. A ring buffer corresponding to the added capacity is allocated (S36).

  When the above processing is executed, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, an area for storing the actual operation history of the production facility is stored in an empty area (100000 to 1300000) existing in the user area of the memory. And can be efficiently allocated to the positioning devices.

  7 and 8 are subroutine flowcharts of step S4 of FIG. This flowchart is processed when the control device 100 determines that an abnormality has occurred in any of the production facilities.

  The control device 100 is supplied to the drive unit that drives the actual operation history (limit switch ON / OFF, robot working unit locus, actuator ON / OFF, production unit movable unit) sent from each production facility. The storage of the current value etc. is stopped (S41). Then, the worker determines whether or not the operation confirmation of all the robots connected to the specific production facility, for example, the control device 10, the uniaxial or triaxial positioning device is completed (S42). If the operation confirmation of the specific production facility is not completed (S42: No), it is determined whether or not to confirm the actual operation history (S43). Step S43 is provided so that the cause of the failure can be found by visual confirmation of the operator if the failure is relatively simple, and in such a case, reproduction of the operation status by animation display can be omitted. Yes. If the actual operation history is not confirmed in step S43 (S43: No), the process returns to the main flowchart of FIG. On the other hand, when the actual operation history is confirmed (S43: Yes), the control device 100 confirms the vehicle type that has been processed before the abnormality occurs (S44). When the confirmation of the vehicle type is completed, the sub operation panel 50 searches for a reference operation history corresponding to the vehicle type (S45). The standard operation history is an ideal operation history that shows how all the production facilities that make up a production line move when the model is processed. Generally, when a production line is constructed To take.

  Next, the sub-operation panel 50 makes the time axes of the retrieved reference operation history and the actual operation history stored in the control device 100 coincide (S46), and compares both histories (S47). While the two histories are compared (S47: No), the trajectory of the movable part of the production facility is within the normal range with respect to the reference operation history (S48), or the drive unit that drives the movable part It is also determined whether the value of the current flowing in the current range is within the normal range with respect to the reference operation history (S49).

  As shown in FIG. 9, for example, the coordinates of the sampling points n−1, n, n + 1 obtained from the actual operation history are stored as the reference operation history as to whether or not the locus of the movable part is within the normal range. If it is within a range of ± 10% from the locus of the movable part, it is determined that it is within the normal range. Further, whether or not the current value of the drive unit is within the normal range is determined by, for example, the fluctuation state of the current value for one cycle (shown by a solid line) obtained from the actual operation history as shown in FIG. If it is within a fluctuation range of 10% to 30% with respect to the fluctuation state (indicated by a dotted line) of the current value stored as the reference operation history, it is determined that it is within the normal range.

  When the comparison of both histories is completed (S47: Yes), if the trajectories of the movable parts of all the production facilities are within the normal range and the current values flowing through the drive parts of all the production facilities are within the normal range ( S48: Yes, S49: Yes), an inquiry is made on the screen as to whether or not to perform animation display to the worker (S50). If animation display is to be performed (S50: Yes), the sub-operation panel 50 searches for animation data of each production facility created in advance based on the reference operation history (S51), and the animation data of all production facilities is retrieved. Combine (S52). Then, all production facilities are moved simultaneously on the same time axis (S53).

  On the other hand, if the trajectory of the movable part of any production facility is not within the normal range (S48: No), or if the current value flowing through the drive unit of any production facility is not within the normal range (S49: No), the animation data of each production facility until the time of occurrence of an abnormality that deviates from the normal range is retrieved (S54), and the animation data is calculated from the actual operation history after the occurrence of the abnormality (S55), The sub operation panel 50 combines the animation data of all the production facilities (S52), and the animation calculated based on the reference operation history until an abnormality occurs (until the allowable range provided for the reference operation history is exceeded). After the occurrence of abnormality (after exceeding the allowable range provided for the reference operation history), an animation calculated based on the actual operation history is displayed (S53).

  On the other hand, if the operation confirmation of the specific production facility has been completed in the step of S42, it is next determined whether or not the operation confirmation of all the actuators provided in the production facility has been completed (S56). If the operation confirmation is not completed (S56: No), the sub-operation panel 50 searches the reference operation history (S57). Then, the sub-operation panel 50 matches the time axes of the retrieved reference operation history and the actual operation history stored in the control device 100 (S58), and compares the operation completion timings of all actuators. (S59). It is determined whether or not the operation time of each actuator in the actual operation history is within a normal range with respect to the operation time in the reference operation history (S60).

  As shown in FIG. 11, the ON / OFF timing (indicated by a solid line) of the actuator obtained from the actual operation history is stored as a reference operation history to determine whether or not the actuator operation time is within the normal range. If it is within ± 10% of the ON / OFF timing (indicated by a dotted line) of the actuator being operated, it is determined that it is within the normal range.

  If the operating time of the actuator is not within the normal range (S60: No), the animation data of each production facility until the time of occurrence of an abnormality that deviates from the normal range is searched (S61). On the other hand, if the operation time of the actuator is within the normal range (S60: Yes), the animation data based on the reference operation history up to the comparison time is searched (S62), and further, the reference after the comparison time is obtained. Animation data based on the operation history is searched (S63). When the operation confirmation of all the actuators is completed, the sub-operation panel 50 combines the animation data of all the production facilities (S52), and displays the animation calculated based on the reference operation history until an abnormality occurs, After the abnormality occurs, an animation calculated based on the actual operation history is displayed (S53).

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the actual operation history of the production facility can be efficiently stored in a memory of a limited capacity, the capacity of the storage device that is necessary for monitoring troubles is increased. Can be suppressed. In addition, when trouble occurs, animation data that reproduces the operation status of the production facility can be created based on the actual operation history from when the trouble occurs until the operation of the production facility is stopped. Since it is sufficient to use animation data created in advance until it occurs, the operation status of the entire production line can be reproduced in a short time.

  In addition, since the monitoring is performed based on the current value of the driving unit, it is also possible to reproduce the occurrence of shaft spilling that does not appear on the trajectory of the movable unit.

  Therefore, the cause of most troubles can be reproduced accurately and in a short time.

  The production facility operation status reproduction method and apparatus according to the present invention can be used as a production line operation monitoring apparatus.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the vehicle body assembly production line to which this invention is applied. It is a schematic block diagram of the control system of the vehicle body assembly production line to which this invention is applied. It is a main flowchart of the operation condition reproduction apparatus of the production facility which concerns on this invention. It is a subroutine flowchart of the memory initialization process which comprises a part of step S2 of FIG. It is a subroutine flowchart of the memory initialization process which comprises a part of step S2 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the allocation state of an actual memory. It is a subroutine flowchart of step S4 of FIG. It is a subroutine flowchart of step S4 of FIG. It is a figure where it uses for description of whether the locus | trajectory of a movable part is in the normal range. It is a figure with which it uses for description of whether the electric current value of a drive part is in the normal range. It is a figure with which it uses for description of whether the operation time of an actuator is in the normal range.

Explanation of symbols

10 3-axis positioning device controller,
20 1-axis positioning device controller,
30 Robot controller,
40 Remote I / O,
50 Sub-operation panel,
100 control device,
200 Main control panel.

Claims (9)

A stage for setting a reference time for reproducing the operation status of a plurality of production facilities;
Storing the actual operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities in association with the reference time;
Comparing the actual operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities in time series while taking into account the reference operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities and the reference time;
When the actual operation history of any production facility exceeds the allowable range set for the reference operation history, the operation status of the production facility is reproduced based on the actual operation history after the time exceeding the allowable range. Creating animation data for
Animation data up to the time exceeding the allowable range created in advance based on the standard operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities and the time exceeding the allowable range created based on the actual operation history of the production equipment Combine the subsequent animation data,
A stage to display the combined animation data and reproduce the operating status of all production equipment,
A method for reproducing the operating status of a production facility characterized by including:   2. The production according to claim 1, further comprising the step of creating animation data for reproducing the operation status of each of the plurality of production facilities based on a reference operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities. How to reproduce the operating status of equipment.   2. The actual operation history and the reference operation history include a current value supplied to an operation path of a movable part of each of the plurality of production facilities or a drive unit that drives the movable part. How to reproduce the operational status of production facilities. The step of storing the actual operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities in association with the reference time,
Recording the operating status of the components of the production facility when the production facility is operated for at least one cycle;
Allocating free space in the memory according to the operating status;
Storing an actual operation history in each divided area of the memory;
The method for reproducing the operating status of a production facility according to claim 1, wherein: A reference time setting means for setting a reference time for reproducing the operation status of a plurality of production facilities;
Actual operation history storage means for storing the actual operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities in association with the reference time;
Reference operation history storage means for storing a reference operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities;
An operation history comparing means for comparing the actual operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities in time series while taking into account the reference operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities and the reference time;
When the actual operation history of any production facility exceeds the allowable range set for the reference operation history, the operation status of the production facility is reproduced based on the actual operation history after the time exceeding the allowable range. Actual motion animation data creating means for creating animation data for,
Animation data up to the time exceeding the allowable range created in advance based on the standard operation history of each of the plurality of production facilities and the time exceeding the allowable range created based on the actual operation history of the production equipment Animation data merging means for merging subsequent animation data;
Operation status reproduction means for displaying the combined animation data and reproducing the operation status of all production facilities,
An apparatus for reproducing the operating status of a production facility, characterized by comprising:   The apparatus further comprises reference motion animation data creating means for creating animation data for reproducing the operation status of each of the plurality of production facilities based on the reference motion history of each of the plurality of production facilities. The operation state reproduction apparatus for production equipment according to claim 5.   6. The reference operation history and the actual operation history include an operation path of a movable part of each of the plurality of production facilities or a current value supplied to a drive unit that drives the movable part. Equipment for reproducing the operational status of production facilities.   6. The production facility operation status reproduction apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the reference time setting means is provided in a main operation panel that collectively monitors the operation status of the plurality of production facilities.   6. The production facility operation status reproduction apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the actual operation history storage unit is provided in a control unit that individually controls operations of the plurality of production facilities.

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