JP7114034B2 - Control program generation device, control program generation method, program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to technology for generating a control program for an automatic manufacturing machine having multiple actuators.

Today, across all industries, there is a strong demand for labor saving in manufacturing sites such as factories. In order to meet this demand, it is essential to utilize automatic manufacturing machines. Therefore, various types of automatic manufacturing machines have been developed according to the object to be processed or manufactured and the content of the processing (for example, cutting or bending) (for example, Patent Document 1, Patent Reference 2).

Here, the size, shape, and material of the object to be manufactured, as well as the details and conditions of processing, are usually different at the manufacturing site. For this reason, it is difficult to divert automatic manufacturing machines used at other manufacturing sites, and dedicated automatic manufacturing machines are developed for each manufacturing site. When a dedicated automatic manufacturing machine is developed, it becomes necessary to newly develop a control program for controlling the automatic manufacturing machine.

However, in order to develop a control program, a professional engineer (a so-called programmer) with specialized knowledge of software is required. Moreover, since the development of the control program cannot be started until the mechanical design of the automatic manufacturing machine has progressed to a certain extent, it takes a long time to develop the automatic manufacturing machine, including the time required for the development of the control program. Become. These points are major obstacles when trying to actively introduce automatic manufacturing machines to manufacturing sites.

Therefore, the inventors of the present application describe the operation of an automatic manufacturing machine in a special operation chart, and automatically generate a control program from the operation chart, thereby developing a technology that solves these problems at once, and have already filed a patent application. (Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-075017). Since this special motion chart is a motion chart developed by the inventor of the present application and does not exist in the past, it may be referred to as a "YOGO chart" below. This operation chart (YOGO chart) can be easily created if the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is understood, and a control program can be automatically generated from this operation chart. Therefore, the period required for developing an automatic manufacturing machine can be greatly shortened, and since it is not necessary to secure programmers, manufacturing costs can be suppressed.

JP 2011-245602 A JP 2018-192570 A

However, even with the above-mentioned pending technology, if a mistake is made in describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine in the operation chart (YOGO chart), the automatic manufacturing machine cannot be operated as intended. For this reason, there is a demand for the development of a technique for reducing, as much as possible, the occurrence of erroneous descriptions of the operations of automatic manufacturing machines in operation charts (YOGO charts).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and prevents a situation in which incorrect contents are described when describing the operation of an automatic manufacturing machine in an operation chart (YOGO chart). The purpose is to provide a technology that can reduce

In order to solve the above problems, the control program generation device of the present invention employs the following configuration. i.e.
A control program generator (100a, 110) for generating a control program for an automatic manufacturing machine (1) having a plurality of actuators (10-20),
a basic motion storage unit (102) storing basic motions (206) representing motions of the actuator for each degree of freedom in association with program elements for realizing the basic motions;
An operation period from the start to the end of the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is divided into a plurality of partial periods, the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is decomposed into a plurality of the basic operations, and the basic operations are divided into an operation chart reading unit (103) that reads an operation chart (200) describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine assigned to one of the plurality of partial periods;
operating the automatic manufacturing machine by combining the program elements of the plurality of basic operations assigned to the plurality of partial periods on the operation chart according to the order of the partial periods on the operation chart; A control program generation unit (105) that generates a control program,
The basic motion storage unit divides the contents of the basic motion into a motion description (206a) for qualitatively describing the basic motion and a numerical description for numerically describing quantitative items of the basic motion. and storing the program element corresponding to the behavioral description of the basic operation, and a numerical table (206b) corresponding to the numerical description or a plurality of numerical parameters (206c) corresponding to the numerical description,
The operation chart reading unit reads the operation chart describing the basic operation using the operation description and the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters,
wherein, when combining the plurality of program elements, the control program generator sets numerical values to the program elements according to the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters described together with the behavioral description of the program elements. Characterized by

Further, the control program generation method of the present invention corresponding to the control program generation device described above employs the following configuration. i.e.
A control program generation method for generating a control program for an automatic manufacturing machine (1) having a plurality of actuators (10 to 20) by a computer,
An operation period from the start of the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine to the end of the operation is divided into a plurality of partial periods, and the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is a plurality of basic operations representing the operation of each degree of freedom of the actuator. (206) and reading an operation chart (200) describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine by assigning the basic operation to one of the plurality of partial periods (STEP 1) When,
a motion chart analysis step (STEP 2) of extracting the plurality of basic motions included in the motion chart and the partial periods to which the plurality of basic motions are assigned by analyzing the motion chart;
A control program for generating the control program for operating the automatic manufacturing machine by combining program elements for realizing the basic operations according to the order of the partial periods to which the basic operations are assigned in the operation chart. A generation step (STEP 3) and
In the operation chart reading step, the basic operations in the operation chart are composed of an operation description (206a) for qualitatively describing the contents of the basic operations, and a quantitative item for describing numerically the basic operations. reading the operational chart described using a numerical table (206b) or a plurality of numerical parameters (206c);
The control program generation step converts the behavioral description to the program element by referring to a correspondence relationship in which the behavioral description of the basic behavior and the program element for realizing the behavioral description are associated and stored. After converting and setting numerical values in the program elements according to the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters described together with the behavioral description, the control program is generated by combining the program elements according to the order of the partial periods. It is characterized by being a step of

In the control program generation device and the control program generation method of the present invention, the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is previously described in the operation chart. This operation chart is as follows. First, the operation period from the start of the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine to the end of the operation is divided into a plurality of partial periods, and the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is decomposed into basic operations of a plurality of actuators. The operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is described by assigning these basic operations to any of the plurality of partial periods. Further, in the basic motions in the motion chart, the qualitative contents of the basic motions are described by motion descriptions, and the quantitative items of the basic motions described by numerical values are described by a numerical table or a plurality of numerical parameters. Furthermore, the behavioral description is pre-stored in association with program elements that implement the behavior represented by the behavioral description. When generating a control program for the automatic manufacturing machine, an operation chart describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is read, the operation description of the basic operation described in the operation chart is converted into program elements, and the operation description The numerical value set in the numerical table or multiple numerical parameters described with is set in the program element. Then, the control program is generated by combining those program elements according to the order of the partial periods.

Since the motion description qualitatively describes the basic motion, which is a simple motion of the actuator, it is possible to create in advance program elements that cause the actuator to perform the motion described in the motion description. Of course, in order to operate an actuator using program elements, it is necessary to specify quantitative items such as the amount of operation and the operation speed. be set separately. Such an operation chart can be easily created by a mechanical design engineer who has designed an automatic manufacturing machine or by an engineer who has sufficient knowledge about the structure of the automatic manufacturing machine. Then, the created operation chart is read, the operation description in the operation chart is converted into program elements, and numerical values are set for the program elements according to the numerical table described together with the operation description. By connecting according to the instructions, it becomes possible to automatically generate a control program for controlling the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine. In addition, when describing the basic motions in the motion chart, since the motion description and the numerical table or numerical parameters are described separately, the motion chart (YOGO chart) contains incorrect contents for the following reasons. incidents can be greatly reduced. In other words, since the action description simply expresses the action that a person wants the actuator to perform, the task of writing the action description on the action chart is simply the task of simply expressing the intention of the person. , can greatly reduce the possibility of writing incorrect content. Of course, just describing the operation description does not allow the actuator to operate because the specific numerical values are not set, but it is possible to use the numerical values set in the numerical table or numerical parameters. Even when correcting specific numerical values, it is only necessary to correct the numerical values set in the numerical table or the numerical parameters, so there is no need to modify the operation chart. Therefore, the operation chart is not erroneously changed at the time of correction. As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the situation in which incorrect contents are described in the movement chart (YOGO chart).

Further, in the above-described control program generation device of the present invention, a plurality of numerical values including at least one of the operation amount, the operation speed, and the operation load of the basic operation may be set in the numerical table or the numerical parameter.

The amount of motion, motion speed, motion load, etc. of the basic motion are numerical values necessary for the intended basic motion of the actuator, but cannot be described in the motion description. Therefore, if these are set in a numerical table or numerical parameters, the basic operation of the actuator can be performed as intended, and as a result, the automatic manufacturing machine can be properly operated.

Further, in the above-described control program generating apparatus of the present invention, if no numerical values are set in the numerical table, a reference table in which appropriate numerical values are set in advance may be referred to.

By doing so, the actuator can be operated using the numerical values set in the reference table without setting the numerical values in the numerical table. By setting appropriate numerical values in the numerical table as necessary, the automatic manufacturing machine can be properly operated.

Further, in the above-described control program generating apparatus of the present invention, the operation standby time for waiting for the start of the basic operation may be set in a numerical table or numerical parameter.

By doing so, by setting the operation standby time in the numerical table or the numerical parameter, the actuator can be made to perform the basic operation after the operation standby time has passed. Also, when performing basic operations on multiple actuators, by adjusting the operation standby time set in the numerical table or numerical parameter of each actuator, the timing at which each actuator starts its basic operation can be slightly different. , it is possible to easily describe detailed operations.

Moreover, the control program generation method of the present invention described above can also be understood as a program for realizing the control program generation method using a computer. That is, the program of the present invention is
A program for implementing, using a computer, a method for generating a control program for an automatic manufacturing machine (1) having a plurality of actuators (10-20),
An operation period from the start of the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine to the end of the operation is divided into a plurality of partial periods, and the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is a plurality of basic operations representing the operation of each degree of freedom of the actuator. (206) and reading an operation chart (200) describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine by assigning the basic operation to one of the plurality of partial periods (STEP 1) When,
a motion chart analysis function (STEP 2) for extracting the plurality of basic motions included in the motion chart and the partial periods to which the plurality of basic motions are assigned by analyzing the motion chart;
A control program for generating the control program for operating the automatic manufacturing machine by combining program elements for realizing the basic operations according to the order of the partial periods to which the basic operations are assigned in the operation chart. The generating function (STEP 3) and are realized by the computer,
The operation chart reading function includes an operation description (206a) for describing the content of the basic operation qualitatively and a quantitative item for describing the basic operation numerically. a function of reading the operation chart described using a numerical table (206b) or a plurality of numerical parameters (206c);
The control program generation function converts the behavioral description to the program element by referring to a correspondence relationship in which the behavioral description of the basic behavior and the program element for realizing the behavioral description are associated and stored. After converting and setting numerical values in the program elements according to the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters described together with the behavioral description, the control program is generated by combining the program elements according to the order of the partial periods. It is characterized by the function of

If such a program is read into a computer and executed, a control program for controlling the operation of an automatic manufacturing machine can be automatically generated from the operation chart, and erroneous contents are described in the operation chart. It is possible to prevent the situation.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing the external shape of an automatic manufacturing machine 1 controlled by an automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually showing how an automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 controls operations of various actuators 10 to 20 mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a rough process for developing a new automatic manufacturing machine 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the basic principle of automatically generating a control program for the automatic manufacturing machine 1 from the operation chart (YOGO chart) of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 by the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of the present embodiment; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying a part of an operation chart (YOGO chart) of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 read by the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of the present embodiment; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a behavioral description 206a of a basic action; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a numerical table 206b for an action description 206a of "Ω-AA"; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a numeric table 206b for a behavioral description 206a of “Ω-AB”; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a numerical table 206b for a behavioral description 206a of "Ω-AC"; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a lookup table of the numerical table 206b for the behavioral description 206a "Ω-AA"; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a lookup table of a numerical table 206b for a behavioral description 206a of "Ω-AB"; FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a lookup table of the numerical table 206b for the behavioral description 206a "Ω-AC"; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing functions provided in the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of the embodiment; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing how actuators, motion descriptions 206a, and program element numbers are associated with each other according to the correspondence stored in the basic motion storage unit 102 of this embodiment. 4 is a flowchart of control program generation processing in which the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of the present embodiment generates a control program from an operation chart (YOGO chart). 6 is a flowchart of YOGO chart analysis processing that is executed in control program generation processing; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating intermediate data generated by YOGO chart analysis processing; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a control program generated by converting intermediate data; 4 is a flow chart of operation control processing in which the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of the present embodiment controls the operation of each actuator based on control program data; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example in which the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 is formed by a YOGO chart processing device 100a and a control execution device 100b; FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a numeric table 206b in which operation standby time can be set; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating how a basic operation 206 is described using a plurality of numerical parameters 206c instead of a numerical table 206b; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a next-operation-allowed position is set in a numerical table 206b or a numerical parameter 206c;

A. Device configuration :
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a rough external shape of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of this embodiment. The automatic manufacturing machine 1 of this embodiment is a machine tool (a so-called pipe bender) that automatically bends a long pipe material into a desired shape. Of course, if the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of the present embodiment is equipped with a plurality of actuators and can automatically perform a plurality of operations such as gripping, transporting, processing, and heating an object, it is possible to It may be a manufacturing machine. For example, it may be a manufacturing machine for automatically manufacturing foodstuffs. Alternatively, the manufacturing system may be a combination of an arm robot having a plurality of joints and a transport device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of this embodiment is roughly in the shape of a horizontally long rectangular parallelepiped. At one end (left side in FIG. 1), a transport unit 3 is mounted for gripping and transporting a pipe material (not shown) to be processed. On the side opposite to the side on which the conveying unit 3 is mounted, a processing unit 4 for performing processing such as bending on a pipe material (not shown) is mounted. A cylindrical gripping shaft 3a protrudes from the conveying unit 3, and a chuck 3b for gripping a pipe material (not shown) is attached to the tip of the gripping shaft 3a. Therefore, by moving the conveying unit 3 on the rail 2 while gripping the pipe material with the chuck 3b, the pipe material is supplied to the processing unit 4, and the processing unit 4 performs bending and the like on the pipe material. It is possible to apply

Since the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of the present embodiment can control the feeding amount of the pipe material by the amount of movement of the conveying unit 3, it is possible to freely control the position where the pipe material is bent. Further, by rotating the gripping shaft 3a to which the chuck 3b is attached (so-called twisting motion) around the shaft, it is possible to bend the pipe material in a desired direction. In order to realize this, inside the transport unit 3, there are an actuator 10 for opening and closing the chuck 3b, an actuator 11 for rotating the gripping shaft 3a around its axis, and an actuator for advancing and retracting the gripping shaft 3a in the axial direction. An actuator 12 for moving and an actuator 13 for moving the transport unit 3 forward and backward on the rail 2 are mounted. In the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of the present embodiment, these actuators 10 to 13 all use servo motors that operate with an AC power supply, but depending on the performance required of the actuators, other drive type actuators ( For example, hydraulic cylinders, solenoids, stepping motors, etc.) can be employed. The transport unit 3 is also equipped with sensors such as encoders and limit switches for detecting the rotational position of the gripping shaft 3a and the movement position of the transport unit 3. For the purpose of avoidance, illustration is omitted in FIG.

Inside the processing unit 4, there are an actuator 17 for bending the pipe material, an actuator 18 for moving the position where force is applied to the pipe material when bending the pipe material, and an actuator 18 for moving the entire processing unit 4 in the vertical direction. and an actuator 20 for forming a flat end surface called a flange on the pipe material and an annular convex portion called a bulge. The processing unit 4 is also equipped with switches and sensors such as encoders and contact switches, but these are omitted in the drawing to avoid complication of the drawing.

Further, inside the processing unit 4, a plurality of driver circuits (not shown) for driving the various actuators 10 to 13 and 17 to 20 described above are mounted. Here, the driver circuit is an electric component having the following functions. In order to cause the actuators 10 to 13 and 17 to 20 to operate as desired, it is necessary to supply the actuators 10 to 13 and 17 to 20 with drive currents having appropriate waveforms. However, the drive current to be supplied to the actuators 10-13 and 17-20 differs depending on the drive system of the actuators 10-13 and 17-20. It varies depending on the actuator. Therefore, the actuators 10 to 13 and 17 to 20 are provided with dedicated electric parts called driver circuits. , the actuators 10 to 13 and 17 to 20 are driven.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, various mechanical parts are also mounted in the space below the two rails 2. This space is filled with a plurality of driver circuits ( are omitted), electrical cables (not shown) that supply drive currents to various actuators 10 to 13 in the transport unit 3, and signals from various switches and sensors mounted on the transport unit 3. , signal cables (not shown) for transmission to the processing unit 4 are wired. If these electric cables and signal cables move in the space as the transport unit 3 advances and retreats on the rail 2, there is a risk that they will get tangled with each other or get caught on something. Therefore, in order to avoid the occurrence of such a situation, in the space below the rail 2, if there is unnecessary play in the electric cable or signal cable, the unnecessary play is eliminated by pulling the cable, and the electric cable or signal cable is Actuators 14 to 16 are also mounted to provide an appropriate amount of play to the cable by sending out the reeled cable when the signal cable is pulled with a strong force. The automatic manufacturing machine 1 of this embodiment employs air cylinders as the actuators 14 to 16, and the operations of these air cylinders are also controlled by a driver circuit (not shown).

As described above, the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is equipped with a large number of actuators 10-20. In order to automatically process an object to be processed (pipe material in this case) into a desired shape, it is necessary to operate these actuators 10 to 20 appropriately at appropriate timings. These actuators 10 to 20 are driven by driver circuits for the respective actuators 10 to 20. The operation of the driver circuits driving the actuators 10 to 20 is controlled by the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100, which will be described later. It is controlled according to a preloaded control program.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually showing how the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment controls the operations of the actuators 10 to 20 mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, switches and sensors necessary for control are omitted. As illustrated, a driver circuit 10d for driving the actuator 10 is provided between the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 and the actuator 10, and the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 is directly connected to the driver circuit. 10d is controlled. Driver circuits 11d to 20d for driving the actuators 11 to 20 are similarly provided between the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 and the actuators 11 to 20 for the actuators 11 to 20, respectively. Thus, the automated manufacturing machine controller 100 indirectly controls the actuators 10-20 via the driver circuits 10d-20d.

Further, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, in the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of the present embodiment, servo motors are employed for the actuators 10-13 and 17-20, and air cylinders are employed for the actuators 14-16. ing. Here, a servomotor is a motor that is servo-controlled, and is driven by feedback-controlling the current value flowing through the motor so that the position (or angle, speed, etc.) becomes a target value. is. An air cylinder is an actuator that uses air pressure to linearly move a movable part, and operates by opening and closing a port connected to a supply source of compressed air. Sequence control is used for opening and closing ports.

Thus, the servo-controlled actuators 10-13 and 17-20 and the sequence-controlled actuators 14-16 are connected to the automatic manufacturing machine controller 100 of this embodiment. In the drawing, the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 and the actuators 10 to 13 and 17 to 20 are connected by solid lines to indicate that these actuators 10 to 13 and 17 to 20 are servo controlled. there is The connection between the automatic manufacturing machine controller 100 and the actuators 14-16 by dashed lines indicates that these actuators 14-16 are sequence-controlled. Of course, it is also possible to connect an actuator controlled by a method other than servo control or sequence control.

The automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 controls the actuators 10 to 20 through the driver circuits 10d to 20d according to the control program, and the control program must be created in advance and read into the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100. There is Here, as shown in FIG. 2, it is not easy to create a control program for appropriately operating a large number of actuators 10 to 20 at appropriate timings. In particular, when actuators of different control methods are mixed, such as servo control and sequence control, it takes a long period of time to create a control program. For this reason, the current situation is that more than half of the development period of the new automatic manufacturing machine 1 is spent on creating the control program.

B. How to create a control program:
B-1. Overview :
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a rough process for developing a new automatic manufacturing machine 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3(a) shows a conventional development process. Further, FIG. 3(b) shows a new development process developed by the inventor of the present application and already filed.

In the conventional development process, as shown in FIG. 3(a), first, a machine design engineer grasps the various functions required of the automatic manufacturing machine 1, and then develops a system to realize those functions. A drawing of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 incorporating the mechanism is created. When creating drawings, a mechanical design engineer should ask what kind of moving parts are necessary, what kind of movement these moving parts must have, and how much torque and amount of movement are needed to make that movement. Where and how many actuators with high precision are required are examined and determined one by one. Then, the actual actuators to be mounted are decided, and after considering the mountability and maintainability of the actuators, the drawing is finally completed.

When the mechanical design of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is completed in this way, the next step is to create a control program for controlling the automatic manufacturing machine 1 . Since the creation of a control program requires specialized software technology, it must be created by an engineer (that is, a programmer) who has that specialized technology. Therefore, when the machine design is completed, the mechanical engineer prepares a flow chart expressing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 that he/she has considered, and then discusses with the programmer to explain the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1.例文帳に追加Up to this point, the work is performed by the mechanical design engineer.

On the other hand, the programmer who has a meeting with the mechanical design engineer understands the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 by carefully reading the flow chart created by the mechanical design engineer, drawings if necessary, and other materials. Creation of a control program for controlling the operations of various actuators mounted on the manufacturing machine 1 is started. A programmer writes a control program using a human-readable high-level programming language, but a computer cannot execute a control program in the high-level programming language. Therefore, when the control program is completed, the programmer finally completes the control program by converting the control program written in a high-level programming language into a computer-executable machine language control program. The work of converting a high-level programming language control program into a machine language control program is called compilation, and this work can be completed in a short time by using a dedicated program called a compiler.

As exemplified in Fig. 3(a), in the conventional development process, it takes about 1.5 to 2.5 times the time required for machine design to create a control program. is normal. Moreover, since it is difficult to proceed with most of the processes of machine design and control program creation overlapping, the development period for the automatic manufacturing machine 1 as a whole becomes long. In addition, it is necessary to secure specialists with different skills such as machine design engineers and programmers, which is also a major obstacle in developing a new automatic manufacturing machine 1 .

On the other hand, FIG. 3B shows the process of developing the automatic manufacturing machine 1 using the new method proposed by the inventor of the present application. Even with the new method, the mechanical design itself is similar to the conventional method. That is, after understanding various functions required of the automatic manufacturing machine 1, a machine design engineer prepares a drawing of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 incorporating mechanisms for realizing those functions. In doing so, we consider the movable parts necessary for the realization of the function, the operation of the movable parts, the performance of the actuators to move the movable parts, etc., and decide on the actuators. Finally, we will complete the drawing, taking into account the nature of the design.

When the drawing is completed, in the new development process, the mechanical design engineer creates a YOGO chart instead of the flow chart (see FIG. 3(b)). A YOGO chart is a special operation chart originally devised by the inventor of the present application, and describes in the form of a chart the operation of each actuator considered by a mechanical design engineer when designing a machine. The YOGO chart of this embodiment corresponds to the "movement chart" of the present invention.

The YOGO chart will be described in detail later, but the YOGO chart is merely a representation of the operation of each actuator considered by a mechanical design engineer when designing the machine. Therefore, a mechanical design engineer who designed a machine can create a flow chart in about half the period (see FIG. 3(b)). In addition, the YOGO chart can be converted into a control program executable by the computer's CPU by running it through a special compiler. The reason why the YOGO chart can be converted into the control program will also be described later. By describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 in the YOGO chart in this way, a machine language control program can be generated from the YOGO chart. As a result, the development period of the new automatic manufacturing machine 1 can be shortened by at least half or less (typically about 1/3). In addition, YOGO charts can be easily created by a mechanical design engineer without the need for a dedicated programmer. For this reason, it is possible to almost completely eliminate various matters that have been major obstacles when developing a new automatic manufacturing machine 1 . In addition, even when changing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 or adding a new actuator to the automatic manufacturing machine 1, the control program can be generated immediately by rewriting the YOGO chart and applying it to a dedicated compiler. becomes possible. The reason why this is possible will be explained below.

B-2. Principle of automatically generating a control program from a YOGO chart:
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of automatically generating the control program for the automatic manufacturing machine 1 from the operation chart (YOGO chart). FIG. 4(a) shows a primitive YOGO chart before various improvements. The YOGO chart of this embodiment, which will be described later, is an improved version of the primitive YOGO chart shown in FIG. 4(a). is the same as Therefore, in order to facilitate understanding, the principle of automatically generating a control program from a YOGO chart will be described using the primitive YOGO chart shown in FIG. 4(a). In order to avoid complicating the explanation, it is assumed that the actuators mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 are only two motors A and B and two cylinders A and B.

As shown in FIG. 4A, in the YOGO chart, the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is realized by combining the basic operations of these actuators (here, motors A and B and cylinders A and B). express. Here, the basic operation of the actuator means the operation in the direction of the degree of freedom of the actuator (hereinafter referred to as basic operation). For example, in the case of a rotating actuator such as a motor, the basic motion is the rotating motion, and in the case of a forward/backward moving actuator such as a cylinder, the forward/backward motion is the basic motion. In the case of an actuator that advances and retracts a member that meshes with the ball screw by rotating the ball screw with a motor, the basic operation is either the rotation of the motor or the movement of the member.

In addition, in the YOGO chart, the operation period from the start to the end of the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is divided into a plurality of partial periods. assigned. In the example shown in FIG. 4(a), the operation period of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is divided into five partial periods 1 to 5. In the partial period 1, the cylinder A advances and retreats with the operation amount (a). Action is assigned. Further, the partial period 2 is assigned an operation in which the motor A rotates by the operation amount (b). Multiple actions can be assigned to a partial period. That is, the partial period 3 is assigned two operations, that is, the operation in which the motor B rotates by the operation amount (c) and the operation in which the cylinder B advances and retreats by the operation amount (d). , Motor A rotates by a movement amount (-b), Motor B rotates by a movement amount (-c), and Cylinder B advances and retreats by a movement amount (-d). assigned. Then, the last partial period 5 is assigned an operation in which the cylinder A advances and retreats with an operation amount (-a).

By assigning basic operations of the actuators to partial periods in this way, the following operations performed by the automatic manufacturing machine 1 can be described. First, the cylinder A is moved back and forth by the operation amount (a), and when the operation of the cylinder A is completed, the motor A is rotated by the operation amount (b). When the operation of the motor A is completed, the motor B is rotated by the operation amount (c), and the cylinder B is moved back and forth by the operation amount (d). When the motor B and the cylinder B complete their operations, the motor A and the motor B are rotated by the operation amount (-a) and the operation amount (-c), respectively, and the cylinder B is moved back and forth by the operation amount (-d). When all the operations of the motor A, the motor B, and the cylinder B are completed, the cylinder A is finally moved back and forth by the operation amount (-a), and all the operations are completed. By allocating the basic operation of the actuator mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 to any partial period in this way, the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 can be described.

As is clear from the above description, the partial period indicates the period during which the assigned actuator operates, and does not indicate the length of time. For example, the length of time for sub-period 1 is the time required for cylinder A to operate, the length of time for sub-period 2 is the time required for motor A to operate, and the length of time for sub-period 3 is the time required for motor B is the time required to operate, and the time required for cylinder B to operate, whichever is longer. Therefore, the length of time of each sub-period is usually different from each other.

The basic operation of the actuator assigned to the partial period is a simple operation such as rotating a motor by a fixed amount or moving a cylinder back and forth by a fixed amount. Therefore, a small program (program element) for causing the actuator to perform basic operations can be created in advance. Here, the actuators mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 are assumed to be four cylinders A and B and motors A and B. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Program element prog1, program element prog2 for operating motor B, program element prog3 for operating cylinder A, and program element prog4 for operating cylinder B can be created in advance.

Therefore, by connecting these program elements as described in the primitive YOGO chart shown in FIG. 4(a), it is possible to automatically generate a control program for operating the automatic manufacturing machine 1 becomes. That is, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the program element prog3 starts first, and when the program element prog3 ends, the program element prog1 starts, and when the program element prog1 ends, the program elements prog2 and prog4 start. to start. The operation amounts of the program element prog3, program element prog1, program element prog2, and program element prog4 use (a), (b), (c), and (d), respectively, according to the designation on the YOGO chart. Further, when both the program elements prog2 and prog4 are finished, the program elements prog1, prog2 and prog4 are started this time. At this time, (-b), (-c), and (-d) are used as the movement amount according to the designation on the YOGO chart. After all of these program elements prog1, prog2, and prog4 are finished, finally the program element prog3 is activated. The amount of motion at this time uses (-a) according to the specification on the YOGO chart. When the program element prog3 ends, the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 described in the YOGO chart of FIG. 4(a) ends.

As described above, if the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is described in the form of the YOGO chart shown in FIG. 4A, the control program shown in FIG. The manufacturing machine 1 can be operated. However, in order for the automatic manufacturing machine 1 to operate as intended, the YOGO chart must be created correctly. From this point of view, the YOGO chart of the present embodiment described below is obtained as a result of various improvements to the primitive YOGO chart illustrated in FIG. 4(a).

B-3. YOGO chart:
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the outline of the YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment. It should be noted that if the YOGO chart 200 is scaled down to display the entirety of it, it will be distorted and illegible. As shown in FIG. 5, the YOGO chart 200 has a shape like a large table in which a plurality of horizontal lines and a plurality of vertical lines intersect. Hereinafter, among the plurality of intersecting lines, the horizontal lines will be referred to as "partition lines" 201, and the vertical lines will be referred to as "trigger lines" 202. FIG.

The trigger lines 202 are numbered serially starting with number one. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the column at the top of the YOGO chart 200 contains the serial numbers of the trigger lines 202 below it. The regions between the trigger lines 202 adjacent to each other are the partial periods described above with reference to FIG. there is In the YOGO chart 200 illustrated in FIG. 5, the trigger line 202 is drawn in the vertical direction, so the partial periods sandwiched between the trigger lines 202 and 202 are arranged in the horizontal direction. However, the trigger line 202 may be drawn horizontally, in which case a plurality of partial periods are arranged vertically.

The YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment is divided into a plurality of horizontally elongated regions by a plurality of partition lines 201, and serial numbers starting from 1 (hereinafter referred to as actuator numbers) are assigned to these horizontally elongated regions. It is The actuators mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 are assigned to any area. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the actuator 10 (see FIG. 1) is assigned to the area with the actuator number 1, and the actuator 11 (see FIG. 1) is assigned to the area with the actuator number 2. , the actuator 12 (see FIG. 1) is assigned to the area with the actuator number 3, and the actuator 13 (see FIG. 1) is assigned to the area with the actuator number 4. As shown in FIG. Since eleven actuators 10 to 20 are mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of this embodiment, one laterally elongated area is assigned to each of these actuators.

Basic operations of the actuators 10 to 20 are described on the areas to which the actuators 10 to 20 are assigned. For example, if the basic operation of the actuator 10 is to be performed in the partial period 4, the actuator 10 is caused to move to the grid-like coordinate position specified by the actuator number 1 and the partial period number 4 on the YOGO chart 200. The desired basic operation 206 is described. Further, if the actuator 10 is caused to perform a basic operation in the partial periods 4 and 8, the grid-like coordinate position of the actuator number 1 and the partial period number 4 and the partial period of the actuator number 1 and the partial period A basic operation 206 to be performed by the actuator 10 is described at the coordinate position with the number 8 . In this way, the basic operation 206 of the actuator 10 is described on the horizontally long area with the actuator number 1 on the YOGO chart 200, and the basic operation 206 of the actuator 11 is described on the horizontally long area with the actuator number 2. As written, the basic motions 206 of the actuators 10-20 are to be written on the area on the YOGO chart 200 to which the actuators 10-20 are assigned. The reason why the YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment describes the basic operation in this way is as follows.

First, the primitive YOGO chart exemplified in FIG. 4(a) is described. It is difficult to immediately recognize in which operating period A will operate next. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine how each actuator operates, and it is also difficult to read the number of operations of each actuator. As a result, for example, it may not be noticed that there is an actuator that has not returned to its original position, or that there is an actuator whose operation has been forgotten to be described.

On the other hand, in the YOGO chart 200 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the regions in which the actions are described are separated for each actuator. It is possible to visually grasp and easily imagine whether or not to operate, and it is possible to easily read the number of operations of each actuator. Therefore, even if there is an actuator that has not returned to its original position or there is an actuator whose operation has been forgotten to be described, it can be easily recognized. As a result, it is possible to easily create the YOGO chart 200 that causes the automatic manufacturing machine 1 to operate as intended.

Also, in the YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment, basic operations are described as follows. As an example, the basic operation of the actuator 13 that operates first in the YOGO chart 200 of FIG. 5 will be described. Actuator 13 is the actuator that operates, and it operates first. Therefore, the position where the basic operation is described on the YOGO chart 200 is the square with the actuator number 4 and the partial period number 1. is the coordinate position of Since the cell with the partial period number 1 is sandwiched between the 1st trigger line 202 and the 2nd trigger line 202, the 2nd cell on the right side of the 1st trigger line 202 on the left side. An action line 203 indicating the action of the actuator is drawn toward the numbered trigger line 202 . At the left end of the action line 203 (thus above the first trigger line 202), a starting point 204 indicating the start of the action is entered, and at the right end of the action line 203 (thus above the second trigger line 202) is the end of the action. Enter an end point 205 that indicates . In the example shown in FIG. 5, the operating line 203 is indicated by a thick solid line, the start point 204 is indicated by an open circle, and the end point 205 is indicated by a black circle.

Further, above the action line 203, the basic action to be made by the actuator is entered. Here, in the YOGO chart 200 of the present embodiment, basic motions are entered using two elements of "motion description" and "numerical value table". In the example shown in FIG. 5, above the operation line 203 with actuator number 4 and partial period number 1, two indications of "Ω-AC" and "AC-B11" are described. However, the display "Ω-AC" is the behavioral description 206a, and the display "AC-B11" is the numeric table 206b. Details of the motion description 206a and the numerical table 206b will be described later, but roughly speaking, the motion description 206a is a display that describes the qualitative contents of the basic motion (for example, forward, backward, rotation, etc.). Also, the numerical value table 206b is a table in which numerical values indicating quantitative contents of basic motions (for example, movement amount, speed, torque, etc.) are set.

Therefore, on the YOGO chart 200 of FIG. 5, the display of "Ω-AC" and "AC-B01" written at the coordinate position of the actuator number 4 and the partial period number 1 has the following contents. That is, the actuator with the actuator number 4 (actuator 13 in the example of FIG. 5) is caused to perform a basic operation according to the operation description 206a of "Ω-AC" at the timing of the partial period number 1, and the basic operation is performed. The specific numerical value used in this case indicates that the numerical value set in the numerical table 206b of "AC-B01" is used.

Further, as shown in the YOGO chart 200 of FIG. 5, the action description 206a "Ω-AA" is written for the actuator 10, but the action description "Ω-AB" is written for the actuator 11. 206a is described. This is because the actuator 10 is an actuator for opening and closing the chuck 3b, and the actuator 11 is an actuator for rotating the gripping shaft 3a around its axis, as described above with reference to FIG. Since the motion description 206a of the basic motion of the actuator 10 is "opening/closing motion" and the motion description 206a of the basic motion of the actuator 11 is "rotating motion", different motion descriptions 206a are used for the actuators 10 and 11. . For similar reasons, actuators 11 and 12 use different behavioral descriptions 206a.

On the other hand, actuator 12 and actuator 13 use the same behavioral description 206a of "Ω-AC". As described above with reference to FIG. 1, the actuator 12 is an actuator for moving the gripping shaft 3a forward and backward in the axial direction, and the actuator 13 is an actuator for moving the transport unit 3 as a whole forward and backward. Although the size, weight, movement amount, etc. of the object are significantly different, they are the same in that the object is moved back and forth. Therefore, actuator 12 and actuator 13 can use the same behavioral description 206a. Further, the actuator 17 is an actuator for moving the entire machining unit 4 up and down, but since the up-and-down movement can be considered as a kind of forward and backward movement, the actuator 17 is also called "Ω-AC ' can be used. Furthermore, since the actuators 14 to 16 are actuators that move air cylinders back and forth, they all use the action description 206a of "Ω-CA".

As described above, in the YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment, the basic motion of the actuator is basically described using the motion description 206a and the numerical table 206b. In this way, it becomes possible to share the behavioral description 206a for many actuators. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of this embodiment is equipped with 11 actuators 10 to 20, and there are four types of motion descriptions 206a used in the YOGO chart 200. .

B-4. Behavioral description:
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the details of the behavioral description 206a used in the YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment. A motion description 206a of "Ω-AA" is a motion description 206a representing opening and closing motions of the actuator, and this motion description 206a assumes an actuator combining an AC servomotor with a chuck mechanism. Conversely, if the actuator is not a combination of an AC servomotor and a chuck mechanism, the action description 206a "Ω-AA" cannot be used even if the action of the actuator is an opening/closing action.

The operation description 206a "Ω-AA" describes a simple operation of opening and closing an actuator, which is a combination of an AC servomotor and a chuck mechanism. (ie, program elements) can be pre-created. For this reason, the behavioral description 206a is associated with a serial number (hereinafter referred to as a program element number) for identifying a program element that implements the content of the behavior and is stored. The reason why the operation description 206a "Ω-AA" cannot be used is that the operation description 206a cannot be used when the actuator is not a combination of an AC servomotor and a chuck mechanism, even if the actuator performs opening and closing operations in the same way. This is because the program element numbers are associated and stored. That is, if the structure of the actuator is different, the program elements for operating the actuator are considered to be different. Therefore, as long as the associated program elements are different, the behavior description 206a must also be different.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a motion description 206a of "Ω-AB" is a motion description 206a that expresses a rotational motion of the actuator assuming that the actuator is a combination of an AC servomotor and a speed reduction mechanism. The program element number 7 is associated and stored. Similarly, the action description 206a "Ω-AC" is the action description 206a that assumes an actuator combining a ball screw mechanism with an AC servomotor and that the actuator is caused to move forward and backward, and the program element number is 4. are stored in association with each other. Furthermore, the action description 206a of "Ω-CA" is the action description 206a representing that the actuator is caused to move forward and backward assuming an actuator by an air cylinder, and the program element number 2 is associated and stored. there is

B-5. Numeric table:
In addition, since the action description 206a is nothing more than a qualitative description of the content of the action such as an opening/closing action, a rotating action, or an advancing/retreating action, in principle the action description 206a is used in combination with the numerical table 206b. be. For example, in the YOGO chart 200 shown in FIG. 5, the action description 206a used for the actuator 10 whose actuator number is 1 is "Ω-AA", but at the timing when the partial period number is 4, "AA- B01" is used, the numerical table 206b "AA-B01" is used at the timing when the partial period number is 6, and the numerical table 206b "AA-B01" is used at the timing when the partial period number is 10. It is Here, the name "AA-B01" represents the numeric table 206b "B01" used in combination with the behavioral description 206a "Ω-AA". Similarly, the name "AA-B02" represents the numeric table 206b "B02" used in combination with the behavioral description 206a "Ω-AA".

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the numerical table 206b used in combination with the behavioral description 206a "Ω-AA". FIG. 7(a) shows a numerical table 206b of "AA-B01", and FIG. 7(b) shows a numerical table 206b of "AA-B02". Although two numerical tables 206b are illustrated in FIG. 7, more numerical tables 206b can be set as necessary. The numerical value table 206b illustrated in FIG. 7 has four items: "numerical table number", "opening/closing speed", "opening/closing load", and "reference table". "Numerical value table number" is the serial number of the numerical value table 206b. For example, if the numeric table number is specified as 5, the numeric table 206b "AA-B01" in FIG. 7A is specified, and if the numeric table number is specified as 6, "AA- B02" is specified in the numerical table 206b. The "reference table" will be explained later.

Four items are set in the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIG. 7, but the items used to describe the basic motion in combination with the motion description 206a are the "opening/closing speed" and the "opening/closing load". These are the two items. The reason why the two items "opening/closing speed" and "opening/closing load" are set here is that this numerical table 206b is used in combination with the action description 206a "Ω-AA" representing the opening/closing action. is. That is, the operation description 206a of "Ω-AA" alone provides only the qualitative content of the opening/closing operation, and does not provide quantitative content such as the speed of the opening/closing operation and the load at the time of opening/closing. Therefore, the items "opening/closing speed" and "opening/closing load" are provided in the numerical value table 206b, and these numerical values are set. It should be noted that positive numerical values set in the "opening/closing speed" of the numerical table 206b indicate closing operations (see FIG. 7(a)), and negative numerical values are set. It represents opening operation (see FIG. 7(b)).

In addition, in the YOGO chart 200 of FIG. 5, the action description 206a "Ω-AB" is used for the actuator 11 with the actuator number 2, but at the timing with the partial period number 2, "AB-B01 is used in combination with the numerical value table 206b of "AB-B02" at the timing when the partial period number is eight. The names "AB-B01" and "AB-B02" represent numerical tables 206b "B01" and "B02" used in combination with the behavioral description 206a "Ω-AB", respectively.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the numerical table 206b used in combination with the behavioral description 206a "Ω-AB". FIG. 8(a) shows the numerical table 206b of "AB-B01", and FIG. 8(b) shows the numerical table 206b of "AB-B02". Although two numerical tables 206b are illustrated in FIG. 8, more numerical tables 206b can be set as necessary. In the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIG. 8, in addition to the "numerical table number" and "reference table", a total of five items of "rotational angle", "rotational speed", and "rotational torque" are set. . Among these items, "rotational angle", "rotational speed", and "rotational torque" are items used to describe the basic motion in combination with the motion description 206a. The reason why the numerical value table 206b of FIG. 8 includes the items of "rotational angle", "rotational speed", and "rotational torque" is that the numerical value table 206b uses the operation "Ω-AB" representing the rotation operation. This is because it is used in conjunction with the description 206a. That is, since only the operation description 206a "Ω-AB" can be used to perform a rotation operation, the rotation angle, rotation speed, and rotation torque are defined as "rotation angle," "rotation speed," and "rotation torque." ” is set in the numerical value table 206b. The fact that there are cases where a positive numerical value is set in the "rotation angle" of the numerical table 206b and a case where a negative numerical value is set indicates that the rotation direction is opposite.

Further, in the YOGO chart 200 of FIG. 5, the motion description 206a of "Ω-AB" is used for each of the actuators 12, 13, 13, 17 with actuator numbers 3, 4, and 8. ing. On the other hand, as for the numerical table 206b, different numerical table 206b is used for the actuator 12 with the actuator number 3, the actuator 13 with the actuator number 4, and the actuator 17 with the actuator number 8. That is, for actuator 12 with actuator number 3, the numerical table 206b of "AC-B01" or "AC-B02" is used in combination, and for actuator 13 with actuator number 4, " The numerical table 206b of "AC-B11" or "AC-B12" is used in combination with the numerical table 206b of "AC-B21" or "AC-B22" for the actuator 17 with actuator number 8. there is Here, the names "AC-B01", "AC-B02", "AC-B11", "AC-B12", "AC-B21", and "AC-B22" respectively refer to the operation "Ω-AC". It represents the numeric table 206b of "B01", "B02", "B11", "B12", "B21", and "B22" used in combination with the description 206a.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the numerical table 206b used in combination with the behavioral description 206a "Ω-AC". Although six numerical tables 206b are illustrated in FIG. 9, more numerical tables 206b can be set as needed. In the numerical value table 206b illustrated in FIG. 9, in addition to the "numerical value table number" and "reference table", a total of five items of "movement amount", "moving speed", and "moving load" are set. . Among these items, the items "movement amount", "movement speed", and "movement load" are items used to describe the basic motion in combination with the motion description 206a. The reason why the items "movement amount", "moving speed", and "moving load" are set in the numerical value table 206b of FIG. This is because it is used in conjunction with the description 206a. It should be noted that the fact that there are cases where a positive numerical value is set in the "movement amount" of the numerical table 206b and a case where a negative numerical value is set indicates that the movement direction is opposite.

Further, in the YOGO chart 200 of FIG. 5, the action description 206a "Ω-CA" is used for the actuator 14 with the actuator number 5, the actuator 15 with the number 6, and the actuator 16 with the number 7. ing. This corresponds to the fact that the actuators 14 to 16 are all air cylinders and the content of the basic operation is "advancing and retreating operation". Further, the numerical table 206b is not combined with the behavioral description 206a of "Ω-CA". The reason for this is that the actuators 14 to 16 are air cylinders that operate by switching one of the two operation ports to which air pressure is applied, so it is necessary to use quantitative numerical values to describe the contents of the operation. because there is none.

As described in detail above, in the YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment, by entering basic motions at coordinate positions defined by combinations of partial period numbers and actuator numbers, actuators to perform basic motions and basic motions are entered. Identify timing. Further, the basic operation is, in principle, expressed by a combination of the operation description 206a and the numerical table 206b. By doing so, it is possible to avoid a situation in which incorrect contents are written on the YOGO chart 200 . This is for the following reasons.

For example, when describing the basic operation of an actuator, it is much more difficult to describe "advance by 55 mm" or "rotate in the positive direction by 35 degrees" than simply "forward" or "rotate". increases. The reason for this is that the qualitative descriptions such as ``advance the actuator'' or ``rotate the actuator'' are nothing more than simple representations of human thinking, whereas ``only 55 mm'' or ``35 This is because if the quantitative content of "only once" is added, it can no longer be said to be a straightforward expression of the content of the thought. As illustrated in FIG. 5, since many basic motions are entered in the YOGO chart 200, if the difficulty of entering individual basic motions increases, the YOGO chart 200 as a whole may be entered with incorrect contents. become more sexual.

On the other hand, in the YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment, the basic motion is described by a combination of the motion description 206a and the numerical table 206b. It is possible to concentrate and fill in the numeric table 206b for the time being. In this way, the work of creating the YOGO chart 200 is substantially the same as the work of straightforwardly expressing the content that a person has thought of, so the possibility of entering wrong content into the YOGO chart 200 is reduced. can be significantly reduced. Further, even when the amount of movement of the actuator is to be corrected, only the numerical table 206b needs to be corrected, and the YOGO chart 200 does not need to be corrected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the YOGO chart 200 from being erroneously corrected.

In addition, if the basic motion of the actuator is divided into the motion description 206a and the numerical table 206b, the motion description 206a that each actuator can take is naturally limited. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the action description 206a that the actuator 10 can take is only "Ω-AA". This is because one type of opening/closing operation is sufficient as the qualitative description content (that is, the operation description 206a). Of course, it is possible to open and close the chuck 3b in a plurality of modes and prepare the motion description 206a for each mode. just a few types.

As a result, in the YOGO chart 200, the same motion description 206a (or at most several types of motion descriptions 206a even if different) is written repeatedly at the coordinate positions with the same actuator number. Therefore, if an erroneous behavioral description 206a is entered, the behavioral description 206a is different by that behavioral description 206a, so that the error can be easily noticed and corrected.

B-6. Reference table:
As exemplified in FIGS. 7 to 9, the numerical value table 206b of this embodiment also includes an item “reference table”. This reference table is also for facilitating creation of the YOGO chart 200 .

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying a reference table set in the numerical table 206b shown in FIG. FIG. 10(a) shows the reference table (AA-A01) set in the numerical table 206b (AA-B01) of FIG. 7(a). FIG. 10(b) shows the reference table (AA-A02) set in the numerical table 206b (AA-B02) of FIG. 7(b). These reference tables shown in FIG. 10 include "maximum speed", "maximum load", "opening/closing speed standard value", "opening/closing load standard value", "chuck mechanism reduction ratio", and "diameter range compatible with check mechanism". Six items are set.

Among them, the items "maximum speed", "maximum load", "opening/closing speed standard value", and "opening/closing load standard value" are shown in FIG. It corresponds to referencing from the numerical table 206b (AA-B01, AA-B02). That is, the numerical table 206b (AA-B01, AA-B02) is a table in which numerical values of "opening/closing speed" and "opening/closing load" are set (see FIG. 7). The maximum load values are set in the lookup table as "maximum velocity" and "maximum load" respectively. "Opening/closing speed standard value" and "opening/closing load standard value" are standard values that are used when numerical values are not set for "opening/closing speed" and "opening/closing load" in the numerical table 206b.

When creating the numerical value table 206b (AA-B01) in FIG. 7A, "AA-A01" is set in the item "reference table". When creating the numerical value table 206b (AA-B02) in FIG. 7B, "AA-A02" is set in the item "reference table". By doing this, when setting the numerical value of the item "opening/closing speed" or "opening/closing load" in the numerical table 206b (AA-B01, AA-B02), the reference table of FIG. 10(a) or FIG. 10(b) By referring to the items of "maximum speed" or "maximum load", it is possible to prevent inappropriate values exceeding the maximum speed or maximum load from being set. Therefore, an appropriate numeric table 206b can be easily created.

In addition, even if no numerical values are set in the items of the numerical table 206b (AA-B01, AA-B02), the standard values set in the corresponding items in the reference table are used. 1 and correcting the numerical values in the numerical value table 206b as necessary, it is possible to finally complete an appropriate YOGO chart 200. FIG.

The reference tables in FIGS. 10A and 10B also include items such as "chuck mechanism speed reduction ratio" and "diameter range for chuck mechanism". These describe the mechanical properties of the actuator. That is, the reference table is referenced from the numerical table 206b, and the numerical table 206b is set assuming a specific actuator. Therefore, the reference table is also set assuming a specific actuator. For example, the reference tables of FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b) are referenced from the numerical tables 206b of FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b) are also used for the actuator 10. FIG.

Thus, the lookup table applies to each unique actuator. Therefore, the mechanical characteristics of the actuator are set in a reference table. The reference table illustrated in FIG. 10 is applied to an actuator 11 that combines an AC servomotor with a chuck mechanism to open and close the chuck 3b. Corresponding to this, mechanical characteristics such as the speed reduction ratio of the chuck mechanism and the diameter range of members that can be gripped by the chuck mechanism are set in the reference table. If the characteristic values are set in the reference table in this way, even if these mechanical characteristics are required when controlling the AC servo motor, the characteristic values can be read out by referring to the reference table. It is possible to avoid a situation in which an erroneous characteristic value is used to control the motor and the actuator is erroneously controlled.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying reference tables set in the two numerical tables 206b shown in FIG. FIG. 11(a) shows the reference table (AB-A01) set in the numerical table 206b (AB-B01) of FIG. 8(a), and FIG. 11(b) shows the It shows the reference table (AB-A02) set in the numeric table 206b (AB-B02). These reference tables include "angle range", "maximum rotation speed", "maximum rotation torque", "rotation angle standard value", "rotation speed standard value", "rotation torque standard value", and "reduction ratio". Seven items are set.

Among them, the items "angle range", "maximum rotation speed", "maximum rotation torque", "rotation angle standard value", "rotation speed standard value", and "rotation torque standard value" are based on these reference tables (AB -A01, AB-A02) corresponds to referencing from the numerical table 206b (AB-B01, AB-B02) shown in FIG. That is, the numerical table 206b (AB-B01, AB-B02) is a table in which numerical values of "rotational angle", "rotational speed", and "rotational torque" are set (see FIG. 8). , the maximum angle range that can actually be obtained, the maximum rotational speed, and the maximum rotational torque are set in reference tables. Also, the "rotational angle standard value", "rotational speed standard value", and "rotational torque standard value" are not set in the "rotational angle", "rotational speed", and "rotational torque" of the numerical table 206b. is the standard value used for

When creating the numerical value table 206b (AB-B01, AB-B02) in FIGS. 8A and 8B, enter "AB-A01" or "AB-A02" in the item "reference table". be set. By doing so, when setting the numerical value of the "rotation angle" in the numerical table 206b (AB-B01, AB-B02), the item "angle range" of the reference table is referred to, and the angle after rotation is ±180. It is possible to prevent the setting of numerical values exceeding degrees. Also, when setting the numerical values of "rotational speed" and "rotational torque" in the numerical table 206b (AB-B01, AB-B02), the items of "maximum rotational speed" and "maximum rotational torque" are included in the reference table. By referring to them, it is possible to prevent the setting of inappropriate numerical values that exceed the maximum rotational speed or maximum rotational torque.

In addition, even if no numerical values are set in the items of the numerical table 206b (AB-B01, AB-B02), it is possible to use the standard values set in the corresponding items in the reference table. Further, in the reference table illustrated in FIG. 11, the "reduction ratio" of the speed reduction mechanism is also set as a mechanical characteristic value of the actuator (here, actuator 11) for which the reference table is used.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying reference tables set in the six numerical tables 206b shown in FIG. FIG. 12(a) shows the reference table (AC-A01) set in the numerical table 206b (AC-B01) of FIG. 9(a), and FIG. 12(b) shows the It shows the reference table (AC-A02) set in the numeric table 206b (AC-B02). Further, FIG. 12(c) shows the references set in the four numerical tables 206b (AC-B11, AC-B12, AC-B21, AC-B22) shown in FIGS. 9(c) to 9(f). Tables (AC-A11, AC-A12, AC-A21, AC-A22) are collectively shown. These reference tables include "moving range", "maximum moving speed", "maximum moving load", "standard value of travel amount", "standard value of moving speed", "standard value of moving load", "reduction ratio", Eight items called "screw pitch" are set.

Among them, the items "moving range", "maximum moving speed", "maximum moving load", "moving amount standard value", "moving speed standard value", and "moving load standard value" are It corresponds to the reference from the numerical value table 206b shown in FIG. That is, the numerical value table 206b in FIG. 9 is a table in which the numerical values of "moving amount", "moving speed" and "moving load" are set (see FIG. 9). , the maximum moving speed, and the maximum moving load are set in the reference table. Also, the "moving amount standard value", "moving speed standard value", and "moving load standard value" are not set in the "moving amount", "moving speed", and "moving load" of the numerical table 206b. is the standard value used for

Even when creating the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIG. 9, if an appropriate reference table is set in the item "reference table" of each numerical table 206b, an inappropriate numerical value is set in the numerical table 206b. You can prevent it from happening. Also, even if no numerical value is set in the item of the numerical table 206b, it is possible to use the standard value set in the corresponding item in the reference table. Furthermore, in the reference table illustrated in FIG. 12, the "reduction ratio" of the speed reduction mechanism, the "screw pitch" of the ball screw mechanism, etc. are set as the mechanical characteristic values of the actuator using the reference table.

In FIG. 12, the reference tables "AC-A01" and "AC-A02", the reference tables "AC-A11" and "AC-A12", and the reference tables "AC-A21" and "AC-A22" Numerical values set in the "reduction ratio" and "screw pitch" indicating the mechanical characteristic values of the actuator are different from those in the reference table. The reason for this is that the actuators to which the lookup tables apply are different. 12 are applied to actuator 12, reference tables "AC-A11" and "AC-A12" are applied to actuator 13, and reference tables "AC-A01" and "AC-A02" in FIG. -A21” and “AC-A22” apply to the actuator 17. As described above, if the applied actuator is different, the mechanical characteristic value of the actuator will also change, so the numerical values set in the reference table will also differ.

As described above in detail, in the YOGO chart of this embodiment, the basic motion of the actuator is calculated using the motion description 206a and the numerical table 206b at grid-like coordinate positions specified by the actuator number and the partial period number. fill in By describing the basic operations of all the actuators 10 to 20 mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 on the YOGO chart in this way, the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is described. Then, the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 generates a control program from such a YOGO chart and controls the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 .

C. Automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment:
FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the functions of the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment includes a YOGO chart creation unit 101, a basic operation storage unit 102, a YOGO chart reading unit 103, a YOGO chart analysis unit 104, a control program It includes a generation unit 105, a control execution unit 106, and the like. These "parts" create the YOGO chart 200 using the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100, generate a control program from the YOGO chart 200, and control the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1. It is an abstract concept representing a plurality of functions that the machine control device 100 should have. Therefore, it does not mean that the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 is formed by combining parts corresponding to these "sections". In practice, these "units" can be realized in the form of programs executed by the CPU, or in the form of electronic circuits combining IC chips, LSIs, etc. It can be realized in various forms such as a form in which these are mixed.

The YOGO chart creation unit 101 is connected to the monitor screen 100m, operation input buttons 100s, etc., and a mechanical engineer or the like who has sufficient knowledge about the automatic manufacturing machine 1 can press the operation input buttons 100s while looking at the monitor screen 100m. The manipulation creates a YOGO chart 200 as illustrated in FIG. As described above, the YOGO chart 200 describes the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 by allocating the basic operations of a plurality of actuators mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 to any of partial periods. When designing the machine, the mechanical design engineer thoroughly considers how to combine the basic operations of a plurality of actuators in order to realize the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1. A machine design engineer who has performed the work can easily create the YOGO chart 200 describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 . Of course, if a person who has sufficient knowledge about the structure and operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is not the engineer who designed the automatic manufacturing machine 1, the YOGO chart 200 can be easily created.

In this embodiment, when basic motions are entered in the YOGO chart, in principle, the motion description 206a and the numerical table 206b are used to enter the basic motions. Possible behavioral descriptions 206a are fixed (see FIG. 6). Therefore, the name of the actuator and the action description 206a that can be used by the actuator are stored in advance in the basic motion storage unit 102 in association with each other.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing how actuator names and usable motion descriptions 206a are associated with each other and stored in the basic motion storage unit 102. As shown in FIG. As illustrated, the basic motion storage unit 102 stores motion descriptions 206a that can be used for each actuator, and each motion description 206a stores a program element number. As described above, the program element number is a number specifying a program element for realizing the operation of the behavioral description 206a using actuators. For example, two behavioral descriptions 206a with different behavior modes can be selected for the actuator 18 and the actuator 19, and a program element number is stored for each behavioral description 206a. Each actuator also stores the structure of the actuator and the details of the basic operation of the actuator. Furthermore, the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9 and the reference tables illustrated in FIGS. 10 to 12 are also stored in the basic motion storage unit 102.

The basic motion storage unit 102 described above is connected to the YOGO chart creation unit 101 . Therefore, a mechanical design engineer (or a mechanical engineer) can refer to the basic motion storage unit 102 when creating the YOGO chart 200 . Since a mechanical engineer who has sufficient knowledge of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 fully knows what kind of actuator to operate and how to operate it, in the action description 206a that can be used according to the actuator, An appropriate behavioral description 206a can be selected from. In addition, as described above, since the action description 206a qualitatively describes the content of the basic action, the task of entering the action description 206a in the YOGO chart 200 is to simply describe the action desired for the automatic manufacturing machine 1. Since it is only a work to describe in the form, there is no chance of entering wrong contents. As for the numerical value table 206b, a provisional numerical value table 206b may be set. That is, as described above with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, the name of the numerical table 206b is a combination of a predetermined part in the name of the behavioral description 206a used in combination with a serial number. After determining the name of the table 206b and entering it in the YOGO chart 200, the numerical values in the numerical table 206b can be corrected later or the numerical table 206b can be changed. Also, when a numerical table 206b with a new name is created, a new numerical table number (see FIGS. 7 to 9) is automatically assigned to the numerical table 206b.

The YOGO chart reading unit 103 reads the YOGO chart 200 created by the YOGO chart creation unit 101 and outputs it to the YOGO chart analysis unit 104 . In this embodiment, the YOGO chart 200 is created by the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100. In response to this, the YOGO chart reading unit 103 reads the YOGO chart 200 from the YOGO chart creating unit 101. there is On the other hand, the YOGO chart 200 may be created by the computer 50 provided separately from the automatic manufacturing machine 1, and the YOGO chart reading unit 103 may read the YOGO chart.

The YOGO chart analysis unit 104 generates intermediate data by analyzing the YOGO chart 200 received from the YOGO chart reading unit 103 , and then outputs the intermediate data to the control program generation unit 105 . Processing for generating intermediate data from the YOGO chart will be described later in detail.

Upon receiving the intermediate data, the control program generation unit 105 refers to the basic operation storage unit 102 to generate a control program from the intermediate data. A method of generating a control program from intermediate data will be described later in detail. Then, the obtained control program is output to the control execution unit 106 .

Upon receiving the control program from the control program generation unit 105 , the control execution unit 106 acquires from the basic operation storage unit 102 the program elements stored in association with the program element numbers in the control program. Also, by referring to the basic operation storage unit 102, the numerical table 206b stored in association with the numerical table number in the control program is searched, and the numerical value set in the numerical table 206b is used as the program element. Get it as an argument of The actuators 10 to 20 are controlled by executing the program elements read in this way and set with the arguments. As a result, the actuators 10 to 20 mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 operate as described in the YOGO chart.

The YOGO chart reading unit 103 of this embodiment corresponds to the "movement chart reading unit" of the present invention. The YOGO chart reading unit 103, the YOGO chart analysis unit 104, and the control program generation unit 105 described above with reference to FIG. is doing. Therefore, in the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment, the YOGO chart reading unit 103, the YOGO chart analysis unit 104, and the control program generation unit 105 correspond to the "control program generation device 110" of the present invention. .

D. Control program generation process:
FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing an overview of control program generation processing executed by a portion corresponding to the control program generation device 110 in the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the control program generation process, first, the YOGO chart is read (STEP 1). In this embodiment, since the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 creates the YOGO chart, the data of the created YOGO chart is read. Of course, YOGO chart data created by another computer 50 may be read.

Subsequently, the read YOGO chart is analyzed and intermediate data is output (STEP 2). FIG. 16 is a flowchart of processing (YOGO chart analysis processing) in which the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment analyzes the YOGO chart and outputs intermediate data. This process is executed by the YOGO chart analysis unit 104 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 16, when the YOGO chart analysis process is started, first, the partial period number N and the actuator number M are initialized to "1" (STEP 10). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not a basic motion is entered at the position of coordinates (N, M) on the YOGO chart (STEP 11). Here, the coordinates (N, M) on the YOGO chart represent grid-like coordinate positions specified by a combination of the partial period number N and the actuator number M on the YOGO chart. Since both N and M are "1" immediately after the partial period number N and actuator number M are initialized in STEP 10, is the basic motion written at the position of coordinates (1, 1) on the YOGO chart? will decide whether or not.

In the case of the YOGO chart shown in FIG. 5, since no basic motion is entered at the coordinates (1, 1), it is judged "no" in STEP 11, and whether or not the actuator number M has reached the final value is determined. (STEP 14). Since 11 actuators 10 to 20 are mounted on the automatic manufacturing machine 1 of this embodiment, the final value of the actuator number M is 11. Therefore, the determination in STEP 14 after confirming the presence or absence of the basic motion at the coordinates (1, 1) is "no", so the actuator number M is incremented by one (STEP 15). Then, using the increased actuator number M, it is determined again whether or not the basic motion is entered at the coordinate position (N, M) (STEP 11).

In this way, while the partial period number N remains "1" and the actuator number M is incremented one by one, it is determined whether or not the basic motion is entered at the coordinates (1, M). is determined to be "yes" in STEP 11 when the coordinate (1, M) where the basic motion is entered is reached.

If "yes" is determined in STEP 11, the action description 206a of the basic action entered at the coordinates is read, and if the numeric table 206b of the basic action is also entered, the numeric table 206b is read. (STEP 12). In the YOGO chart exemplified in FIG. 5, when the coordinates (1, 4) are reached, "yes" is determined in STEP 11, and the operation description 206a "Ω-AC" and the numerical table 206b "AC-B11" are displayed. is read as a basic operation.

Subsequently, intermediate data (N, M, behavioral description, numerical table) is stored in the memory (STEP 1). In the case of the coordinates (1, 4) of the YOGO chart illustrated in FIG. 5, the intermediate data (1, 4, Ω-AC, AC-B11) is stored in the memory. Therefore, this intermediate data is defined by the action description 206a "Ω-AC" and the numerical table 206b "AC-B11" at the position where the partial period number is No. 1 and the actuator number M is No. 4 on the YOGO chart. This indicates that the basic action to be performed is entered.

After storing the data read from the YOGO chart in the memory (STEP 13), it is determined whether or not the actuator number M has reached the final value (here, 11) (STEP 14). As a result, if the final value has not been reached (STEP 14: no), the actuator number M is incremented by 1 (STEP 15), and after returning to STEP 11, the basic Determine whether an action has been entered.

On the other hand, if the actuator number M has reached the final value (STEP 14: yes), then it is determined whether the partial period number N has reached the final value (STEP 16). For example, if the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is described using 100 partial periods on the YOGO chart, the final value of the partial period number N is 100.

As a result, if the partial period number N has not reached the final value (STEP 16: no), the partial period number N is incremented by 1 (STEP 17), and after initializing the actuator number M to "1" (STEP 18 ), returning to STEP 11, it is again determined whether or not the basic motion is entered at the coordinates (N, M) on the YOGO chart. That is, on the YOGO chart (see FIG. 5), the partial period with the partial period number N of 1 is checked in order from the top to the bottom. Check the partial periods in order from the top, and when you have finished checking the second partial period, move from the partial period with the small partial period number N to the large partial period, such as the partial period with the partial period number N of number 3. In order, the basic movements written on the YOGO chart are read, and the intermediate data are stored in the memory.

Then, such operations are repeated, and when it is finally determined that the partial period number N has reached the final value (STEP 16: yes), all the basic movements entered in the YOGO chart have been read out. . Therefore, the intermediate data stored in the memory is read out and output to the control program generator 105 (STEP 19). FIG. 17 illustrates intermediate data obtained when the YOGO chart illustrated in FIG. 5 is analyzed. After outputting such intermediate data, the YOGO chart analysis process of FIG. 16 is terminated, and the process returns to the control program generation process of FIG.

In the control program generation process of FIG. 15, a control program is generated based on the intermediate data thus obtained (STEP 3). FIG. 18 shows a control program generated from the intermediate data illustrated in FIG. As can be seen by comparing the intermediate data in FIG. 17 and the control program in FIG. 18, in the control program, the behavioral description 206a and numerical table 206b of the intermediate data are replaced with numerical values. This is because the behavioral description 206a is replaced with the program element number (see FIG. 14) that implements the behavioral description 206a, and the numeric table 206b is replaced with the numeric table number of the numeric table 206b.

The operation of replacing the action description 206a and the numerical table 206b in the intermediate data with the program element number and the numerical table number, respectively, is executed by the control program generator 105 in FIG. . That is, the basic action storage unit 102 stores the action description 206a in association with the program element number (see FIG. 14). Further, the basic operation storage unit 102 stores numerical tables 206b illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9, and each numerical table 206b is assigned a numerical table number. 14 stored in the basic motion storage unit 102 and the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIGS. and the numeric table 206b are replaced with the program element number and the numeric table number.

After the control program is generated from the intermediate data as described above (STEP 3 in FIG. 15), the generated control program is output to the control execution unit 106 (STEP 4), and the control program generation process in FIG. 15 ends.

As shown in FIG. 18, the control program of this embodiment includes a set of data in which the partial period number N, the actuator number M, the program element number, and the numerical table number are arranged in this order (hereinafter referred to as "data set ) are collected. Therefore, in the data set, the first data representing the partial period number N is called the "first element", and the second data representing the actuator number M is called the "second element", representing the program element number. The third data is called the "third element", and the fourth data representing the numeric table number is called the "fourth element". In addition, the control program of this embodiment is nothing more than data in which a plurality of data sets are continuous. However, the control execution unit 106 of the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 controls the operations of the actuators 10 to 20 of the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 as follows based on such a control program.

E. Motion control processing:
FIG. 19 is a flowchart of operation control processing in which the control execution unit 106 of the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 controls the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 according to the control program. As shown in FIG. 19, when the motion control process is started, first, the partial period number N is initialized to "1" (STEP 50). Subsequently, a data set whose first element is N is obtained from the control program (STEP 51). Immediately after starting the motion control process, the partial period number N is set to "1". become.

Subsequently, the actuator to be controlled is specified based on the value of the second element of the read data set (STEP 52). If the data set read in STEP 51 is (1, 4, 4, 19), the value of the second element is "4", so the actuator with the actuator number M of "4" is the actuator to be controlled. Further, when a plurality of data sets are read in STEP 51, each actuator to be controlled is specified based on the value of the second element of each data set.

Further, based on the value of the third element of the read data set, the program element number stored in the basic motion storage unit 102 is searched to acquire the program element for causing the actuator to perform the basic motion (STEP 53). . If the data set read in STEP 51 is (1, 4, 4, 19), the value of the third element is "4". become a program element.

Finally, if the fourth element is present in the data set, its value indicates the numerical table number of the parameter specified for the program element. Therefore, after identifying the numerical table 206b having the numerical table number by searching the numerical table 206b stored in the basic operation storage unit 102, the numerical value set in the numerical table 206b is passed as an argument to the program element. Set (STEP 54).

By performing the operations of STEP 51 to STEP 54, the basic motions entered in a certain partial period on the YOGO chart (the partial period with the partial period number N of "1" immediately after the operation control process is started) can be performed. , the respective actuators are ready to perform. That is, the actuator to be controlled is specified (STEP 52), the program element used for control is acquired (STEP 53), and the argument is set for the program element (STEP 54), so the program element is executed. (STEP 55). For example, if the actuator is a servomotor and the content of the basic operation is to rotate the motor forward 180 degrees, while detecting the rotation angle of the motor, rotate the motor until the rotation angle reaches 180 degrees. A program element that repeats the driving operation at a predetermined control cycle is executed. Also, if there are multiple program elements, those program elements will be executed in parallel.

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not execution of all program elements has been completed (STEP 56). That is, when a plurality of program elements are executed in STEP 55, execution of those program elements does not necessarily end at the same time, so it is determined whether execution of all program elements has ended. Of course, if only one program element is being executed in STEP 55, it will be determined whether or not the execution of that program element has ended.

As a result, when the program element being executed remains, it is judged as "no" in STEP56, and the same judgment (STEP56) is repeated. By doing so, a standby state is entered until execution of all program elements is completed. When the execution of all program elements is completed (STEP56: yes), it is determined whether or not the partial period number N has reached the final value (STEP57). For example, if 100 partial periods were used to describe the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 on the YOGO chart, it is determined whether the partial period number N has reached "100".

As a result, if the partial period number N has not yet reached the final value (STEP57: no), the partial period number N is increased by one (STEP58). Then, returning to STEP51, after reading the data set whose first element matches the new partial period number N from the control program, the operations of STEP52 to STEP55 are performed on the read data set. By doing so, the partial period is advanced by one from the partial period in which the basic action was previously executed, and all the basic actions entered in the new partial period are executed. Then, when all the basic motions of the new partial period are finished and it is judged "yes" in STEP56, it is judged whether or not the partial period number N of the partial period has reached the final value (STEP57). As a result, if the partial period number N has not reached the final value (STEP 57: no), the partial period number N is incremented by 1 (STEP 58), and after returning to STEP 51, for the new partial period number N, The operations of STEP51 to STEP57 described above are repeated.

As described above, in the operation control process of FIG. 19, the partial period from the beginning of the YOGO chart (that is, the partial period with the partial period number N of 1) to the last partial period (the partial period with the partial period number N of the final value) , the operation of selecting a partial period one by one and performing the basic operation described in that partial period is repeated. Then, when the basic motion of the last partial period is completed, it is judged "yes" in STEP57, and the motion control process is terminated.

As described in detail above, in the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of this embodiment, by describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 in the YOGO chart 200, a control program is automatically generated from the YOGO chart 200, An automated manufacturing machine controller 100 may be operated. In addition, the YOGO chart can be easily created without any knowledge of programs if the structure and operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 are known, so there is no need for a programmer to create a control program. Therefore, the time required to develop a new automatic manufacturing machine 1 can be greatly reduced (by at least half or less), and the need to secure programmers is eliminated. As a result, it becomes easy to introduce a new automatic manufacturing machine to the manufacturing site, and it becomes possible to fully respond to the demand for labor saving in the industrial world.

In addition, in the YOGO chart 200 of this embodiment, the basic motion of the actuator is entered separately in the motion description 206a and the numerical table 206b. Since the action description 206a is nothing more than a qualitative expression of the content of the basic action, simply entering the action description 206a in the YOGO chart 200 is substantially the same as the work of simply entering the content of human thought. . Therefore, it is possible to greatly reduce the possibility of entering wrong contents in the YOGO chart 200 . If the action description 206a is correctly entered in the YOGO chart 200, then the numerical values set in the numerical table 206b can be corrected, and the YOGO chart 200 itself does not need to be changed. As a result, it is possible to easily obtain the YOGO chart 200 in which the basic operation of the actuator is correctly described.

Although the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, in the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 of the embodiment described above, the function of creating a YOGO chart and generating a control program from the YOGO chart (corresponding to the reading unit 103, the YOGO chart analysis unit 104, and the control program generation unit 105), as well as a function of executing control based on the control program (corresponding to the control execution unit 106 in FIG. 13). did. However, the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 may be formed as a whole by combining a plurality of devices equipped with some of these functions.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 20, the automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 may be divided into a YOGO chart processing device 100a and a control execution device 100b. The automatic manufacturing machine control device 100 includes a series of functions from creating a YOGO chart to generating a control program (that is, a YOGO chart creation unit 101, a basic operation storage unit 102, a YOGO chart reading unit 103, a YOGO chart analysis unit). 104 and a control program generator 105). Also, the control execution device 100b may be equipped with a function (that is, the control execution section 106 and the program element storage section 107) for executing program elements according to the control program.

In this way, the YOGO chart processing device 100a installed in the office can be used to create the YOGO chart and generate the control program, and the control execution device installed near the automatic manufacturing machine 1 can be used. By loading the generated control program into the device 100b, the automatic manufacturing machine 1 can be operated. In the example shown in FIG. 20, the YOGO chart processing device 100a corresponds to the "control program generation device" of the present invention.

Various items can also be set in the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9 as necessary. For example, in addition to the items illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9, an item "operation standby time" may be set. The following time is set for this "operation waiting time". First, as described above, the numerical table 206b is combined with the motion description 206a to define basic motions, and the basic motions are entered in the YOGO chart 200 to define actuators to operate and timings to operate. do. That is, the basic operation entered at the coordinate position (N, M) on the YOGO chart 200 indicates that the actuator with the actuator number N is caused to perform the basic operation at the timing of the partial period number M. However, if the numerical value table 206b includes an item "operation standby time", the actuator does not immediately start operating even when the partial period number is M, but the operation standby time is set. After the time has elapsed, the actuator operates.

FIG. 21 illustrates how the item "operation standby time" is set in the numerical table 206b used in combination with the operation description 206a "Ω-AA". In the numerical value table 206b illustrated in FIG. 21A, 5 seconds is set in the "operation waiting time". Here, the action description 206a "Ω-AA" combined with the action description 206a represents the opening and closing action of the chuck. Therefore, by combining the action description 206a of "Ω-AA" with the numerical table 206b of FIG. 21(a), it is possible to describe the action of starting to close the chuck after 5 seconds have elapsed. Of course, as in the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIG. 21(b), if the "operation waiting time" is set to 0 seconds, it is possible to describe the operation to immediately start closing the chuck.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the basic action 206 of the YOGO chart 200 is described using the action description 206a and the numerical table 206b. Therefore, when generating a control program from the YOGO chart 200, the behavioral description 206a is converted into program elements, and the numerical values stored in the respective items of the numerical value table 206b are read out and set as arguments of the program elements. It will be. This is very convenient because it is sufficient to change the contents of the numerical table 206b (without changing the YOGO chart 200) when adjusting the operation of each actuator after the YOGO chart 200 is created. However, as long as the number of arguments to be set in the program element is not large (for example, 10 or less), a plurality of numerical parameters may be set instead of the numerical table 206b. In this case, the basic operation 206 will be described using an operation description 206a and a plurality of numerical parameters.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying how the basic action 206 on the YOGO chart 200 is described using the action description 206a and a plurality of numerical parameters 206c. In FIG. 22(a), a basic operation 206 is described using an operation description 206a of "Ω-AB" and numerical parameters 206c of "Θ1", "RV1", and "RT1". Here, as described above, the motion description 206a "Ω-AB" indicates that the actuator, which is a combination of the AC servomotor and the speed reduction mechanism, is caused to rotate (see FIG. 6). ”, “rotational speed” and “rotational torque” (see FIG. 8). Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 22(a), three numerical parameters 206c corresponding to these are set. Here, “Θ1” shown in FIG. 22A is the numerical parameter 206c representing the “rotation angle”, “RV1” is the numerical parameter 206c representing the “rotation speed”, and “RT1” is the “rotation is a numerical parameter 206c representing "torque". Further, the numerical values of the respective numerical parameters 206c (that is, 'Θ1', 'RV1', and 'RT1') are stored in the basic motion storage section 102 in advance.

Also, in FIG. 22(b), a basic operation 206 is described using an operation description 206a of "Ω-AA" and numerical parameters 206c of "OV1" and "OF1". As described above, the action description 206a "Ω-AA" represents that an actuator combining a chuck mechanism with an AC servomotor is caused to perform an opening/closing operation (see FIG. 6). opening and closing load” must be set (see FIG. 7). Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 22B, a numerical parameter 206c (“OV1”) representing the “opening/closing speed” and a numerical parameter 206c (“OF1”) representing the “opening/closing load” are set. Further, the numerical values of these numerical parameters 206c (that is, “OV1” and “OF1”) are stored in the basic motion storage section 102 in advance.

Even in this way, the basic action 206 on the YOGO chart 200 can be described using the action description 206a and the plurality of numerical parameters 206c. When adjusting the motion of the actuator after creating the YOGO chart 200, the numerical values stored in the basic motion storage unit 102 may be changed without changing the YOGO chart 200. FIG.

When describing the basic motion 206 in the YOGO chart 200, a method of describing using the motion description 206a and the numerical table 206b and a method of describing using the motion description 206a and a plurality of numerical parameters 206c are used. They may be mixed and described.

Further, in the control of the automatic manufacturing machine 1, there are cases where it is required to increase the manufacturing efficiency (the number of products manufactured per hour) as much as possible. In such a case, the position at which the start of the next basic operation 206 is permitted before the end of the basic operation 206 may be set in the numerical table 206b or the numerical parameter 206c.

For example, in the YOGO chart 200 illustrated in FIG. 5, actuator 13 is the only actuator that operates in the partial period with partial period number 1, and actuator 11 is the only actuator that operates in the partial period with partial period number 2. It's becoming Therefore, when the operation of the actuator 13 ends, the operation of the actuator 11 is started. However, by starting the operation of the actuator 11 before the operation of the actuator 13 ends, the end of the operation of the actuator 11 can be hastened.

For example, in the YOGO chart 200 of FIG. 5, the basic motion 206 of the actuator 13 has a motion description 206a of "Ω-AC" and a numerical table 206b of "AC-B11". The action description 206a "Ω-AC" represents the action of moving the actuator back and forth (see FIG. 6). Further, in the example shown in FIG. 9C, "(+) 46 mm" is set as the forward/backward movement amount in the numerical value table 206b named "AC-B11". Therefore, when the actuator 13 is advanced by 46 mm, the next actuator 11 starts to operate. However, if the next actuator 11 starts operating before the amount of movement of the actuator 13 reaches 46 mm (for example, the amount of movement is 43 mm), the end of the operation of the actuator 11 can be hastened. In order to make this possible, a position for permitting the start of the next basic movement (hereinafter referred to as next movement permitting position) should be set in the numerical table 206b or the numerical parameter 206c.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying how the next operation permitted position is set in the numerical table 206b or the numerical parameter 206c. FIG. 23(a) shows how the next operation permitted position is set as one of the items in the numerical value table 206b, and FIG. It shows how the operation-permitted position is set.

In the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIG. 23(a), an item "next operation permitted position" is added to the numerical table 206b illustrated in FIG. 9(c), and this item includes "-5 ( mm)” is set. Since the numerical value set in the item "movement amount" of the numerical table 206b is "46 (mm)", when the movement amount reaches 41 (mm) (=46-5), the next basic operation 206 of the actuator is performed. is ready to start.

In the example shown in FIG. 23(b), one of a plurality of numerical parameters 206c set for the action description 206a "Ω-AC" is set as the next action allowable position. That is, the numerical parameter 206c "LM1" represents the amount of movement, and the numerical parameter 206c "ALM1" represents the next operation permitted position. Therefore, the basic action 206 of the action description 206a of "Ω-AC" continues until the amount of movement reaches the value set in the numerical parameter 206c of "LM1". When the amount of movement reaches the calculated numerical value (=LM1-ALM1), the next basic operation 206 can be started.

In the above description, the actuator 13 whose partial period number is set to the first partial period on the YOGO chart 200 illustrated in FIG. 5 has been described. Since only the actuator 13 is set in the partial period with the partial period number 1, when the movement amount of the actuator 13 reaches the next operation permitted position, the next partial period (that is, the partial period with the partial period number 2) is set. ) is started. Similarly, if the next operation permission position is set for the basic operation 206 of the actuator 11 as well, the amount of movement of the actuator 11 (actually the angle of rotation since the operation mode of the actuator 11 is a rotational operation) will be determined by the next operation. When the permissive position is reached, the basic movement 206 of the actuator 12 for the next sub-period is initiated.

Also, only the basic operation 206 of the actuator 10 is set in the partial period with the partial period number 4, but in the next partial period (that is, the partial period with the partial period number 5), the three actuators 14 to 16 basic operations 206 are set. Therefore, when the amount of movement of the actuator 10 reaches the next operation permitted position, the basic operation 206 of the three actuators 14-16 is started. Note that the actuators 14 to 16 are sequence-controlled actuators and are not controlled by designating the amount of movement or the angle of rotation, so the next operation permission position is not set.

Also, only the basic operation 206 of the actuator 12 is set in the partial period with the partial period number of 7, but in the immediately preceding partial period (that is, the partial period with the partial period number of 6), the actuator 10 and the actuator 17 Two basic operations 206 are set: Therefore, the basic operation 206 of the actuator 12 is started after the movement amounts of the two actuators 10 and 17 both reach the next operation permission positions.

By setting the next operation permission position for the servo-controlled actuator in this way, the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine 1 can be completed earlier, so that the manufacturing efficiency can be improved. In addition, when setting the next operation permission position, a numerical value of 0 is set at first, and while the automatic manufacturing machine 1 is being operated, the setting of the numerical table 206b or the numerical parameter 206c is corrected, and the next operation is set little by little. By increasing the numerical value of the permitted position, it becomes possible to easily set an appropriate next operation permitted position.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Automatic manufacturing machine, 2...Rail, 3...Transport unit, 3a...Grip shaft,
3b... chuck, 4... processing unit, 11 to 20... actuator,
10d to 20d... driver circuit, 50... computer,
100... Automatic manufacturing machine control device, 100a... YOGO chart processing device,
100b... control execution device, 100m... monitor screen,
100s... Operation input button, 102... Basic operation storage unit,
105... Control program generation unit, 106... Control execution unit,
107... Program element storage unit, 110... Control program generation device,
201... Partition line, 202... Trigger line, 203... Operation line,
204... Start point 205... End point 206... Basic motion
206a -- Behavioral description, 206b -- Numerical table, 206c -- Numerical parameter.

Claims (6)

A control program generator (100a, 110) for generating a control program for an automatic manufacturing machine (1) having a plurality of actuators (10-20),
a basic motion storage unit (102) storing basic motions (206) representing motions of the actuator for each degree of freedom in association with program elements for realizing the basic motions;
An operation period from the start to the end of the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is divided into a plurality of partial periods, the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is decomposed into a plurality of the basic operations, and the basic operations are divided into an operation chart reading unit (103) that reads an operation chart (200) describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine assigned to one of the plurality of partial periods;
operating the automatic manufacturing machine by combining the program elements of the plurality of basic operations assigned to the plurality of partial periods on the operation chart according to the order of the partial periods on the operation chart; A control program generation unit (105) that generates a control program,
The basic motion storage unit divides the contents of the basic motion into a motion description (206a) for qualitatively describing the basic motion and a numerical description for numerically describing quantitative items of the basic motion. and storing the program element corresponding to the behavioral description of the basic operation, and a numerical table (206b) corresponding to the numerical description or a plurality of numerical parameters (206c) corresponding to the numerical description,
The operation chart reading unit reads the operation chart in which the basic operation is described using the operation description and the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters,
wherein, when combining the plurality of program elements, the control program generator sets numerical values to the program elements according to the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters described together with the behavioral description of the program elements. A control program generator characterized by: The control program generation device according to claim 1,
In the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters stored in the basic motion storage unit, numerical values including at least one of motion amount, motion speed, and motion load of the basic motion are set. and a control program generator. The control program generation device according to claim 1 or claim 2,
The control program generation device, wherein the basic operation storage unit stores a reference table that is referred to when no numerical value is set in the numerical table. The control program generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The control program generating device, wherein the basic motion storage unit stores the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters including a motion waiting time for waiting for the start of the basic motion. A control program generation method for generating a control program for an automatic manufacturing machine (1) having a plurality of actuators (10 to 20) by a computer,
An operation period from the start of the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine to the end of the operation is divided into a plurality of partial periods, and the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is a plurality of basic operations representing the operation of each degree of freedom of the actuator. (206) and reading an operation chart (200) describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine by assigning the basic operation to one of the plurality of partial periods (STEP 1) When,
a motion chart analysis step (STEP 2) of extracting the plurality of basic motions included in the motion chart and the partial periods to which the plurality of basic motions are assigned by analyzing the motion chart;
A control program for generating the control program for operating the automatic manufacturing machine by combining program elements for realizing the basic operations according to the order of the partial periods to which the basic operations are assigned in the operation chart. A generation step (STEP 3) and
In the operation chart reading step, the basic operations in the operation chart are composed of an operation description (206a) for qualitatively describing the contents of the basic operations, and a quantitative item for describing numerically the basic operations. reading the operational chart described using a numerical table (206b) or a plurality of numerical parameters (206c);
The control program generation step converts the behavioral description to the program element by referring to a correspondence relationship in which the behavioral description of the basic behavior and the program element for realizing the behavioral description are associated and stored. After converting and setting numerical values in the program elements according to the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters described together with the behavioral description, the control program is generated by combining the program elements according to the order of the partial periods. A control program generation method, characterized in that it is a step of: A program for implementing, using a computer, a method for generating a control program for an automatic manufacturing machine (1) having a plurality of actuators (10-20),
An operation period from the start of the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine to the end of the operation is divided into a plurality of partial periods, and the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine is a plurality of basic operations representing the operation of each degree of freedom of the actuator. (206) and reading an operation chart (200) describing the operation of the automatic manufacturing machine by assigning the basic operation to one of the plurality of partial periods (STEP 1) When,
a motion chart analysis function (STEP 2) for extracting the plurality of basic motions included in the motion chart and the partial periods to which the plurality of basic motions are assigned by analyzing the motion chart;
A control program for generating the control program for operating the automatic manufacturing machine by combining program elements for realizing the basic operations according to the order of the partial periods to which the basic operations are assigned in the operation chart. The generating function (STEP 3) and are realized by the computer,
The operation chart reading function includes an operation description (206a) for qualitatively describing the content of the basic operation and a quantitative item for numerically describing the basic operation in the operation chart. a function of reading the operation chart described using a numerical table (206b) or a plurality of numerical parameters (206c);
The control program generation function converts the behavioral description to the program element by referring to a correspondence relationship in which the behavioral description of the basic behavior and the program element for realizing the behavioral description are associated and stored. After converting and setting numerical values to the program elements according to the numerical table or the plurality of numerical parameters described together with the behavioral description, the control program is generated by combining the program elements according to the order of the partial periods. A program characterized in that it is a function to

Images