JP5465118B2 - Editing method and editing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an editing method and an editing apparatus, and more particularly to an editing method and an editing apparatus for a block diagram.

  A block diagram is a diagram showing the state of signal transmission in a dynamic system such as an automatic control system. In general, three elements, a junction, a branch point, and a transmission element (block) are represented. Created by connecting with arrows called arcs. The block diagram enables a graphical grasp of the control contents.

  In the field of control design, a technique is used in which a design idea is dropped into a block diagram, and the block diagram is loaded into a simulator for simulation. When the simulation result is good, it is actually mounted on an actual machine and an operation test or the like is performed.

A representative example of a control design tool using a block diagram is MATLAB (registered trademark) / Simulink (registered trademark) provided by MathWorks. When control design is performed using this tool, the user uses a MATLAB calculation function or built-in function to design a controller and define a mathematical expression of a control target. A control system is described in the form of a block diagram in Simulink using the designed controller and the defined control object, and simulation of the control system and implementation of the controller on a mechanical device are performed.
Patent Document 1 describes a method and apparatus for automatically determining the operation order of control blocks constituting a control logic diagram.

JP-A-9-128017

  With conventional control design tools represented by MATLAB / Simulink, the editing function of the block diagram is not yet sufficient. In particular, when a block diagram of a simulated control system is mounted on an actual machine, it is difficult to mount the block diagram on the actual machine as it is. In this case, it is necessary to rewrite the input part and the output part around the control target significantly, such as deleting the control target block which is a model of the actual machine and newly adding a block indicating input / output.

  In addition, when performing simulation again after mounting on an actual machine for improvement or the like, it is necessary to rewrite the block diagram used for mounting into a block diagram including a control target block. Even if the block diagram at the time of simulation and the block diagram at the time of mounting are described separately, the setting of the two block diagrams is inconsistent due to correction of the block diagram after mounting the controller on the actual machine. May occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object thereof is to provide an efficient technique for editing a block diagram.

  One embodiment of the present invention relates to a block diagram editing method. This editing method includes a step of generating a block diagram, a step of accepting an exclusion designation for the block of the block diagram, a step of handling the output of the block designated for exclusion as a new input of the block diagram, and an exclusion designation. Treating the input of the block as a new output of the block diagram.

  According to this aspect, a block diagram having an exclusion-designated block can be treated as a block diagram equivalent to a block diagram that can be generated by removing the exclusion-designated block from the block diagram.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements, or those obtained by replacing the constituent elements and expressions of the present invention with each other between apparatuses, methods, systems, computer programs, recording media storing computer programs, and the like are also included in the present invention. It is effective as an embodiment of

  According to the present invention, a block diagram can be efficiently edited.

It is a block diagram which shows the function and structure of the editing apparatus of the block diagram which concerns on embodiment. It is a representative screen figure which shows the block diagram as an example displayed on a display. FIG. 3 is a data structure diagram of block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram of FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows a series of processes which convert a block diagram into a state equation in the state equation production | generation part of FIG. It is a typical screen figure which shows the block diagram corresponding to an example of the block diagram data hold | maintained at the diagram data holding part of FIG. FIG. 6 is a data structure diagram of block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram of FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a representative screen diagram illustrating a block diagram in a case where exclusion is specified for a control target block in the block diagram of FIG. 5. It is a typical screen figure which shows the block diagram equivalent to the block diagram of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a series of processes in the editing apparatus of FIG. It is a typical screen figure which shows the block diagram by which exclusion of the controller block was designated. It is a typical screen figure which shows the block diagram containing three blocks. FIG. 12 is a representative screen diagram illustrating a block diagram in a case where exclusion is specified for a control target block in the block diagram of FIG. 11. FIG. 13 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram equivalent to the block diagram of FIG. 12.

  The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, members, and processes shown in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are omitted as appropriate.

  The block diagram editing apparatus according to the embodiment enables an exclusion designation to a block included in the block diagram. The exclusion designation is designation from the user for removing a block from the block diagram. In the editing apparatus, the output of the block designated for exclusion is treated as a new input of the block diagram, and the input of the block designated for exclusion is treated as a new output of the block diagram.

  For example, when performing a simulation from a control system to mounting on a real machine, conventionally, a new block diagram for mounting has been created and implemented based on the block diagram of the control system described during the simulation. However, according to the editing apparatus according to the present embodiment, only the controller block is extracted and mounted by simply specifying the control target block without changing the shape of the block diagram of the control system described at the time of simulation. Is possible.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the function and configuration of a block diagram editing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment. Each block shown here can be realized by hardware such as a computer (CPU) (central processing unit) and other elements and mechanical devices, and software can be realized by a computer program or the like. Here, The functional block realized by those cooperation is drawn. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art who have touched this specification that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by a combination of hardware and software.

The editing apparatus 10 generates and edits a block diagram based on input information input from an input unit 12 such as a mouse or a keyboard. For example, the editing apparatus 10 displays the generated block diagram and the editing status on the display 14.
The editing apparatus 10 includes a block diagram generation unit 20, a diagram data holding unit 30, an exclusion operation unit 40, a processing unit 50, and a display control unit 60.

  The block diagram generation unit 20 generates block diagram data based on input information from the user, and registers it in the diagram data holding unit 30. The block diagram data is data that can be converted to a block diagram by the display control unit 60 and displayed on the display 14. In the block diagram generation unit 20, for example, a block diagram creation technology similar to the block diagram creation technology used in MATLAB / Simulink provided by MathWorks may be used.

The diagram data storage unit 30 stores the block diagram data generated by the block diagram generation unit 20.
FIG. 2 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram 100 as an example displayed on the display 14. FIG. 3 is a data structure diagram of block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram 100 of FIG. The diagram data storage unit 30 stores, for example, block diagram data having the data structure shown in FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram 100 includes a frame 102 describing the block diagram 100, a label area 104 for displaying the name of the block diagram 100 and input / output information of the block diagram 100, a controller block, A block 106 such as a control target block, an input label 108 indicating an input of the block diagram 100, an output label 110 indicating an output of the block diagram 100, an arc 112, a junction 114, a branch point 116, and a connection Point 118.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the block data 120 corresponds to the block 106 in FIG. 2, and includes a block name 122, an exclusion flag 124, an input point list 126, and an output point list 128. The exclusion flag is used for block exclusion processing (described later) in the block diagram. The input point list and the output point list are lists in which block connection points are arranged in a linked list for each input and output.

  Each of the arc data 130 corresponds to each of the arcs 112 in FIG. 2, and includes start point data 132, end point data 134, and negative sign data 136. When the start point data is NULL, it indicates that it is an input of a block diagram, and when the end point data is NULL, it indicates that it is an output of a block diagram. When the negative sign data is 0, it indicates that the arc is a positive signal, and when the negative sign data is 1, it indicates that the arc is a negative signal.

  Each of the connection point data 138 corresponds to each of the connection points 118 of FIG. The merge point data 140 corresponds to the merge point 114 in FIG. The branch point data 142 corresponds to the branch point 116 in FIG.

Returning to FIG.
The exclusion operation unit 40 accepts an exclusion operation from the user for the block diagram displayed on the display 14 via the input unit 12. The exclusion operation unit 40 includes an exclusion reception unit 70 and a return reception unit 80.

The exclusion receiving unit 70 receives an exclusion designation from the user for the block of the block diagram. The exclusion receiving unit 70 includes an exclusion target specifying unit 72 and an exclusion flag adding unit 74.
Based on the input information acquired from the input unit 12, the exclusion target specifying unit 72 specifies block data corresponding to the block specified to be excluded by the user from the block diagram data held in the diagram data holding unit 30. To do. Particularly in the present embodiment, the user looks at the block diagram displayed on the display 14 and clicks the block to be excluded with the mouse. The exclusion target specifying unit 72 specifies block data corresponding to the clicked block from the block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram displayed on the display 14.
The exclusion flag assigning unit 74 sets or validates an exclusion flag for the block data identified by the exclusion target identifying unit 72.

The return accepting unit 80 accepts a return designation from the user for the block designated to be excluded from the block diagram. The return designation is a designation from the user for restoring the exclusion designated block to the block diagram. The return receiving unit 80 includes a return target specifying unit 82 and an exclusion flag releasing unit 84.
Based on the input information acquired from the input unit 12, the return target specifying unit 82 specifies block data corresponding to a block designated to be returned by the user from block data for which an exclusion flag is set. In particular, in the present embodiment, the user looks at the block diagram displayed on the display 14 and clicks a block to be restored among the blocks designated to be excluded with the mouse. The restoration target specifying unit 82 selects block data corresponding to the clicked block from the block data in which the exclusion flag is set for the block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram displayed on the display 14. Identify.
The exclusion flag canceling unit 84 cancels or disables the exclusion flag of the block data specified by the return target specifying unit 82.

  The processing unit 50 processes the block diagram data held in the diagram data holding unit 30. The processing unit 50 treats the output of the block designated to be excluded as a new input of the block diagram to be processed, and treats the input of the block designated to be excluded as a new output of the block diagram to be processed. The processing unit 50 includes a state equation generation unit 52, a label determination unit 54, and a label correction unit 56.

  The state equation generation unit 52 regards the output of the block specified to be excluded as a new input of the block diagram to be processed, and regards the input of the block specified to be excluded as a new output of the block diagram to be processed. Then, the block diagram to be processed is converted into a state equation. More specifically, the state equation generation unit 52 processes the start point data that is NULL among the start point data of the arc data and the connection point data that is linked to the output point list of the block data for which the exclusion flag is set. The block diagram data corresponding to the processing target block diagram is converted into a state equation after being regarded as an input of the target block diagram. In addition, the processing unit 50 displays the end point data that is NULL among the end point data of the arc data and the connection point data that is linked to the input point list of the block data that has the exclusion flag set in the block diagram to be processed. After being regarded as an output, block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram to be processed is converted into a state equation.

ここで、ｘ（ｔ）、ｕ（ｔ）、ｙ（ｔ）はそれぞれ、ブロックの内部状態、入力、出力を表す。また、Ａ、Ｂ、Ｃ、Ｄは係数行列である。 FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a series of processes for converting a block diagram into a state equation in the state equation generation unit 52. The state equation generation unit 52 converts each block of the block diagram excluding the block designated to be excluded into a state equation (S202). The state equation of the block in the block diagram is expressed by the following Equation 1.

Here, x (t), u (t), and y (t) represent the internal state, input, and output of the block, respectively. A, B, C, and D are coefficient matrices.

  The state equation generation unit 52 performs a matrix operation on all the blocks converted into the state equations and collects them into one state equation (S204). The state equation generation unit 52 associates the input / output information of the block diagram with the input / output of the state equations combined into one (S206). The input / output information of this block diagram includes the input / output of the block designated to be excluded as described above. This makes it possible to express a mathematical expression of a block diagram.

Returning to FIG.
The label determination unit 54 determines whether the input / output label of the block diagram displayed in the label area matches the actual input / output label of the block diagram for the block diagram to be processed. That is, the label determination unit 54 determines whether or not the output label of the block designated for exclusion is displayed as the input label of the block diagram in the label area, and the input label of the block designated for exclusion is the label area. Is displayed as an output label of the block diagram.

  When the label determination unit 54 determines that at least one of the input / output labels does not match, the label correction unit 56 displays a screen prompting the user to match the mismatched labels via the display control unit 60. 14 is displayed. In this case, it is assumed that the user manually corrects the input / output labels displayed in the label area of the block diagram, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the label correction unit may correct the input / output label of the label area based on the input / output label of the block designated to be excluded.

  The display control unit 60 displays the block diagram data held in the diagram data holding unit 30 on the display 14 as a block diagram in response to a request from the user. The display control unit 60 emphasizes the block designated to be excluded and displays it on the display 14. In particular, the display control unit 60 changes the frame of the block designated to be excluded to a double frame. As a result, the user can easily distinguish between blocks that have already been specified for exclusion and blocks that are not.

  FIG. 5 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram 300 corresponding to an example of the block diagram data held in the diagram data holding unit 30. This block diagram 300 includes a frame 302, a label area 304, a controller block 306, a control block (Plant) block 308, an arc 310, an input label 312, an output label 314, and a confluence. 316, a branch point 318, a controller block connection point 320, and a control target block connection point 322.

  FIG. 6 is a data structure diagram of block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram 300 of FIG. The controller block data 324 corresponds to the controller block 306 of FIG. 5, and includes a block name 328, a controller block exclusion flag 330, a controller block input point list 332, and a controller block output point list 334. Including. The control target block data 326 corresponds to the control target block 308 in FIG. 5, and includes a block name 336, a control target block exclusion flag 338, a control target block input point list 340, and a control target block output point list 342. Including. Each of the arc data 344 corresponds to each of the arcs 310 in FIG. Each of the connection point data 348 corresponds to each of the connection points 320 and 322 in FIG. The merge point data 346 corresponds to the merge point 316 in FIG. The branch point data 350 corresponds to the branch point 318 in FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram 400 when an exclusion is specified for the control target block 308 of the block diagram 300 of FIG. In this block diagram 400, the control target block 402 designated to be excluded is indicated by a double frame.

  FIG. 8 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram 500 equivalent to the block diagram 400 of FIG. The block diagram 500 includes a controller block 306, a junction 502, an arc 504, and a branch point 506.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a series of processes in the editing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment. Hereinafter, a series of processes in the editing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The block diagram generating unit 20 generates a block diagram 300 based on input information from the user (S208), and registers block diagram data having the data structure shown in FIG. 6 in the diagram data holding unit 30. When the user edits the block diagram 300, the user transmits a call request from the input unit 12 to the editing device 10. When receiving the call request, the display control unit 60 extracts block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram 300 from the diagram data holding unit 30, and displays the block diagram 300 on the display 14 (S210). The exclusion receiving unit 70 receives, for example, an exclusion designation for the control target block 308 in the block diagram 300 displayed on the display 14 (S212). The exclusion flag assigning unit 74 sets the control target block exclusion flag 338 of the control target block data 326 corresponding to the control target block 308 (S214). When the control target block 308 of the block diagram 300 is specified to be excluded, the output label 406 of the control target block 402 specified to be excluded as the input label of the block diagram 300 and the control specified to be excluded as the output label of the block diagram 300 An input label 408 of the target block 402 is added. The display control unit 60 displays the excluded control target block 402 with a double frame.

  The label determining unit 54 determines whether or not the input / output label displayed in the label area 404 of the block diagram 400 is correct (S216). If it is correct (Y in S216), the editing apparatus 10 ends the process. If it is wrong (N in S216), the label correction unit 56 displays a screen for prompting correction on the display 14 (S218). After accepting the correction, the editing apparatus 10 returns the process to step S216. After the above exclusion processing is performed, the processing unit 50 treats the block diagram 400 shown in FIG. 7 as a block diagram equivalent to the block diagram 500 shown in FIG. It should be noted that the processing in the editing apparatus 10 associated with the block diagram block exclusion and the block diagram input / output change caused thereby may be performed when the block diagram is compiled.

  In the embodiment described above, examples of the holding unit are a hard disk and a semiconductor memory. Further, based on the description of the present specification, each unit is configured by a CPU (not shown), a module of an installed application program, a module of a system program, a semiconductor memory that temporarily stores the content of data read from the hard disk, or the like. It will be understood by those skilled in the art who have touched this specification that it can be realized.

The operation of the editing apparatus 10 having the above configuration will be described.
Consider a case where a control system of a machine controlled by a microprocessor having the same processing function as the processing unit 50 is designed using the editing apparatus 10. The designer generates a block diagram having a controller block and a control target block, and performs a simulation. When the simulation result is good, the designer specifies to exclude the control target block in the block diagram. The designer mounts the block diagram designated as such exclusion on a microprocessor and performs a test on an actual machine. In this case, for example, the microprocessor regards the block diagram 400 shown in FIG. 7 as a block diagram equivalent to the block diagram 500 shown in FIG. 8 and performs processing such as state equation conversion.
Therefore, for the implementation on the microprocessor, the editing device 10 only needs to specify the block to be controlled, and rewrite the input / output interface to be controlled as in the past or create a new block diagram for mounting. There is no need to do.

  According to the editing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, blocks in the block diagram can be excluded. In particular, an input of a block designated as excluded is treated as an output of a block diagram, and an output of a block designated as excluded is treated as an input of a block diagram. Therefore, the work from the simulation of the control system to the mounting on the actual machine is performed more smoothly, and the work efficiency is improved. In particular, the trouble of rewriting the block diagram for mounting can be saved.

  In the editing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the exclusion operation unit 40 includes an exclusion reception unit 70 and a return reception unit 80. Each of the exclusion receiving unit 70 and the return receiving unit 80 receives an exclusion / return designation from the user for the block diagram displayed on the display 14 via the input unit 12. Therefore, the user can easily remove and cancel blocks on the display 14.

Moreover, according to the editing apparatus 10 which concerns on this Embodiment, only a controller block and a control object block can be extracted easily from the block diagram of a control system.
FIG. 10 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram 600 in which the controller block 602 is specified to be excluded. According to the editing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the controller block 602 portion of the block diagram is excluded and the remaining control target block 604 and scaling blocks 603 and 605 portions (block lines A controller can be created using a portion other than the controller block 602 in FIG. 600 as a variable in the controller design script language 606. Since block exclusion and cancellation can be easily switched, it is possible to cancel the exclusion of the controller block 602 and perform the simulation as it is.

  FIG. 11 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram 700 including three blocks. The block diagram 700 includes a control target block 702, an observer block 704, and a feedback gain block 706.

  FIG. 12 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram 800 when an exclusion is specified for the control target block 702 of the block diagram 700 of FIG. In the block diagram 800, the excluded control target block 802 is displayed with a double frame. Referring to the label area 804 of the block diagram 800, the output label “yp” of the control target block 802 that is designated as an input label of the block diagram 800 is included, and is excluded as the output label of the block diagram 800 The input label “up” of the control target block 802 is included.

FIG. 13 is a representative screen diagram showing a block diagram 900 equivalent to the block diagram 800 of FIG. When block diagram data corresponding to the block diagram 800 shown in FIG. 12 is introduced into a microprocessor, the microprocessor considers the block diagram 800 equivalent to the block diagram 900 shown in FIG. To process.
As described above, the concept of exclusion designation for a block shown in the present embodiment can be applied to a more complicated block diagram. Rather, the more complicated the block diagram, the greater the effort that can be saved.

  Further, according to the editing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, when simulation is performed again after mounting on an actual machine, it is not necessary to rewrite the block diagram including the control target block, and if the exclusion specification of the control target block is cancelled, Good. As a result, a mismatch between the simulation block diagram and the mounting block diagram is less likely to occur.

  Further, in the editing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the input / output information of the block diagram displayed in the label area is correct for the block diagram having the block designated to be excluded. If it is wrong, you will be prompted or corrected. This makes it possible to describe a more accurate block diagram in an environment where block exclusion can be specified.

  The configuration and operation of the editing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment has been described above. These embodiments are exemplifications, and it is understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to each component and combination of processes, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. .

  In the embodiment, the case where the block diagram of the control system is generated and edited in consideration of mounting on an actual machine such as a microprocessor has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the technical idea according to the present embodiment is a block line. It can be applied to any editing device that edits a diagram.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 editing apparatus, 12 input means, 14 display, 20 block diagram production | generation part, 30 diagram data holding part, 40 exclusion operation part, 50 processing part, 60 display control part, 70 exclusion reception part, 80 return reception part.

Claims (6)

A block diagram generation means for generating diagram data representing a first block diagram including a plurality of blocks ;
A step of receiving an exclusion designation for a block included in the first block diagram;
An exclusion flag giving means, when the exclusion receiving means accepts an exclusion designation, giving an exclusion flag that identifies the exclusion designated block to the diagram data;
The processing means deletes the block specified to be excluded from the first block diagram from the diagram data to which the exclusion flag is assigned, and outputs the output of the specified block as a new input of the block diagram. second block line formed by the first added to the block diagram, add the block diagram of the first and the new output of the block diagram of the input exclusions specified block by A block diagram editing method comprising: processing as data representing a diagram . A step of accepting a release designation exclusion for a block included in the first block diagram;
  An exclusion flag releasing means, when the return accepting means accepts the cancellation of the exclusion designation, identifying the block whose exclusion designation has been released and releasing the exclusion flag from the diagram data; and
2. The block diagram according to claim 1, further comprising a step of processing the diagram data from which the exclusion flag is released as data representing the first block diagram. How to edit The processing means converts the diagram data to which the exclusion flag is not assigned into a first state equation corresponding to the first block diagram, while the diagram data to which the exclusion flag is assigned is converted to the first state equation. modifying the block diagram according to claim 1 or 2 the step of converting the second state equation, and further comprising corresponding to the block diagram of two. The first block diagram has a label area that displays the availability of the block diagram;
The editing method further includes:
The processing means determining whether the output of the block designated to be excluded is displayed in the label area as an input of the second block diagram;
Said processing means, claim 1, characterized in that the input of the specified excluded block includes, determining whether the indicated on the label area as an output of said second block diagram 4. The block diagram editing method according to any one of 3 above. A function of generating diagram data representing a first block diagram including a plurality of blocks ;
A function of accepting exclusion designation for blocks included in the first block diagram;
A function of giving an exclusion flag to the diagram data for specifying an exclusion designated block when an exclusion designation is received;
A diagram data in which the exclusion flag is assigned, deletes the block designated excluded from the first block diagram, the output of the exclusion specified block as the new input block diagrams first Add a block diagram of a 1, the data representing the second block diagram constructed by the input of the exclusion specified block in the new output of the block diagram to add to the first block diagram A computer program for causing a computer to realize the function of processing as A block diagram generation unit for generating diagram data representing a first block diagram including a plurality of blocks ;
An exclusion receiving unit that receives an exclusion designation for a block included in the first block diagram;
When the exclusion designation is accepted, an exclusion flag giving unit to the diagram data that gives an exclusion flag that identifies the exclusion designated block;
A diagram data in which the exclusion flag is assigned, deletes the block designated excluded from the first block diagram, the output of the exclusion specified block as the new input block diagrams first Add a block diagram of a 1, the data representing the second block diagram constructed by the input of the exclusion specified block in the new output of the block diagram to add to the first block diagram And a processing unit for processing as a block diagram editing apparatus.

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