JPH0534697B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention is applicable to logistics systems such as automated warehouses and coal yards, or FA (factory automation).
The present invention relates to a system operation plan creation device for creating an operation plan for a discrete system such as the above, and particularly relates to a system operation plan creation device suitable for a complex system in which a large number of operation plans can be considered.

[Background of the invention]

Simulation is commonly used when designing discrete systems. However, since simulations take a considerable amount of time, it is difficult for humans to evaluate multiple system alternatives (system configurations, operational methods) based on past experience, and then verify the final proposals using simulations. It's staying.

In addition, the programs created for the above simulation are only used for that purpose.
When producing an actual system, there was a problem in that a program separate from the above-mentioned simulation program had to be created.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to solve the above-mentioned problems in creating a conventional discrete system operation plan, and to create an operation plan for a complex system in which a large number of operation plans can be considered. An object of the present invention is to provide a system operation plan creation device suitable for

[Summary of the invention]

The above object of the present invention is to provide a system operation planning device having means for displaying the dynamic behavior of a target system and means for inputting equipment operation and work instructions of the system, based on the results of equipment operation and work instructions of an operator. This is achieved by a system operation planning device characterized by having a means (decision table) for extracting and accumulating operator knowledge (operation rules).

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overview of a system operation planning device that is an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a file storing programs and data, 2 is a central processing unit, 3 is a graphic display that displays the system status, and 4 and 5 are keyboards and tablets used for operator input. .

Hereinafter, a case in which the system operation plan creation device of this embodiment is applied to the creation of an operation plan for the FA will be described as an example.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the system operation plan creation device applied to create the above FA operation plan, where symbols 3, 4 and 5 indicate the same components as shown in FIG. 1, and 11 is a Shows operator. The objects of operation here are the automated warehouse racks 13, stacker cranes 14, outgoing conveyors 15, incoming conveyors 16, trolleys 17, trolley tracks 18, and work displayed on the display screen of the graphic display 3. This system consists of a station (STi) 19 and a numerically controlled machining device (NCj) 20.

In the above system, a workpiece 21 in an automated warehouse 13 is taken out by a stacker crane 14, transported to a work station 19 by a delivery conveyor 15 and a trolley 17, and processed by a numerically controlled processing device 20. The processed object 22 is conveyed into the rack 13 by means opposite to the above. The system operation plan here determines how the above equipment will be operated.

The process of creating a system operation plan according to this embodiment will be explained below by dividing it into the configuration of a single equipment model, the extraction and accumulation of the system configuration and operation rules.

First, a method of configuring a single equipment model will be explained using the trolley 17 as an example. When there is a transport request, the trolley 17 moves to the requested location, transfers (loads) the workpiece 21 onto the trolley 17, moves to the destination location, and then transfers the workpiece 21 to the work station 19. Load (unload). Since a plurality of carts 17 use the same track 18, if there is another cart in the direction in which the cart 17 is traveling, the carts 17 are forced to wait (wait for movement). In addition, if the transfer location is not vacant, the transfer operation is made to wait (transfer waiting).

In order to model the truck 17, the above-mentioned movements are first represented by a state transition diagram shown in FIG. 3 and a state transition cause diagram shown in FIG. 4. Based on these, a cart module (FIG. 5) is created which causes state transitions to occur depending on the state of the cart 17. This trolley module has a trolley attribute table (sixth
) and the track attribute table (FIGS. 8 and 9) that respectively define the section length and track position of the track 18 on which the bogie 17 moves, the work availability status and work status of the bogie 17, Cart status table (No. 7
The movement of the bogie 17 is simulated by referring to and updating the track status table (FIG. 10) that shows the usage status of the track. In addition to this, a table showing the truck 17 and track 18 to be displayed on the window 7 of the graphic display 3 is created.

Create the program and table mentioned above,
By registering this in the file 1, the model of the truck 17 is constructed. Other single equipments are similarly modeled and registered in the file 1.

Next, a method for interactively creating the configuration of a target system using the apparatus of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, the operator 11 displays each unit equipment model registered in the file 1 in the window 7 of the graphic display 3. The operator 11 selects the required unit equipment model from the window 7, and enters the necessary attributes from the keyboard 4. input. For example, for the truck 17, the element number, loading time, unloading time, and moving speed in the truck assignment table shown in FIG. 6 are input. A single piece of equipment with defined attributes is placed in the window 8 of the graphic display 3 using the tablet 5.

Similarly, regarding the occurrence of objects, the object number, processing type, occurrence time,
Enter the location of the occurrence. FIG. 12 shows an object status table that is updated when a simulation is performed and the state of the object changes.

Next, the extraction and accumulation mechanism of operation rules will be explained in the 13th section.
The explanation will be based on the processing flow shown in the figure. In block 102, the configuration of the system described above is input, and for each operation (for example, work assignment of the trolley 17), a sensor for grasping the status of the equipment, a motor for giving work instructions to the equipment, and the start timing of the operation are input. An operation start condition table (FIG. 15) to be set and a work option table (FIG. 16) for displaying work selections for the operator 11 on the window 9 of the graphic display 3 are input.

Block 103 is an event table (first block) in which events that change the state of the system are registered.
Retrieving the event that is activated earliest from Figure 4),
Let the simulation time be the activation time of the event. Block 104 determines whether the simulation time has reached a specified time (simulation end time). If the simulation end time has not arrived, block 105
updates system status. For example, when an event occurs for the truck 17, the truck module shown in FIG. 5 is executed, and the truck status table shown in FIG. 7, the activation status table shown in FIG. 10, etc. are updated. Block 106 displays the updated system status on the window 8 of the graphic display 3. Block 107 displays the code indicating each attribute of the event extracted from the event table that matches the event code in the operation start condition table. If there is no match, the process returns to block 103. Also, if there is a match,
Select the specified operation module to start. Block 108 uses the decision table shown in FIG. 17 to determine whether the current system situation is the same as the situation when the selected operation was activated in the past.

The rows of the decision table are the condition section 201 indicating the sensor detection status, the action section 202 indicating the work request status, and the columns are the operation rule section 203.
It shows. Each rule 2 of the operation rule section 203
05 to 208 are the two states of the action section 202 (X: drive, blank: do nothing) for the three states of each sensor of the condition section 201 (Y: ON, N: OFF, -: either). is defined.

If the result of the above judgment is negative, block 109
is the work option (first option) for the activated operation.
6) is displayed on the window 9 of the graphic display 3. On the other hand, the current situation of trolleys 20
1 is the same as the condition part of the rule in the past, block 110 determines whether or not to display the past operation results (action part). When displaying, that is, when judgment by the operator 11 is required, the block 111 displays work options (FIG. 16) and past operation results in the window 9.

A block 112 writes the item of the work instruction selected by the operator 11 into the action section 202, and decides whether or not to request the operator 11 to make a judgment on the operation decision when the same situation as this operation rule appears in the future. Item 204 Figure 17, page 13
Accept the flag on line 16. Operator 1
If it is decided that the judgment in step 1 is not necessary (N), and if it is judged in block 110 that the situation is the same as the condition part 201 of this operation rule, then in block 114 a work instruction is given to the equipment without the intervention of the operator 11.

Block 113 updates the decision table. This includes the integration of operational rules, i.e.
When two operation rules have the same action section 202 but a part of the condition section 201 that differs, this includes integrating the different sections into one operation rule by defining them as 'one'.

Block 115 checks whether the decision table shown in FIG. 17 is complete, that is, whether there are cases where there is no corresponding operating rule for the system situation. If incomplete, block 116 displays the undetermined system status (condition section 201) from the decision table. The operator determines the operation for the displayed system status based on past trial experience. Block 117 receives the item of the work instruction selected by operator 11 into condition section 202 . Block 118, like block 113, updates the decision table. Once the decision table is complete, block 119 performs a termination process.

Next, taking the work selection operation of the trolley 17 as an example,
It shows how the knowledge of the operator 11 is stored in the decision table. First, trolley 17
Assume that the is stopped at work station ST6, and the transport requests are in the order of ST4 and ST1.

On the other hand, if the work is simply assigned in the order of earliest transportation requests, ST4 requests will be selected, but ST1 requests will be processed first, and then ST
If four requests are processed, two requests can be processed while the cart 17 makes one revolution. Therefore, in this case, the operator 11 issues a work instruction for ST1. As a result, operation rule 1 (205) is automatically entered in the decision table in the process of block 113. When a new situation occurs, similar processing is performed and an operational rule 203 is added to the decision table. Through the steps described above, the operator's knowledge is collected and
Can be accumulated.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention include the following embodiments.

(1) In order to facilitate the modeling of equipment in the target system, the movement of the equipment is represented by a state transition diagram and a state transition factor table, and the tables that define equipment are divided into equipment attribute tables and equipment status tables. A device characterized by being configured separately.

(2) To increase the reusability of equipment modules,
The model of the target system is divided into modules for object (work) generation, equipment, and operation, and these modules are created in an operation activation condition table that contains the names of operation modules that should be activated in response to events that change the state of the system. A device characterized by making connections between

(3) In order to reduce operator intervention, if the same situation as the previously determined operational rule occurs again, the operational rule will be automatically determined.
Alternatively, the apparatus is characterized by having a flag indicating whether to request the operator's judgment again.

(4) After the simulation is finished, compare the system situations that can be combined with the condition part 201 of the operation rules stored in the decision table (Figure 17 above), and check the system situations that did not appear when the simulation was executed. In other words, the system status that is not included in the condition section of the accumulated operation rules can be detected without operator intervention.
In other words, the device is characterized by having a function of automatically displaying information and requesting the operator's judgment.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, in a system operation planning device having means for displaying the dynamic behavior of a target system and means for inputting equipment operation and work instructions for the system, Since we have provided a means (decision table) to extract operator knowledge (operation rules) from the work instruction results and to store this information (decision table), system operation is suitable for creating operation plans for complex systems where many operation plans can be considered. This has the remarkable effect of realizing a planning device. Another advantage is that the decision table obtained by this system operation planning device can be used as control software as it is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of the man-machine interactive part, Fig. 3 is a state transition diagram of the cart, Fig. 4 is a state transition factor diagram of the cart, Fig. 5 is a state transition module of the cart, and Fig. 6 is a cart state transition diagram. Attribute table, Figure 7 is a bogie status table, Figures 8 and 9 are track attribute tables, Figure 10 is a track status table, Figure 11 is an object attribute table, Figure 12 is an object status table, 13 is a processing flowchart, FIG. 14 is an event table, FIG. 15 is an operation start condition table, FIG. 16 is an operation option table, and FIG. 17 is a decision table. 1...File, 2...Central processing unit, 3...
Graphic display, 4...keyboard,
5...tablet, 7,8,9...window, 1
1... Operator.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Display means for displaying the dynamic behavior of the target system when a simulation is performed to simulate the operation and operation of the target system on a computer, and equipment operation and work instructions for the system. means for inputting the knowledge of the operator based on the results of equipment operation and work instructions inputted by the operator from the input means based on the contents displayed by the display means; A means of automatically displaying the situation and requesting the operator's judgment, and an instruction to automatically decide on operation or to request the operator's judgment again if the same situation occurs again according to the established equipment operation rules. A system operation planning device characterized by having means for creating a system operation plan. 2. The system operation plan creation device according to claim 1, wherein the extracting means includes means for storing extracted knowledge.