JPH0573109A - Method and device for generating sequence program - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To optimize a sequence program by extracting the non-optimized program parts as irrationally operated results and improving the irrational parts. CONSTITUTION:This device is composed of a host computer 60, CRT panel control unit 53 and data file 56. The host computer 60 is equipped with three sub systems and composed of an automatic programming/data input sub system 104, fault diagnosis/recovery sub system 106 to execute fault diagnosis and recovery, and simulation sub system 105 to execute simulation. While operating the temporarily generated sequence program for real facilities, data showing the states of operating the devices of these facilities are stored. Irrationality between the stored states of operating the devices and generation rules 112 describing the operations of the devices is judged and when it is judged that the states of really operating the devices are irrational, the generation rules are changed based on a prescribed change rule.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating a sequence program for managing production equipment controlled by, for example, a sequencer, and more particularly to optimizing the sequence program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a production line such as an automobile assembly line, a sequence control unit having a built-in computer is provided for various installed facilities, and the sequence control unit performs a sequence of operations to be sequentially performed by each facility. It is known to have control.
In such sequence control, a control program is loaded into a computer incorporated in the sequence control unit, and the sequence control unit sequentially advances each step of operation control for each of various equipment installed in the production line according to the sequence operation control program. It is designed to continue.

As a control method for such sequence control, the present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 1-335271, 2-1.
No. 10977, 2-30379, 1-253991
No. 2-304022, 2-304023, 2-3
04024, 3-67290, 3-67291,
No. 3-67292 is filed. The production line management method in these applications describes general control conditions by the sequencer of all the equipment of the production line as an input / output map, while the concrete sequential operation of the line is defined as an operation block and an operation step. And then on that,
The ladder program is generated based on the input / output map, the operation step flow map, and the operation block flow map.

Further, in the failure diagnosis in the above application, the operation mode of the constituent elements of the sequence control circuit section in a state where the equipment is operating normally is preset as a reference operation mode, and when the equipment is actually operating, The operation mode of the constituent elements of the sequence control circuit section is sequentially compared with the reference operation mode, and the failure is detected based on the difference.

Further, in order to make the program creation efficient and easy, the applicant of the present invention assigns a name that briefly represents the operation in the rule describing each operation step to the database of the above rules. Turn into
In addition, the system for managing the production line includes four subsystems: a program automatic generation subsystem, a failure diagnosis subsystem, a user interface subsystem, and a simulation subsystem that simulates the generated program. The database can be accessed by name from any of these subsystems to simplify the operation and reduce mistakes in any operation such as automatic program generation, program execution, and failure analysis. I measured it.

[0006]

In the automatic generation of the sequence program filed by the applicant of the present invention, all the equipment can be programmatically specified by name as described above, and therefore the program can be easily created. Although it has the advantage of being easy to maintain, it cannot be denied that it is not necessarily optimized for each production line in that the machine automatically generates a program.

For example, some equipment on the production line has different operating characteristics. For example, even in the case of cylinders of the same model, there are variations in the operation due to changes over time, aging, dust, etc.
There is a difference in the time required for the cylinder actuator to turn on. Alternatively, a plurality of N
If there are C devices, they must start up at the same time to start operation, but the NC devices use different microcomputers, or they are from different manufacturers, and therefore the operation time is longer. Differences may occur, causing a malfunction of the device. And in the automatic generation method of the above application, since the operation of the equipment is described according to the generation rule based on the nominal value,
The generated program has a gap with respect to actual equipment with different operating characteristics. Therefore, even if it is not necessarily a malfunction, it can be diagnosed as a failure and the system can be brought down in the future. Become.

Another problem that the program automatically generated by the automatic generation method according to the above application is not optimized is that activation of an operation block or activation of an operation step is uniform. Here, the operation block is a group of a plurality of operation steps, and another operation block is activated from the operation step in the middle,
Alternatively, each operation block is associated with another operation block because the operation step in the middle of the operation block is not activated from another operation block. Since the sequence program is characterized in that each operation step is executed in sequence, the start condition of a certain operation block or operation step is that the operation block, all the operation blocks up to the operation step, and the output of the operation step are It can be said that it is the sum of confirmation conditions. In the above application, when a certain operation block C is activated after waiting for the end of the operation blocks A and B, the activation condition of the operation block C is
If the output confirmation conditions of the operation block A are a ₁ , a ₂ , ... And the output confirmation conditions of the operation block B are b ₁ , b ₂ , ..., a ₁ * a ₂ * ... * b ₁ * b ₂ * ... However, in reality, all the operation steps in the operation blocks A and B do not contribute to the activation condition of the operation block C. In other words, for example, the operation block B
If the output b ₂ of the operation block C does not interfere with the operation of any operation step of the operation block C, b ₂ can be removed from the start condition of the operation block C, and the processing speed can be increased and the program maintenance can be facilitated. Bring to life.

As described above, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the automatic generation method of the sequence program in our application from the viewpoint of optimization. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to propose a sequence program generation method and its apparatus that have high program development efficiency and are easy to maintain.

[0010]

[Means and Actions for Achieving the Object] The structure of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object comprises one or a plurality of devices for activating or regulating the operation of individual equipment or for confirming the operation. A generation method for automatically generating a sequence program in which a generation rule that describes a state is combined with respect to a plurality of pieces of equipment, wherein: a: a device of these pieces of equipment while operating the once generated sequence program on actual equipment. Storing the data indicating the operating state of the device, b: determining an absurdity between the stored operating state of the device and the generation rule describing the operation of the device, and c: b, the device If the actual operating state of the device is determined to be unreasonable with respect to the generation rule of the device, By providing the step of changing the product rule, characterized by optimizing the sequence program.

The present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is as follows:
A generation device for automatically generating a sequence program for combining a plurality of facilities with a generation rule that describes the state of one or more devices for activating, regulating, or confirming the operation of each facility. A: a first storage unit that stores the generation rule, b: a monitoring unit that monitors the operating state of devices of these facilities while operating the sequence program once generated on actual facilities, c: a second storage unit that stores data indicating an operating state; d: determine an absurdity between the stored operating state of the device and the generation rule that describes the operation of the device,
And a rule changing unit that changes the generation rule based on a predetermined change rule when it is determined that the actual operating state of the device is unreasonable with respect to the generation rule of the device.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the sequence control of an automobile production line will be described below. <Characteristics of Example System> The system of this example is the same as the Japanese Patent Application No. 3-67290, 3-67291, 3-6 of the present applicant.
It is a further development of the 7292. By the way, the above three characteristics are in the following three points i to iii. i : All operations of the equipment to be managed in the production line are decomposed into operation blocks, and each operation block is further decomposed into a plurality of operation steps. ii : For each operation block and each operation step, the operation block or operation step itself and the operation can be easily recalled so that the programmer or the operator (hereinafter abbreviated as operator) can easily understand them. Such a unique "name" is attached.

Iii : This system has functions such as automatic generation of a ladder program, simulation of the generated ladder program, system management during actual operation or during simulation, and failure diagnosis.
In the process of programming these functions, the user interface between the system and the operator and the program interface between the programs are performed by the "name". In other words, the functions, the user interface, and the program interface can reduce the man-hours required for the development of the sequence control program and the maintenance of the system.
That is,

Iii-1 : In this system, as will be described later, the devices of all equipment of the entire system, the steps using the devices, and the operation blocks composed of these steps are, in other words, run by this system. All the programs that can be variables are named, and those names are made into a library. Therefore, all programs run by this system (especially,
In the process of creating a sequence ladder program, these "names" that have been made into a library can be used,
It enables efficient program development.

Iii-2 : In this system, a sequence control program, a simulation program,
A common database (some data of this database is called "real I / O map") for all programs that have some relation to the production equipment, such as the failure diagnosis program and the screen control program of the CRT operation panel. ) Can be accessed. This database contains generalized information about all devices on the production line needed to control the device (eg, the signal name that drives the device, the signal name that confirms the drive information, etc.) . Therefore, the above sequence control program, simulation program, failure diagnosis program, and screen control program for the CRT operation panel
The operator can refer to the information necessary for the device or operation simply by using the device name, operation name, etc. in the program.

In addition to the above system features i to iii , the features of the embodiment system to be described below are: iv Create a database. In addition, when a fault occurs, the change in the system is recorded from a few steps before the fault detected operating step to the fault detected operating step. These data are useful for failure diagnosis. In the search for a failure cause location, in the present specification, a method of selectively using a failure cause search route (binary tree search method) in the past,
A method of preferentially estimating the cause of failure in the past as the cause of failure this time is proposed.

V : A recovery process is stored after a failure occurs, and a recovery process is stored in a database for each cause of the failure. When a failure occurs due to the same cause as the previous failure, the recovery process is retrieved from the database and displayed on the display device. The operator performs restoration according to the display. That is, the past recovery sequence serves as a guide for this recovery. This will speed up recovery,
Moreover, the recovery operation does not depend on the skill level of the operator. vi : In the automatic generation of the sequence program described in iii-1, the generated program is not always the optimum one. The system of the present embodiment provides a method for optimizing the generated program.

Vi-1 : This function detects the redundant part and removes the redundant part when the starting condition for activating the operation block or the operation step includes the redundant part, and the next time the sequence control program is executed. The sequence program is optimized by improving the generation rule so that such a redundant portion is not generated again at the time of automatic generation. The operation pattern of the program including the redundant starting condition should be different every time the program is executed without failure, the pattern part corresponding to the redundant part is executed every time the program is executed. The optimization of the start condition starts by detecting this different pattern part.

Vi-2 : This feature is for detecting and optimizing a program portion that performs an unstable operation when the equipment includes an unstable operation. In order to programmatically rescue the equipment that performs the unstable operation, it is necessary to detect the equipment that performed the unstable operation. Therefore, when a suspicious failure is detected, the operation pattern of the system when a failure with a clear cause in the past occurred and the operation pattern of this suspicious failure are compared, and the equipment corresponding to the different pattern does not operate properly. Judge as stable equipment. Then, the generation rule of the ladder program for this equipment is optimized so as to include a program element that suppresses the unstable operation. vii : In order to carry out the simulation efficiently, this function stores the operation patterns that occurred in the actual equipment over a plurality of operation steps, and these operation patterns are automatically stored in the simulation program as simulation conditions. By passing it, the simulation is performed efficiently and accurately.

The embodiment described below is one in which the present invention is applied to automatic generation of a sequence control program in a process of docking an engine and a suspension on a vehicle body in a production line of an automobile. Therefore, first, the vehicle assembly line to be controlled by the sequence control program 101 will be described. Next, operation blocks and operation steps, which are important concepts for automatic generation of the sequence control program of this embodiment, will be described. Then, after that, the automatic generation of the control program, which is a characteristic part of the present embodiment, will be described.

<Example of Assembly Line> First, an example of a vehicle assembly line to be controlled by the sequence control program to be generated will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. A part of the vehicle assembly line is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This line illustratively consists of three stations ST1, ST2, ST3. At the positioning station ST1, the body 11 of the vehicle is received on the pedestal 12 and the position of the pedestal 12 is controlled to position the body 11. In docking station ST2,
Engine 14 placed at a predetermined position on pallet 13
The front suspension assembly (not shown), the rear suspension assembly 15 and the body 11 are combined. At the fastening station ST3, the body 11
On the other hand, the engine 14 and the front suspension assembly 15 assembled in ST2 are fastened and fixed by using a screw. An overhead transfer position 16 for holding and transporting the body 11 is provided between the positioning station ST1 and the docking station ST2. A pallet transfer position 17 for transferring the pallet 13 is provided between the docking station ST2 and the fastening station ST3.

The pedestal 12 in the positioning station ST1 reciprocates along a rail 18. In the positioning station ST1, the pedestal 12 is moved in a direction (vehicle width direction) orthogonal to the rails 18 to position the body 11 placed on the pedestal 12 in the vehicle width direction of its front portion. Positioning means (BF) and positioning means (B) for positioning the rear portion in the vehicle width direction.
R) and the direction in which the pedestal 12 is along the rail 18 (front-back direction)
And a positioning means (TL) for performing positioning in the front-rear direction by moving the same. Further, ST1 is engaged with front left and right portions and rear left and right portions of the body 11 to position the body 11 with respect to the pedestal 12, and ascending / descending reference pins (FL, F).
R, RL, RR) are provided. Then, the positioning device and the elevating reference pin constitute a positioning device 19 in the positioning station ST1. That is, the positioning means and the lifting reference pins are control targets of the positioning device 19 of the sequence control program.

The transfer device 16 includes a positioning station S.
The guide rail 20 is provided above the T1 and the docking station ST2 so as to be bridged therebetween, and the carrier 21 that moves along the guide rail 20. An elevating hanger frame 22 is attached to the carrier 21, and the body 11 is supported by the elevating hanger frame 22. Lifting hanger frame 22
As shown in FIG. 3, the left front support arm 22
The FL and the right front support arm 22FR are attached via the pair of front arm clamp portions 22A, respectively, and the left rear support arm 22RL and the right rear support arm 22RR are also mounted.
(Not shown) are attached via a pair of front arm clamp portions 22B, respectively. Left front support arm 22FL,
Each of the right front support arms 22FR rotates about the front arm arm clamp portion 22A as a center of rotation, and when the clamp by the front arm clamp 22A is released, the right front support arm 22FR takes a position extending along the guide rail 20. When the front arm clamp portion 22A is clamped, as shown in FIG.
The position is set to extend in the direction orthogonal to 0. Similarly, each of the left rear support arm 22RL and the right rear support arm 22RR also rotates about the rear arm clamp portion 22B, and when the clamp by the rear arm clamp portion 22A is released, the guide 20 is moved to the guide 20. It also has a position that extends along it, and when it is clamped by the rear arm clamp portion 22B, it has a position that extends in a direction orthogonal to the guide rail 20.

When the body 11 is transferred to the transfer device 16, the transfer device 16 is moved to the position (original position) above the front end of the rail 18 as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. Each of the left front support arm 22FL and the right front support arm 22FR extends along the guide rail 20 after the clamp by the front arm clamp portion 22A is released. Further, each of the left rear support arm 22RL and the right rear support arm 22RR is released from the clamp by the rear arm clamp portion 22B and extends along the guide rail 20, and then the elevating hanger frame 21B is lowered. In this state, the pedestal 1 on which the body 11 is placed
2 is moved along the rail 18 to the front end portion thereof so as to take a position corresponding to the lifted hanger frame 21B of the transfer device 16 that has been lowered. And
Left front support arm 22FL, right front support arm 22FR
Each of them is rotated to take a position below the front part of the body 11 and extends in a direction orthogonal to the guide rail 20, and is in a state of being clamped by the front arm clamp part 22A. In addition, the left rear support arm 22RL and the right rear support arm 22RR are rotated to move the body 1
The rear arm clamp portion 22B is positioned below the rear portion of the rear arm 1 and extends in a direction orthogonal to the guide rail 20.
It will be in the state of being clamped by. Thereafter, the elevating and lowering hanger frame 21B is raised, and the body 11 is attached to the elevating and lowering hanger frame 21B of the transfer device 16 as shown in FIG.
FL, right front support arm 22FR and left rear support arm 2
It is supported by 2RL and the right rear support arm 22RR.

Further, the pallet conveying device 17 is provided with a pair of guide portions 24L and 24R provided with a large number of support rollers 23 for receiving the lower surface of the pallet 13, and the guide portions 24L and 24R, respectively, extending in parallel with each other. And a pair of transport rails 25L and 25R, and a pallet locking portion 26 that locks the pallet 13, respectively.
And pallet transfer tables 27L and 27R that are designed to move along the pallet transfer table 27L and the pallet transfer table 27L.
And a linear motor mechanism (not shown) that drives 27R.

When the front suspension assembly and the rear suspension assembly 15 are respectively assembled to the docking station ST2, a pair of strut of the front suspension assembly and a strut 15A of the rear suspension assembly 15 are respectively supported to take an assembly posture. Left and right front clamp arms 30L and 30R, and a pair of left and right rear clamp arms 31L and 31R are provided. The left and right front clamp arms 30L and 30R are attached to the attachment plate portions 32L and 32R so as to be movable back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the transport rails 25L and 25R, respectively, and the left and right rear clamp arms 31L and 31R are attached respectively. The plate portions 33L and 33R are attached so as to be movable back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the transport rails 25L and 25R. The front end portions of the left and right front clamp arms 30L and 30R that face each other and the front end portions of the left and right rear clamp arms 31L and 31R that face the front suspension assembly strut 15A or the rear suspension assembly 15 strut 15A, respectively. It has a mating engaging portion. Then, the mounting plate portion 32L
Can be moved in a direction along the transport rails 25L and 25R with respect to the fixed base 35L by the arm slide 34L. The mounting plate portion 32R is attached to the fixed base 35R by the arm slides 34R, and the transport rails 25L and 25R.
It is movable in the direction along R. The mounting plate portion 33L is
With respect to the fixed base 37L by the arm slide 36L,
It is movable in the direction along the transport rails 25L and 25R. Further, the mounting plate portion 33R includes the arm slide 36.
By R, it is movable with respect to the fixed base 37R in the direction along the transport rails 25L and 25R. Therefore,
The left and right front clamp arms 30L and 30R can move back and forth and left and right under the condition that their front ends are engaged with the struts of the front suspension assembly. In addition, left and right rear clamp arms 31L and 31R
Are movable in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction in a state in which their tips are engaged with the struts 15A of the rear suspension assembly 15. The left and right front clamp arms 30L and 30R, the arm slides 34L and 34R, the left and right rear clamp arms 31L and 31R, and the arm slides 36L and 36R configure a docking device 40.

Further, in the docking station ST2, a pair of slide rails 41L and 41R installed so as to extend in parallel to the transport rails 25L and 25R, respectively.
And a slide device 45 including a movable member 42 that slides along the slide rails 41L and 41R, a motor 43 that drives the movable member 42, and the like. Movable member 4 in this slide device 45
On the second side, engaging means 46 for engaging a movable engine support member (not shown) provided on the pallet 13 is provided.
And 2 for positioning the pallet 13 at a predetermined position.
Elevating pallet reference pins 47 are provided. In the slide device 45, the body 11 supported by the elevating hanger frame 22 in the transfer device 16 is
When the engine 14, the front suspension assembly and the rear suspension assembly 15 arranged on the pallet 13 are combined, the engaging means 46 engages with the movable engine support member on the pallet 13 positioned by the lifting pallet reference pin 47. In this state, the engine 14 is moved back and forth, whereby the engine 14 is moved back and forth with respect to the body 11 to avoid interference between the body 11 and the engine 14.

At the fastening station ST3, the body 11
And a robot 48A for performing screw tightening work for fastening the engine 14 and the front suspension assembly combined with this, and the body 11 and the rear suspension assembly 15 combined therewith.
Robot 4 for performing screw tightening work for fastening
8B and are arranged. Furthermore, the fastening station S
At T3, two lifting pallet reference pins 47 for positioning the pallet 13 at a predetermined position are provided.

In the vehicle assembly line described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the positioning device 19 and the transfer device 16 in the positioning station ST1, and the docking device 40 and the slide device 45 and the pallet transfer device 17 in the docking station ST2, Then, the robots 48A and 48B at the fastening station ST3
The sequence control section connected to them performs sequence control based on the sequence control program generated by the program generation device of this embodiment. That is, these positioning device 19 and transfer device 1
6 and the like are "equipment" that are the sequence control targets.

<Operation Block and Operation Step> FIG. 1,
The assembling operation in the production line shown in FIG. 2, that is, the operation performed by all the "equipment" to be sequence-controlled can be decomposed into a plurality of "operation blocks". Here, the “motion block” can be defined as: a set of a plurality of unit motions. The most important property of a motion block is: It is possible to complete a motion in the intermediate process from the start to the end of a motion block independently of other motion blocks without interference. ..

Because of this property, it becomes possible to describe the operation block as one block (lump). In other words, a motion block is related to other motion blocks only at the level of the motion block.
In order for an operation block to start operation, it is necessary to end the operation in another operation block. There may be one or more other operation blocks. That is, the operation end of one operation block may be a start condition for another operation block (one or a plurality of operation blocks) connected to it, or the operation end of a plurality of operation blocks may be a start condition. is there.

Further, according to the above-mentioned property, in the intermediate stage of the operation in the operation block, the other operation blocks are not activated. Further, there is no need to wait for activation from another operation block in the intermediate stage of the operation block. From the above definition of the action block, the following ancillary action block properties can be derived. : It is desirable that the motion block is the largest of the unit motion sets that satisfy the above properties. The nature of this is not absolutely necessary. However, when the above is satisfied, the number of operation blocks that describe the production line is reduced, the description of the entire process is simplified, and it becomes very easy to see.

The operation block is also limited according to the type of operation performed in the operation block. That is, the operation of the device is roughly classified into "repetitive operation", "continuous operation", "robot operation", and the like. In this system, a ladder program is automatically generated from a standard ladder pattern. However, since the ladder pattern differs greatly depending on the operation, a device that performs only the same type of operation in one operation block. Collect.
However, since this request is from the viewpoint of improving the efficiency of the program, it is not that the ladder program cannot be automatically generated unless this request is observed.

FIG. 4 shows an overall flow of operations in the production line of FIGS. 1 and 2. Figure 1,
When the production line shown in FIG. 2 is described by the operation blocks which satisfy the following conditions, 19 operation blocks a to s are obtained as shown in FIG. The block diagram thus obtained is obtained after the operator analyzes the operation in the production line shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. In the figure, 2 connected by a horizontal double line
One (or more) motion block means to operate in parallel. Further, when the two motion blocks are vertically connected by a solid line, the motion of the motion block located above starts only after the motion of the motion block located above ends. The double-lined square means the beginning of each block.

The operation block a means the forward movement of the pedestal 12 and is called "advance receiving". When this "load receiving forward" block is completed, a block b named "reference output" and a block c named "receiver output" are performed in parallel. In the “reference output” block b, the reference pins (F
The L reference pin and the RR reference pin are driven to a position named "out", and the TL positioning means and the like are driven to a position named "return". In block c, the pedestal 12 moves to the docking position. In the block named “transfer lifting” of the block d, the transfer device 16 moves up at the station ST1. When the operation of the block d is completed, the operation block is processed in two flows following the block d. That is, following the "transfer rising" block, a block e named "reference return" and a block h named "transfer forward" operate in parallel. In block e, the operation of returning the reference pin issued in block b to the "return" position is performed. On the other hand, in the block h, the transfer device 16 advances to the station 2.

In a block f named "Receiving cargo" following the block e, the cradle 12 is retracted. In block h, the transfer device 16 advances to the station ST2. On the other hand, in the guide part, the strut clamp part, and the pallet slide part, the block 1
(“Pin up”), block m (“lift up”) and block n (“pallet forward”) are executed respectively. Completion of block m (“lift lift”) and block n (“pallet advance”) activates block o (“arm out”).

When the operations in the blocks h, 1, and o are completed, the operation block i named "transfer lowering" is executed. The above-described flowchart of the operation block set in FIG. 4 is a block of an operation set that meets the above-mentioned conditions (1) to (4). It was created in. The name given to each operation block expresses the characteristics of the operations (plurality) in the operation block in short words.
The feature of the system of the present embodiment is that the name of each operation block is unique as described in ii above, and the operation block can be specified by software by this name.

Each operation block consists of a plurality of operation steps. In principle, an operation by one actuator (solenoid or the like) corresponds to the operation in one operation step. FIG. 7 is a flowchart consisting of a plurality of operation steps performed in the "reference output" block b. In the figure, the label attached to each step is the name of the step given by the operator. According to the flow chart of FIG. 7, in the "RR slide out" step, the right slide rail 41R on the rear side is set to the "out" state, and "FL reference pin A out" and "FL reference pin B out".
At the step, the above-mentioned raising / lowering reference pins A and B (left side of the front portion) for positioning the vehicle body 12 with respect to the pedestal 12 are set to the “out” state. In the "RR reference pin output" step, the raising / lowering reference pin on the rear right side is also set to the "out" state. Also, "TL position return", "BR position return",
In each step of "BF position return", the positioning means TL, BR, BF are returned to the "return" position. In this way, the "reference output" block b in FIG.
This is represented by the step operation shown in the figure. This operation step flow chart is also created by the aforementioned flow chart creation program.

As described above, each label expressing the operation of one operation block in the operation step flow chart as shown in FIG. It is a simple expression. For example, the name “RR reference pin out” is given to the step “RR reference pin out” in which the RR reference pin is in the “out” state. Here, the "RR reference pin" in the first half of this name specifies the actuator driven in that operation step, and the next "exit" means the drive state of that actuator. In other words, for humans and devices who can understand the meanings given to the names of the operation blocks and operation steps in the flowcharts of FIGS. It is easy to understand that it is written. The goal of the automatic generation system for sequence control programs of this embodiment is to automatically generate the ladder programs shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 from the flow charts of FIGS. 4 and 7. The ladder program shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 is a ladder program element corresponding to a part of the operation of the operation block b shown in FIG.

<Ladder program symbol> Here,
The symbols of the ladder program will be explained. The equipment itself, such as the lifting reference pin, of the production line in FIG. 1 is not a control target on the ladder program, and a problem is the solenoid that drives it. Therefore, the equipment of the production line can be equivalentized by a cylinder actuator as shown in FIG. The "out" state and the "return" state of this actuator are defined by the position of the piston that moves left and right in the cylinder in the drawing. The piston is the signal B to which the solenoid valve is input.
It is energized or de-energized by ₀ to assume either its "out" or "return" state. These two states are confirmed by two limit switches. That is, as the output from the “equipment” in FIG. 11, the output A _O (“outgoing confirmation” signal) from the limit switch for confirming that it has been driven and for confirming that it has been returned to the original position. Output from the limit switch of A _i (return confirmation signal).

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the logic of the output drive operation of the element of FIG. In order for the solenoid to turn on, the interlock condition ILC is satisfied. The interlock condition ILC generally includes various activation conditions specific to its operating steps. Since the execution condition of each operation step is the operation end of the operation step of the preceding stage, the interlock condition ILC has, for example, a signal indicating that the output state of the operation step of the preceding stage is confirmed (for example, FIG. 11). a _O) of included is usual. In addition, it includes signals from outside that this program did not generate.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a typical operation circuit used when automatically generating the entire sequence. In FIG. 13, the condition C _A is closed when the operating circuit is operating in the automatic mode (the mode in which the production line operates according to the sequence control program). Condition C
_S is closed when this operating circuit is operating in manual mode. C _S is normally closed. Therefore, in the normal automatic mode, if the interlock conditions ILC ₀ and _Al are satisfied, the output B _O is output. On the other hand, ILC ₁ describes the logic of operating conditions in manual mode. In the manual mode, since the contact C _S is opened, whether the conditions A _k and ILC ₁ are simultaneously satisfied, or the condition A is satisfied.
_{If k} and A _I are satisfied at the same time, B _O is output. In general, A _I, the interlock conditions of manual operation I
This is the logic for killing LC ₁ .

The ladder pattern shown in FIG. 13 is a standard pattern used for expressing a ladder program of a certain operation step. Other ladder patterns prepared in this system are shown in FIGS. 14 to 16. 14th
The figure is a pattern that describes the start and stop of motion blocks in a standard manner. FIG. 15 is the same as the pattern described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a pattern in which one contact condition is added to the pattern of FIG.

Labels 1360 and 1372 in FIG.
This is a ladder program corresponding to "RR slide out" in the figure. In the logic of label 1360, “B4 step 1 output” at address 5041 is (B4 step OFF * reference pin return * container forward + B
4 step 1 output) * B4 step 2 output / * B4 step 3 output / =
When 1 is satisfied, "1" is output. Here, B4 is the block number of the "reference output" block b in FIG. Further, "/" represents a logical NOT. Also, "B
"4 steps OFF" means that all steps of block 4 are off (i.e. not executed). Further, "reference pin return" and "conveyance table forward" at address 1753 mean the end of the operation in the "consignment forward" block preceding the "reference reference" in block 4. Also, B4
It can be easily guessed about the step 2 output / and B4 step 3 output /. Thus, the action at label 1360 represents the condition under which the first motion step "RR slide out" of the "reference out" block should be activated correctly. Therefore, if all the operation steps of "advance receipt of goods" of the block are completed, the above conditional expression is satisfied, and "B4 step 1 output" becomes "1". Once the “B4 step 1 output” becomes “1”, the “B4 step 1 output” remains “1” due to the latch condition of the label 1360.

The output "B4St" of the label 1372 in FIG.
"1RR slide out" becomes "1" because B4 step 1 output * cargo cradle forward * B4 operation ON * RR
This is when the slide out / = 1 is satisfied. Here, it is noted that B4St1 is the first step of block number 4. "R
The operation of "R slide out" is performed when "B4 step 1 output" is set to "1" and the "RR slide" actuator is not turned on "advancement of the cradle".
It is when the step is executed.

The ladder programs shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 are
"FL reference pin A output" and "FL reference pin B output" in FIG.
It is easy to understand that the two operation steps of Thus, when the "reference output" block of the block b of FIG. 4 is represented in a form corresponding to the operation step flowchart of FIG. 7, "RR slide output" and "FL reference pin A" of the operation step flowchart are shown. Out ”,
The three steps called "FL reference pin B output" are shown in Fig. 8 ~.
It will be understood that this corresponds to the ladder program of FIG.

<System Configuration> As described in i) to vii), a major goal of this system is how to efficiently perform the process control of the production line as shown in FIG. There is great interest in how to automate functions such as automatic generation of ladder programs, simulation of generated ladder programs, system management during actual operation or simulation of generated ladder programs, and failure diagnosis. FIG. 17 is a generalized conceptual diagram of a process in which a system for performing process control is introduced into a certain production line. Further, FIG. 19 is a diagram showing program functions required for the entire system of the embodiment, and FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the coupling relationship between the functions required for the system of the present embodiment. Is.

As shown in FIG. 17, the introduction of the production line and its management system begins with its basic design,
It is represented by the steps of detailed design, creation of a sequence program, trial of the program, and actual operation. The system according to this embodiment shown in FIG.
Particularly, it is effective in the "sequence program creation" stage, the "trial" stage, and the "operating" stage in FIG. To that end, the embodiment system, as shown in FIG. 19, is a program automatic generation function, a failure detection function during program execution, a failure location analysis function when a failure is detected, and an automatic recovery from a failure. Function, simulation function in failure state or trial, optimization function of automatically generated program, etc. are required.

With reference to FIG. 18, the program configuration of the system of this embodiment will be described in block form. In FIG. 18, the master table 101 describes device names, types of operations, and these devices with symbols as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 for all equipment (actuators, etc.) of the target production line. The names of input signals and output signals in the case of doing so are tabulated, and a detailed example thereof is shown in FIG. Since this master table expresses the actual input / output relationship of each device, it will be referred to as "real I / O map" hereinafter.

The database 100 includes a "name library" 108 for storing names and the like given to all equipment (devices such as actuators) used in this production line. The library 108 is provided in order to prevent the operator from giving arbitrariness to the device name. That is, if the operator A names AA and the operator B names BB for a certain equipment, the equipment of AA and B
It will be different from the equipment of B. "Name Library"
By assigning one name to one facility according to 108, unification is achieved.

The database 100 includes a "name library" 108, a "ladder pattern" 107, a "block flow map" 109, and a "step flow map".
110 and “operation status file” 111. The ladder pattern 107 is an area for storing the basic ladder pattern as shown in FIGS. 14 to 16. Each facility has a basic ladder pattern pre-assigned for that facility.

The block flow map 109 is a map as shown in FIG. 13, and the operation block flow chart shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. This enables computer data processing. The step flow map 110 enables the computer data processing by mapping the operation step flowchart shown in FIG. 7 as shown in FIG.

The operation status file 111 records changes in the signals (for example, A ₀ and A _{1 in} FIG. 11) of each confirmation device of each equipment when the sequence control program actually operates. FIG. 11 shows the structure of the operation status file 111. This file is recorded for signals that changed at the time the signal changed. Recording of unchanged signals is omitted. The reason why only the changed data is stored in the file is that a huge storage capacity is required if all the signals are stored at every unit time. In FIG. 11, the file 111
In one record of, the "occurrence time" is the time when the signal value changed, and the "signal name" is the name of the changed signal,
“Value” is the value of the signal after the change, and “fault / normal” is that the data stored in the file 111 ended up in normal operation (= 1) or ended in failure (= 0) It is shown. FIG. 12 is a diagram in which the timing changes of the signals A, B, C, and D shown in FIG. 11 are restored as timing charts from the operating state file. In addition, in the example of FIG. 11, the time t ₀ is the initial setting time.

In addition to the "real I / O map" in the database 100 and master table 101, the system shown in FIG. 18 includes "data generation" 102, "automatic programming" 104, "simulation" 105, and "failure". It consists of four subsystems called "Diagnosis / Recovery" 106.
The "automatic programming" subsystem 104 uses the "real I" in these databases 100 and master tables 101.
/ O map ”, a ladder program for sequence control is automatically generated. Data generation program 1
02 is the above-mentioned database 100 or master table 1
This is for controlling the interface with the operator when creating or modifying the "real I / O map" in 01. This subsystem 102 is mainly used in the "sequence program creation" process of FIG. As will be described later, this "automatic programming" subsystem describes a "block flow map 109" and a "step flow map 110" (these maps describe a production line from which a ladder program is to be automatically generated). The actual I / O that generally expresses the input / output relationship of the devices used in the production line.
Create a ladder program by combining the map and. This combination is called “Block Flow Map 10
9 ”and“ Step Flow Map 110 ”block names, step names and device names,
This is done by linking with the device name stored in the "real I / O map".

"Simulation" Subsystem 105
Automatically generates a program for simulating the ladder program generated by the automatic programming 104.
This generated simulation program is the 17th
Mainly used in the "trial" stage of the figure. The "fault diagnosis / recovery" subsystem 106 diagnoses a simulation result in the "trial" stage or the "operating" stage of FIG. 17 or a fault in an actual operating stage. The results are mainly displayed on the CRT display device. In this display device, the name of the failure location or the like is indexed from the device name in the "real I / O map" so that the operator can easily understand.

Thus, the central data in this system is the "real I / O map" (FIG. 24) in the master table 101, and this "real I / O map" and blocks in the database 100. The flow map 109 or the step flow map 110 and the ladder pattern 107 are organically linked to automatically generate a ladder program, a simulation program, or the like. Therefore, the hardware configuration of the present system will be described below, and then the above three maps will be described in order.

<Hardware Configuration> FIG. 25 is a rewrite of the system of the embodiment shown in FIG. 18 from the viewpoint of the hardware configuration. As shown in the figure, this system from the viewpoint of the hardware configuration has
It comprises (corresponding to various "equipment" in FIG. 1), a host computer 60, a CRT panel control unit 53 for controlling a CRT as a user interface, and a data file 56 for storing the above-mentioned map and database. The host computer 60 includes three subsystems, an automatic programming / data input subsystem 104 (102) that automatically generates a ladder program and the above-described map, and a failure diagnosis / recovery subsystem that performs failure diagnosis and recovery. 106 and a simulation subsystem 105 for performing simulation control.
These units are connected by a communication line 61, and a semiconductor memory or a high speed hard disk drive is suitable for the data file 56 in order to increase the speed. The data file 56 further stores a generation rule 112 necessary for automatically creating a ladder program.

The CRT panel control section 53 has a touch panel 57 mounted on the display screen in addition to the CRT display device 58. This system requires an interface with the operator during the automatic programming process, simulation process, failure diagnosis process, etc.
The control unit 53 displays a plurality of windows on the CRT 58 by the well-known multi-window display control, and the operator selects a desired item from the plurality of items in the displayed window using the touch panel 57. Therefore, it goes without saying that a pointing device may be used instead of the touch panel 57.

<Program Structure> FIG. 26 shows a program structure in the automatic programming / data input subsystem 104 (102). 53 to 56 show a program configuration for executing a ladder program, detecting a failure, and diagnosing a failure. In FIG. 26, a so-called operating system 120 is stored in the lowermost layer, and further includes a multi-window system 121, a Japanese front-end processor (FEP) 123 for inputting Japanese, a CRT 58, and a touch panel 57. CRT interface program 122 for controlling the interface, graphic processor 124 for creating a flow chart, and program 1 for creating a library
25 and a program 126 for creating an actual I / O map
, A program 128 for creating a flow map, a compiler 127 for creating a ladder program (FIG. 6) from this flow map, and an optimizing program 129 for optimizing the generated automatic sequence ladder program and generation rule 112. Consists of.

The programs 123 to 129 form the automatic programming subsystem 105 (102). The figure processor 124 is a processor for creating the flowchart of FIG. 4 and FIG. And a function of connecting a plurality of boxes to each other. While the graphic processor 124 is operating, items that can be input from the above-mentioned library in the data file 56 are displayed on the screen of the CRT device 58 in the multi-window mode. Here, the item is as described above,
It is literal data such as a device name, an operation step name, and an operation block name. The operator can make a desired input by selecting a specific item on the touch panel 57. In addition, it is possible to freely input names that are not in the library with the help of the Japanese FEP 123 described above. The items that can be entered are displayed in a window,
I chose the desired item from them.
This is to prevent the name from being arbitrary.
Note that such a multi-window control system, the graphic processor 124, and the Japanese FEP 123 are already well known, and detailed description thereof is unnecessary.

FIG. 27 shows a part of the data stored in the library. As shown in the figure, the data includes a "device name" field and an "operation name" field. The data in these fields are displayed separately when the various maps are created. In the library, this split into two fields is
This is because the “device name” and the “operation name” have unique meanings.

Block Flow Map FIG. 22 is a block flow map that plays an important role in this system. This map is the operation block flow chart of FIG. 4 converted by the flow map creation program 128 of the host computer 60. Yes,
It is stored in the data file 56. As shown in the figure, this map has seven items, namely, "block number", "block name", "FROM", "TO",
"Step flow map pointer", "Device type",
It consists of "operating time". The block name is the name given to the block. The block can be uniquely specified by the block name, but the block can be easily specified by adding the block number. Sixth
In the ladder program shown in the figure, for example, "B
The number "4" is obtained by referring to this block number. “FROM” indicates from which other upper block the block is connected. When a plurality of block numbers are written in the "FROM" portion, it indicates that the block is connected to the block. “TO” indicates to which other lower block the block is connected. When a plurality of block numbers are written in the “TO” part, it indicates that the block is connected to the block. FIG. 22 shows the connection relationship between blocks in the block flowchart of FIG. As described above, the graphics processor 124 is
Since the connection relation of each box in the flowchart of the figure is expressed as vector data, it is easy to create the block flow map of FIG. 22 from such data.

The "step flow map pointer" of the block flow map indicates at which memory address the step flow map (FIG. 23) of the block is created. This block flow map is created by the automatic programming unit 55 from the operation block flow chart in step S16 of FIG.

Real I / O Map Before explaining the step flow map, the real I / O map will be described with reference to FIG. This actual I / O map defines a predetermined input / output relationship for all equipment (actuators) provided on the production line to be designed. In the figure, "name" is a "name" uniquely given to the actuator device. The other items that define this map are "behavior",
There are four: "output B", "confirmation A", and "manual A".
The “output B” is data for the device to perform the operation specified in the “operation” when the signal having the logical value 1 is written in the memory address specified in the “output B”.
This "output B" corresponds to the output B described in FIG. “Confirmation A” indicates a memory address to be referred to by the system when confirming the operation when the device performs the operation specified in “Operation”. This "confirmation A" corresponds to the "confirmation A" described in FIG. "Manual A" means that when you build a program to perform manual operation,
The logical value 1 is written in the memory address indicated by "manual A".

The actual I / O map will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 24. In order for the device "BF positioning" to perform the "out" operation, 1 is written in the address "B _A0 ", and the operation is performed. The result is confirmed by checking whether 1 is written in the address "A _C0 ". Also,
In order for the device called “BF positioning” to perform the “return” operation, 1 is written in the address “B _A1 ”, and the result of the operation is confirmed by checking whether 1 is written in the address “AC ₁ ”. It is confirmed. Address, such as _{"B A0"} and _{"A Co"} is, so-called, corresponding to the address of the memory-mapped I / O. These addresses are the sequencer controller 5 of FIG.
Corresponds to pin number 1 on the backplane. This pin is connected to the corresponding actuator. The control unit 51 scans the contents of these memory addresses (“output B” and “manual A”), and when the contents of these addresses become 1, the corresponding actuator is driven. Then, if the confirmation switch (see FIG. 8) of the actuator changes, the logical value is changed to, for example, “A _C0 ”.
Write in the address. This real I / O map is Japanese FEP
123 and the actual I / O map creation program 126, and each "name" and "operation" field is searchable.

Step Flow Map The step flow map of FIG. 23 is a map that describes the operation on the actual production line. As shown in FIG. 23, the items of this map represent the “block number”, which indicates the number of the block to which the step belongs, the “step number”, the “name” of the step, and the type of “action” in the step. "Operation", "FROM",
“TO”, “output B”, “confirmation A”, “manual A”, and “operating time”. “FROM” and “TO” represent the connection relationship between steps as in the case of the block flow map. "Operating time" is the nominal time required for the step to operate.

Operation step flow chart (Fig. 7)
Is created by using the graphic processor 124, and the data is vectorized. The first six fields of the step flow map, namely "block number", "step number", "name", "action", and "FR".
The data for "OM" and "TO" can be obtained by the flow map creation program 128 in step S8 of FIG.
A block flow map is created from the vectorized motion step flow chart in the same manner as the block flow map. The remaining fields, namely "output B" and "confirmation A"
The data for “manual A” is stored in these fields when the ladder program compiler 127 of the automatic programming control unit 55 generates a ladder program (when the procedure of FIG. 29 is executed). The data from the "I / O map" is embedded.

<User Interface> In order for the functions of the embodiment system described in FIG. 19 to function effectively, an easy-to-use user interface is required. In this system, the user interface is CRT
58. CRT display device 58 of this system
The user interface in has two meanings. The first meaning is when registering a ladder pattern, when creating a motion block flow chart or motion step flow chart,
This is a user interface via a multi-window when creating an “real I / O map”. The second is an interface using the touch panel 57 (hereinafter, referred to as an interface using a so-called “button icon”) for the operator to give an operation command to the system. In this case, the operator knows a message from the system based on the contents displayed on the CRT 58, and gives a command to the system by pushing a predetermined position based on the message.

A user interface using such a touch panel has a rectangular shape 15 as shown in FIG. 32, for example.
0 upper left and lower right coordinates (x ₁ , y ₁ ) (x
₂ , y ₂ ), for example, “O
“N” is displayed, and the operator has touched an arbitrary area inside the touch detection area defined by the upper left corner coordinates and the lower right corner coordinates (x ₃ , y ₃ ) (x ₄ , y ₄ ) of the rectangle 151. Upon detection of "," the program is programmed to perform a predetermined "ON" operation. The user interface using the touch panel 57 in this system basically uses this method, but the feature is that the display data and functions of the button icons displayed on the CRT 58 are rather the above-mentioned actual I / O map. The point is that it is given from. That is, the simulation program, the CRT display program, and the like interface with other subsystems (automatic programming subsystem 55) through the actual I / O map and the step flow map.

One button icon in this system is defined by the data structure as shown in FIG. In the figure, 150 and 151 are coordinates defining the display area and the touch detection area described in FIG. As shown in FIG. 34, the button icon of this system has a data display field of three lines. 152, 153 of FIG.
154 represents the text displayed in these three fields. The S / L of 155 is information that distinguishes whether this button icon merely displays (L) or has a switch function (S). M of 156
/ A means that when the switch function is given to the button, M functions as a momentary switch, and A functions as an alternate switch. A field 157 defines the display color of this button when the output representing the result of the function given to this button is "0" or "1".

FIG. 35 is a view showing the arrangement of a plurality of button icons provided on the screen of the CRT device 58. The data of FIG. 33 is attached to each of these button icons. The numbers in FIG. 35 are numbers that specify the display position. As shown in FIG. 37, the user designates which device is to be displayed at which button icon position for each button, and the color of the field 157 is designated for each button. It is only necessary to specify the mode (L / S and M / A). Third
The display position number in FIG. 7 is equal to the display position designation number in FIG. Conventionally, the user independently sets the data to be displayed on the CRT device, which is a troublesome task, but in this system, the user simply specifies the display position of the button, the device name, and the color designation. Just enough.

FIG. 33 shows an example of the data structure of the name field of each device of the actual I / O map. "Real I /
The first 1 byte of the name field of "O map" is (3rd
As shown in FIG. 34, “TL” in the example of FIG. 6 is copied to the first stage (152) of the display data, and the next m bytes of the name field are (“positioning” in the example of FIG. 36). )) Is copied to the second stage (153) of the display data. In the third stage (154) of the display data, in this system, the “operation” field is set according to whether the value of the “confirmation A” field of the actual I / O map is “0” or “1”. I am trying to bring the literal data of.
That is, if the device name is of the positioning type and the value of the "confirmation A" field of the device is "1", "output" is displayed in the third stage, and if it is "0", "return" is returned. Is displayed.

The button icon shown in FIG. 37 is designated by the operator activating the data generation program 55. When the operator creates the data as shown in FIG. 37, the data generation program 55 creates the button definition data as shown in FIG. 33 for each button with reference to the actual I / O map. The creation of the button definition data fields 150 to 154 is as described above. If a device called "TL positioning" as in the example of Fig. 36 is selected, that device is "output".
The icon should indicate whether it is in a state or a "return" state. Whether or not it is in the "out" state can be determined by referring to the data of the memory address indicated in the "confirmation A" field of the actual I / O map of the device. The field 158 in FIG. 33 stores the reference address.

Thus, when the screen control data (FIG. 30) for all the button icons for each screen is generated, the CRT panel control section 53 refers to these screen control data, and the CRT display device 58. Show screen on top. If the "color designation when 0" is red and the "color designation when 1" is blue, the "TL positioning" device is displayed in blue if it is in the "out" state.

In the following, the functions of this system will be described in the order shown in FIG. I will explain in that order. <Automatic Program Generation> FIGS. 29 and 30 show a compiler (12 in FIG. 26) for creating a ladder program.
It is a flow chart which shows the control procedure of 7). FIG. 29 is a flow chart showing the control procedure for creating “output B”, “confirmation A” and “manual A” of the step flow map of this compiler, and FIG. 30 creates a ladder program element. It is a flow chart for.

In FIG. 29, in steps S10 and S12, the counters m and n indicating the block number and the step number are initialized to "0", respectively. Step S
At 14, the block flow map already created (at step S6) is searched for a block having a name corresponding to the counter m. Then, the step flow map having the block name is searched. If there is no corresponding map, the process proceeds to step S30, the counter m is incremented, and the process returns to step S14 via step S32. If there is a corresponding map, in step S18, the device having the "name" of block m step n (BmSn) in the corresponding step flow map is searched in the actual I / O map. Step S2
At 0, step S22, and step S24, the "output B", "confirmation A", "manual A", and "operating time" fields corresponding to the device found by the search are copied into the step flow map. In step S26, the counter n is incremented. If the corresponding step flow map is found, the pointer address of the map is set to the "pointer" of the block flow map (Fig. 22).
Write in the field.

Since the devices are arranged in the order in which they are operated in one step flow map, "output B" for all steps of the step flow map,
When the "confirmation A", "manual A" and "operating time" fields have been filled, the process returns to step S14 and the above procedure is repeated. FIG. 30 shows the procedure of a program for automatically generating a ladder program (this program is a part of the program of the automatic programming control unit 55). 30th
In step S40 in the figure, the counter L indicating the layer is set to
Set to the value that indicates the highest level.

Here, the layer means the level of the layer in the block flow chart. In the example of FIG. 4, blocks a and c are the first layer, block b is the second layer, block d is the third layer, block e is the fourth layer, block f is the fifth layer, and block g is the block g. Is called the sixth layer. Further, the blocks l, m and n are the seventh layer, the block o is the eighth layer, the block i is the ninth layer, the blocks j, p and q are the tenth layer, and the block k is the eleventh layer. The blocks r and s are called the 12th layer. The reason why the blocks are divided into layers is that the condition that a block in the lower layer is activated is defined by the operation end condition of the block above the block. Therefore, the method of assigning a hierarchy is to group blocks (for example, blocks a and c) that have a relationship to be activated in parallel among a plurality of blocks located on the left side, refer to them, and refer to all of the groups. Assign the same hierarchy number to the blocks. Next, in the “branches” that follow these blocks, the lowest block (for example, block b) whose parallel relationship changes is searched. Hierarchical numbers are sequentially assigned from the top to the bottom of a plurality of blocks from where the parallel relationship occurs to where the parallel relationship changes.

According to step S40, the layer counter L is set to the highest number of the layer numbers thus given in advance. In the example of FIG. 4, 1 is set in the counter L. In step S42, one block belonging to the hierarchy indicated by the counter L is found. The number of this block is set in the counter m.
In step 46, all the blocks above this block are searched. If the counter L is 3, the block belonging to that layer is the block d in the example of FIG. 4, and the upper blocks of this block d are b and c. In step S48, the product of the operation end conditions of these found upper blocks is generated. For example, a block B ₂
Block _{B 1} level of consists of four operation steps, the switch output to check the operation end of each operating step, for _example, if _{A 0, A 1, A 2} , A 3, block _{B 2} is block Since all the operations of B ₁ must be completed, the starting condition of the block B ₂ is A ₀ * A ₁ * A ₂ * A ₃ .

In creating the activation condition for the block B ₂ , normally, in each operation step of the block B ₁ , a device operation for "output" (for example, "B") is performed.
There are complementary operations such as device operation for "F positioning output") and "return" (for example, "BF positioning return"). Since the logics corresponding to such operations are erased from each other, it is not necessary to include them in the above activation condition.

In addition to the above-described methods, there are other methods for searching for blocks having parallel operation, for example, there is a method for searching for an upper block from a lower block. In steps S48 to S50, products of the operation end conditions for all the found upper blocks are generated. In step S52, this is indicated by the block B _m indicated by the counter _m.
Create a ladder element that is the start condition for. In the example of FIG. 8, the ladder element with the label 1360 represents this activation condition. The ladder element generated here is searched for one that matches the condition from the ladder patterns stored in the data file 56 (FIG. 23) in advance. The method of searching for a ladder pattern is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Nos. 1-253991, 2-30378, 2-3 by the present applicant.
0379, 2-231843, 2-231845.

In step S54, the ladder elements fixed to the system (the SRT ladder and the STP ladder shown in FIG. 14) are generated. The starting condition of the block m automatically generated in step S52 often includes a redundant part. The redundant part is optimized by the optimization program 129. The details of this optimization program will be described later.

Steps S56 to S62 are a procedure for successively generating ladder elements corresponding to all operation steps in one block. First, step S
At 56, a counter n indicating a step number is initialized to zero, and at step S58, a ladder element corresponding to the operation step B _m S _n is generated. In this case, the number B _m S
_{The n} step flow maps are referenced. Then, the memory addresses of “output B”, “confirmation A”, and “manual A” in that step are referenced to create a ladder element. In the example of FIG. 8, "confirmation A" is "RR slide out" at address "0C6" and "output B" is "B at address 3041".
4St1RR slide out ”. In step S60, it generates the interlock condition for the step _B m _{S n} is activated. In order for an operation step to be activated, it is premised that the operation step up to that point has been completed. In this case, the operation step B _m S
The termination condition of _{n− 1} becomes the interlock condition of this block B _m S _n . In the example of FIG. 8, "B4
The interlock conditions are "step 1 output", "advancement of the receiving tray", and "B4 operation ON". The interlock condition generated in this way is determined by the operation step B _m S in the next cycle.
The interlock condition is _{n + 1} . The generation of the ladder element described above is performed by the applicant of the present invention as described in Japanese Patent Application No.
253991, 2-30378, 2-30379, 2-
231843, 2-231845.

[0084] The processing of step S56~ step S60, is performed for all operation steps in the same block _{B m,} the process proceeds to step S66. Then, in steps S66 and S72, another operation block belonging to the layer number L is searched, and if such an operation block is found, the process returns to step S44, and for the found operation block, steps S44 to S62 are performed. Repeat the process.

When all the processes for the blocks belonging to the same layer have been performed, the counter L is incremented in step S68 and then it is determined in step S70 whether the above-mentioned process has been performed for all the layers. If the above process is performed for blocks of all layers,
The ladder program generation process ends.

Also in the step flow map, there are operation steps for performing parallel operation, such as "FL reference pin A output" and "FL reference pin B output" in FIG. The parallelism of the operation step can be judged from the "FROM" and "TO" fields in the step flow map, as in the judgment of the parallelism in the operation block. Multiple operational steps in parallel relationship (eg,
As for the interlock conditions of "FL reference pin A output" and "FL reference pin B output", the end condition of the higher operation step ("RR slide output" step) is common.
In addition, the lower operation step of the plurality of operation steps in the parallel relationship (for example, “RR reference pin out” in FIG. 7).
The starting condition of is a product of end conditions of a plurality of operation steps in the parallel relationship, which is the same as the generation of the ladder program element in the operation block.

FIG. 31 schematically shows the processing described with reference to FIGS. 25 to 30. According to FIG. 28, a part of the system can be easily changed. That is,
If the change is a device change, the part related to the change in the actual I / O map may be corrected by "the data generation program. In this case, unless the memory address is changed, the reproduction of the ladder program is performed. If the change is a sequence change, the operation block flow chart (FIG. 4) or the operation step flow chart (FIG. 7) associated with the change is corrected and again shown in FIG. , The ladder program can be created by running the program shown in Fig. 30. In this respect, the feature of this system is that the information about all devices is concentrated in the actual I / O map (Fig. 22). Since the map can be indexed by device name, changes in sequence procedures, device changes, etc. need only be made to the parts related to the changes. . In other words, the change of the system, modifications are very simple.

The production line shown in FIG. 1 has equipment such as a transfer device, a linear transfer device, and a screw tightening robot. In these devices, the operation of the transfer device is a repetitive operation, while the operation of the continuous transfer device is a continuous operation. The ladder pattern that expresses the repeated motion and the continuous motion is different. Therefore, in the data file (FIG. 23) of this system, the prepared ladder patterns are separately stored as different libraries for each transfer device, continuous transfer device, and screw tightening robot. Further, due to the difference between the devices, the transfer device, the continuous transfer device, and the screw tightening robot do not coexist in one operation block, and the block flow map of each operation block (FIG. 22). Is provided with data indicating the type (“device type”). When creating a ladder program, refer to this type and
The corresponding ladder pattern is taken out from the library. This speeds up the generation of ladder elements. Note that FIG. 38 shows an example of a ladder pattern in continuous conveyance.

<Program execution / fault monitoring / fault diagnosis>
The automatic generation of the ladder program and the user interface in the system of this embodiment have been described above.
In the process, I was able to understand what the block step motion block map and motion steps are. Third
FIG. 9, FIG. 40, and FIG. 41 show the respective program configurations of the simulation subsystem 105 and the failure diagnosis / recovery subsystem 106. These subsystems 10
5, 106 are automatic programming subsystems 104
Similarly, each has a CRT interface program for interfacing with the multi-window system 121. In other words, the CRT 58 is shared by the three subsystems 104, 105, 106. The figure also shows the program configuration of the subsystems 105 and 106. In particular, the failure diagnosis / recovery subsystem 106 includes a map control program 201, an operation monitoring program 202, a failure diagnosis analysis program 203, a recovery program 204, and the like. The failure diagnosis includes a failure detection operation for specifying that a failure has occurred and an operation for specifying (analyzing) the location where the failure actually occurred.

Detection of Failure Occurrence A program configuration for sequence control, monitoring and failure diagnosis will be described with reference to FIGS. 40 and 41. 40 and 41, the ladder program 2
20 describes a specific operation of each actuator in each operation step. Further, the map control program 201 uses the operation block map (second
2) and the operation step map (FIG. 23), the operation of the equipment executed by the ladder program 220 is monitored. Details of this map control program 201 are shown in FIG. Also, the operation monitoring program 202
Is the map control program 201 and the ladder program 2
The occurrence of a failure is detected while monitoring the exchange with the 20. The details are shown in FIG. Further, the failure diagnosis program 203 is the monitoring program 20.
When it is known from the notification of 2 that a failure has occurred,
It is used for fault diagnosis. For the actuator (that is, the operation step) in which the failure has occurred, the contents of a step counter, which will be described later, recorded by the monitoring program 202 and the map control program 201 are compared with the diagnostic program 203.
Can be known by investigating. The specific program or contact in the actuator is
It can be detected based on the data of the input / output map (I / O map: FIG. 24).

In order to understand the failure diagnosis system, it is necessary to understand the above-mentioned SC-REG (abbreviated as CS) set for each operation block. FIG. 42 illustrates the CS register, the time register (TS _Si , TS _ei ) and the block time register TB _S provided in a certain operation block i (BL _i ). CS
The register CS _i stores the number of the operation step last executed in block i. Further, the step time register TS _Si stores the time when the last executed operation step or the currently executed operation step is started. T
S _ei stores the time at which the operation step that was last executed was completed. The block time register TB _i is zero until the block can be activated. When the activation becomes possible, the time when the activation becomes possible is stored in TB _i .

[0092]Step time over Figure 43 shows that each block has its own CS register.
It shows that it is set. The fruit of an action step
At the end of the line, TS_xi= TS_ei-TS_Si(1) is the time required to execute the operation step.
As described above, the counter CS_i Block i is
The number of the operation step that ended after execution (actually,
(Indicates the operation step number next to the operation step)
Because this CS _i From the contents of, the last finished operation
Time required to execute the step TS_xiCan be calculated
it can. In the failure diagnosis system of this embodiment, this TS
_xiAnd stored in the operation step map of FIG.
Standard time τ required to execute each operation step_SiAnd
By comparing, TS_xi−τ_si> Δ₀ If it is (2), there is an obstacle in the execution of that operation step (“Step
It is judged that there was "time over"). Where δ₀ Is
It is a constant.

Step hang-up Further , in this failure diagnosis system, the operation step which has not been executed is periodically scanned, and the elapsed time T _P -TS _Si up to the present time is T _P -TS _Si > δ _1. If (3), it is determined that the operation step is in a loop or hung up. Here, T _P is the current time, and δ ₁ is a constant. δ ₁ is usually
It has a maximum allowable width in the time required to execute the operation steps of the production line. Such a failure is "step hangup".

Block hang-up "Block hang-up" will be described with reference to FIGS. 43 and 44 to 48. Fig. 43 or 5
As shown, there are multiple blocks that operate in parallel with each other. Considering such a plurality of blocks as a group, a certain group (in the example of FIG. 43, BL1
Form a group) and the time elapses until the other groups (GR1 consisting of BL2, BL3, BL4 in the example of FIG. 43) following that group are executed. Need to be monitored. The block time register TB _i described above is the elapsed time until the block group is activated. By monitoring the measurement operation time of each group while comparing it with the reference time, it is possible to diagnose an abnormality of each group, in other words, a failure that occurs in the process of transitioning from one block to another block. It has become. Such a failure is a “block hangup”. In the system of this embodiment, when a block hang-up occurs, the operation step that caused the hang-up is further specified.

A method of identifying the operation step that causes the "block hang-up" will be described with reference to FIGS. 44 to 48. These drawings are simplified operation block maps of a certain production line consisting of four operation blocks in order to facilitate the description of the “block hang-up”. The production line in FIG. 44 is simply composed of four operation blocks. The motion block map for these motion blocks is simplified to the fourth
It is shown as in FIG.

In FIG. 45, block 1 to block 2
Γ is the time required to start ₁₂, Block 1
The time it takes to activate block 3 from_Thirteenetc
Is represented. These transition times Γ are preset
Because it is possible. For example, block 4 is
It is activated by the end of locks 2 and 3. Related to Figure 43
As described above, the block time register TB_i 
Is zero until the block can be activated.
Then, when the activation becomes possible, the time is stored. Servant
So, register TB_i The value of is not zero
If the elapsed time is sufficiently larger than Γ above, block
You can determine that a hangup is occurring. Obey
Then, from the end of blocks 2 and 3, time Γ₂₄, Γ₃₄But
If block 4 is not activated after the elapse, block
Failure is recognized as a hang-up.

When the block hangup is detected because the block 4 is not activated, the operation step causing the hangup must be in any one of the blocks 2 and 3. 46 shows an operation step map of the operation block 2, and FIG. 47 shows an operation step map of the block 3. According to FIG. 46, four operating steps are set in the block 2, and the output in each step is Y ₁
, Y ₂ , ... Y ₄ and the confirmation switches of their output actuators are X ₁ , X ₂ , ... X ₄ . Further, according to FIG. 47, three operation steps are set in the block 3, the outputs at the respective steps are Y ₅ , Y ₆ , and Y ₇ , and the confirmation switches of those output actuators are X ₅ , X ₆ and X ₇ . The states of the confirmation switches X _{1 to} X ₇ are unique to each block and can be known in advance when the blocks 2 and 3 are finished. The activation condition map of FIG. 48 shows the conditions for activating each of the four operation blocks shown in the example of FIG. 44, that is, the state logic of the operation confirmation switch. Referring to the block 4 in the drawing, in the block 2, the outputs Y _{1 to} Y ₄ are turned on, and the confirmation switches X _{1 to} X ₄ are turned on. Further, in the block 3, the outputs Y _{4 to} Y ₇ are turned on, and the confirmation switches X _{4 to} X ₇ are turned on.
Is turned on. Therefore, when block 4 is started normally, it must be X ₁ * X ₂ * ... * X ₇ . Blocks 2 and 3 are activated by the end of block 1. Therefore, the activation conditions of blocks 2 and 3 are the logical product of the states of the confirmation switches of all the operation steps of block 1. Incidentally, in FIG. 48,
<N> means that the confirmation switch is in a state of confirming that the output Y is in the "out" state, and <I>, the confirmation switch confirms that the output Y is in the "return" state. Means you are in a state.

As described above, if a combination of the activation condition of each operation block and the state of the device for confirming the output of all the operation steps of the preceding block of the block as a logical product is programmed, The activation is not performed unless it is confirmed that all the operation steps of the operation block in the previous stage are normally completed. In other words, if the starting condition is not satisfied, the block hang-up described above occurs and the failure is correctly detected. Moreover, if the block in which the failure is detected is recognized, the start condition map is compared with the state of the actual confirmation switch to determine which switch is abnormal, and the input / output map (second
By referring to FIG. 4) and the operation step map (FIG. 23), it is possible to quickly know which output actuator of which operation step was wrong.

For sequence control in the production line,
Experience has shown that the actuator in the operating step may stop in neither the "out" state nor the "return" state, or may exhibit both "out" and "return" states. One of the causes for this is that the heavy actuator is bound to a "halfway" state in which the actuator is neither in the "out" state nor in the "return" state.
In the past, in such a state, apparently the sequence control proceeds normally, so that the operation step that should be started (in another operation block) should be started depending on the state of the defect confirmation switch. Although it is recognized as a failure because it is not started, however,
The stopping point is highly likely to be an operation step far from the operation step in which the failure actually occurred.

However, according to the method of block hang-up detection of this embodiment, as described above, the activation condition of each operation block requires the logical state of all confirmation devices of the preceding block as shown in FIG. Since the logical product of is set, even if the operation block of one operation block falls into the above-mentioned halfway switch state and the failure cannot be recognized in the operation step, the operation block ends. This can be confirmed as a block hangup when the next operation block is activated. That is, the operation step in which the failure has occurred and the operation step in which the failure recognition has been performed are not spatially separated from each other in terms of time, and not only the failure diagnosis is accurate, but also the recovery is performed more quickly. There is an effect of becoming.

<Analysis of Failure Location> As described above, when a failure is detected due to step time over, step hang up, block hang up, etc., the failure step is identified and the failure is identified from the operation step map (FIG. 23). An actuator (equipment) having 23rd
This is because, as shown in the figure, one operation step corresponds to one actuator of the equipment. Here, LS (two limit switches LS for output and return) that defines the state in which this actuator is stopped from the faulty actuator, that is, the operation of this actuator.
It is necessary to know what kind of state is in.

The input / output map of FIG. 24 and the operation step map of FIG. 23 are used to know the state of this LS. In the operation step map of FIG. 23, an actuator identification number column is provided. This identification number corresponds to the corresponding step (eg B ₀ S ₀ )
A number that identifies the actuator used in the
_{0 1} ). This identification number is the number of each item in the input / output map. The input / output map of FIG. 24 not only indicates the operation type and contact name of each actuator, but also describes the relationship between the contact indicating the output state and the contact indicating the return state. Since the actuator reciprocates, one actuator always has a pair of the output state and the return state. In the input / output map of FIG. 24, “correspondence relationship” describes the pair relationship. For example, in the column of the correspondence of the actuator BF (this actuator is identified by the number A02), "A0
That is, it indicates that the BF actuator is in the output state by the number A ₀₂ , and the return state corresponding to this output state is the number A ₀₃ .

Therefore, when the fault diagnosis system obtains the fault block number and the fault operation step number, it knows the identification number of the faulty actuator from the action step map. It is possible to know which LS is set.
Then, if it is possible to know which LS is provided, the operator can be notified of the failure state by reading out the state of the LS and displaying it, for example.

The input / output map of FIG. 24 is an operation step map (FIG. 23) that describes the actual operation sequence.
Also, it is independent of the ladder program (for example, FIG. 49). That is, even if the production line is changed and the operation step map (Fig. 23) and the ladder program (Fig. 49) are changed, it is not necessary to correct the input / output map. In other words, the effort to modify the failure diagnosis program each time the production line is changed is released.

The standard execution time τ is, for example, the average value {TS _xi } of the measured operation time for a predetermined number of cycles during normal operation (here, the symbol {} represents the average). Specified by the standard deviation value σ,
For example, it is preferable to define τ = {TS _xi } + 3σ ... (4). More preferably, the data τ should be updated every cycle. This is because the operating characteristics of the actuator change over time. Further, it is desirable that the time Γ used for detecting the block hangup (see the operation block map in FIG. 22) is also updated based on the actually required time in consideration of the secular change.

<Improvement of Failure Area Analysis Method> When a step time over, a step time out, or a block time out is detected in a certain operation step or operation block, it is necessary to specify the location where the failure actually occurred. If an actuator of an installation fails, the system can only recognize the failure by reading the status of the confirmation switch of that actuator. In other words, the step time-out and step time-out for the above operation step are detected only when the time-out or time-out is detected in the ladder step using the output of the confirmation switch of the defective actuator. is there. The ladder program generation method of this system divides the operation in the production line into a plurality of operation blocks, and further divides the operation in each operation block into the operation of a plurality of operation steps, and the operation of each actuator in the operation of each operation step. Was drawn from the actual I / O map to complete the ladder program. According to the above-described method for detecting a failure point, a failure can be detected at each operation step stage. However, when one operation step consists of many ladder program elements (actually, one operation step is It is rare to be composed of two ladder program elements), and it is difficult to analyze which ladder program element has a failure. In the conventional system of the present applicant, when analyzing a failure point, human beings must be involved in analyzing the actual failure point from a large number of candidate signals that are considered to be failures, and therefore, Analysis of the failure location was time consuming.

Further, in the method in which a process is divided into motion blocks and motion steps and described, in principle, parallel motion of motion steps is not performed. Can also be done. Even when such ladder program elements are executed in parallel in one operation step, even if a failure is detected in the operation step by the above-mentioned method, the device (limit switch) causing the failure cannot be specified. .

Therefore, the failure diagnosis system 10 of the present embodiment.
6 is a binary for searching the cause of failure
The tree search method is adopted. And
The binary tree search method of this embodiment has the following features. That is, when the search for the failure of this time is completed, the search result of this time is weighted in order to improve the efficiency of the next search,
In the next search, the search route is selected according to the weight.

Outline of the Binary Tree Search Method In order to explain the binary tree search, FIG.
An example of a production process program including four operation steps S ₁ to S ₄ in one operation block is shown.
In FIG. 49, the notation Y indicates an output signal to the actuator, and M indicates a confirmation signal of the output. The signal indicating the operation confirmation of the actuator Y ₀ is M _{0 in} the example of FIG. 49. Further, X means a signal of various switches that regulates the activation of the operation step.

By the way, when failure detection is performed in units of operation blocks, in other words, when only block hangup is detected, if S _{4 in} FIG. 49 is the final operation step of the operation block, for example, , 49th
In the program shown in the figure, even if the switch X ₈ fails, Y ₂ is not output, so it is detected that the confirmation switch M ₂ has failed. That is, in order to analyze the switch X ₈ is failure, must perform failure analysis further back upstream even found to switch M ₂ is not normal. On the other hand, the switch signal such as X ₈ is not a signal generated by the ladder program but a signal input from the outside, and therefore, if X ₈ is analyzed as a failure, there is no need to go back any further. In this way, in order to distinguish the apparent failure part and the true failure part in the failure analysis, the concept of "internal signal" and "external signal" is introduced in this system. Here, the signal itself generated inside the ladder program or the operation confirmation signal (for example, M ₀ ) of the actuator (for example, Y _{0 in} FIG. 49) turned on by the ladder program is an “internal signal”. The signal input from outside the ladder program is an "external signal".

FIG. 51 is a diagram in which the ladder program of FIG. 49 is represented by a binary tree. In FIG. 51, a signal located on the left side (for example, M ₂
) Is ANDed with the signal located on the right side (for example, X ₇ , M ₁ ) connected to this in series. If there is a branch point, the branch point is ORed.
(Sum) relationship, for example M ₂ (actuator Y ₂
Confirmation switch signal) of (X ₇ * M ₁ * ...) and (X ₉ * X ₈ ) are both producted (AND). Fifth
In FIG. 1, X ₁ , X _{2 to} X ₁₃ are all “external signals”, and M ₀ , M _{1 to} M ₃ are “internal signals”.

In the present system, when any of the above three faults (step hangup, step timeout, block hangup) is detected, the state of all confirmation switches and signal states forming interlock conditions at that time ( The operation status file 111) is recorded. Then, for example, when the operation step S _4, for example, step-out of the ladder program 49 Figure is detected, the failure diagnosis program creates a binary tree chart, such as the 51 view from the ladder program of the 49 figure, the The output signal of each confirmation switch and the signals forming the interlock condition are checked along the route shown in the chart. A binary tree search method is used for this search process.

Creating a binary tree chart is straightforward. As described above, the ladder programs generated by this system are all specified by the registered signal name. Therefore, when the ladder program is compiled, it is indicated in which operation step each of all the signals used in the program are used.
A so-called "cross reference list" as shown in the figure is created. As shown in FIG. 50, this list is arranged in the order of signal names (in alphabetical order). Each element in this list consists of the referenced signal name and
The type of whether the signal is the above-mentioned "internal signal" or "external signal", the operation step number ("operation step (output)") at which the signal is output, and that signal are used as confirmation signals. The operation step number (“operation step (input)”) to be displayed. Of course, if the reference signal is referred to by a plurality of operation steps, a plurality of "operation steps (input)" fields are set in the list.

In order to create a binary tree that has a fault detected and is derived from the fault detected motion step:
It suffices to know the operation step number in which the failure is detected. Then, the output signal of the actuator of the operation step is known from the operation step map (FIG. 23), the condition for this output signal to become active is examined from the operation step map, and all the operation confirmation signals appearing in this condition and Search for signals in the interlock condition in the cross-reference list. In this way, a binary tree is created by successively searching for a signal that appears in the cross reference list and searching for an operation step that outputs that signal.

The theory of the binary tree search method itself is well known in the field of information processing. The outline of the search method is to search the signal appearing at the root of the binary tree in FIG. 51 from the downstream side to the upstream side in the operating state file 111 and read the value of the found signal. If the read signal satisfies the condition, a further upstream signal is searched for along the tree. When the read signal is "0" (or "1"), when the tree or operation step map indicates that the signal should be "1" (or "0"), It is judged that the conditions are not met. In the process of searching upstream, a rule is set such that when a branch point is reached (eg, upstream of X ₁₃ in FIG. 51), the branch always branches to the right branch, for example. When the end of one branch is reached, the original route is returned and the branch point (X
Return to ₁₃ ) and follow another branch (upstream of X ₁₀ ) that was not followed previously.

Thus, if the tree shown in FIG. 51 is traced, the confirmation switch, which is the cause of the actual failure, will eventually be reached. Such a binary tree search method is particularly effective when a failure is detected as a block hangup.
This is because, in the system of this embodiment, even if the actuator of a certain equipment fails, it is detected as step time-out or step time-over in the operation step using the confirmation signal of the actuator. However, in the case of block hang-up, the fact that the hang-up is detected does not specify the fault in which operation step of which block. Therefore, when a block hang-up occurs, a search may be performed by creating a binary tree from the block activation condition map described with reference to FIG.

However, this binary tree search method takes time to search all nodes (nodes formed by signals on the tree). It is: When the search reaches a branch point, it does not know which branch to select. Conventionally, which branch to select at the branch point is inefficient because the right or left branch is uniformly selected as described above, or the operator has instructed to select either branch. It was a thing. : It is not necessary to search for the original signal X ₅ / * (X ₁ * X ₂ + X ₃ * X ₄ ) that generated the internal signal if it indicates that the internal signal (for example, M _O ) is not a failure. However, in a simple binary tree search, all signals are checked. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to solve the problem of :, among the routes searched in the past, a cumulative weight value of "1" is added every time a faulty device is found in the route in which the faulty device is actually found. (Priority level for the next search) is given.
If a faulty device is found four times in a route, the route is given the value "4". A route with a large value is a route in which there are devices with many failures in the past, so when the next failure occurs, searching for a failed device along the route with a large weight value increases the probability of finding a failed device. . In order to solve the problem of :, every time a signal is checked, it is checked whether it is an internal signal or an external signal, and it is determined whether or not to continue the search backward.

[0118] The D diagram in the ladder program of a binary tree tree 51 Figure, is a fault in the past, the device X ₈
In 4 times, if that is found twice in X _3, in which what weighting showed either made to the route.
As is clear from the figure, a weight “6” is given to the branch point X ₁₃ → X ₁₀ → M ₂ → the branch point, a weight “4” is given to the branch point → X ₉ → X ₈ , and a branch point → X ₇ → M ₁ → X ₆ → M ₀ → X ₅ / → Branch point → X ₃ is given weight “2”, Branch point → X ₁₁ → X ₁₂ is weighted “0”, branch A weight “0” is given to the point → X ₂ → X ₁ . When such a weight is given and the next failure occurs, the branch having the larger weight value is selected at the branch point, and specifically, X ₁₃ → X ₁₀ → M ₂ → X ₉ → The search is performed in the order of X ₈ . In other words, there is a high probability that a place where a past failure has occurred will occur again. Therefore, by prioritizing that part for analysis, the failure part can be found efficiently. Incidentally, the control relating to the judgment of the internal signal or the external signal will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS. 57 and 58.

Control Procedure of Fault Monitoring Next, the control operation of the execution / fault monitoring of the ladder program in the system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 53 to 56. FIG. 53 is a control procedure of a map control program 201 for monitoring the operation of the ladder program 220 for each actuator of the production line according to the operation block map and the operation step map. When this program is activated, initialization is performed in step S82 to detect the first block group that can be activated. This group may include one block or multiple blocks.

In step S84, the existence of a newly activated block is checked. The purpose of this step S84 is mainly to check whether or not all the step operations of a certain operation block are completed and there is an executable operation block following this operation block. If such a block exists (if it is started from step S82, there must be an executable operation block),
In step S86, the block number is detected. The block number is i, and this number can naturally include a plurality of numbers. This is because there are cases in which it can be executed in groups.

At step S88, the operation step map of such an operation block is read, and step S90
Mark the action block as running. Step S
At 92, it is checked if there are any action steps that can be performed.
The operation step becomes executable when the operation of the operation step shown in the CS register is completed, and step S136 (54th operation) of the monitoring program 202 is executed.
Fig.). If there is an executable operation step in the operation block, the current time is written as the start time in the timer register TS _Si of the operation block i in step S110. The operation of step S110 is performed as long as there is an executable operation step. In practice, if there are multiple motion blocks in a group, each motion block will perform one motion step.
When all the executable operation steps are activated, until the operation of any of the operation steps is completed, step S9
The determination of 2 is NO, the process proceeds to step S94 to wait for the end of execution of any operation step.

When the end signal is transmitted from the ladder program side to the sequence control program when the execution of any operation step is completed, the process proceeds from step S94 to step S96. Here, the completed operation block number i and operation step number are read. The operation block including the operation step completed by this i can be specified. Step S9
In step 8, the end time is written in the timer register TS _ei of the operation block i, and in step S99, the time when the operation step ends and the state of the confirmation switch associated with the operation step are written in the operation state file 111.
It is the 20th time to write the status of the completed operation step.
This is because, as described with reference to FIGS. 21 and 21, the operation of a series of operation steps is later restored with time.
In step S100, the CS register is incremented by 1 to indicate the next operation step to be executed. If such an operation is performed, the C of the corresponding block is sequentially processed from the operation step in which the actuator operation is completed.
As the S register is updated, TS _ei is also updated.

On the other hand, the monitoring program 202 executes the ladder program 220 in step S120 of FIG.
Is monitoring the step end signal from. When the actuator operation is completed in any ladder element, the process proceeds to step S122, and the block number i and the step number notified from the ladder program side are read. Then, in step S124, the timer values TS _Si and TS _{ei of the} block are read from the block number i, and the predicted execution time τ of the operation step is read from the operation step map, and the elapsed time TS _xi is calculated according to the equation (1). . Then, in step S46, the time required for execution TS
Determine if _xi was abnormally long.

If the determination in step S126 is OK,
In step S134, the timer of the operation block
The contents of the register are cleared.
Current register CS_i Perform the operation steps shown in
Mark as possible. This CS _i Operation step indicated by
Is the next one after the end, as updated in step S100.
Is the operation step. The motion step of a motion block
Sequence control program is marked as executable.
If YES is determined in step S92 of FIG.
The next operation step is executed.

When the operation steps are successively executed in this way, when the content of the CS register exceeds the final step number in step S102 for a certain operation block, that is, all the processing of the operation block is completed. The time will come. At this time, in step S104, the block is marked as finished. Then, step S10
In step 5, the states of the confirmation switches of all the equipment are written in the operation state file 111 together with the end time of the operation block. Check switch status data for all of these equipment
As will be described later, it is used when performing a simulation.

In step S106, the current time is written in the timer TB _ij for the block to be activated next to the current block. Here, TB _ij is a timer for clearly indicating that there is a block j to be activated next to this block i after completion of the block i, and corresponds to Γ _{12 and the} like in FIG. 45. The time register TB
Is cleared in step S108 if the first operation step of the operation block to be activated next is activated.

The process returns from step S106 to step S84 to search for a newly executable operation block. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, when the process of B13 ends and the process returns to step S84, if the process of block B17 has not finished yet, the block B13 is not marked as executable. Next, returning to step S126 in FIG. 54, the procedure for finding a step time over failure will be described.

At step S126, TS _xi -τ> δ ₀
If it is determined that the time taken to execute the operation step is abnormally long, step S1
In step 28, the operation block to which the operation step belongs is marked as a failure, and in step S130, the expected time τ is updated. This update process is shown in detail in FIG. 56. That is, a small difference between the expected time tau and actually required time T _xi to the processing operation step, _{i.e., T xi -τ / τ <ε} ( here, epsilon "1) A, the time required If T _xi is slightly longer than τ, we judge that it is due to aging of equipment,
In step S192, the past T _xi and this T
Calculate τ for the next time from _xi and update. Such an update enables accurate failure detection in consideration of secular changes.

In the control procedure of FIG. 54, step S
After starting the diagnostic program (Fig. 55) at 132,
It returns to step S120. The reason for returning to step S120 is to detect a failure also in an operation step of another operation block. Further, the reason why the failure detection is not performed and the execution of the sequence control program is not stopped is that even if one operation block is stopped, there is an operation block to be operated in parallel, so the operation of the operation block must not be stopped. Is. The reason that the other operation blocks do not have to be stopped is that the operation blocks are originally defined on the condition that they operate independently of the other operation blocks.

Steps S138 and thereafter are procedures for detecting block hangup or step hangup. The following is a description of what to do when the ladder program hangs up at a certain operation step. In such a case, the end signal is not generated. Therefore, the process proceeds from step S120 to step S138. In step S138, the progress of a fixed time is checked. This is to see whether the elapsed time from the previous step S138 to the current time (time T _P ) has exceeded a certain value. In other words, whether or not the block hangup or the step hangup is It means that it is checked at regular intervals. Step S
At 140, the operating steps marked as running are searched. This is because the content of each CS register of the operation block marked as executing points to a specific operation step, and the start time is written in TS _Si , but TS _ei has not been updated yet. is there. In step S142, the elapsed time to the present T _P −TS
_Si is calculated, and in step S144, T _P −TS _Si > δ ₁ ... (3) is determined according to the equation (3). If the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S64 and the block is marked as a step hangup failure.

At step S140, the operation step being executed is executed.
The case where it is determined that there is no group will be described. in this case
Is the block time register T in step S150.
B_{i j}Search for block j whose value of is not zero. Ste
As described above in connection with step S106, TB_ijGaze
If it is not b, the block following the block i
Indicates that lock j has not been activated yet. Step
In S152, the operation step in such a block is
Time that has not been started and the estimated time Γ _ijWith
Difference, (T_P -TB_ij) −Γ_ij To calculate. Then, the difference is a constant δ_Two Greater than
If so, it is determined that the block hangs up in step S156.
Refuse. In step S158, the failure diagnosis program
(Fig. 55) is started.

According to FIG. 55, the fault diagnosis program 2
03 will be described. This failure diagnosis program makes the processing slightly different depending on whether the failure is block hangup, step time over, or step hangup. This is because if a step time over or a step hang up is detected, the failure operation step can be known directly, whereas in the case of a block hang up, the failure operation step needs to be traced back.

In the case of step time over or step hang up failure, the block marked as failure is searched in step S162. This mark is made in step S128 or step S148. In step S164, C of the detected block
The contents of the S register are read and the operation step where the failure is detected is specified. In step S166, the identification number of the failed actuator is known from the operation step map. In step S168, the input / output map (FIG. 24) is searched from this identification number, and in step S170, the output and return LS numbers of the actuator having this identification number are known. In step S170, the operation block number, the operation step number, the actuator number, and the LS number in which the failure has been found are displayed to prompt the operator to take action.

A case where block hangup is detected in step S160 will be described. In this case, in step S174, the activation condition map (FIG. 48) corresponding to the block number in which the block hangup is detected is read. In step S176, the logical states of the confirmation switches written on the map and the actual states of the confirmation switches are compared to search for a nonconforming confirmation switch. If the mismatched switch device is specified, then in step S178, the parent block of the block in which the hangup is detected is searched from the block map (FIG. 22). In step S180, the operation step using the non-matching switch is specified from the operation step map (FIG. 23) of the detected parent block, and in step S182, the actuator number and L / S number of this operation step are specified. After specifying, the process proceeds to step S184. In step S184, these are displayed. The failure location searched as described above is highlighted in a predetermined color on the monitor screen of the display device 8. Then, the operator performs the work of recovering the faulty part.

The detection of "step time over" and "step hang up" described above is basically performed by a program independent of the step ladder program 203. This has the following effects. That is, the step ladder program does not need to be provided with a so-called "trap circuit" for detecting the failure. In FIG. 46, M _Y
Is an output due to Intarotsuku condition ILC is satisfied, when M _Y is output, actuator output Y is output. Conventionally, as shown in FIG.
A timer circuit T is provided which is started when the switch M _Y is closed, and the switch X _LS that confirms the output Y is not opened before the timer times out. Failure (ALM on)
Was to be. However, according to the present embodiment, such a timer circuit becomes unnecessary, and only the step ladder program necessary for the original production sequence control needs to be created as shown in FIG.

Control Procedure for Failure Analysis The above is the control procedure for failure diagnosis (detection of failure occurrence, simple diagnosis of failure location). Next, the control procedure of the failure analysis will be described with reference to FIGS. 58, 59 and 60. The program shown in FIG. 58 is the CRT5 shown in FIG.
It is activated by designating a predetermined activation icon 8 (for example, "fault analysis icon"). Step S2
At 00, the failure diagnosis system 106 is informed of the failed operation step B _x S _Y number. In step S202, a binary tree tree as shown in FIG. 51 starting from B _x S _Y is created based on the cross reference table in FIG. Operation step B _x S
_{If Y} has multiple output ladder elements, the binary tree tree of FIG. 51 is created for each output. In this embodiment, each signal of the tree is identified by the node number N. In step S204, the counter N holding the node number N is initialized to "0". In the example of FIG. 51, N =
The node of 0 is X ₁₃ . In step S206, the data of the signal designated by the counter N is set to the operation state file 1
Read from 11. Then, in step S208, it is checked whether this data is correct.

[0137] First, will be described as an example when a failure occurs in the "external signal" X _13. As described above, if the cause of the failure is an external signal, it is not necessary to trace upstream from the node. That is, the control proceeds from step S208 to step S226 to step S234, and in step S234, the number or signal of the node is stored in the register FDN. Here, the FDN is a register that stores a signal name or a node number that has been determined to have failed. In step S236, a weight is added by "1" to the route to the node determined as fail.

Next, the case where a failure occurs with the external signal X ₁₁ will be described. In such a case, since the data of N = 0 (signal X ₁₃ ) is correct, the process proceeds from step S208 to step S210. In step S210, it is determined whether the signal is an external signal or an internal signal. In the example of FIG. 51, the signal of N = 0 is an external signal, so the flow advances to step S240 to check whether the next node exists. In the example of FIG. 51, the next node is either X ₁₀ or X ₁₁ .
In step S242, it is checked whether there is a branch route that has not been searched. In the example of FIG. 51, there are two branch routes that have not been searched for, a route to X ₁₀ and a route to X ₁₁ . Therefore, the process proceeds from step S242 to step S244, and the route having the maximum weight is selected from the branch routes not searched. If there is only one branch route that has not been searched, step S24
In 4, the route is selected. When there are two or more branch routes that have not been searched and they all have the same weight (including "0"), the rightmost route is selected for convenience. In step S245, the branch node pointer stack BNP is compared with the branch route to be searched next time when returning to this branch point. Then, in step S246, the latest one node (ie, X ₁₁ ) is designated as the current node on the selected route. Then, returning to step S206, the signal data corresponding to the node (that is, X ₁₁ ) is read from the state file 111. Since the signal of X ₁₁ is incorrect, the control advances from step S208 to step S226. Since X ₁₁ is an external signal node similarly to X ₁₃ , step S226 → step S234 → step S236.
Then, X ₁₁ records as a failure and X ₁₃ → X
_A weight “1” is added to the route reaching ₁₁ .

[0139] Next, the confirmation switch signal M ₂ actuator Y ₂ will be described as an example a case in which fail. In this case, the nodes X ₁₃ , X ₁₁ , X ₁₀ , X
₁₂ is normal. When the check of the nodes X ₁₃ and X ₁₁ is completed, the branch node pointer stack BNP
Stores that the route of X ₁₀ should be searched next. Next, check X ₁₂ in step S208.
Let's start the explanation from where we do. Control is step S2
08 → step S210 → step S240 → step S242. Since there is no branch point or node after X ₁₂ , control is performed from step S248 to step S25.
Go to 0. The flag F in step S250 indicates that a failure has been found in any of the internal signals in the previous search. As mentioned above, even if an internal signal such as the confirmation signal M indicates that it is a failure,
It may only indicate a failure because the upstream signal is failing. The flag F stores that the internal signal failed in the previous search, and the node number of the internal signal indicating the failure is the fault node pointer stack F shown in FIG.
Stored in NP. In this case, since F = 0, the process proceeds from step S250 to step S256. In step S254, the return branch point saved in step S245 is taken out from the stack BNP. Step S
In 256, after confirming that the return point (route of X ₁₀ saved in step S245) is saved in the stack BNP, the next node X ₁₀ is designated in step S258, and the process returns to step S206. Since the external signal X ₁₀ is normal, the control for X ₁₀ is step S208 → step S210 → step S240.
→ step S242 → step S248 → step S2
In step 69, the node M ₂ which is an internal signal is designated.

For the failing node M ₂ , control proceeds in the order of step S206 → step S208 → step S226. Since M ₂ is an internal signal,
Furthermore, step S226 → step S228 → step S
Proceeding to 230, the aforementioned flag F is set. Then, in step S232, the current node count value N is saved in the fail node pointer stack FNP.

By the way, even if the flag F is set in step S228, the node count N is saved in the stack FNP in step S232. This means that, for example, when the node X ₆ is failing, since the nodes M ₁ and M ₀ also include the data of failing in the state file 111, there are two internal signals before reaching X _6. It is necessary.

The process proceeds from step S232 to step S240 to search for the next node. In the example of FIG. 51, M ₂
There is a branch point next to. Therefore, the control is step S
240 → step S242 → step S244 → step S245 → step S246, and the next node X
Specify ₇ . There is a normal external signal X _{7 at} this node. For this node X ₇ , control is performed in steps S246 → S206 → S208.
→ step S210 → step S240 → step S2
42 → step S248 → step S269,
The node M ₁ is newly designated.

For the node M ₂ , the control proceeds to step S206 → step S208 → step S210 → step S212 to check the flag F. Flag F is set at step S228 in the process of examining the node M ₂ which fail. Therefore, control proceeds from step S212 to step S222, and the node number indicated by the latest pointer of the fail node pointer stack is set as the failed node. As described above, the node M ₂ is set to this pointer in step S232. In step S224, the weight value is updated for the route to the node M ₂ .

As described above, when an internal signal indicates a failure, it is not immediately known whether the failure is a failure due to a failure of the internal signal itself or a failure due to a signal upstream of the internal signal. Therefore, the existence of the failed node in the flag F and the stack FNP is temporarily saved. The fact that the internal signal that appears next does not indicate a failure indicates that there is no failed node upstream thereof, so the internal signal node saved in the stack FNP has actually failed. It is a node that has In other words, the unnecessary node search can be omitted by distinguishing the signal from the internal signal and the external signal.

Next, the procedure after step S214 will be described with reference to the example of FIG. In FIG. 62, it is assumed that the external signal node X ₃₁ has failed. Also,
Since the internal signal M ₂₀ is generated from the product of many external signals as shown in FIG. 62, in the usual binary tree search method, in addition to M ₂₀ , many of X _{41 to} X ₁₀₀ . Without checking the node, the fail node X ₃₁ cannot be checked. The procedure following step S214 in FIG. 58 eliminates this inefficiency.

Node X₂₀Node after checking
X₄₀In the process of searching for, step S2
The return branch point is saved at 45, and at step S246
X_{Four 0}Is specified. X₄₀Check process steps
At S269, the internal signal node M ₂₀Is specified. This M
₂₀Is normal, the control is step S20.
6-> step S208-> step S210-> step S
The process proceeds from 212 to step S214. In step S214
Is the return branch point (X₂₀And M_ThirtyBranch between
Point) is taken out from the stack BNP, and step S21
6 in M_ThirtyMake sure there is a branching route to
Then, the route is designated in step S218. That
Step S240 → Step S242 → Step S
248 → step S269 → node in step S206
M_ThirtyTake out the data of. M_ThirtyIs an internal signal
And the external signal X₃₁Is failing, M_Thirty
Is also failing, so control is
Step S206 to Step S208 → Step S226
Proceed to. Node M_ThirtyThen node X₃₁Has failed
Stack FNP is used to discover that
Since the control procedure for this is performed before, the description is omitted.

As shown in the example of FIG. 62, there are a plurality of branch points.
Ki route (X₄₀Root and M_ThirtyRoute),
Part of the route (X₄₀Internal signal node in route)
(M ₂₀), And its internal signal node has many signals
(X₄₁~ X₁₀₀ ), Where
Fail is another branch route (M_ThirtyRoute)
If this is the case, follow the control procedure from step S214
Issue M₂₀When the normality of is confirmed (this confirmation is sufficient)
At this point, the book should not be searched any further for this route.
Start a search on the route where the next fail node exists.
It Thus, the search method of this embodiment is efficient.
Is becoming

<Fault Recovery> The above is the fault detection / fault diagnosis / fault analysis method prepared for the system of this embodiment. Next, a method of recovering the system from a failure detected in this way to a restartable state (usually the head of an operation block including an operation step in which a failure is found) and restarting the system will be described. A feature of the recovery method of the system of this embodiment is that a manual mode and an automatic mode are prepared for returning to the restartable state. The manual mode is for the operator to sequentially set the manual switches from the CRT 58 so that the operator can return to the above-mentioned possible state. In this manual mode, when the above state is restored, the set sequence of the manual switch performed up to that point is registered in the file (210 in FIG. 40). This file records the recovery process of failures that occurred in the past for each failure occurrence point, and can be searched later using the failure occurrence point as a key.

In the automatic recovery mode, the previously stored recovery procedure corresponding to the location of the failure is called from the file 210, and the recovery sequence is simulated to recover the restartable state. The recovery procedure for the same failure is roughly the same. Therefore, if such a return procedure is stored and the sequence is simulated in the automatic mode, not only the return operation can be performed promptly,
The procedure is unified, and for example, even a beginner can easily perform the restoration work.

The recovery method of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 63 to 70. FIG. 63 illustrates a work gripping operation in certain equipment (work gripping equipment) illustrated for the purpose of explaining the recovery method. In this equipment, the work W is held by three cylinders. The gripping order is cylinder Y ₀ → cylinder Y ₁ → cylinder Y ₂
Is. As shown in FIG. 64, these cylinders Y are confirmed to be in the output state and the return state by two switches. FIG. 65 is an example of an actual I / O map corresponding to the equipment of FIG. 63. In this I / O map, an output operation and a return operation are defined for each cylinder. In order for those cylinders to be activated, it is necessary to write "1" to the memory of the number written in the "output" field. The operation of each cylinder can be confirmed by checking the contents of the corresponding addresses in the "confirmation A" and "confirmation B" fields. All six movements of all three of these cylinders can be manually simulated. In FIG. 65, a memory address to which “1” is set for manual simulation is set in the “manual” field. 66 and 67, three cylinders are respectively driven in the order of cylinder Y ₀ → cylinder Y ₁ → cylinder Y ₂ to grip the work W and perform a predetermined machining operation, and then the cylinder Y ₂ The operation step map and the ladder program show the operation of releasing the grip in the order of → cylinder Y ₁ → cylinder Y ₀ . As can be seen from the ladder program shown in FIG. 67, each cylinder can be independently set to the output state or the return state manually. In the ladder program, the MA switch is an automatic mode switch that the system closes in the automatic execution mode, and the MS is a manual execution mode switch that the system closes in the manual execution mode.

In the example of FIG. 63, the restartable state can be defined as the state where all the cylinders have returned to their initial positions. If cylinder Y ₂ is failing, the recovery procedure can be returned to the restartable state by _first returning cylinder Y ₂ , then Y ₁ , then Y ₀ . The name given to each switch signal of the ladder program of FIG. 67 is associated with the memory address in the I / O map (FIG. 65) by the operation step of FIG. 66.

FIG. 68 shows an example of the display screen of the CRT 58. In the figure, 301 is an icon for instructing a manual return, and 302 is an icon for instructing an automatic return. A ladder program is displayed in the display area 300. All display elements in area 300 function as icons. That is, when the manual switch is displayed in the area 300, when the operator selects the display portion of the switch, the system can recognize through the touch panel 57 that the switch is pressed. If the system can recognize which switch the operator has selected in the area 300, the system can write "1" in the corresponding address of the I / O map (FIG. 65) to the switch. The "SI" icon is an icon for executing one of the ladder program elements.

In this way, the system can use the CRT 58 as an input / output device for the user interface. In FIG. 68, reference numeral 303 denotes an icon for scrolling the area 300 vertically and horizontally.
Also, 304 is an icon for designating a block number, 305 is an icon for designating a step number,
Reference numerals 307 and 308 are display areas for displaying the designated block number and step number. Reference numeral 306 denotes a “start” icon. When the operator determines that the system has returned to the restartable state and selects this icon, the system detects this and restarts the ladder program in the automatic execution mode.

FIG. 69 shows a procedure for controlling the return in the manual mode after a failure is detected by the above-mentioned failure diagnosis system, and FIG. 70 shows a control procedure for the return in the automatic mode. When the icon 301 (manual return mode) is selected, a screen as shown in FIG. 68 appears on the CRT 58. In step S270, the block number in which the failure is detected, step number B _x S _Y , is input to the restoration program. The input ladder program B _x S _Y is displayed in the area 300 of the CRT screen. In step S272, M is used to deactivate the automatic execution mode of the ladder program and activate the manual execution mode.
_{Let S} = 1 and M _A = 0. In step S274, the input from the touch panel 57 is waited for. Operator is area 3
While touching each switch icon displayed at 00, the switch is turned on or off. Area 3
If the target step is not displayed at 00, the icon 303 for operating the scroll icon 303 or inputting the target block number and step number
04 and 306 are operated (step S300 or steps S308 and 310).

When any switch icon on the area 300 is touched, in step S282 it is detected which switch the touched coordinate position corresponds to, and the corresponding memory address of that switch is assigned to the I / O map (first). (Figure 65)
, And write the value specified in that address.
In this case, since the switch is momentary, if the touch panel 57 is touched while the switch icon is in the ON state, the switch is in the OFF state (“0” is written), and conversely in the OFF state. When touched, it turns on ("1" is written). CR
The switch interlock displayed at T can be variously controlled as described above, but is set to, for example, green in the on state and red in the off state. Step S2
At 86, the switch identified at step S282 is stored in the recovery sequence file 210 along with the sequence in which it was operated.

When the "SI" icon is pressed in the state where the switch is manually changed in this way, step S290
One ladder program is executed with. In any ladder program element of the return program, that element is executed. That is, for example, if the uniform conditions cylinder Y ₁ is returned, cylinder Y ₁ is returned to the initial position. In step S292, a confirmation switch signal after the actuator is returned (or activated) is input, and the display of those switches is updated in step S294. The equipment returns to the restartable state by repeating the operations of steps S282 to S286 and steps S290 to S294.

When the operator confirms that the restartable state is returned and selects the "restart" icon, step S302
Then, the switch sequence stored in step S286 is registered as a file. That is, the sequence is registered in association with the block number in which the failure has occurred and the step number input in step S270, and the file can be accessed thereafter. In step S304, M _S = 0 and M _A = 1 are set in order to cancel the manual execution mode and shift to the automatic execution mode. Then, in step S306, the ladder program is started.

FIG. 70 shows the manual restart (69th) described above.
It is a flow chart which shows the control procedure for making a restart based on the starting sequence accumulated by the figure.
When the failure location is specified and the operator selects the "automatic recovery" icon, this automatic recovery program is started. The restoration program inputs the block number step number B _x S _Y in which the failure is detected in step S320. C
In the area 300 of the RT screen, the ladder diagram of the input ladder program B _x S _Y is displayed. Step S32
At 2, the corresponding sequence is searched from the return sequence file 210, and the sequence data is read at step S324. In step S326, M _A = 0 and M _S = 1 are set to change to the manual execution mode. In steps S328 to S332, the switch is set according to the read sequence and the ladder program is executed step by step. In step S334, the operation waits for the operator to select the restart icon 306. If this icon is selected, in step S336 and step S338, production is restarted according to the original sequence control ladder program. Thus, according to the above-described restoration method, accurate and stable restoration can be performed regardless of the experience of the operator.

<Simulation> The main purpose of the simulation is usually to reproduce a failure that occurs during the trial stage in FIG. 17 or during actual operation.
In the simulation of this embodiment, the ladder program is simulated on the CRT 58 without moving the actual equipment. Whether it is a trial stage or a production stage, it is necessary to prepare the conditions in order to carry out the simulation. When the production process is decomposed into a plurality of motion blocks and each motion block is further decomposed into a plurality of motion steps as in this embodiment, the simulation is generally performed in motion block units. .. Therefore, in order to simulate the action block, the activation condition of the action block,
The various inputs required to perform the individual motion steps within that motion block are required. In the conventional simulation system, these conditions are manually given. This simulation subsystem automatically gives the above conditions.

As described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 53, when the operation of one step is completed in step S99, the changed switch state is changed to the operation state regardless of whether or not a failure is detected. Write to file 111. In step S105, the state of all confirmation switches is set to the operation state file 111 every time the block is finished.
Write in. When a failure is detected, the switch state at the time when the failure is detected is also written in the file 111. Then, as described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21, the switch change at any time can be faithfully restored from the data stored in the state file 111.

FIG. 71 shows an operation step B.₀ S₀ To
Interlock condition ILC₀ Will be satisfied
And cylinder Y₀ Drive the operation step B₀ S₁ 
With cylinder Y₀ Is turned on and signal X from the outside₁₀₀ But
Confirm that it has been entered (X₀= 1) and then cylinder Y₁ 
Drive the operation step B₀ S_Two With cylinder Y ₁ 
Is turned on and external signal X₁₀₁ Confirm that is entered
(X₁ = 1) and then cylinder Y_Two Drive that
It is a dar program. 72 is the ladder of FIG. 71.
Simulation Pro for simulating programs
It is gram. Cylinder element Y₀ , Y₁ Is a timer
Element TM₀ , TM₁ Has been replaced by. these
The set time of the timer element of is cylinder Y₀ , Y₁ 
Given in the I / O map of. For example, in FIG.
In the I / O map, this time is the "operation time τ" field.
Have been given to De. Therefore, the sequencer in FIG.
From the Dar program to the simulation program shown in Fig. 72.
Creating a ram has data of operating time τ
Easy by creating an I / O map in advance
Is. Then, the simulation program of FIG.
Operation step B₀ S₀ At an inter
Lock condition ILC₀ Is satisfied with TM ₀ The drive
Then, operation step B₀ S₁ With timer TM₀Is time
Out and signal X from the outside₁₀₀ Confirm that the
Approval (TM₀ = 1) and timer TM₁ Drive and move
Work step B₀ S_Two At TM₁ Is timed out
Signal from department X₁₀₁ Confirm that is entered (TM₁
 = 1) and then TM_Two Driving the 71st
Simulate the program shown in the figure.

As described above, in the simulation program, when it is driven like an actuator such as a cylinder in the ladder program, it physically moves, and a time-consuming operation is converted into a timer element. Then, a switch for confirming the operation of the actuator (for example,
X ₀₎ is converted into an internal timer element switch (TM _0). The outputs other than the actuator (for example, the B ₀ S ₁ signal in FIG. 71) are internal signals and need not be changed. In other words, in order to allow the operator to visually display the simulation process, the transition state of the motion of the simulation program (Fig. 72) should be CR.
Displaying the symbol of the ladder program shown in FIG. 71 can provide the operator with a realistic and realistic simulation display rather than displaying it on T58. In that case, for example, when the timer TM ₀ has not timed out, the symbol of the cylinder Y ₀ is displayed in red, and when it is timed out, the symbol of the cylinder Y ₀ is displayed in green. For the same reason, confirmation switches that are not actuators are displayed in green when they are on and in red when they are not.

As described above, in order for the simulation program (for example, the program shown in FIG. 72) to be activated, the activation condition of the block must be satisfied. As described with reference to FIGS. 44 to 48, the activation conditions for this block are all in the operation blocks (operation blocks 2 and 3) preceding the operation block (block 4 in FIG. 44). This is the sum of confirmation switches. The logical expression of this activation condition is shown as ILC _{0 in} the example of FIG. At the start of the simulation, the actual logic value of this interlock condition logic is obtained from the operating state file 111. That is, the simulation ladder program of block 0 in FIG.
It is possible by giving data from the file 111 to LC ₀ . Each operation step of the simulation program can be activated if the timer element times out and an external signal is input.

FIG. 73 shows the operation status file 111.
Timing check of signal change restored from stored data
It is In the example of FIG. 73, the cylinder Y₀ Is time
τ₀’Turns on, cylinder Y₁Is τ₁ ’Turn on
It was Figure 74 shows the simulation program shown in Figure 72.
Timing chart showing transition of motion reproduced by
Is. There is a slight difference between Fig. 73 and Fig. 74.
Is the actual operating time τ₀’, Τ₁ 'And the timer element T
M₀ , TM₁ Nominal time τ₀ , Τ₁And there is a difference
This is because that. Then, the signal X input from the outside
₁₀₀ , X ₁₀₁ The time when was input (the hour in Fig. 74
Tick t₁ , T_Two ) Is stored in the operating status file 111.
Therefore, this time t₁ , T_Two To state file
Input from 111 to the simulation program.

FIG. 75 is a flow chart showing the operation of the simulation control program 206 for controlling the execution of the simulation ladder program. Further, FIG. 76 shows the format of the operation state file of a certain operation block. In the example of FIG. 76, the operation of this operation block is stored by a plurality of records.
The first record indicates that the block was activated at time t _I , the second record indicates that t ₁ has changed since then, the third record indicates that t ₂ has changed, and so on. Shows.

The control program shown in FIG.
When the operator selects the "Start Millation" icon
It is further activated (step S402). Step S40
In 4, specify the motion block to be simulated.
Prompt the operator. In step S406, the specified
The data file corresponding to the block number is file 11
1 in step S408, the first record
Data (start condition) is read out, and in step S410
Simulation data of the data (7th
2 ILC₀ ). Here, the data
Setting during ladder program means ladder program
The corresponding memory address of the element is held in the I / O map
Therefore, by referring to this I / O map
Write the data to the memory address. In step S412
Launches the ladder program. In step S414
Is the start time t of the simulation₀ Memorize Su
In the loop from step S416 to step S426,
1 record (nth record) from file 111
The time elapsed from the start of reading and simulation
Elapsed time (t_n -T
_I ) Is equal to
It is set during the ladder program. That is, the real
Record of actual operation of ladder program (Fig. 71)
Start (time t _I ) Elapsed time (t_n -T_I ) Has passed during the simulation,
t_n Signal recorded in the nth record corresponding to
That the change of state should be given to the simulation program
Means that it is Therefore, in step S416
Reads the nth record. And the control program
Simulation start by 206 (t₀ )
Elapsed time to the present time t (t−t₀ ) Is the change in the signal state recorded in the nth record
To reach the simulation program
In step S418, (t_n 
-T_I ) And (t-t₀ ) And. The comparison result
If the results are equal, in step S420, the nth
Of the signal data recorded in the record
Write at address. In step S422, the file 1
I haven't read all the records in 11 of the block
After confirming that there is not, return to step S416 and perform the above operation.
Repeat the work.

If it is determined in step S418 that the time t _n -t _I has not elapsed from the start of the simulation, the outputs of all confirmation switches are read in step S424, and the signals are changed to those in step S426. The display on the CRT 58 is updated accordingly. Thus, according to the simulation method of the present embodiment, the simulation condition is set based on the stored start condition of the ladder program actually operated, so that the accurate and efficient simulation can be realized.

<Optimization of Ladder Program> The automatic generation subsystem 104 for the sequence ladder program described above.
Is, for example, the generation of the activation condition of the operation block is
As described with reference to FIG. 48 to FIG. 48, it is assumed to be represented by the logical product of the confirmation switches used in all the operation blocks immediately preceding the operation block for which the activation condition is to be generated. Then, in those logical products, two complementary confirmation signals (“output”) of the same equipment (actuator) are
If there was a confirmation signal and a "return" confirmation signal), I was trying to simplify and optimize the ladder program in a sense by canceling them. The optimizing program 129 of the present system aims to further optimize the ladder program by removing a condition that is not actually related to the activation of the block among the activation conditions of the operation block. : Further, if the ladder program has an ambiguous operation, the ladder program is optimized by detecting and correcting the program part of the ambiguous operation.

Optimization of Start-up Condition An example of start-up conditions of a certain operation block which are not actually related to the start-up of the block will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 77, the work 402 is moved to the position A by the transfer device 400. The robot 406 grips the work at the position A with a hand suitable for the work. A plurality of hands 404 are attached to the rotating jig 401. The rotating jig 401 rotates to supply the robot 406 with the necessary hand, and is locked by the index lock pin 407 at a predetermined rotation position. FIG. 78 is a block flow map describing the operation of the equipment of FIG. 71 (a ladder program is described in part), and this map consists of three blocks. A block B ₀ describes an operation of transferring the work 402 to the position A, a block B ₁ describes an operation of a rotating jig, and a block B ₂ is an activation for activating the gripping operation of the work 402 by the robot 406. Describe the conditions. In the operation of block B ₀ , when the work activates the limit switch “work arrival”, the “block 0 completion” signal is generated. On the other hand, in the block B ₁ , when the signal L ₁ is received, a “lock pin unlock” signal is generated and a predetermined actuator (not shown) is activated to bring the jig 401 into an unlocked state. When the jig 401 is unlocked and the signal "unlock" is generated, the signal "index rotation" is generated and the jig 40
1 is rotated about center 403. When the servo of the jig 401 works and the desired hand reaches the robot side, when the "index rotation complete" signal is generated, "block 1 complete"
A signal is generated. The first step of block B ₂ describes the logic that produces the internal signal “block 2 fire”. As described in connection with FIG. 48, the “start condition” in the block B ₂ is the block B ₀ and the block B.
_{It is} the logical product of the confirmation signals of ₁ . Therefore, the "start condition" includes the signals "lock" and "unlock". However, in practice, the jig 401 may or may not need to be rotated depending on the type of the conveyed work. This is because it is not necessary to exchange the hands as long as the same type of work is sent. Therefore, the signals "lock" and "unlock" in the "starting conditions" are not always necessary as starting conditions, and removing them simplifies the program structure,
Program maintenance is facilitated and unnecessary logic is eliminated, so that the program operates efficiently. Therefore, how to detect that an unnecessary logic is included in the start condition becomes a problem.

When the starting condition includes unnecessary logic, the optimizing program 129 may generate a signal indicating the logic at various times when it is recorded at an actual production site. Paying attention to a certain point, when a signal indicating such various occurrence times is included in the starting condition, the signal is excluded from the starting condition. The program 129 sets the above occurrence time to the operation status file 1
The detection is performed from 11. FIG. 79 shows the number 77
It is a timing chart of the signal which recorded the operation | movement in the installation of the figure about Case I, Case II, and Case III. In FIG. 79, the generation timing of the "lock" signal is different in case I, case II, and case III. This is because there are cases where the rotating jig 401 does not need to rotate (case III) and cases where the amount of rotation is small (case II).

FIG. 80 is a flow chart showing the control procedure of the optimization program 129. This program 12
9 is activated by selecting a predetermined icon.
In step S450, the operator is urged to specify the operation block that the operator intends to optimize. In step S452, the file 11 is checked to check the timing of signal generation.
Specify the period for which 1 should be considered. However, this period may be unspecified. In step S454, only the state file data within this period, which has a normal operation result, is input, and in step S456, as described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21 from these data. Then, reconfigure the timing chart. Step S45
In No. 8, as described with reference to FIG. 79, a signal whose generation time is indefinite (“lock signal” in the example of FIG. 79)
To extract. In step S460, the ladder diagram including the activation condition of the operation block is displayed on the CRT 58, and the message indicating whether the signal extracted in step S458 may be deleted from the activation condition is displayed on the CRT 58. If there is a reply that the signal may be deleted, the signal is deleted from the start condition in step S464. In step S464, the generation rule itself that does not include this signal in the block activation condition may be changed. Thus, the start conditions of the block are optimized, the program is easy to see, and the program execution speed itself is improved.

Optimization of ambiguous part When a plurality of signals are transmitted from one controller to another controller in parallel, skew may occur between these signals. This skew causes malfunction of the equipment. Originally, the ambiguous part of such control should be strictly considered and taken countermeasures, but it is impossible to strictly consider the timing in every part. Therefore, the optimizing program 129 simply detects and corrects an ambiguous portion and optimizes it.

An example of a ladder program whose timing control is ambiguous will be described with reference to FIGS. 81 and 82. FIG. 81 shows that when the strobe signal “data transmission” is received, X ₁ to
It is a ladder program that describes the operation of storing up to X ₄ in memory. When the signal "data transmission" is received from the external controller, the internal signal "data storage" is generated.
The "data storage" is to form a sampling timing, when receiving the data signal X ₁ to X _4, in order to store these data signals to the memory, the memory signal "X ₁ stores" generating "X ₂ stores", etc. To do. FIG. 82 shows a timing chart of an example in which X ₄ of the data signals X ₁ to X ₄ is erroneously stored because X ₄ is sent late. Originally, the ladder program of the external controller should be configured so that the delayed data signal is not generated. Optimization program 129
Pays attention to the fact that a signal whose generation time is ambiguous differs for each recording case when the signal is recorded. Therefore, when a failure occurs, the timing chart of the signal at the time of the failure is compared with the timing chart of the signal at the normal time stored in the past, and if there is a different part, the signal is unstable. The generation rule is changed to automatically generate a ladder program element that checks that an unstable operation has occurred, judging that the operation is likely to occur.

FIG. 82 illustrates the principle of rule change.
That is, a timing chart of a signal suspected to be unstable is created, and a window (T
_{MIN to} T _MAX ) is set and a ladder logic as shown in FIG. 83 is created. In the logic of FIG. 83, when the signal “data storage” is input, two timers T _MIN and T _MAX are activated. X ₁ before timer T _MIN times out and T _MAX times out
Storing signals to X _4. It is to fail if any one of X _{1 to} X ₄ is input before T _MIN times out or after T _MAX times out.

FIG. 84 shows the control procedure of the program 129 for this optimization. This procedure is activated by selecting a predetermined icon. In step S480, the operator is prompted to specify the operation step that he is considering to optimize. In step S482, the period in which the file 111 should be considered in order to check the signal generation timing is designated. However, this period may be unspecified. In step S484, only the state file data within this period, which is determined to be a failure, is input, and in step S486, as described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21, from these data, Reconfigure the timing chart. In step S488, as described with reference to FIG. 82, a signal whose generation time is not determined is extracted.
In step S490, the timing chart of those signals is displayed on the CRT 58. Then, step S4
At 92, a message indicating whether the generation rule for the signal extracted at step S488 may be changed is displayed on the CRT5.
Display in 8. If there is a reply to the effect that it may be changed, in step S494, the timer element is set to the 83rd value in order to change the ladder program and generation rule of the signal.
Add as shown.

Incidentally, the collection of the past state file data in step S484 is performed by using clear failure data, for example,
Failure data such as disconnection of signal transmission line should be omitted. Further, the logic to be added is the timer logic for setting the window in the above example. This is because the signal is delayed or advanced in the case of signal transmission. In the case of optimizing the logic other than the signal transmission, for example, the cylinder drive, the cylinder operation time does not accelerate, so it is only necessary to change the timer value of the logic for checking the cylinder operation.

<Effects of the Embodiment> According to the above-described embodiment system, it is possible to perform simple and accurate fault detection by the step time over detection, the step hang-up detection, and the block hang-up detection, and the binary tree search. With this method, the failure location can be analyzed at high speed. Further, since the past failure analysis result is reflected in the "weight" of the node, the search for the failure location is further speeded up. In addition, the switch signal is classified into an "external signal" and an "internal signal", and it is determined whether or not to continue the search depending on which of the signals the failure search target belongs to. Speeds up the analysis of.

Furthermore, a failure analysis is speeded up by creating a database in advance in which a failed device and an operation step in which a failure is detected are associated with each other, and searching for a failed device in this database in the order of occurrence frequency. : By adopting the recovery processing method of remembering the recovery process for past failures and recalling the process from the memory for the same failure and reproducing the sequence, difficult recovery processing can be simplified and operated. Can be unified. : The actual operating state of the ladder program (or the operating state during simulation) is stored, and for simulation of a failure or simulation at the trial stage of the ladder program, by using this state data as a simulation condition, the simulation can be performed. Now you can do it efficiently and accurately. This is highly effective because the signal name indicating the status data is specified in the system by the name. : Discovering useless logic existing in the start condition of the operation block or operation step by examining the data file indicating the operation state stored in the past, and changing the ladder program or the generation rule including the useless logic. This optimizes the sequence ladder program. The unstable signal existing in the ladder program
The sequence ladder program is optimized by discovering it by examining the data file indicating the operation state stored in the past and changing the ladder program including the unstable signal or the generation rule.

<Modifications> The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, although the above-mentioned embodiment applied the present invention to the automobile production line,
Of course, the invention is not limited to such fields of application. It is applicable as long as it performs sequence control.

Modification of Fault Analysis Search The fault location analysis method described with reference to FIGS. 49 to 52 and 57 to 62 was based on the binary search (binary tree search). .. Here, we propose a modified method of failure analysis. In this modification method, a failure that occurred in the past (occurrence operation step number) and a failure occurrence point obtained by analysis (name of the confirmation switch device that failed) are stored in a database in association with each other, and these data are sorted. .. For sorting, the operation step number is used as the first sort key and the faulty device name is used as the second sort key. As a result, as shown in FIG. 85, the failure locations are sorted by the failed operation step number, and the failure data are arranged in descending order of device frequency for the same operation step. Therefore, when a failure is detected at a certain operation step (B _x S _Y ) and the failed device is specified, the search may be performed in the order of the device having the highest occurrence frequency.

FIG. 86 is a flow chart showing the control procedure according to this modification. In step S510, the number (B _x S _Y ) of the operation step in which the failure is detected is known. In step S512, the record group having that number is searched for in the database of FIG. 85, and further, in step S514, it is estimated that there is a high possibility that the failure device with the maximum frequency has failed first. To do. Then, in step S516, the memory address for storing the data of the confirmation signal corresponding to the device is known from the I / O map (FIGS. 24 and 65). In step S518, the device data is read from the memory address and checked. If the signal data indicates a failure, the device is marked as a failure in step S524. If not, the next occurrence occurs in step S522. Find out about frequency devices.

The problem is how to create the database shown in FIG. FIG. 87 shows the procedure for making it.
In step S530, the simulation program of the sequence ladder program (created in advance) is started if the target. In step S532, the fault is artificially set in the equipment. In step S534, records associated with a device name which is set a fault operation step number B _x S _Y which detects a failure occurring due to a failure which has been set. This operation is repeated until sufficient data are obtained. It should be noted that, as shown in step S540, past failure data may be incorporated into the database.

FIG. 88 is a schematic representation of the relationship between the data in the database shown in FIG. 85. The operation step B _x
It is a set related to S _Y. 500 to 504 in the figure
Shows a case of failure caused by three devices A, B, and C as a set, and an area 510 indicates a failure caused only by the device A, and an area 500 indicates a device A.
In the area 501, a failure in the devices 501 and 502 in the area 501, and a failure in the areas 502 in the devices A, B, and C.
Area 503 is the device B,
Areas 504 display failures only due to C, and areas 504 only show failures due to device C. As is clear from the figure,
The more common the device causing the failure, the more likely it is the actual failure. Therefore, if the device with such a high probability is preferentially checked, the efficiency with which a failed device is found is improved. Incidentally, in FIG. 88, 5
Reference numeral 05 indicates a set of devices that are always on, 506 indicates a set that is off, and 507 is a set of signals irrelevant to the operation step. In the process of creating the database or in the process of searching the database, the set 505,
The search is speeded up by excluding the sets related to 506 and 507 from the search target.

Other Method of Restoration The failure restoration method shown in FIG. 70 is that the system automatically restores according to the restoration sequence file. In the example to be described below, the system displays the switch to be set in different colors to present the operator with a recovery sequence. FIG. 89 shows a control procedure therefor, which should be obtained instead of the procedure of steps S328 to S332 in FIG. That is, according to the sequence file, in step S560, one device is displayed in yellow in the sense that it should be set manually. If the operator sets the corresponding switch, the contents of the corresponding memory address are updated in step S564, and the ladder program is executed in step S566.
If there is a change as a result of the execution, the display is updated in step S568.

[0185]

As described above, according to the sequence program generating method and the apparatus therefor of the present invention, an unoptimized program portion can be extracted as an irrational operation result, and the irrational operation result can be extracted. Optimization can be achieved by improving the part.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a production line of an automobile to which the present invention is applied.

[Fig. 4]

[Figure 5]

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an operation block flow chart by dividing the operation in the production line in FIG.

FIG. 7 represents the operation in one block of FIG.
A flow chart diagram called a motion step flow chart.

[FIG. 8]

[FIG. 9]

10 is a ladder program diagram showing a partial operation of the step of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a symbolic view of equipment on a production line.

FIG. 12

FIG. 13

FIG. 14

[FIG. 15]

FIG. 16 is a pattern diagram of a ladder element used in the example system.

FIG. 17 is a diagram generally showing a procedure for developing a system for managing a production line.

FIG. 18 is a view for explaining the mutual association of programs and data in the system of this embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing characteristic functions of the system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 20:

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a method of reproducing a temporal change in an operating state from data representing the operating state.

FIG. 22 is a diagram of a map called a block flow map in the example system.

FIG. 23 is a diagram of a map called a step flow map in the embodiment system.

FIG. 24 is a diagram of a map called an actual I / O map in the example system.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an example system.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic programming / data input unit of the example system.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a library structure of device names and operation names.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an operation procedure of a data input program.

FIG. 29:

FIG. 30 is a flow chart showing a procedure of a ladder program compiler.

FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the system of this embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a touch panel and a display.

FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating a data structure for controlling a display screen on a CRT.

FIG. 34 is a view showing a display example on a CRT.

FIG. 35 is a diagram in which the display screen is divided into cells.

FIG. 36 is a diagram for explaining that each field of the device name has a meaning.

FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating a structure of data input by a user to control display on a CRT.

FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating a ladder pattern for a continuous transport operation.

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing a relationship between the failure diagnosis subsystem 106 and the simulation subsystem 105.

FIG. 40,

FIG. 41 is a diagram showing an overall software relationship in the example system.

FIG. 42

FIG. 43:

FIG. 44,

FIG. 45:

FIG. 46,

FIG. 47:

FIG. 48 is a diagram illustrating a principle of detecting a failure such as block hang-up.

FIG. 49

FIG. 50 is a ladder program diagram and a cross reference table diagram showing an example of equipment to be subjected to a binary tree search in the failure diagnosis system.

[FIG. 51]

FIG. 52 is a diagram illustrating a process of weighting a search path in a binary tree search algorithm in the fault diagnosis system.

FIG. 53 is a flow chart showing a control procedure of a map control program.

FIG. 54 is a flow chart showing the control procedure of the operation monitoring program.

FIG. 55:

FIG. 56 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the failure diagnosis analysis program.

FIG. 57:

FIG. 58 is a flow chart showing the procedure of a binary tree search algorithm applied to failure analysis.

FIG. 59]

FIG. 60:

FIG. 61 is a view for explaining various data registers used in a binary tree search procedure.

FIG. 62 is a ladder program diagram of another example to which a binary tree search is applied.

FIG. 63:

FIG. 64 is a diagram showing an example of equipment to which a recovery program is applied.

FIG. 65: I of FIG. 63 equipment to which the recovery program is applied
The figure which shows a / O map.

FIG. 66 is an operation step flow chart map of the equipment of FIG. 63 to which the restoration program is applied.

FIG. 67 is a ladder program diagram showing a sequence operation of equipment to be restored.

FIG. 68 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for the user interface when the recovery program is executed.

FIG. 69 is a flow chart showing a control procedure in a manual recovery mode of the recovery program.

FIG. 70 is a flow chart showing a control procedure in the automatic restoration mode of the restoration program.

FIG. 71 is a ladder program diagram of a simulation target.

72 is a ladder program diagram for simulating the program of FIG. 71. FIG.

FIG. 73,

FIG. 74 is a view for explaining the principle of simulation.

FIG. 75 is a flow chart showing the control procedure of the simulation program 129.

FIG. 76 is a diagram for explaining the format of a sequence file used in the simulation.

FIG. 77 is a diagram showing an example of equipment to be optimized.

78 is a motion block flow chart diagram describing the operation of the FIG. 77 facility.

FIG. 79 is a view for explaining the principle for optimizing the program that describes the operation of the equipment.

FIG. 80 is a flow chart showing a control procedure of optimization control.

FIG. 81 is a diagram showing another example of equipment to be optimized.

FIG. 82 is a diagram for explaining the reason why optimization is required because signal generation is unstable.

FIG. 83 is a ladder program diagram after optimization.

FIG. 84 is a flow chart showing another example of the control procedure of the optimization control.

FIG. 85 is a diagram illustrating a database structure used in another method of failure analysis.

FIG. 86 is a flowchart illustrating another method of failure analysis.

FIG. 87 is a flow chart showing the procedure for creating a database.

88 is a view for explaining the principle of the failure analysis method of FIG. 86.

FIG. 89 is a flowchart illustrating another method of restoration.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sequence program automatically generated by combining, for a plurality of facilities, generation rules that describe the state of one or a plurality of devices for activating, regulating, or confirming the operation of each facility. A: storing the data indicating the operating state of the devices of these equipments while operating the sequence program once generated on the actual equipments; and b: storing the stored device data. Determining an irrationality between an operating state and the generation rule describing the operation of the device, and in c: b, the actual operating state of the device is irrational to the generation rule of the device If it is determined that the sequence is changed, the generation rule is changed based on a predetermined change rule. A sequence program generation method characterized by optimizing a sequence program. 2. The method for generating a sequence program according to claim 1, wherein the generation rule includes a rule for generating a program element that detects a device failure occurrence, and the step a includes the step of installing a facility during execution of the sequence program. Each time a failure is detected, a step of storing failure history data of state changes of a plurality of devices in a plurality of sequences leading to the failure in a database when the failure is a solid failure The step b, when a state suspected of failure occurs in a certain execution process of the sequence program, the actual operation state data of the plurality of devices stored in the step a in the execution process, Comparing the failure history data in the database to detect devices exhibiting different states; During sequence program for the issued equipment, including the step of adding a program element for monitoring the operation of the device shown the different conditions detected. 3. The sequence program generation method according to claim 1, wherein the generation rule includes a rule that generates a start condition for starting all or a part of the sequence program, and the step a includes the sequence. The program is executed a plurality of times, and each time the program is executed, the status data of a plurality of devices representing the starting conditions of a specific equipment is stored, and the plurality of status data stored for the specific equipment is checked to identify different parts. In step c, the generation rule of the activation condition corresponding to the extracted device related to the different part is changed from the generation rule of the specific facility. 4. The sequence program generation method according to claim 1, wherein the operation of the entire equipment to which this sequence program is applied has one operation step including one operation of the equipment as one unit, and a plurality of operations. An operation block consisting of steps is represented by a set of operation blocks in which only operation steps that do not interfere with the operation of any equipment of other operation blocks are collected. Consists of steps, 5. The generation method of a sequence program according to claim 1, wherein the generation rule that describes the operation of each of the plurality of equipment is
A generation master database consisting of name data that allows the operator to specify the respective facilities in terms of meaning and operation data that describes the operation of each of the facilities is created. The system consisting of an automatic programming subsystem accessible to the master database and a failure monitoring subsystem section is divided into a plurality of subsystems each of which realizes a part of the functions required for managing the plurality of facilities. The operation data of the target actuator device is obtained by searching the database using the name data as a key, and thereby the function of each subsystem is realized. 6. A sequence program that automatically combines, for a plurality of facilities, generation rules that describe the state of one or a plurality of devices for activating, regulating, or confirming the operation of each facility. A generation device, wherein: a: a first storage unit that stores the generation rule; and b: while operating a sequence program that has been generated once on actual equipment, monitoring the operating state of the devices of these equipment. A monitoring unit that performs: c: a second storage unit that stores data indicating an operating state; d: an irrationality of the stored operating state of the device and the generation rule that describes the operation of the device Then
And a rule changing unit that changes the generation rule based on a predetermined change rule when it is determined that the actual operating state of the device is unreasonable with respect to the generation rule of the device. Characteristic sequence program generation device.