JP7417493B2 - Training system, relay device control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a training system, a relay device control method, and a program.

In order to develop and operate equipment used in plants, etc., it is necessary to understand in detail how the equipment operates. Additionally, when operating these facilities, some parts of the facilities may be shielded for safety reasons, making it difficult for developers and operators to visually check the operation of the facilities. Sometimes.

Simulation technology that simulates the operation and status of equipment is being considered as a technology for training operators and checking operations by developers. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a system that uses an emulator to simulate the operation of a programmable logic controller (PLC), which is a control device for equipment, and simulates the display on a user screen according to the virtual state of the equipment. ing.

Patent No. 3512705

Normally, the equipment is automatically operated by PLC based on a predetermined sequence. In addition, during equipment maintenance or when trouble occurs, manual operation may be performed by operating the operating axis of the equipment through a dedicated operating terminal, depending on the operator's judgment. However, conventional simulation techniques cannot provide such manual driving training. Further, the calculation cycle is different between the conventional operation terminal and the equipment emulator. For this reason, when conventional operation terminals and emulators are used, there is a possibility that data may be missed or errors may occur between these devices.

The present disclosure has been made in view of such problems, and provides a training system, a relay device control method, and a program that can perform manual driving training through an operating terminal.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the training system 1 uses an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of equipment to be simulated to receive a request signal from the outside and respond to the request signal in a first cycle. The emulator device 2 that responds and a request signal that includes a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment to the emulator device 2 in a first cycle shorter than the first cycle. an operating terminal 4 that transmits at a cycle of 2 and displays on a monitor the parameters of the equipment received as a response to the request signal; and a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device 2 and the operating terminal 4. 3. The relay device 3 includes a determination unit 31 that determines whether the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal 4 is the same as the second request signal received last time, and a transmission/reception process of transmitting the first request signal to the emulator device and transmitting the parameters received from the emulator device as a response to the first request signal to the operating terminal if the request signal is not the same as the second request signal; 32.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an emulator device that receives a request signal from the outside and responds to the request signal in a first cycle using an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of equipment to be simulated. and transmitting a request signal including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment to the emulator device in a second cycle shorter than the first cycle, and , an operating terminal that displays on a monitor parameters of the equipment received as a response to the request signal; and a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device and the operating terminal. The control method includes the step of determining whether the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal is the same as the second request signal received last time, and the step of determining whether or not the first request signal is the same as the second request signal received last time. If the first request signal is not the same as the second request signal, transmitting the first request signal to the emulator device and transmitting the parameters received from the emulator device as a response to the first request signal to the operation terminal. and execute it.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an emulator device that receives a request signal from the outside and responds to the request signal in a first cycle using an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of equipment to be simulated. and transmitting a request signal including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment to the emulator device in a second cycle shorter than the first cycle, and , an operating terminal that displays on a monitor parameters of the equipment received as a response to the request signal; and a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device and the operating terminal. The program includes the steps of: determining whether the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal is the same as the second request signal received last time; If the first request signal is not the same as the second request signal, transmitting the first request signal to the emulator device, and transmitting the parameters received from the emulator device as a response to the first request signal to the operating terminal. Execute steps and.

According to the training system, relay device control method, and program according to the present disclosure, manual driving training can be performed through an operation terminal.

1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a training system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a training system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It is a 1st flowchart which shows an example of processing of the training system concerning one embodiment of this indication. It is a 2nd flowchart which shows an example of processing of the training system concerning one embodiment of this indication. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of each device that constitutes a training system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

A training system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

(Overall configuration of training system)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a training system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
A training system 1 according to the present embodiment is a system for training manual operation of equipment consisting of a device or a group of devices installed in a plant or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the training system 1 includes an emulator device 2, a relay device 3, an operating terminal 4, and a display device 5.

The emulator device 2 is an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of the equipment to be simulated. The emulator device 2 receives a request from the outside and responds to the request in a first cycle.

The relay device 3 relays communication between the emulator device 2, the operating terminal 4, and the display device 5. The functional configuration of the relay device 3 will be described later.

The operating terminal 4 is a device operated by an operator when manually operating the equipment. The operating terminal 4 includes an operation receiving section 41 that receives operations by an operator, and a monitor 42 that displays parameters indicating the status of the equipment. The operation reception unit 41 may be, for example, a hardware button, a lever, etc., or may be a software button displayed on a monitor 42 configured with a touch panel.

Further, the operation terminal 4 transmits a request signal including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment to the emulator device 2 in a second period shorter than the first period. do. Further, the operating terminal 4 displays on the monitor 42 the equipment parameters received as a response to the request signal.

The display device 5 displays a 3D image (simulated image) of the operating state of the equipment simulated by the emulator device 2. The display device 5 is, for example, a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display device, VR goggles, or the like.

(Functional configuration of relay device)
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a training system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
As shown in FIG. 2, the relay device 3 includes a determination section 31, a transmission/reception processing section 32, a recording processing section 33, a simulated image generation section 34, and a memory 35.

The determination unit 31 determines whether the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal 4 is the same as the second request signal received last time.

The transmission/reception processing unit 32 transmits the first request signal to the emulator device 2 when the first request signal is not the same as the second request signal, and transmits the first request signal from the emulator device 2 in response to the first request signal. The received parameters are sent to the operating terminal 4.

The recording processing unit 33 records the parameters received from the emulator device 2 in the memory 35.

The simulated image generation unit 34 generates a simulated image representing the operating state of the equipment as a 3D image based on the parameters received from the emulator device 2 and the 3D CAD data of the equipment, and outputs it to the display device 5.

The parameters recorded by the recording processing section 33 are recorded in the memory 35. Further, the memory 35 may store 3D CAD data used by the simulated image generation section 34.

(Processing flow of training system)
FIG. 3 is a first flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the training system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 4 is a second flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the training system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
The processing flow of the training system 1 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 shows an example of communication between the operating terminal 4 and the relay device 3. For example, the operation terminal 4 sends a request signal (write request signal) corresponding to an operation received through the operation reception unit 41 or a request signal (read request signal) requesting a parameter indicating the status of the equipment to the second It is transmitted to the relay device 3 periodically (step S100). The operation terminal 4 sets the second period so as to transmit the request signal at a frequency of, for example, 100 to 200 times per second.

On the other hand, the emulator device 2 may perform calculation processing in a first period, which is a longer period than the second period, which is the calculation processing period of the operation terminal 4. For example, the emulator device 2 sets the first cycle so that the operating state of the equipment is updated at a frequency of 10 times per second.

Further, the operating terminal 4 periodically transmits a request signal requesting parameters and displays the status on the monitor 42 in real time. Therefore, even while the operation terminal 4 is not accepting any operation through the operation reception unit 41, the operation terminal 4 may continuously transmit a request signal requesting the same parameter every second period. At this time, if the emulator device 2 sequentially receives request signals from the operating terminal 4, the emulator device 2 requests the same parameters from the operating terminal 4 while performing arithmetic processing to update the equipment status. In some cases, the request signal to be sent is received multiple times. In this case, the arithmetic processing of the emulator device 2 may not be completed in time, and the request signal may be missed. Furthermore, if the emulator device 2 fails to receive the request signal, the operation terminal 4 will not be able to properly receive the response signal, so an error may occur during arithmetic processing of the operation terminal 4.

In this embodiment, in order to suppress the occurrence of such missed request signals and errors, the relay device 3 performs a process of thinning out the request signals to be transmitted to the emulator device 2. Specifically, the determination unit 31 of the relay device 3 determines whether the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal 4 is the same as the second request signal received last time (step S101).

If the determination unit 31 determines that the first request signal is the same as the second request signal (step S101: YES), the transmission/reception processing unit 32 stores the parameters corresponding to the first request signal in the memory 35. (step S102), and transmits a response signal including the read parameters to the operation terminal 4 (step S103). As a result, when the transmission/reception processing unit 32 continuously receives request signals requesting the same parameters from the operation terminal 4, the transmission/reception processing unit 32 does not transmit the request signals to the emulator device 2, and sends the request signals to the emulator device 2. The frequency of signals can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the emulator device 2 from missing a request signal. Furthermore, the transmission/reception processing unit 32 automatically transmits a response signal including the parameters recorded in the memory 35 to the operating terminal 4 as a response to the first request signal, so that the operating terminal 4 can receive the response signal. The possibility of errors can be reduced.

On the other hand, if the determination unit 31 determines that the first request signal is not the same as the second request signal (step S101: NO), the transmission/reception processing unit 32 sends the first request signal to the emulator device 2. Transmit (step S104). For example, if the first request signal is a request signal instructing a new operation, the transmission/reception processing section 32 transmits this first request signal to the emulator device 2 (step S104). At this time, the transmission/reception processing unit 32 temporarily stores the received request signal in the memory 35 and transmits the request signal read from the memory 35 to the emulator device 2 in accordance with the calculation cycle of the emulator device 2 . By doing so, the transmission/reception processing unit 32 prevents the emulator device 2 from failing to receive the request signal.

Further, upon receiving a parameter (response signal) indicating the state of the equipment from the emulator device 2 as a response to the first request signal (step S105), the recording processing unit 33 records the received parameter in the memory 35. Update (step S106). Further, the transmission/reception processing unit 32 transmits a response signal including the parameters received from the emulator device 2 to the operating terminal 4 (step S103).

When the operation terminal 4 receives the response signal from the relay device 3, it performs a process of updating the display on the monitor 42 based on the parameters included in the response signal (step S107). As a result, the latest state of the equipment simulated by the emulator device 2 is sequentially displayed on the monitor 42 of the operating terminal 4.

Each time the relay device 3 receives a request signal from the operating terminal 4, the relay device 3 repeatedly executes each of the steps described above. By performing such processing, the relay device 3 can prevent the same request signal from being sent to the emulator device 2 many times in a row even if the calculation cycles of the operation terminal 4 and the emulator device 2 are different. A response signal including the latest parameters can be returned to the request signal from the operation terminal 4 without exception, while suppressing the occurrence of the problem. Although not shown, the simulated image generation unit 34 of the relay device 3 generates a simulated image indicating the operating state of the equipment based on the parameters received from the emulator device 2, and outputs it to the display device 5 in parallel. and execute it. Thereby, the operator can visually check the change in the operating state of the equipment according to the operation through the display device 5. Note that the operator who operates the operating terminal 4 and the confirmer who confirms the status of the equipment through the display device 5 may be different.

In the example of FIG. 3, a mode has been described in which the emulator device 2 transmits parameters when receiving a request signal from the relay device 3. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the emulator device 2 may notify the relay device 3 of new parameters each time it performs arithmetic processing.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, when the emulator device 2 calculates parameters by calculating the operating state of the equipment (step S200), the emulator device 2 transmits the newly calculated parameters to the relay device 3. Notify (step S201).

Upon receiving the parameters from the emulator device 2 (step S202), the recording processing unit 33 of the relay device 3 records and updates the received parameters in the memory 35 (step S203).

By doing so, the latest parameters are always recorded in the memory of the relay device 3. Thereby, the relay device 3 can always transmit a response signal containing the latest parameters in response to a request signal from the operating terminal 4.

(Hardware configuration)
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of each device configuring the training system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Hereinafter, the hardware configurations of the emulator device 2, relay device 3, operation terminal 4, and display device 5 according to this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

The computer 900 includes a processor 901, a main storage device 902, an auxiliary storage device 903, and an interface 904.

The emulator device 2, relay device 3, operation terminal 4, and display device 5 described above are each implemented in one or more computers 900. The operations of each functional unit described above are stored in the auxiliary storage device 903 in the form of a program. The processor 901 reads the program from the auxiliary storage device 903, expands it to the main storage device 902, and executes the above processing according to the program. Further, the processor 901 reserves storage areas corresponding to each of the above-mentioned storage units in the main storage device 902 according to the program. Examples of the processor 901 include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphic Processing Unit), a microprocessor, and the like.

The program may be for implementing part of the functions that the computer 900 performs. For example, the program may function in combination with another program already stored in the auxiliary storage device 903 or with another program installed in another device. Note that in other embodiments, the computer 900 may include a custom LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit) such as a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) in addition to or in place of the above configuration. Examples of PLDs include PAL (Programmable Array Logic), GAL (Generic Array Logic), CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). In this case, part or all of the functions realized by the processor 901 may be realized by the integrated circuit. Such an integrated circuit is also included as an example of a processor.

Examples of the auxiliary storage device 903 include HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), magnetic disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), and DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc Read Only). Memory), semiconductor memory, etc. Auxiliary storage device 903 may be an internal medium directly connected to the bus of computer 900, or may be an external storage device 910 connected to computer 900 via interface 904 or a communication line. Furthermore, when this program is distributed to the computer 900 via a communication line, the computer 900 that received the distribution may develop the program in the main storage device 902 and execute the above processing. In at least one embodiment, secondary storage 903 is a non-transitory tangible storage medium.

Further, the program may be for realizing part of the functions described above.
Furthermore, the program may be a so-called difference file (difference program) that implements the above-described functions in combination with other programs already stored in the auxiliary storage device 903.

(action, effect)
As described above, in the training system 1 according to the present embodiment, the relay device 3 relays communication between the operation terminal 4 that receives operations related to manual operation of the equipment and the emulator device 2 that simulates the operation of the equipment. do.
By doing so, the training system 1 can perform operation training through the operation terminal 4 used for manual operation of actual equipment. This allows the operator to conduct effective training in a more realistic environment.

Further, if the first request signal received this time from the operation terminal 4 is not the same as the second request signal received last time, the relay device 3 transmits the first request signal to the emulator device 2, and also sends the first request signal to the emulator device 2. The parameters received from the device 2 are transmitted to the operating terminal 4.
As described above, if the calculation cycle of the operation terminal 4 is shorter than the calculation cycle of the emulator device 2, if the request signal from the operation terminal 4 is sent to the emulator device 2 one after another, the emulator device There is a possibility that the request signal may be missed because the processing in step 2 is not completed in time.
However, the relay device 3 according to the present embodiment can reduce the frequency with which request signals are sent to the emulator device 2 by transmitting only request signals different from the previously received request signal to the emulator device 2. Therefore, the possibility that the emulator device 2 misses the request signal can be reduced.

Further, if the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal 4 is the same as the second request signal received last time, the relay device 3 reads the parameters recorded in the memory 35 and sends the operating terminal 4 sent as a response signal to
By doing so, the relay device 3 can suppress the same request signal from being continuously transmitted to the emulator device 2 with high frequency. Thereby, the possibility that the emulator device 2 misses the request signal can be reduced. Furthermore, by transmitting the parameters recorded in the memory 35 to the operating terminal 4, the relay device 3 can prevent the operating terminal 4 from being unable to receive a response signal and causing an error.

Furthermore, the relay device 3 updates the parameters recorded in the memory 35 every time the emulator device 2 calculates the parameters.
By doing so, the relay device 3 can always transmit the latest parameters to the operation terminal 4.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, the embodiments are not limited to these and some design changes are possible without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the operation terminal 4 is implemented as hardware different from the relay device 3, but the present invention is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the operating terminal 4 may be incorporated into the relay device 3 as an application. In this case, the input device (keyboard, mouse, touch panel) and monitor of the relay device 3 may be used to receive the operator's operation and display the parameters.

<Additional notes>
The training system, relay device control method, and program described in the above-described embodiments can be understood, for example, as follows.

According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the training system uses an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of the equipment to be simulated to receive a request signal from the outside and receive the request signal in the first cycle. and sends a request signal to the emulator device including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment, to the emulator device in a second period shorter than the first period. and a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device and the operation terminal. . The relay device includes a determination unit that determines whether a first request signal received this time from the operating terminal is the same as a second request signal received last time, and a determination unit that determines whether the first request signal is the same as the second request signal received last time, and a transmission/reception processing unit that transmits the first request signal to the emulator device and transmits the parameter received from the emulator device as a response to the first request signal to the operation terminal if the signal is not the same as the signal; Equipped with

By doing so, the training system can perform operation training through the operation terminal used for manual operation of actual equipment. This allows the operator to effectively train in an environment that is more realistic. Further, by transmitting only a request signal different from the previously received request signal to the emulator device 2, the relay device can reduce the frequency with which request signals are transmitted to the emulator device. Therefore, the possibility that the emulator device misses the request signal can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, the training system according to the first aspect further includes a recording processing unit that records parameters received from the emulator device in a memory. When the first request signal is the same as the second request signal, the transmission/reception processing section reads the parameters recorded in the memory and transmits them to the operation terminal.

By doing so, the relay device can prevent the same request signal from being continuously transmitted to the emulator device with high frequency. This can reduce the possibility that the emulator device will fail to receive the request signal. Further, by transmitting the parameters recorded in the memory to the operating terminal, the relay device can prevent the operating terminal from being unable to receive a response signal and causing an error.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, in the training system according to the second aspect, the emulator device calculates a parameter indicating a state of the equipment in the first cycle. The recording processing unit of the relay device updates the parameters recorded in the memory every time the emulator device calculates the parameters.

By doing so, the relay device can always send the latest parameters to the operating terminal.

According to the fourth aspect of the present disclosure, an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of the equipment to be simulated is used to receive a request signal from the outside and respond to the request signal in the first cycle. A request signal including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment is transmitted to an emulator device and the emulator device in a second period shorter than the first period. and a training system that uses an operation terminal that displays on a monitor parameters of the equipment received as a response to the request signal, and a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device and the operation terminal. The method for controlling a relay device includes the steps of: determining whether a first request signal received this time from the operating terminal is the same as a second request signal received last time; is not the same as the second request signal, transmitting the first request signal to the emulator device, and transmitting the parameters received from the emulator device as a response to the first request signal to the operating terminal. and the steps to be executed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present disclosure, an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of the equipment to be simulated is used to receive a request signal from the outside and respond to the request signal in the first cycle. A request signal including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment is transmitted to an emulator device and the emulator device in a second period shorter than the first period. and a training system that uses an operation terminal that displays on a monitor parameters of the equipment received as a response to the request signal, and a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device and the operation terminal. The program of the relay device includes a step of determining whether a first request signal received this time from the operating terminal is the same as a second request signal received last time, and a step of determining whether or not a first request signal received this time from the operation terminal is the same as a second request signal received last time. If the signal is not the same as the second request signal, transmitting the first request signal to the emulator device, and transmitting the parameters received from the emulator device in response to the first request signal to the operating terminal. The steps to send and execute.

1 Training system 2 Emulator device 3 Relay device 31 Judgment section 32 Transmission/reception processing section 33 Recording processing section 34 Simulated image generation section 35 Memory 4 Operation terminal 41 Operation reception section 42 Monitor 5 Display device 900 Computer

Claims (5)

an emulator device that receives a request signal from the outside and responds to the request signal in a first cycle using an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of the equipment to be simulated;
A request signal including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment is transmitted to the emulator device in a second cycle shorter than the first cycle, and an operating terminal that displays on a monitor parameters of the equipment received as a response to the request signal;
a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device and the operation terminal;
Equipped with
The relay device is
a determination unit that determines whether the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal is the same as the second request signal received last time;
transmitting the first request signal to the emulator device if the first request signal is not the same as the second request signal, and receiving parameters from the emulator device in response to the first request signal; a transmission/reception processing unit that transmits the information to the operating terminal;
Equipped with
training system. further comprising a recording processing unit that records parameters received from the emulator device in a memory,
The transmission/reception processing unit reads the parameters recorded in the memory and transmits them to the operation terminal when the first request signal is the same as the second request signal.
The training system according to claim 1. The emulator device calculates a parameter indicating a state of the equipment in the first cycle,
The recording processing unit of the relay device updates the parameters recorded in the memory every time the emulator device calculates the parameters.
The training system according to claim 2. an emulator device that receives a request signal from the outside and responds to the request signal in a first cycle using an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of the equipment to be simulated;
A request signal including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment is transmitted to the emulator device in a second cycle shorter than the first cycle, and an operating terminal that displays on a monitor parameters of the equipment received as a response to the request signal;
a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device and the operation terminal;
A method for controlling the relay device in a training system using the relay device, the method comprising:
determining whether the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal is the same as the second request signal received last time;
If the first request signal is not the same as the second request signal, transmitting the first request signal to the emulator device, and receiving parameters from the emulator device in response to the first request signal. a step of transmitting the information to the operating terminal;
A method of controlling a relay device that executes. an emulator device that receives a request signal from the outside and responds to the request signal in a first cycle using an emulator that virtually reproduces the operation of the equipment to be simulated;
A request signal including a request to instruct the operation of the equipment or a request to obtain a parameter indicating the state of the equipment is transmitted to the emulator device in a second cycle shorter than the first cycle, and an operating terminal that displays on a monitor parameters of the equipment received as a response to the request signal;
a relay device that relays communication between the emulator device and the operation terminal;
A program for the relay device in a training system using
determining whether the first request signal received this time from the operating terminal is the same as the second request signal received last time;
If the first request signal is not the same as the second request signal, transmitting the first request signal to the emulator device, and receiving parameters from the emulator device in response to the first request signal. a step of transmitting the information to the operating terminal;
A program to run.

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