JP5377377B2 - Design support device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily create a highly-reliable program manual. <P>SOLUTION: A specification selection unit 11 displays a specification menu for selecting specifications of a plant control program 22, and outputs data of the specifications selected from the specification menu. A specification table creation unit 12 creates a specification table 21 in which identification information of the selected specification is described, on the basis of the data of the specifications output from the specification selection unit 11, and uploads the specification table 21 and the plant control program 22 to a loader 20. A program manual creation unit 13 downloads the specification table 21 in the loader 20 and creates, on the basis of the identification information of the specification described in the downloaded specification table 21, a program manual for describing the specifications of the plant control program 22 in the loader 20 associated with the specification table 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

The present invention is related to design support equipment to support the design work of various plant equipment control program.

  In general, when constructing a new plant equipment control system, an engineer creates a requirement specification document that describes the requirement specification of the control system, and changes the standard control program based on the requirement specification document. Create a control program corresponding to. Then, the engineer loads the created control program onto the programmable controller (PLC) of the control system. As a result, the control system performs an operation according to the required specification in accordance with the loaded control program.

  On the other hand, when changing the specification of the control system, the engineer confirms the specification by decoding the control program loaded in the PLC and describes the specification of the control program based on the confirmation result. Create a certificate. Then, the engineer compares the program manual with the requirement specification describing the new requirement specification, and changes the control program based on the comparison result. As a result, the control system performs an operation according to the new required specification in accordance with the changed control program.

  In addition, in Patent Document 1, when creating a logic diagram of a plant facility, a process that changes with changes in specifications, a relationship between processes, and an expression method that combines plant expression with hierarchical expression and process componentization. A device for presenting to a user is disclosed. According to this apparatus, since the user can easily understand the logic diagram, the burden required for the creation of the logic diagram can be reduced.

  Further, Patent Document 2 compiles a graphic specification for a program to be corrected in units of graphic specifications, creates an intermediate object file in units of graphic specifications, and includes connection information between graphic specifications. An apparatus for creating a link information file is disclosed. According to this apparatus, when modifying a program, it is only necessary to compile a part of the figure format specifications to be modified, so that the efficiency of program creation at the time of program modification can be greatly improved.

JP-A-8-76819 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-168011

  However, when changing the specifications of the control system, it takes a lot of labor and time to decode the control program loaded in the PLC. Further, since the control program may be mistakenly decoded, there is a problem in the reliability of the program manual. In particular, the specifications of the control system for plant equipment are not changed frequently, but are changed at a relatively long period of 10 years, 20 years, etc., so that information on the control program currently in operation is reduced. There are many. In addition, control programs for plant facility control systems are often written in a plurality of program languages. For this reason, it takes more labor and time to decode the control program. For this reason, particularly in the field of plant equipment, it is desired to provide a design support device that can easily create a highly reliable program manual.

The present invention was made in view of the above problems, its object is to provide a readily producible design support equipment a reliable program instructions.

  In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, a design support apparatus according to the present invention is a design support apparatus that supports design work of a control program for a plant facility, and is a control program that can handle a plurality of specifications. A specification menu for selecting a specification is displayed, the specification selection unit that outputs the data of the specification selected from the specification menu, and the specification of the selected specification based on the specification data output from the specification selection unit Create a specification table describing the identification information, upload the specification table to the loader that loads the control program to the controller of the plant equipment, download the specification table in the loader, and download the specification table in the downloaded specification table The loader associated with the specification table based on the identification information of the specification being described And a program instructions creating unit for creating program instructions describing the specification of a control program.

According to the design support equipment according to the present invention, since creating a program instructions based on the specification table describing the identification information of the specifications selected from among the specifications menu, easily reliable program instructions Can be created.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a design support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the plant control program. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of program design processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of the specification menu screen. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of the specification table. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the specification changing process according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a program manual. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a modification of the design support system shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a configuration and operation of a design support system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration of design support system]
First, the configuration of a design support system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a design support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a design support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention performs design work of a plant control program 22 stored in a controller 3 that controls the operation of a pump P provided in a plant facility 2. It is for support. In the present embodiment, the pump P discharges sewage in the pump well to the water treatment facility. In the present embodiment, the control target of the controller 3 is the pump P. However, the control target is not limited to the pump P, and may be a device other than the pump P such as a blower.

  The design support system 1 includes a design support apparatus 10 and a loader 20. The design support apparatus 10 is configured by an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or a workstation. The design support apparatus 10 includes a specification selection unit 11, a specification table creation unit 12, a program manual creation unit 13, an output unit 14, and a change presence / absence determination unit 15. The functions of these units are realized by the CPU in the information processing apparatus loading a design support program stored in advance in the ROM into the RAM and executing the loaded design support program.

  The specification selection unit 11 displays a specification menu, which will be described later, on a display device (not shown), and data of required specifications selected from the specification menu by an engineer operating an operation input device (not shown). Input to the program manual creation unit 13. The specification table creation unit 12 creates a specification table 21 (described later) in which identification information of the requirement specification is described using the requirement specification data input from the specification selection unit 11, and the created specification table 21 data is stored in the loader 20. Upload. Note that the timing of uploading the data of the specification table 21 to the loader 20 can be appropriately set when an operation input from an engineer is accepted or when the loader 20 is connected to the design support apparatus 10.

  The program manual creation unit 13 creates a program manual describing the specifications of the plant control program 22 using the required specification data input from the specification selection unit 11 or the specification table 21 downloaded from the loader 20. Then, the data of the created program manual is input to the output unit 14. The output unit 14 includes a display output device such as a display device or a printer device. The output unit 14 displays and outputs the program manual input from the program manual creation unit 13.

  The change presence / absence determination unit 15 compares the plant control program 22 uploaded to the loader 20 with a standard plant control program stored in the original program database (DB) 16 in a non-rewritable state. It is determined whether or not the plant control program 22 in 20 has been changed. The change presence / absence determining unit 15 inputs the determination result to the program manual creating unit 13. The change presence / absence determination unit 15 functions as a determination unit according to the present invention.

  The standard plant control program 22 stored in the original program DB 16 has a configuration as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the plant control program 22 includes an operation number determination program 22a, an operation sequence setting program 22b, a mode change response program 22c, an operation sequence change response program 22d, a failure occurrence response program 22e, and It includes a control program corresponding to each function of the controller 3, such as a failure recovery response program 22f. Each control program includes a plurality of types of control programs so as to be compatible with various required specifications.

  The operating number determination program 22a is a control program for controlling the operating number of pumps P in accordance with the level of sewage in the pump well, and includes control programs of methods 1 to 3 corresponding to the specifications 1 to 3, respectively. The operation order setting program 22b is a control program for controlling the operation order and stop order of the pump P, and includes control programs of methods 1 to 3 corresponding to the specifications 1 to 3, respectively. The mode change response program 22c is a control program for controlling the number of operating pumps P when the operation mode of the pumps P is changed. Including.

  The operation sequence change response program 22d is a control program for controlling the operation of the pump P when the operation sequence of the pump P is changed. Including. The failure occurrence response program 22e is a control program for controlling the operation of the pump P when a failure occurs, and includes control programs of methods 1 and 2 corresponding to the specifications 1 and 2, respectively. The failure recovery response program 22e is a control program for controlling the operation of the pump P when the failure is resolved, and includes control programs of methods 1 and 2 corresponding to the specifications 1 and 2, respectively.

  The loader 20 is configured by a portable information processing device such as a personal computer. The loader 20 has a function of storing the specification table 21 and the plant control program 22 for each plant facility 2 in association with each other. The loader 20 has a function of uploading the specification table 21 and the plant control program 22 to the controller 3 when electrically connected to the controller 3. The controller 3 reads a control program of a method corresponding to the required specifications described in the specification table 21 uploaded from the loader 20 from the plant control program 22 and controls the operation of the pump P according to the read control program.

[Operation of design support system]
Next, the operation of the design support system 1 is divided into a program design process for uploading the plant control program 22 to the controller 3 for the first time and a specification change process for changing the specifications of the plant control system 22 already uploaded to the controller 3. explain.

[Program design processing]
First, the operation of the design support system 1 when executing the program design process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of program design processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 starts when the engineer inputs a request for starting the program design process by operating an operation input device (not shown), and the program design process proceeds to step S1.

  In the process of step S1, the specification selection unit 11 displays a specification menu 30 having a configuration as shown in FIG. 4 on a display device (not shown), for example. The specification menu 30 shown in FIG. 4 includes a check box CB for selecting a method (specification) of each function of the controller 3 and a determination button EB for notifying that the selection operation has been completed. The engineer can input the required specifications by selecting and operating the decision button EB after selecting the check box CB corresponding to the desired method. Thereby, the process of step S1 is completed, and the program design process proceeds to the process of step S2.

  In the process of step S2, the specification selection unit 11 determines whether or not a required specification determination operation has been performed by determining whether or not a selection button EB selection operation has been performed. Then, the specification selection unit 11 inputs the data of the position of the check box CB selected and operated by the process of step S1 to the specification table creation unit 12 at the timing when the required specification determination operation is performed, and performs the program design process. The process proceeds to S3.

  In the process of step S3, the specification table creation unit 12 identifies the method (specification) selected based on the position of the check box CB input from the specification selection unit 11, and based on the identified method, for example, FIG. The specification table 21 indicating the identification information of the selected method as shown in FIG. The specification table 21 shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to the selection result of the check box CB shown in FIG. 4 (the black square in FIG. 4 indicates the selected check box CB). Thereby, the process of step S3 is completed, and the program design process proceeds to the process of step S4.

  In the process of step S4, the specification table creation unit 12 confirms that the loader 20 is connected to the design support apparatus 10, and then uploads the specification table 21 created by the process of step S3 to the loader 20. Thereby, the process of step S4 is completed, and the program design process proceeds to the process of step S5.

  In the process of step S5, after the loader 20 confirms that the loader 20 is connected to the design support apparatus 10, the specification table 21 uploaded by the process of step S4 according to the operation input from the engineer. And a standard plant control program 22 are loaded into the controller 3. Thereafter, the controller 3 reads a control program corresponding to the required specifications described in the specification table 21 from the plant control program 22, and controls the operation of the pump P according to the read control program. Further, when the operation state of the pump P is not a desired operation state, the engineer changes the plant control program 22 in the loader 20 so that the pump P becomes a desired operation state. Thereby, the process of step S5 is completed and a series of program design processes are completed.

[Specification change processing]
Next, the operation of the design support system 1 when executing the specification change process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  The flowchart shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of specification change processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart shown in FIG. 6 starts at the timing when the engineer inputs a request to start specification change processing by operating an operation input device (not shown), and the specification change processing proceeds to step S11.

  In the process of step S <b> 11, the change presence / absence determining unit 15 downloads the specification table 21 stored in the loader 20 and the plant control program 22 associated with the specification table 21. Thereby, the process of step S11 is completed and a specification change process progresses to the process of step S12.

  In the process of step S12, the change presence / absence determining unit 15 compares the plant control program 22 downloaded by the process of step S11 with the standard plant control program 22 stored in the original program DB 16 by, for example, a differential process or the like. Thus, it is determined whether or not the downloaded plant control program 22 and the standard plant control program 22 are the same.

  If they are not the same as a result of the determination, the change presence / absence determination unit 15 determines that the plant control program 22 in the loader 20 has been changed, and information on the changed part of the plant control program 22 is provided as a program manual creation unit 13. Then, the specification change process proceeds to step S14. On the other hand, if they are the same, the change presence / absence determination unit 15 determines that the plant control program 22 in the loader 20 has not been changed, and creates a program manual indicating that the plant control program 22 has not been changed. After notifying the unit 13, the specification change process proceeds to the process of step S13.

  In the process of step S13, the program manual creation unit 13 explains the contents of the method described in the specification table 21 downloaded by the process of step S11. For example, the program manual 31 configured as shown in FIG. And the created program manual 31 is output to the output unit 14. The program manual can be created by storing the explanatory text of each method in advance, and selecting and combining the explanatory text corresponding to the method described in the specification table 21. Thereby, the process of step S13 is completed and a series of specification change processes are complete | finished.

  In the process of step S14, the program manual creation unit 13 generates a program manual 31 that explains the contents of the system that has not been changed among the systems described in the specification table 21 downloaded in the process of step S11. The created program manual 31 is output to the output unit 14. At this time, the program manual creation unit 13 may include information on the changed part in the program manual 31. Thereby, the process of step S14 is completed and a series of specification change processes are complete | finished.

  Thereafter, the engineer compares the program manual output from the output unit 14 with the requirement specification describing the new requirement specification, and changes the plant control program 22 based on the comparison result. Then, the engineer uploads the changed plant control program 22 to the controller 3. As a result, the pump P performs an operation according to the new required specification in accordance with the changed plant control program 22.

  As is clear from the above description, in the design support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the specification selection unit 11 displays the specification menu 30 for selecting the specification of the plant control program 22, and the specification menu 30 The specification table creation unit 12 creates the specification table 21 describing the identification information of the selected specification based on the specification data output from the specification selection unit 11. Then, the specification table 21 is uploaded to the loader 20. Then, the program manual creation unit 13 downloads the specification table 21 in the loader 20, and the loader associated with the specification table 21 based on the identification information of the specification described in the downloaded specification table 21. A program manual 31 describing the specifications of the plant control program 22 in 20 is created. According to such a configuration, the program manual creation unit 13 creates the program manual 31 based on the specification table 21 in which the identification information of the specification selected from the specification menu 30 is described. High program instructions can be created easily.

  Moreover, in the design support system 1 which is one Embodiment of this invention, the change presence determination part 15 determines the presence or absence of the change with respect to the plant control program 22 uploaded to the loader 20, and the program description preparation part 13 is a plant. When the control program 22 is corrected, a program manual for explaining specifications other than the specification corresponding to the changed part is created, so that a more reliable program manual can be created.

  Although the embodiment to which the invention made by the present inventor is applied has been described above, the present invention is not limited by the description and the drawings that form a part of the disclosure of the present invention according to this embodiment. For example, in the present embodiment, the change presence / absence determining unit 15 included in the design support apparatus 10 compares the plant control program 22 in the loader 20 with the standard plant control program in the original program DB 16, so that the plant in the loader 20 is compared. Although it was determined whether or not the control program 22 has been changed, whether or not the plant control program 22 in the loader 20 has been changed by providing the correction management unit 23 in the loader 20 as shown in FIG. It may be determined whether or not.

  The correction management unit 23 illustrated in FIG. 8 includes a correction lock flag and a release flag. The correction lock flag and the release flag are held in an on state and an off state, respectively. The correction lock flag and the release flag are turned off and on by the engineer when the plant control program 22 in the loader 20 is corrected. Once the correction lock flag is turned off, it does not turn on again. Therefore, the correction management unit 23 can determine whether or not the plant control program 22 has been changed by determining whether or not the correction lock flag is on.

  The correction management unit 23 inputs the determination result to the program manual creation unit 13, and the program manual creation unit 13 executes the process of step S 13 or step S 14 using the information input from the correction management unit 23. According to such a configuration, since it is not necessary to provide the original program DB 16, simplification and cost reduction of the system can be realized. The correction management unit 23 functions as a determination unit according to the present invention. As described above, other embodiments, examples, operation techniques, and the like made by those skilled in the art based on the present embodiment are all included in the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Design support system 2 Plant equipment 3 Controller 10 Design support apparatus 11 Specification selection part 12 Specification table creation part 13 Program manual creation part 14 Output part 15 Change existence determination part 16 Original program database (DB)
20 loader 21 specification table 22 plant control program 22a operation number determination program 22b operation sequence setting program 22c mode change response program 22d operation sequence change response program 22e failure occurrence response program 22f failure recovery response program 23 correction management unit 30 specifications Menu 31 Program Manual CB Check Box EB Enter Button P Pump

Claims (4)

A design support device for supporting design work of a control program for plant equipment,
A specification selection unit for displaying a specification menu for selecting a specification of a control program capable of supporting a plurality of specifications, and outputting data of the specification selected from the specification menu;
Based on the specification data output from the specification selection unit, a specification table describing the identification information of the selected specification is created, and the specification table is uploaded to a loader that loads the control program into the controller of the plant equipment A specification table creation unit to
A program that downloads the specification table in the loader and explains the specification of the control program in the loader associated with the specification table based on the identification information of the specification described in the downloaded specification table A program manual creation section for creating a manual;
A design support apparatus comprising:   A determination unit that determines whether or not there is a change to the control program uploaded to the loader, and the program manual creation unit, when the determination unit determines that the control program has been changed, a specification corresponding to the changed part The design support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a program manual for explaining specifications other than the above is created.   The design support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit determines whether or not there is a change to the control program by comparing a standard control program with a control program uploaded to the loader.   The design support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit determines whether there is a change to the control program by determining a state of a flag whose state is switched when the control program is changed.

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