JP5856875B2 - Control loop design apparatus and control loop design method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a control loop design apparatus and a control loop design method.

  At the site where the production process is managed, various devices (for example, sensors, valve positioners, etc.) are installed in the plant. These devices execute a process by forming a control loop in units of a plurality of devices according to the contents of the production process. This control loop requires experience and time to design because the setting of parameters and the like and the connection relationship between devices are complicated and difficult to understand.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses a control design configuration tool that effectively uses a product designed in the past by using a design part as a reuse part.

Japanese Patent No. 3488019

  In the above-described control design configuration tool, it is necessary to search for a product to be used as a reuse part from among products designed in the past, so it takes time to search for a target product.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems caused by the prior art, and provides a control loop design apparatus and a control loop design method capable of easily reusing a control loop designed in the past. With the goal.

  A control loop design apparatus according to the present invention is a control loop design apparatus for designing a control loop by combining design parts to be designed, and the combination pattern of the design parts constituting the control loop designed in the past And a storage unit for storing attribute information set in the control loop designed in the past and the design parts constituting the control loop, and a screen display for displaying a design screen for designing the control loop Each time the design part is added to the design screen, the combination pattern including all or part of the design parts displayed on the design screen is stored in the storage unit. A pattern acquisition unit that acquires from the stored combination pattern, and the combination pattern acquired by the pattern acquisition unit A candidate presentation unit for presenting as a candidate, and the screen display unit is selected when any one of the combination patterns presented as a candidate for the control loop is selected. The control loop corresponding to the combination pattern is displayed on the design screen.

  The control loop design method according to the present invention is a control loop design method for designing a control loop by combining design parts to be designed, and displays a design screen for designing the control loop. Each time the design part is added to the design screen, the combination pattern including all or a part of the design parts displayed on the design screen is displayed in the past. Acquired from the storage unit storing the combination pattern of the design parts constituting the designed control loop, the control loop designed in the past, and the attribute information set in the design parts constituting the control loop A pattern acquisition step, and the combination pattern acquired in the pattern acquisition step is presented as a candidate for the control loop A candidate presenting step, and when any one of the combination patterns presented as a candidate for the control loop is selected, the control loop corresponding to the selected combination pattern is used for the design. And a second screen display step for displaying on the screen.

  By adopting this configuration, every time a design part is added to the design screen, a combination pattern including all or part of the design parts displayed on the design screen is acquired from the storage unit. When a combination pattern is selected from among the combination patterns presented as candidates, a control loop corresponding to the selected combination pattern can be displayed on the design screen. Can be displayed above. Therefore, the user simply inputs (adds) a part of the design for the control loop on the screen, and all or a part of the design that is input on the screen from the control loops designed in the past. It is possible to receive the presentation of the control loop including the parts for use, and it is possible to create the control loop by selecting the target control loop from the presented control loop.

  When any one of the combination patterns presented as a candidate for the control loop is selected, the attribute information of the design part included in the selected combination pattern is stored in the storage unit. The attribute information acquisition unit acquired from the attribute information stored by the unit, and the selected combination pattern and the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit are displayed on the design screen. And a control loop registration unit that stores the combination pattern and the attribute information corresponding to the control loop in the storage unit.

  This makes it possible to register the attribute information corresponding to the control loop to be designed using the attribute information set in the design part included in the control loop designed in the past.

  The pattern acquisition unit is the combination pattern of the control loop having the attribute information including the keyword when a keyword is input, and all or a part of the combination pattern displayed on the design screen The combination pattern including design parts may be acquired from the combination pattern stored in the storage unit.

  As a result, the user can narrow down the target combination pattern of the control loops with the keyword.

  The pattern acquisition unit includes the design part having the input or changed attribute information each time the attribute information of the design part displayed on the design screen is input or changed. The combination pattern may be acquired from the combination pattern stored in the storage unit.

  Thus, the user can narrow down the target control loop combination pattern by inputting or changing attribute information.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the control loop design apparatus and control loop design method which can reuse the control loop designed in the past easily can be provided.

It is a figure which illustrates the structure of the device management system containing the control loop design apparatus in embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the control loop information in embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the control loop design screen and candidate display screen in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the control loop design screen and candidate display screen in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the control loop design screen and candidate display screen in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen for control loop design in the embodiment, the screen for keyword input, and the screen for candidate display. It is a figure which shows an example of the control loop design screen and candidate display screen in the embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of operation | movement of the control loop design apparatus in embodiment.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment described below is merely an example, and does not exclude application of various modifications and techniques not explicitly described below. That is, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a device management system including a control loop design apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the device management system 100 includes a control loop design apparatus 1, a controller 2, and devices 3A to 3P. The controller 2 and the devices 3A to 3P are connected via a network and can communicate with each other. Note that the devices 3A to 3P are referred to as devices 3 when there is no need to distinguish them in the following description.

  The device 3 is various devices installed in the plant, and has a function of performing bidirectional communication via a network. Examples of the device 3 include transmitters for flow rate, pressure, temperature, etc., valve positioners for changing and detecting the opening degree of valves such as flow rate control valves and pressure control valves, and actuators for operating pumps, fans, etc. .

  The controller 2 is a device that controls the execution state of the production process. Specifically, the controller 2 adjusts the opening degree of the valve provided in the piping by controlling the valve positioner based on the measured values such as the flow rate and pressure acquired from the transmitter, for example.

  The control loop design apparatus 1 is an apparatus equipped with an editor for designing a control loop. The control loop is designed on the editor screen by combining the design parts to be designed. Design parts include, for example, point parts corresponding to points including input / output points, control points, etc., and link parts provided between the points.

  The control loop design device 1 physically includes, for example, a CPU (not shown), a storage device (not shown), and an input / output interface (not shown). The storage device stores the following control loop information.

  The control loop information includes, for example, a combination pattern of design parts constituting a control loop designed in the past, attribute information set in a control loop designed in the past, and each design part constituting a control loop designed in the past. Contains set attribute information.

  The combination pattern included in the control loop information uses the block type set in the point part and the arrow symbol indicating the link relationship between each block, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, “AI → PID → AO”, “ AI → PID → AO (the part displayed in the upper part of the two-stage display) / AI → PID ↑ (the part displayed in the lower part of the two-stage display) ”,“ AI → ML → AO ” . Among the arrow symbols, “→” indicates that data or the like flows from the left block to the right block, and “↑” indicates that the left block and the upper block are cascade-connected.

Here, the block means a function block defined by the Fieldbus Foundation ^™ , and defines a function executed by the device 3 or the like. Functions to be defined include, for example, functions for acquiring flow rate values, voltage values, temperature values, etc., functions for performing differentiation, integration, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc., valve opening / closing, boiler adjustment, furnace adjustment, etc. Applicable functions. “AI” exemplified above is a block representing an analog input, “PID” is a function representing proportional / integral / derivative control, “AO” is a block representing an analog output, and “ML”. Is a block representing a manual loader (manual operating device).

  As attribute information set in the control loop included in the control loop information, for example, a keyword indicating the characteristics of the control loop is applicable. The contents and number of keywords can be registered arbitrarily. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, “PID” is set as a keyword of the control loop “AI → PID → AO”, and “cascade” and “AI are set as keywords of“ AI → PID → AO / AI → PID ↑ ”. “2” can be set, and “ML” can be set as a keyword of “AI → ML → AO”.

  The attribute information set for each design part included in the control loop information includes, for example, various parameters that can be set for the device, parameter values, part types, and the like.

  Various parameters include input / output parameters of point parts. This input / output parameter is a parameter provided at the connection end of each point part, for example, “AI (OUT) → (IN) PID”. The output (OUT) parameter sets what value the point part outputs to other point parts, and the input (IN) parameter sets what value the point part inputs from other point parts. Set what to do.

  Next, a procedure for designing a control loop will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, it is assumed that the control loop information shown in FIG. The control loop design screens shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 are editor screens used when designing the control loop, and the candidate display screen is a screen that assists the control loop design screen. The candidate display screen may be supplementarily displayed as a pop-up screen of the control loop design screen, or may be displayed as a separate frame screen independent of the control loop design screen.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3, when the user inputs “AI” point parts on the control loop design screen, a candidate display screen with three combination patterns as candidates is displayed. On this candidate display screen, all the combination patterns including “AI” in the combination pattern among the combination patterns of the control loop information registered in the storage unit 16 are displayed. Specifically, three combination patterns of “AI → PID → AO”, “AI → PID → AO, AI → PID ↑”, and “AI → ML → AO” are displayed on the candidate display screen.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4, when the user additionally inputs a “PID” point part on the control loop design screen, a candidate display screen with two combination patterns as candidates is displayed. On this candidate display screen, all the combination patterns including “AI” and “PID” in the combination pattern among the combination patterns of the control loop information registered in the storage unit 16 are displayed. Specifically, two combination patterns of “AI → PID → AO” and “AI → PID → AO / AI → PID ↑” are displayed on the candidate display screen.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, when the user selects any combination pattern from the candidates displayed on the candidate display screen, the design pattern that exists only in the selected combination pattern on the control loop design screen is displayed. Parts are added. Specifically, when “AI → PID → AO” is selected from the candidate display screen, a design part “→ AO” is additionally displayed on the control loop design screen.

  Here, when a design part is added, the attribute information set in the addition-source design part is set as attribute information of the added design part. The user can change the attribute information as necessary. The design part displayed on the control loop design screen allows the user to arbitrarily input or change the attribute information of the design part.

  Next, a procedure for designing a control loop by inputting a keyword will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, it is assumed that the control loop information shown in FIG. The keyword input screen shown in FIG. 6 is a screen that assists the control loop design screen that is an editor screen. The keyword input screen may be supplementarily displayed as a pop-up screen of the control loop design screen, or may be displayed as a separate frame screen independent of the control loop design screen.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3, when the user inputs “AI” point parts on the control loop design screen, a candidate display screen with three combination patterns as candidates is displayed. On this candidate display screen, all the combination patterns including “AI” in the combination pattern among the combination patterns of the control loop information registered in the storage unit 16 are displayed. Specifically, three combination patterns of “AI → PID → AO”, “AI → PID → AO / AI → PID ↑”, and “AI → ML → AO” are displayed on the candidate display screen.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6, when the user displays a keyword input screen and inputs “cascade” as a keyword, a candidate display screen with one combination pattern as a candidate is displayed. In the candidate display screen, characters including “cascade” as a keyword among the combination patterns of the control loop information registered in the storage unit 16 are registered, and “AI” is included in the combination pattern. All combination patterns are displayed. Specifically, one combination pattern of “AI → PID → AO / AI → PID ↑” is displayed on the candidate display screen.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7, when the user selects a combination pattern from the candidates displayed on the candidate display screen, a design part that exists only in the selected combination pattern is added to the control loop design screen. Is done. Specifically, when “AI → PID → AO / AI → PID ↑” is selected from the candidate display screen, each of “→ PID”, “→ AO”, “AI”, “→ PID ↑” is selected. Design parts are additionally displayed on the control loop design screen.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the control loop design device 1 functionally includes, for example, a screen display unit 11, a pattern acquisition unit 12, a candidate presentation unit 13, an attribute information acquisition unit 14, and a control loop registration unit. 15. In addition, the control loop design device 1 includes a storage unit 16 that stores control loop information.

  The screen display unit 11 displays a control loop design screen for designing a control loop. When any combination pattern is selected from the control loop candidates presented by the candidate presentation unit 13 described later, the screen display unit 11 designs a control loop corresponding to the selected combination pattern. On the screen.

  The pattern acquisition unit 12 acquires a combination pattern including all the design parts displayed on the control loop design screen from the storage unit 16 every time a design part is added on the control loop design screen. .

  When a keyword is input to the keyword input screen, the pattern acquisition unit 12 is a combination pattern of control loops having attribute information including the keyword, and all designs displayed on the control loop design screen A combination pattern including parts for use is acquired from the storage unit 16. As a result, the user can narrow down the target combination pattern of control loops with an arbitrary keyword. Note that one or more keywords may be input.

  The candidate presentation unit 13 presents the control loop candidates to the user by displaying the combination pattern acquired by the pattern acquisition unit 12 as a control loop candidate on the candidate display screen. The candidate presentation unit 13 can display a plurality of combination patterns in the designated priority order when displaying them on the candidate display screen. Specifically, for example, a plurality of combination patterns can be displayed after being rearranged in descending order of the last use date, descending order of use frequency, descending order of scores calculated using weighting factors, and the like.

  When any combination pattern is selected from the control loop candidates, the attribute information acquisition unit 14 acquires, from the storage unit 16, the attribute information of the design part included in the selected combination pattern.

  When the attribute information acquisition unit 14 acquires attribute information from the storage unit 16 and a design part for which attribute information has already been defined by the user is present on the control loop design screen, the attribute information is still stored. Only attribute information of undesigned design parts is acquired from the storage unit 16.

  The control loop registration unit 15 uses the selected combination pattern and the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit 14 to display the combination pattern and attribute information corresponding to the control loop displayed on the control loop design screen. Register in the storage unit 16.

  When registering attribute information in the storage unit 16, the control loop registration unit 15, if a design part for which attribute information has already been defined by the user exists on the control loop design screen, Register using further attribute information.

  When the control loop registration unit 15 registers the attribute information in the storage unit 16 and a part of the control loop displayed on the control loop design screen is selected as a registration target by the user, The combination pattern and attribute information corresponding to the control loop within the selected range are registered in the storage unit 16. This makes it possible to more easily register a combination pattern to be presented to the user as a selection target.

  Next, an example of the operation of the control loop design apparatus 1 in the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This operation is started when the user displays a control loop design screen and designates a control loop to be designed.

  First, when the user adds a design part on the control loop design screen displayed by the screen display unit 11 (step S101), the pattern acquisition unit 12 receives a keyword from the keyword input screen. It is determined whether or not there is (step S102). When this determination is NO (step S102; NO), the pattern acquisition unit 12 acquires a combination pattern including all the design parts displayed on the control loop design screen from the storage unit 16 (step S102). S103). And a process transfers to step S105 mentioned later.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S102 that a keyword has been input (step S102; YES), the pattern acquisition unit 12 is a combination pattern of control loops including the input keyword in attribute information, And the combination pattern containing all the design parts currently displayed on the control loop design screen is acquired from the memory | storage part 16 (step S104).

  Subsequently, the candidate presentation unit 13 displays the combination pattern acquired in step S103 or step S104 on the candidate display screen (step S105).

  Subsequently, the attribute information acquisition unit 14 determines whether any combination pattern has been selected from the candidate display screen (step S106). If this determination is NO (step S106; NO), the process proceeds to step S101 described above.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S106 that a combination pattern has been selected (step S106; YES), the screen display unit 11 displays a control loop corresponding to the selected combination pattern on the control loop design screen. (Step S107).

  The attribute information acquisition unit 14 acquires attribute information of an undefined design part among the design parts included in the selected combination pattern from the storage unit 16 (step S108), and the control loop registration unit 15 Using the acquired attribute information and the selected combination pattern, the combination pattern and attribute information corresponding to the control loop displayed on the control loop design screen are registered in the storage unit 16 (step S109). And this operation | movement is complete | finished.

  This operation can be arbitrarily terminated by a user performing a predetermined termination operation for terminating the design work of the control loop.

  As described above, according to the control loop design device 1 in the embodiment, every time a design part is added to the control loop design screen, all design items displayed on the control loop design screen are displayed. A combination pattern including parts can be acquired from the storage unit 16 and presented to the user as a control loop candidate. When any combination pattern is selected from the presented control loop candidates, the control loop corresponding to the selected combination pattern can be displayed on the control loop design screen.

  As a result, the user can control all the design parts that have been put on the screen from the control loops that have been designed in the past by simply putting some design parts on the screen on the screen. A loop can be presented, and a control loop can be created by selecting a target control loop from the presented control loops.

  Moreover, according to the control loop design apparatus 1 in the embodiment, the attribute information of the design parts included in the selected combination pattern is acquired from the storage unit 16 and displayed on the design screen using the acquired attribute information. The attribute information corresponding to the controlled loop can be registered in the storage unit 16.

  Thereby, the user can register the attribute information corresponding to the control loop to be designed using the attribute information set in the design part included in the control loop designed in the past.

  Thus, by using the control loop design apparatus 1 in the embodiment, the user can easily reuse a control loop designed in the past. As a result, it is possible to create a high-quality control loop in a short time regardless of experience. Further, since it is possible to refer to a control loop created by another user, it becomes possible to learn other users' knowledge.

  In the above-described embodiment, the candidate presentation unit 13 displays the control loop candidates on the candidate display screen, but the method of displaying the control loop candidates is not limited to this. For example, control loop candidates may be displayed on the control loop design screen. In this case, for example, the design parts on the control loop design screen may be complemented with control loop candidates and displayed in a state where the control loop is completed. When there are a plurality of control loop candidates, the next candidate may be selected by a cursor key operation or a mouse operation on the keyboard.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the combination pattern including all the design parts input on the control loop design screen is displayed as a candidate, but a part of the combination pattern input on the control loop design screen is displayed. Combination patterns including design parts may be displayed as candidates.

  In the embodiment described above, candidates are displayed every time a design part is added on the control loop design screen, but the timing for displaying the candidates is not limited to this. For example, the candidate may be displayed every time the attribute information of the design part is input or changed. Hereinafter, an example of an operation when an input / output parameter is input among the attribute information will be described.

  First, when a point part of “AI” is input on the control loop design screen, all combination patterns including “AI” are displayed as candidates. Subsequently, when an output (OUT) parameter of “AI” is input, all combination patterns including “AI” for which the output (OUT) parameter is set are displayed as candidates. Subsequently, when a point part of “PID” is additionally input on the control loop design screen, all combination patterns including “AI” and “PID” for which the output (OUT) parameter is set are candidates. Display as. Subsequently, when an input (IN) parameter of “PID” is input, “PID” in which the input (IN) parameter is set and “AI” in which an output (OUT) parameter is set are included. All combination patterns are displayed as candidates.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control loop design apparatus 2 ... Controller 3 ... Device 11 ... Screen display part 12 ... Pattern acquisition part 13 ... Candidate presentation part 14 ... Attribute information acquisition part 15 ... Control loop registration part 16 ... Memory | storage part 100 ... Device management system

Claims (6)

A control loop design device for designing a control loop by combining design parts to be designed,
A storage unit that stores a combination pattern of the design parts constituting the control loop designed in the past, and the control information designed in the past and attribute information set in the design parts constituting the control loop When,
A screen display unit for displaying a design screen for designing the control loop;
Each time the design part is added on the design screen, the combination pattern including all or a part of the design parts displayed on the design screen is stored by the storage unit. A pattern acquisition unit to acquire from the combination pattern;
A candidate presentation unit that presents the combination pattern acquired by the pattern acquisition unit as a candidate for the control loop,
When the combination pattern is selected from the combination patterns presented as candidates for the control loop, the screen display unit designs the control loop corresponding to the selected combination pattern. Display on the screen for
A control loop design apparatus characterized by that. When any combination pattern is selected from among the combination patterns presented as candidates for the control loop, the attribute information of the design parts included in the selected combination pattern is stored in the memory An attribute information acquisition unit that acquires from the attribute information stored by the unit;
Using the selected combination pattern and the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit, the combination pattern and the attribute information corresponding to the control loop displayed on the design screen, A control loop registration unit to be stored in the storage unit;
The control loop design apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The pattern acquisition unit is the combination pattern of the control loop having the attribute information including the keyword when a keyword is input, and all or a part of the combination pattern displayed on the design screen The control loop design apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the combination pattern including a design part is acquired from the combination pattern stored in the storage unit.   The pattern acquisition unit includes the design part having the input or changed attribute information each time the attribute information of the design part displayed on the design screen is input or changed. The control loop design apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the combination pattern is acquired from the combination pattern stored in the storage unit.   5. The design part according to claim 1, wherein the design part is a point part corresponding to a point including an input / output point and a control point, and a link part provided between the points. Control loop design device. A control loop design method for designing a control loop by combining design parts to be designed,
A first screen display step for displaying a design screen for designing the control loop;
Each time the said design for part is added to the design for screen, all or part of the design for parts including sets combined pattern is displayed on the design screen on, is designed in the past the A pattern acquisition step of acquiring from the storage unit storing the combination pattern of the design parts constituting the control loop, the control loop designed in the past, and the attribute information set in the design parts constituting the control loop; ,
A candidate presenting step for presenting the combination pattern obtained in the pattern obtaining step as a candidate for the control loop;
When any combination pattern is selected from the combination patterns presented as candidates for the control loop, the control loop corresponding to the selected combination pattern is displayed on the design screen. A second screen display step;
A control loop design method comprising:

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