JP5975861B2 - Engineering apparatus and engineering method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an engineering apparatus and an engineering method for performing online engineering based on offline engineering data.

  As a monitoring system that monitors and controls multiple field control devices in a building, different manufacturers such as air conditioning equipment, lighting equipment, electrical equipment, disaster prevention equipment, etc. using an open network such as BACnet (Building Automation and Control networking protocol) Multi-vendor compatible systems that connect these systems and perform monitoring and control have become widespread.

  When building a monitoring system that supports this BACnet, the engineering device creates a JOB file that records management information such as device information, management point information, and object information managed by the monitoring device in accordance with the BACnet standard. doing. In addition, the engineering device creates engineering data (download file) for operating the host controller managed by the monitoring device based on the created JOB file, and downloads it to the corresponding controller.

  The engineering apparatus notifies the monitoring apparatus of information such as a controller (device) connected to the network and its object. Then, the monitoring device sends a message to the controller based on this information, and if there is a response, determines that the controller is normal, and if there is no response, determines that an abnormality has occurred and issues an alarm, etc. doing. Therefore, no device search or the like is performed in the monitoring apparatus.

Further, in an engineering apparatus, after a download file is downloaded to a controller, a download file change operation usually occurs due to addition of a monitoring point, change of monitoring point definition information, or the like.
In this case, in the conventional engineering apparatus, first, the controller is moved offline, and the file is uploaded from the controller to correct the file. And after downloading this corrected file to the said controller, it is necessary to make the said controller transfer online again (for example, refer patent document 1).

JP 2011-97428 A JP 2007-148842 A

However, there is a problem that the working time zone is restricted in the method of engineering by moving the controller offline. That is, for example, (1) when the controller cannot be taken offline because the system is operating, (2) when the controller can be taken offline only for a short time, (3) when it can be taken offline only at night, etc. There will be restrictions on working hours.
Furthermore, if the monitoring device of another company changes the controller property, or if the controller property becomes invalid due to a tool failure, the engineering data does not match the controller property value for some reason. Then, there also exists a subject that it will be in the state which must continue engineering in a mismatched state after that.

On the other hand, when a 24-hour system is in operation, there is a device that can change an operation file online by providing a lock function for preventing setting of an output value in a field device (for example, Patent Document 2). reference). As a result, it is possible to prevent erroneous output to the field device when the operation file is changed online, and to guarantee data continuity.
However, even with the method disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to perform work in a short time, and rework occurs if inconsistency occurs for some reason during the work. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is possible to change a plurality of properties for a plurality of devices at once even in a situation where the device cannot be changed offline. It is an object of the present invention to provide an engineering apparatus and an engineering method capable of matching properties in both directions on the engineering data side and the device side.

  An engineering apparatus according to the present invention includes an online device search unit that searches for a device connected to a network, an online object search unit that searches for an object included in the device searched by the device search unit, The property extraction means for extracting the property indicating the attribute of the object searched by the object search means from the device, the property extracted by the property extraction means and the property of the corresponding JOB file or engineering data are compared, and the difference is obtained. Detecting difference detecting means, displaying means for displaying the difference detected by the difference detecting means, editing means for editing the difference detected by the difference detecting means, device, JOB file and engineering data Of these, the object / property selection means that selects the property, the object / property selection means that selects the property, the difference detected by the difference detection means, or the difference edited by the editing means. And property matching means for matching objects and properties.

  The engineering method according to the present invention includes an online device search step for searching for a device connected to the network, an online object search step for searching for an object included in the device searched in the device search step, In the object search step, the property extraction step that extracts the property indicating the attribute of the object searched in the device is compared with the property extracted in the property extraction step and the property of the corresponding JOB file or engineering data, and the difference is detected. A difference detection step, a display step for displaying the difference detected in the difference detection step, an editing step for editing the difference detected in the difference detection step, Object properties based on the object, property selection step for selecting properties, objects detected in the difference detection step, or differences edited in the editing step A property matching step for matching the object and property selected in the selection step.

  According to the present invention, since it is configured as described above, even in a situation where a device cannot be changed to offline, a plurality of properties can be changed for a plurality of devices at a time. Can be planned. In addition, properties can be matched in both directions on the engineering data side and the device side.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the monitoring system provided with the engineering apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the engineering apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the property matching means in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the engineering apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen image after the device search by the display means in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen image after the object list acquisition by the display means in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen image after the property extraction by the display means in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the example of property matching in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen image for selecting the property update necessity by the display means in Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring system including an engineering device 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and shows a case where a BACnet is used as a communication network.
As shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring system includes an engineering device 1, monitoring devices 2 and 3, a plurality of upper controllers 4, a plurality of lower controllers 5, and the like.

  The engineering device 1 is a device that can communicate with the BACnet, and constructs a monitoring system corresponding to the BACnet. When the system is constructed, the engineering device 1 conforms to the BACnet standard, and the configuration information of the upper controller 4, the lower controller 5, and the field controller (not shown) that are monitored and controlled by the monitoring devices 2 and 3, A JOB file in which management information such as I / O information is recorded is created. Further, the engineering device 1 generates engineering data (download file) for operating each host controller 4 based on the created JOB file and downloads it to the corresponding host controller 4.

  In addition, the engineering apparatus 1 has a function of extracting properties of a predetermined device (the upper controller 4) online and taking two-way property consistency between the engineering data for the device and the device. . A configuration related to the property matching function of the engineering apparatus 1 will be described later.

The monitoring devices 2 and 3 monitor and control a plurality of host controllers 4 connected via the BACnet. The monitoring device 3 is assumed to be a monitoring device of a vendor different from the engineering device 1, the monitoring device 2, the host controller 4, etc. shown in FIG. 1.
The host controller 4 monitors and controls a plurality of lower controllers 5 connected via the lower network according to the control by the monitoring devices 2 and 3. The host controller 4 operates based on a download file from the engineering device 1.
The lower controller 5 controls a plurality of field control devices (not shown) connected via the lower network according to the control by the upper controller 4.

Next, a configuration related to the property matching function of the engineering apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration relating to the property matching function of the engineering apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the engineering apparatus 1 includes a device search unit 101, an object list acquisition unit (object search unit) 102, a property extraction unit 103, a device-side information holding unit 104, an in-file device search unit 105, an in-file object It comprises a list acquisition means 106, a file property extraction means 107, a file side information holding means 108, a difference detection means 109, a display means 110, an editing means 111, an object / property selection means 112, and a property matching means 113.

  The device search means 101 searches for a device (higher-order controller 4) connected to the network by online communication. At this time, the device search means 101 searches for a device that is normally connected and online by broadcasting a message requesting a response and confirming the response from the device.

  The object list acquisition unit 102 acquires an object list indicating a list of objects included in the device searched by the device search unit 101 from the device through online communication. At this time, the object list acquisition unit 102 transmits a read message requesting the object list to the corresponding device, and receives the object list as a response message. Here, examples of the object include AI (Analog Input), AO (Analog Output), AV (Analog Value), BI (Binary Input), BO (Binary Output), BV (Binary Value), and MI (Multiple). , MO (Multistate Output), MV (Multistate Value), trend, calendar, schedule, NotificationaClass, FILE, and the like.

  The property extraction unit 103 extracts a property indicating an attribute of each object in the object list acquired by the object list acquisition unit 102 from the device through online communication. At this time, the property extraction unit 103 receives the property as a response message by transmitting a read message requesting the property extraction to the corresponding device.

  The device-side information holding unit 104 holds each piece of information obtained by the device search unit 101, the object list acquisition unit 102, and the property extraction unit 103.

  The in-file device search means 105 searches for a device recorded in a JOB file or engineering data (download file) by database access.

  The in-file object list acquisition unit 106 acquires an object list indicating a list of objects included in the device searched by the in-file device search unit 105 from a JOB file or engineering data by accessing the database.

  The in-file property extracting unit 107 extracts a property indicating the attribute of the object in the object list acquired by the in-file object list acquiring unit 106 from the JOB file or the engineering data by database access.

  The file-side information holding unit 108 holds each piece of information obtained by the in-file device search unit 105, the in-file object list acquisition unit 106, and the in-file property extraction unit 107.

  The difference detection unit 109 compares the property extracted by the property extraction unit 103 with the property extracted by the in-file property extraction unit 107 based on a unique key (device ID, object ID, and property ID). The property difference is detected.

  The display unit 110 displays each information held in the device-side information holding unit 104 and the file-side information holding unit 108, information indicating the property difference detected by the difference detection unit 109, and the like in a predetermined format. Is.

  The editing unit 111 is for editing the difference detected by the difference detecting unit 109.

  The object / property selection means 112 is for selecting an object and a property whose properties are matched among devices, JOB files, and engineering data.

  The property matching unit 113 matches the object and property selected by the object / property selection unit 112 based on the difference detected by the difference detection unit 109 or the difference edited by the editing unit 111. . As shown in FIG. 3, the property matching unit 113 includes a device update unit 114, a file update unit 115, and a device file update unit 116.

The device update means 114 updates the device properties to the corresponding JOB file and engineering data properties through online communication. The device update unit 114 includes a message creation unit 1141 and a message transmission unit 1142.
The message creation unit 1141 creates a write message for requesting the device to update the properties of the corresponding JOB file and engineering data. The write message includes “WriteProperty” for requesting rewriting of a single property of a single object and “WritePropertyMultiple” for requesting rewriting of a plurality of properties of a plurality of objects.
The message transmission unit 1142 transmits the message created by the message creation unit 1141 to the device to update the property.

  The file update unit 115 updates the properties of the JOB file and engineering data to the properties of the corresponding device by accessing the database.

The device file updating unit 116 is configured to update the device property to the property set by the user by online communication and update the property of the JOB file and the engineering data to the property set by the user. The device file update unit 116 includes a message creation unit 1161, a message transmission unit 1162, and a file update unit 1163.
The message creation unit 1161 creates a write message for requesting the device to update to the property set by the user.
The message transmission unit 1162 transmits the message created by the message creation unit 1161 to the device, thereby updating the property.
The file update unit 1163 updates the properties of the JOB file and engineering data to the properties set by the user by accessing the database.

  Next, the operation of the engineering device 1 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the property matching operation by the engineering apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, the device is assumed to be the host controller 4. In the following, based on the difference detected by the difference detection unit 109, a case where matching is performed for all objects and all properties having a difference will be described.

In the property matching operation by the engineering apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. 4, first, the device search unit 101 of the engineering apparatus 1 searches the host controller 4 connected to the network by online communication (step ST1, Device search step). The device search result by the device search means 101 is held in the device-side information holding means 104, and is also presented to the user by the display means 110.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen image after the device search by the display unit 110. In FIG. 5, information such as a device ID for identifying a device, a device name, and an IP address is displayed for each searched device (higher-order controller 4).

Next, the object list acquisition unit 102 acquires an object list of the upper controller 4 searched by the device search unit 101 from the upper controller 4 through online communication, thereby searching for an object included in the upper controller 4 ( Step ST2, object search step). The object list acquisition result by the object list acquisition unit 102 is held in the device-side information holding unit 104, and is also presented to the user by the display unit 110.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen image after the object list is acquired by the display unit 110. In FIG. 6, a list of objects included in a specific host controller 4 is displayed, and information such as an object ID for identifying the object is displayed.

Next, the property extraction unit 103 extracts a property indicating the attribute of each object in the object list acquired by the object list acquisition unit 102 from the host controller 4 through online communication (step ST3, property extraction step). The property extraction result by the property extraction unit 103 is held in the device-side information holding unit 104, and is also presented to the user by the display unit 110.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen image after property extraction by the display unit 110. In FIG. 7, in addition to the information shown in FIG. 6, properties (object name, object type, unit, etc.) indicating the attributes of each object are displayed. Each of these properties is converted to an ID when received.

  On the other hand, the in-file device search means 105 searches the host controller 4 recorded in the JOB file or engineering data (download file) by accessing the database (step ST4). The device search result by the in-file device search means 105 is held in the file-side information holding means 108 and presented to the user by the display means 110.

  Next, the in-file object list obtaining unit 106 obtains, from the JOB file or engineering data, an object list indicating a list of objects of the host controller 4 searched by the in-file device searching unit 105 by database access (step ST5). . The object list acquisition result by the in-file object list acquisition unit 106 is stored in the file-side information storage unit 108, and is also presented to the user by the display unit 110.

  Next, the in-file property extracting unit 107 extracts a property indicating the attribute of the object in the object list acquired by the in-file object list acquiring unit 106 from the JOB file or the engineering data by database access (step ST6). The property extraction result by the in-file property extracting unit 107 is held in the file side information holding unit 108 and also presented to the user by the display unit 110.

Next, the difference detecting unit 109 compares the property extracted by the property extracting unit 103 with the property extracted by the in-file property extracting unit 107 based on a unique key (device ID, object ID, property ID). Thus, the property difference is detected (step ST7, difference detection step).
For example, when the monitoring device 3 of another company rewrites the property of the host controller 4 or when the property of the host controller 4 becomes an incorrect value due to a tool failure, the JOB file (or the file held by the engineering device 1) (or Since a property difference occurs between the download file and the download file), this is detected. As a result, for example, the alarm notification destination address has been rewritten from the broadcast address to the unicast address of another company's monitoring device 3, or the normal value of Alarm_Value of the alarm BI object is 1 as shown in FIG. In some cases, it can be ascertained that the value in a certain device is set to zero. The difference detection result by the difference detection means 109 is presented to the user by the display means 110 (display step).

Next, for example, when the property of the host controller 4 is an invalid value, the device update unit 114 updates the property of the host controller 4 to the corresponding JOB file and engineering data property by online communication (step) ST8). That is, first, the message creation unit 1141 creates a write message for requesting the host controller 4 to update the properties of the corresponding JOB file and engineering data. Then, the message transmission unit 1142 transmits the message created by the message creation unit 1141 to the host controller 4 to update the property.
Thus, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the normal value of Alarm_Value of the alarm BI object is 1, when the value of a certain device is set to 0, this device remains online. The value of Alarm_Value can be modified from 0 to 1.

  For example, when the property of the host controller 4 is rewritten by the monitoring device 3 of another company, the file update unit 115 changes the property of the corresponding JOB file and engineering data to the property of the host controller 4 by database access. Update (step ST9).

In addition, when the property of the host controller 4 or the property of the job file or engineering data is not set as the master, but the property newly set by the user is set as the master, the device file update unit 116 communicates online. Thus, the property of the host controller 4 is updated to the property set by the user, and the property of the corresponding JOB file and engineering data is updated to the property set by the user (step ST10). That is, first, the message creation unit 1161 creates a write message that requests the higher-level controller 4 to update the property set by the user. Then, the message transmission unit 1162 transmits the message created by the message creation unit 1161 to the upper controller 4 to update the property. Further, the file update unit 1163 updates the properties of the JOB file and the engineering data to the properties set by the user by accessing the database.
Steps ST8 to 10 correspond to the property matching step of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, the case where property matching is performed using the difference detected by the difference detecting unit 109 has been described. However, property matching may be performed using the difference edited by the editing unit 111. (Editing step).
For example, when the value of the JOB file of the engineering apparatus 1 is 50 and the value of the host controller 4 is 50.00, the difference edited by the editing unit 111 is set to 50.0. When matching is made with the edited values, the value of the JOB file of the engineering apparatus 1 is 50.0, and the value of the host controller 4 is 50.0.

FIG. 4 shows the case where all objects and all properties having differences are targeted for matching. On the other hand, it is also possible to match only some objects and some properties by selecting and changing the matching target by the object property selection means 112 (object property selection step).
For example, only the AI object may be matched, and the AO object may not be matched even if there is a difference. Further, for example, only the properties of the unit of AI and AO objects may be matched, and other properties may not be matched even if there is a difference.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, device properties are extracted online, the difference is detected by comparing the property with the corresponding job file or engineering data property, and the difference is displayed. , Edit the difference, select the object / property that matches the property among the device, JOB file, and engineering data, and match the selected object / property based on the detected difference or edited difference Since it is configured, even in a situation where the device cannot be changed offline, a plurality of properties can be changed at once for a plurality of devices, and the engine efficiency can be improved. In addition, property values can be matched in both directions on the engineering data side and the device side.
Further, by using the difference, it is possible to reduce the processing load of the device operating online.

  In the first embodiment, the example in which the BACnet is applied as the communication network of the monitoring system is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other open networks may be applied.

  Further, in the above description, it is assumed that all the properties of the object in which the difference is detected are updated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the property of the object selected by the user is updated. Also good. For example, in FIG. 9, by selecting / deselecting the check box on the left side, it is possible to select whether to update the property of the object.

  In the present invention, any constituent element of the embodiment can be modified or any constituent element of the embodiment can be omitted within the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Engineering apparatus 2, 3 Monitoring apparatus 4 High-order controller 5 Low-order controller 101 Device search means 102 Object list acquisition means (object search means)
103 property extracting means 104 device side information holding means 105 in-file device searching means 106 in-file object list obtaining means 107 in-file property extracting means 108 file-side information holding means 109 difference detecting means 110 display means 111 editing means 112 object / property selection Means 113 Property matching means 114 Device update means 115, 1163 File update means 116 Device file update means 1141, 1161 Message creation means 1142, 1162 Message transmission means

Claims (5)

In an engineering device that creates engineering data for operating a device from a JOB file and downloads it to the device,
Device search means for searching for the device connected to the network online;
Online object search means for searching for an object included in the device searched by the device search means;
A property extracting means for extracting a property indicating an attribute of the object searched by the object searching means online from the device;
A difference detection unit that compares the property extracted by the property extraction unit with a corresponding job file or engineering data property and detects a difference;
Display means for displaying the difference detected by the difference detection means;
Editing means for editing the difference detected by the difference detection means;
An object / property selection means for selecting an object, a property matching among the device, JOB file and engineering data;
And a property matching means for matching the object and property selected by the object / property selection means based on the difference detected by the difference detection means or the difference edited by the editing means. Characteristic engineering equipment. The property matching means is:
2. The engineering apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a device update unit that updates the property of the device to the property of the corresponding JOB file and engineering data online. 3. The property matching means is:
The engineering apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a file update unit configured to update properties of the JOB file and engineering data to properties of a corresponding device. The property matching means is:
And a device file updating unit that updates the property of the device to a property set by a user online and updates the property of the JOB file and engineering data to the property set by the user. The engineering device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. In an engineering method for creating engineering data for operating a device from a JOB file and downloading it to the device,
A device search step for searching for the device connected to the network online;
An object search step for searching online for an object included in the device searched in the device search step;
A property extracting step for extracting a property indicating an attribute of the object searched in the object searching step online from the device;
A difference detection step of comparing the property extracted in the property extraction step with a property of a corresponding JOB file or engineering data and detecting a difference;
A display step for displaying the difference detected in the difference detection step;
An editing step of editing the difference detected in the difference detection step;
An object / property selection step for selecting an object, a property for matching properties among the device, JOB file, and engineering data;
A property matching step for matching the properties of the object selected in the object / property selection step based on the difference detected in the difference detection step or the difference edited in the editing step. Method.

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