JPH0440564A - Hardware circuit generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the device to conform to system specifications even if there is no experience nor knowledge of a high level, and to execute the fail-safe required for the plant equipment by configuring the device so that information of the system specifications is inputted, and a hardware circuit diagram is generated automatically by referring to a knowledge data base. CONSTITUTION:An equipment for configuring a hardware circuit is selected by referring to a knowledge data base 6 by an input/output expansion processing means 2, and a rating is determined. Subsequently, by a hardware circuit automatic generation processing means 3, hardware circuit parts are selected and expanded, and retrieved by referring to the knowledge data base 6. Next, by a graphic processing means 5, a hardware circuit diagram is plotted from a drawing file 12 of the knowledge data base 6 with respect to a hardware circuit program In such a way, by only inputting the information of various system specifications, the hardware circuit diagram in which safety of the whole plant equipment is also taken into consideration can be generated automatically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a hardware circuit generation device that can automatically create hardware circuit diagrams corresponding to various system specifications.

(Conventional technology) In recent years, research and development of automatic program generation systems that apply knowledge engineering have been actively conducted to address the shortage of system engineers and software designers, and to improve software design productivity and software quality. However, in the case of plant equipment, hardware and software are closely related, and fail-safe thinking, which takes into account the safety of the entire plant equipment, is becoming increasingly important.

Therefore, in the installation a1 of such plant equipment, it is necessary to construct a hardware circuit by thoroughly understanding the division of functions between hardware and software and the configuration of the hardware.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in the conventional hardware design, it is difficult to determine how to operate the equipment machinery of plant equipment, the type of drive device, the type of detector, the purpose of use, and the plant equipment. It is necessary to understand the system specifications of the target system, which describes the configuration of the programmable controller, computer, transmission equipment, etc. that make up the equipment, and to create a hardware circuit with consideration to the safety of the entire plant equipment. This has placed a heavy burden on system engineers and hardware designers, making it a major challenge to improve the productivity of hardware design and the quality of the hardware.

This invention was made in view of these conventional problems, and by simply inputting information from various system specifications, a hardware circuit diagram that takes into account the safety of the entire plant equipment is automatically generated. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a hardware circuit generation device that can perform the following steps.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The hardware circuit generation device of the present invention includes design knowledge for constructing a hardware circuit, automatic hardware circuit generation rules, component selection rules, component files, catalog files, A knowledge database that stores drawing files, and hardware input/output supplies listed in various system specifications that are expanded by referring to the catalog files and design knowledge of the knowledge database to create hardware circuit supplies. and an input/output expansion processing means that selects the equipment and determines the rating of the equipment, and hardware circuit parts that conform to the specifications of the hardware input/output equipment in the system specifications using the hardware circuit automatic generation rules and parts in the knowledge database. A hardware circuit automatic generation processing means that selects and expands with reference to selection rules and component files and searches for signals, and drawings of the knowledge database for the hardware circuit program output from the hardware circuit automatic generation means. The apparatus includes a graphic processing means for searching and developing graphic symbols necessary for drawing a hardware circuit diagram from a file and creating a hardware circuit diagram.

(Operation) In the hardware circuit generation device of the present invention, design knowledge for constructing a hardware circuit, automatic hardware circuit generation rules, component selection rules, component files, catalog files, and drawing files are stored in a knowledge database.

Then, the input/output expansion processing means expands the hardware input/output supplies listed in various system specifications by referring to the catalog file and design knowledge of this knowledge database, and develops the hardware input/output supplies that make up the hardware circuit. Select and rate supplies.

Next, the hardware circuit automatic generation processing means generates hardware circuit components that conform to the specifications of hardware input/output supplies in the system specifications using the hardware circuit automatic generation rules, component selection rules, and component files in the knowledge database. Browse, select and expand, and search for signals.

Next, the graphic processing means searches and develops the graphical symbols necessary for drawing a hardware circuit diagram from the drawing files in the knowledge database for the hardware circuit program output from the hardware circuit automatic generation means. and create a hardware schematic.

In this way, by simply inputting information based on various system specifications, it becomes possible to automatically create a hardware circuit diagram that conforms to the specifications.

(Example) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which a device main body 1 consisting of a computer includes an input/output expansion processing section 2 as a software program, a hardware circuit automatic generation processing section 3, and a conversion processing section 3. A processing section 4 and a graphic processing section 5 are provided.

Then, in the storage device 6 connected to this device main body 1, hardware circuit automatic generation rules 7, design knowledge 8, parts selection rules 9, parts files 10, catalog files 11,
A drawing file 1-2 and a human output database 13 are stored.

The input/output expansion processing unit 2 performs processing on the hardware input/output supplies described in the system specifications 14 as input information.
This section refers to the catalog file 11 and the design knowledge 8, performs expansion processing, selects the components that constitute the hardware circuit, and at the same time determines the ratings of the components.

The automatic hardware circuit generation processing unit 3 selects and develops hardware circuit components that meet the specifications of the system specification 14 by referring to the automatic hardware circuit generation rules 7, component selection rules 9, and component files 10, and performs signal search. This is the part to do.

The conversion processing section 4 is a section that performs page/line feed processing for graphic processing and source conversion on the hardware circuit program output from the hardware circuit automatic generation processing section 3 according to the hardware circuit automatic generation rules 7. It is.

The graphic processing unit 5 is a part that searches and develops graphic symbols necessary for drawing a hardware circuit diagram from the drawing file 12, and a hardware circuit diagram 15 can be obtained as an output of the graphic processing unit 5.

Next, the operation of the hardware circuit generation device having the above configuration will be explained.

In general, the hardware circuits of plant equipment consist of analog circuits, digital circuits including relay sequences, power supply circuits that drive these circuits, and input/output circuits consisting of these circuits, programmable controllers, and computer software input/output boards. Ru.

Therefore, in such plant equipment, the system specification 14 describes how to operate the machines of the plant equipment, such as hardware input/output such as motor drive devices, solenoid valves, limit switches, analog circuits, and operating supplies for operating the machines. It describes the configuration of programmable controllers, computers, transmission equipment, etc. that construct supplies, plant equipment, etc. Information in such system specifications 14 is input to the equipment body 1 and read by the input/output expansion processing unit 2. Processing is done.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, the processing operations of the input/output expansion processing unit 2 first include system specification reading processing 2.
a is performed, and system specification data storage processing 2b is performed using a dictionary built into the main body 1 of the device as internal data of the input/output expansion processing section 2.

Next, the input/output supplies development process 2c converts the hardware input/output supplies listed in the system specifications based on this system specification data into, for example, the motor drive device 1.
The number of input/output points per unit is broken down into units of input/output points, such as 2 analog input points, 1 analog output point, 3 digital input points, and 2 digital output points, and for each broken down input/output, an announcement circuit, a digital Determine whether the supplies should be used for circuits or input/output circuits of programmable controllers or computers, and at the same time, consider whether to configure the circuit using normally open or normally closed contacts, taking into account fail-safe plant equipment. ,
The design knowledge 8 and the catalog file 11 are referred to and expanded.

The product rating/input/output board determination process 2d is performed in the catalog file 11 for the human-powered products developed in this way.
The circuit voltage and the rating of the input/output board for the programmable controller and computer are determined while referring to the specified voltage and current of the supplies, and the results are registered in the input/output database 13.

Next, in the hardware circuit automatic generation processing section 3, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
Further, the hardware circuits to be created, such as the power supply circuits that drive them, are determined by the hardware circuit automatic generation rules 7, and the input/output supplies constituting the determined hardware circuits are searched from the input/output database 13.

Then, based on the data and the system specification data, the part selection rule 9 is interpreted to search for a part number that conforms to the system specification 14, and the data is used in the expansion process 3b.
Transfer to.

In the expansion process 3b, one corresponding hardware circuit component is selected from the circuit component storage section 10a of the component file 10 based on the above-mentioned component number.

The selected hardware circuit component is developed by the circuit component development knowledge 10b so as to satisfy the required function.

The reason for deploying hardware circuit components here is that preparing components that satisfy all the required functions would require a huge number of hardware circuit components, which is not practical. This is because it is necessary to register the hardware circuit component as a changeable circuit component so that it satisfies the required function, and to develop (deform) it according to the required function.

After this expansion process 3b, a signal search process 3C is performed,
A temporary signal name constituting the developed hardware circuit component is searched by the signal search rule 10c and the input/output database 13, and a formal signal name is assigned.

The hardware circuit program created in this manner is stored in the hardware circuit program storage section 3d.

The hardware circuit program data thus generated is then passed to the conversion processing section 4.

In the conversion processing unit 4, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the page/line break processing 4a is performed so that the finally created hardware circuit diagram 15 becomes an easy-to-read drawing.
Page and line feed processing is performed according to hardware circuit automatic generation rule 7. In addition, by the source conversion process 4b, a hardware circuit program created in a language that is easy to process by the input/output expansion process $2 and the hardware circuit automatic generation process unit 3, such as LISP, is converted into a source for the graphic processing unit 5. The result is passed to the graphic processing section 5.

Next, the graphic processing unit 5 refers to the drawing file 12 and uses the type registered in the source-converted hardware circuit program to create an electrical pattern defined in IEC or JIS as shown in FIG. Search for graphic symbols,
A hardware circuit diagram 15 as shown in FIG. 6 is created and output according to the hardware circuit program.

In this way, just by inputting the data of various system specifications 14, it is possible to automatically create and output the hardware circuit diagram 15 of the plant equipment.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, by inputting the information of various system specifications, it is possible to automatically create and output a hardware circuit diagram by referring to the knowledge database, and the system Even without advanced experience or knowledge in engineering and hardware design, you can obtain hardware circuit diagrams that comply with system specifications and take into account the fail-safe required for plant equipment, improving design productivity. can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the input/output expansion processing section of the above embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the automatic hardware circuit generation processing section of the above embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the conversion processing section and graphic processing section of the above embodiment; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the data of the drawing file used in the above embodiment; FIG. 6 FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a hardware circuit diagram obtained in the above embodiment. 1... Apparatus body 2... Input/output expansion processing section 3... Hardware circuit automatic generation processing section 4... Conversion processing section 5... Graphic processing section 6... Storage device 7... Hardware circuit automatic generation rule 8...Design knowledge 9...Parts selection rule 10...Parts file 1]...Catalog file 12...Drawing file 13...Input/output database 14...System Specification 15...Hardware circuit diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] Design knowledge for constructing a hardware circuit, automatic hardware circuit generation rules, component selection rules, component files,
A knowledge database that stores catalog files and drawing files, and hardware input/output supplies listed in various system specifications are expanded by referring to the catalog files and design knowledge in the knowledge database to create hardware circuits. an input/output expansion processing means that selects constituent supplies and determines the ratings of the supplies; and automatically generates hardware circuits from the knowledge database that conform to the specifications of the hardware input/output supplies in the system specifications. A hardware circuit automatic generation processing means that refers to rules, component selection rules, and component files, selects and develops them, and searches for signals; and a hardware circuit program output from the hardware circuit automatic generation means, the knowledge is applied to A hardware circuit generation device comprising a graphic processing means for searching and developing graphic symbols necessary for drawing a hardware circuit diagram from drawing files in a database and creating a hardware circuit diagram.