JPH04294422A - Operation console - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To offer an operation console capable of being easily standardized and easily correspond to redundancy and a change in an operation system. CONSTITUTION:The operation console 1 is provided with plural personal consoles 3 each of which is constituted of combining plural control modules 2 provided with a monitoring function 2a and an operation function 2b and has same constitution, a plate data input device 4 for inputting process data from a plate and a plant apparatus operating device 5 for outputting operation commands to respective apparatuses in the plant to a process controller and characterized by connecting the consoles 3, the input device 4 and operation device 5 through a communication line 6.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a system for monitoring and controlling processes in an industrial plant, etc.
The present invention relates to an industrial plant operation console used by plant operators for process operation of the entire industrial plant.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as an operation console for monitoring and controlling the entire production process of the above-mentioned industrial plant, an operation control panel equipped with meters and lamps for monitoring and switches and buttons for operation is used. is generally widely used. Normally, industrial plants are not exactly the same, and therefore, in this method, an operation control panel must be designed and manufactured for each industrial plant.

In recent years, with the development of computer technology, it has become possible to centrally display plant monitoring on a general-purpose display device such as a CRT, which is useful for reducing the area of the operating console. In addition, touch-sensitive screens, light pens, mice, tracker balls, etc. have come to be used as input devices to display the position on the screen, making it possible to centralize operations and making driving consoles even more compact. This is becoming more and more common.

However, from the perspective of the operator who uses the operation console, a certain amount of area is required due to the range of human gaze and operation speed, and it is difficult to monitor a large-scale system such as an industrial plant. Displays one unit.
Input devices are insufficient. Therefore, reducing the area for monitoring and operation using computer technology is subject to constraints due to the monitoring and operation required of human operators.

In other words, in conventional computer-integrated operation consoles, display and input devices are divided by plant function and placed on the operation control panel in order to correspond to the monitoring and operation abilities of operators. It was common practice to design and manufacture a system based on assumptions about the number of personnel and the area for monitoring and operation.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the operation console designed and produced as described above through computer integration, a specific part of the plant is assigned to one display/input device. Many parts remain to be designed and manufactured uniquely for each machine. For this reason, the operating console often has a plant-specific configuration for both software and peripheral hardware, and many parts are not standardized by the manufacturer.

[0007] Furthermore, even if the scope of automation of an existing plant is expanded without changing the operating system, it is not only necessary to change the operating console, but also when you want to change only the operating system without changing the plant. The driver must either operate with the original driving console, although this is inconvenient, or the driving console must be rebuilt.

Furthermore, in the case of operating consoles that require a high degree of reliability, a redundant design is required, either by installing two identical consoles or by installing conventional monitoring equipment and operating devices using hardware. There was a problem that it was necessary.

[0009] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a system that is not only easy to standardize, but also easily adaptable to redundancy and changes in operating systems.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the driving console according to the present invention includes a personal console configured by combining a plurality of control modules having the same configuration and having a monitoring function and an operation function; It is equipped with a plant data input device for inputting process data from the plant, and a plant equipment operation device for outputting operation commands to each device of the plant to the process control equipment, and the personal console, the plant data input device, and the plant equipment operation device are provided. It is connected to the device by a communication circuit.

[0011]

[Operation] According to the present invention configured as described above, a plurality of control modules having the same configuration are combined to form a personal console, thereby making it possible to provide redundancy and changing the operating system by simply increasing or decreasing the number of control modules. You can respond with Furthermore, by configuring all personal consoles from the same control module, this standardization is facilitated.

0012

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show a first embodiment, in which FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control module, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the operation. .

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the driving console 1 includes a personal console 3 constructed by combining a plurality of control modules 2 having the same configuration and having a monitoring function 2a and an operation function 2b (see FIG. 3). It mainly consists of a plant data input device 4 that inputs process data from the plant, a plant equipment operating device 5 that outputs operation commands for each device of the plant to the process control equipment, and a communication circuit 6 that connects these. The plant data input device 4 and the plant equipment operating device 5 are connected to the plant instrumentation/control equipment 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control module 2 mainly comprises an operation display device 8, an operation input device 9, a computer 10 equipped with control module software, and a console housing 11. There is.

In this way, by combining a plurality of control modules 2 with the same configuration to form the personal console 3, it is possible to arrange the personal consoles 3 for the number of operators in the control room, thereby increasing redundancy. This makes it possible to respond to changes in the operating system simply by increasing or decreasing the number of control modules 2.

Further, by configuring all the personal consoles 3 from the same control module 2, this standardization can be easily achieved.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

The control module 2 has its operation input device 9
In response to a monitoring display request input from the controller, process data necessary for the request is sent to the plant data input device 4 as a plant data request via the communication line 6. Furthermore, when process data becomes unnecessary due to a request to end a specific monitoring display, it is sent to the plant data input device 4 as a plant data request. Based on the process data received from the plant data input device 4, the control module 2
A plant status display for monitoring is output on the operation display device 8.

The plant data input device 4 always inputs the latest process data necessary for all monitoring and display from external plant processes, and periodically or when there is a change according to the request of each control module 2. , sends the process data to the corresponding control module 2.

The control module 2 receives plant equipment operation requests from the operation input device 9 . Inputting this operation request involves pressing down a button on the control module 2,
There are inputs from the position pointing device for the displayed information, etc. An equipment operation request corresponding to this operation request input is sent from the control module 2 to the plant equipment operating device 5 via the communication circuit 6 as an operation command.

[0022] This plant equipment operating device 5 has the following features:
An operation signal corresponding to the operation command received from the control module 2 is output to the external plant instrumentation/control equipment 7.

FIGS. 4 to 6 show a second embodiment used as an operating console in a central control room of a plant.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of personal consoles 3 each consisting of four control modules 2 each having a monitoring function 2a and an operation function 2b (see FIG. 3) are provided. The personal console 3 and the industrial process computer 12, which functions as a plant data input device and a plant equipment operating device, are connected by a communication circuit 6 as a network circuit to form the operation console 1.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a CRT is used as the operation display device 8 of the control module 2, and one tracker ball 9a and one push button 9b are used as the operation input device 9. Furthermore, a console desk is used as the console casing 11. Furthermore, a multi-window system is adopted for the display of the computer 10 of the control module 2.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

[0027] Input for operation is provided by an operation display device (CR).
T) This is done by moving the cursor displayed by the tracker ball 9a to a specific area of the figures or characters displayed on the screen of 8 and selecting that area with the pushbutton 9b.

An operator requests the control module 2 from a menu to display the status of a particular system and the trend curve of a process parameter that is currently important as a monitoring display. The monitoring function 2a of the control module 2 sends plant data necessary for displaying the selected information that is not currently requested to the industrial process computer 12 (plant data input device 4) as an additional request to the industrial process computer 12 ( request to the plant data input device 4). Then, a window for the monitoring information requested by the operator is created, and fixed display elements and display elements that are variable depending on the plant data input from the industrial process computer 12 (plant data input device 4) are displayed. This variable display element is rewritten at regular intervals or when there is a change.

An operation request from the operator is initiated by indicating an element displayed on the window using the tracker ball 9a. The operation function 2b of the control module 2 determines the specified element, and if multiple operations are possible for the element, displays the operation selection menu on the operation display device (CRT) 8 to prompt the operator. Prompt selection using the tracker ball 9a. As a result, an operation command corresponding to the requested operation is transmitted to the industrial process computer 12 (plant equipment operation device 5).

The configuration of another embodiment of the personal console 3 is shown in FIG. This embodiment differs from the previous embodiments in the following points.

That is, in this embodiment, a mouse position pointing device 13 with a button is used as the driving input device 9, and this mouse position pointing device 13 is connected to one external driving input device computer 14. Furthermore, this driving input device computer 14 and a plurality of (four) control modules 2 are connected via a serial circuit 15 to constitute a personal console 3.

The different effects of this embodiment from the above embodiments will be explained below.

Mouse position indicating device 13 (driving input device 9
) directly connected to the driving input device computer 14 transfers the input from the mouse position pointing device 13 to the currently active control module 2. The mechanism for switching the selection of the active control module 2 is performed by the computer 10 inside the active control module 2. That is, the control module selection menu displayed on the CRT (driving display device) 8 of the active control module 2 is selected according to the input from the mouse position indicating device 13, and the result is sent to the driving input device directly connected. Notify the computer 10. From then on, the computer 10 to which the mouse position pointing device 13 is directly connected transfers operational input to the newly activated control module 2.

[0034]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, it is possible to easily reconfigure the driving console in response to a change in the driving system by simply increasing or decreasing the number of control modules and personal consoles. .

Moreover, if a redundant configuration is required for the operating console where high reliability is required,
Since all control modules have the same configuration, reliability can be exponentially improved as the number of control modules increases, and effective redundancy can be achieved.

In addition, since all control modules are composed of the same control module, standardization is easy and the productivity of the operation console can be improved.Furthermore, in the event of a failure, it is often possible to repair it by replacing the control module. This has the effect of improving maintainability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control module.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the operation.

FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control module.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the personal console.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a third embodiment personal console.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Operation console 2 Control module 3 Personal console 4 Plant data input device 5　Plant equipment operation device 6 Communication line 8 Operation display device 9 Operation input device 10 Calculator

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A personal console configured by combining a plurality of control modules of the same configuration each having a monitoring function and an operation function, a plant data input device for inputting process data from a plant, and a personal console for inputting process data from a plant to each device of the plant. 1. An operation console comprising: a plant equipment operating device for outputting operation commands to process control equipment; and a communication circuit connecting the personal console to the plant data input device and the plant equipment operating device.