JPH07271615A - Computer control unit for equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly control the operation of an equipment by a computer control unit for the equipment by performing a control processing which includes a part where an execution request is made nonperiodically or unexpectedly and requires a long time and a control processing which should be executed speedily and constantly or periodically in ways matching the properties of the respective processing. CONSTITUTION:A processor 10 is a programmed microcomputer and plural control processings 1-7 required for the operation of the equipment are provided in parallel. The memory (RAM) 200 of the microcomputer has stacks 11-17 for preserving the states of the control processings 1-7. The control processing 1-7 are executed in parallel by a time-division system at intervals of, for example, 1 millisecond under the control of a process switching processing. The execution order of the control processing 1-7 may be predetermined or determined according to the priority levels of the respective control processings.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer control device for a device, and more particularly to improvement of a processing method for efficiently executing a plurality of types of information processing concerning various elements and functions in the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, computer control has been adopted for all kinds of equipment, and a water heater, which is one item handled by the applicant, is no exception. Hereinafter, in order to facilitate understanding, a hot water supply device will be described as an example, but general items in the following description apply to other various devices in common.

In a water heater, various kinds of information processing are executed by one microcomputer. Examples of such information processing are listed below (the "external system processing" is not known at the time of filing of this application).

Signal input processing from a large number of sensors for measuring various states (hereinafter referred to as sensor input processing).

Burner combustion amount control processing (hereinafter referred to as combustion control processing).

Control processing of the bath filling operation (hereinafter,
Bath operation processing).

Control processing of hot water supply circulation operation for the function of supplying hot water of appropriate temperature immediately after opening (so-called hot water function) (hereinafter referred to as immediate hot water processing).

Output processing of drive signals to actuators such as on-off valves and proportional valves, fans, etc. (hereinafter referred to as actuator output processing).

Communication processing with a remote controller installed in a kitchen or bathroom (hereinafter referred to as remote control communication processing).

Communication processing with an external system for performing inspection, performance test, state check, etc. of the water heater, and command execution processing from the external system (hereinafter referred to as external system processing).

When executing such various kinds of processing,
Generally, the systems shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 have been conventionally adopted.

In the system of FIG. 1, some processing (eg, sensor input processing, etc.) that should be executed constantly or periodically is performed.
The main processing routine is configured to sequentially execute combustion control processing, bath operation processing, immediate hot water operation processing, and actuator output processing, and has a portion where execution requests occur irregularly or suddenly. Processing (for example, remote control communication processing and external system processing) is an interrupt routine.

One drawback of the method of FIG. 1 is that if the interrupt routine has a large amount of processing content, once an interrupt occurs, the main processing routine will be stopped for a long time during transmission / reception with the remote controller or external system. Then, the execution interval of each process constituting the main process routine becomes long, so that a non-negligible delay occurs particularly in a process requiring high-speed followability such as combustion control. In fact, recent hot water heaters have become extremely multifunctional and high-performance, which has inevitably led to a large amount of remote control communication processing and external system processing. Is expected to become. Therefore, the processing method of FIG. 1 has become unsuitable as a control method for always maintaining the ideal operating state of the water heater.

The method of FIG. 2 has the disadvantages of the method of FIG.
The interrupt routine is as short as possible. That is, of the remote control communication process and the external system process, the minimum necessary part to be executed due to the occurrence of irregular or sudden item request is the interrupt routine, and the remaining part including the loop for waiting for the interrupt occurrence is It is incorporated in the sequential processing sequence of the main processing routine.

However, in the system of FIG. 2, when the main routine side part of the remote control communication process and the external system process enters the interrupt waiting loop, the main routine remains stopped during the waiting state unless an interrupt occurs. turn into. As a result, the processing that requires high tracking performance such as combustion control will also be hindered.

[0016]

As described above, according to the control processing method in the conventional water heater, a comparatively long time including a portion where an execution request is generated irregularly or suddenly, such as remote control communication processing. Due to such control processing, there is a delay in the execution of the control processing such as the combustion control processing that should be constantly or regularly executed promptly, and as a result,
It is becoming difficult to always keep the entire control of the water heater smooth. The same problem exists not only in the water heater but also in the control devices of other devices in similar situations.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to perform a time-consuming control including a part in which an execution request is generated irregularly or suddenly when executing a plurality of processes necessary for the operation of the device in a computer control device of the device. To make it possible to perform processing and control processing that should be constantly or regularly performed quickly in a manner suitable for the nature of each processing, thereby enabling smooth control of the operation of the equipment. is there.

Another object of the present invention is, in a computer control device for equipment, not only the internal operation of the equipment,
When it is also necessary to control the operation for the external system, it is to ensure that both operations can be smoothly controlled.

[0019]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer control device for a device, a first control process to be constantly or periodically executed, and an irregular or sudden execution request. And a second control process including a portion in which is generated are executed in parallel by a time division method.

When the first and second control processes are executed by the time division method, the process to be executed is switched as follows.
For example, a method of periodically switching with a timer or the like, or a method of switching when a control process in process enters a waiting state can be adopted.

When a plurality of control processes are executed in parallel in a time-division manner, it is desirable that the control processes with higher priorities be executed preferentially based on the priorities set in the respective control processes. .

In this case, the priority may be fixed, but the priority may be changed according to the execution status of each control process.

Alternatively, instead of setting the priority for each control process, the priority is set for a predetermined part (particularly important part) in each control process, and the priority of the unexecuted part of each process is set. Alternatively, the higher the control process, the higher the priority may be.

In the preferred embodiment, the part of the second control process that is to be executed by an execution request that is generated irregularly or suddenly is configured as an interrupt routine. The remaining part including the interrupt waiting loop for waiting is configured as a main routine that is executed in parallel with the first control processing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer controller for a device, which performs an internal control process for controlling an internal operation of the device and an external system process for controlling an operation of the device with respect to an external system in a time division manner. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with a parallel processing means for executing the same.

[0026]

According to the control device according to the first aspect of the present invention,
Since the first control processing and the second control processing are executed in parallel in a time-sharing manner, the first processing should be stopped even if the second processing is in a waiting state for a long time. Instead, it continues to be executed at an appropriate interval, and the control delay as in the past does not occur. That is, a plurality of control processes having different progressing speeds are executed at the suitable progressing speeds. Therefore, smooth control of the device is ensured.

When priority is set for the control processing and the higher priority processing is executed with priority, the processing requiring high speed can be executed with priority. The smoothness is more reliably guaranteed. Furthermore, if the priority is variable according to the progress status of the processing, each processing can be appropriately advanced according to the occasional status, which is more desirable. Also, even if a priority is set for a predetermined part in each process and which process is prioritized based on the priority of an unexecuted part of each process It is possible to adjust the progress properly.

In the preferred embodiment, among the second control processes,
Part of the routine is an interrupt routine, and the remaining part including the interrupt waiting loop is a main routine that is executed in parallel with the first control processing. By doing so, the processing amount of the interrupt routine in the second control processing can be reduced to the minimum, and the processing time can be extremely shortened. Therefore, when the second control process enters the interrupt routine, there are many cases where there is no problem even if a simple program is adopted so as to stop the main routine during that time.

According to the control device of the second aspect of the present invention, since the internal control processing and the external system processing are executed substantially independently without adversely affecting each other, the smooth internal operation of the equipment can be achieved. Execution and smooth execution of the operation of the external system can both be achieved. In particular, when the external system is intended for inspection, test, evaluation, check, etc. of the internal processing of the device, the function of the external system can be effectively exhibited.

[0030]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a computer controller for a water heater according to the present invention.

In FIG. 3, the processing device 10 is actually composed of a programmed microcomputer, and as a main routine, a plurality of types of control processes (programs) 1 to 7 necessary for the operation of the water heater are provided therein. Exist in parallel in a mutually independent state. Under the control of the process switching process 8, the plurality of control processes 1 to 7 are executed substantially in parallel by a time division method.

Microcomputer memory (RAM)
Within the stack 20, stacks 11 to 17 assigned to the respective control processes 1 to 7 are provided. These stacks 11 to 17 have status information (eg, program counter value, general register value, status flag value, etc.) during execution when the corresponding control processes 1 to 7 are interrupted due to the time-sharing method. Is for temporarily storing until the next execution opportunity.

The control processes 1 to 7 executed in parallel are specifically as follows.

Sensor etc. Input Processing 1 Processing for inputting detection signals from various sensors arranged in various places inside and outside the water heater to the control device.

Combustion control process 2 Process for feedforward / feedback control of the burner combustion amount.

Bath Operation Processing 3 Processing for controlling the bath filling operation.

Immediate Hot Water Processing 4 Processing for controlling the hot water supply circulation operation for the so-called immediate hot water function.

Actuator Output Processing 5 Processing for outputting drive signals to actuators of various valves, fans, igniters, and the like.

Remote control communication processing 6 Processing for receiving commands and data from a remote controller installed in a kitchen or bathroom and sending internal information of the microcomputer to the remote controller.

External system processing 7: Receives commands and data from an external system that is connected to the controller as necessary to perform inspection, performance test, status check, etc. of the water heater or controller, and receives commands and data. A process for rewriting internal information of the microcomputer or sending it to an external system according to the data. The external system will be described in detail later.

Of the above control processes 1 to 7, the above five control processes 1 to 5 are processes that should be executed constantly or periodically, and are particularly useful for combustion control that requires real-time followability. The directly related sensor input processing 1, combustion control processing 2, and actuator output processing 5 need to be processed at high speed prior to other processing.

On the other hand, the latter two control processes 6 and 7 are processes including a portion in which an execution request is generated irregularly or suddenly, and therefore are processes which have been conventionally regarded as interrupt routines. These two control processes 6 and 7 are interrupt routines 6I and 7I for which only a minimum amount of the minimum necessary to be executed by an execution request generated irregularly or suddenly is executed.
And the rest is put in the main routine. The main routine parts 6 and 7 include interrupt waiting loops 6W and 7W for waiting for the occurrence of a predetermined event which is a request for executing the interrupt routine.

FIG. 4 shows processes 1 to 7 by the process switching process 8.
9 shows a routine for switching execution processing between the two.

This switching routine is a kind of interrupt routine, and as an interrupt event for activating it, for example, one or both of the following and can be adopted.

Periodically from the regular timer (eg 1
Interrupt every m seconds.

Interrupt routine 6 of control processing 6 and 7
A soft interrupt triggered by the termination of I or 7I or by the execution of processing in the main routine entering the waiting state.

When the switching routine is activated, first, the status information of the process currently being executed (eg, program counter value, general register value, status flag value, etc.) is stored in the corresponding stack (S1). Next, the process to be executed next is selected from the control processes 1 to 7 (S
2). Any of the following can be adopted as a method of this selection.

Selection is performed in order according to a predetermined execution order.

Priorities are fixedly set in advance for the processes 1 to 7, and priority is selected in descending order of priority. For example, the higher the priority, the more frequently the selection is performed, or the higher the priority, the shorter the selected interval is selected.

The priority is set in advance for the processes 1 to 7, the priority is changed at the execution stage of each process 1 to 7 to best suit the situation at that time, and the priority is changed according to the changed priority. And select as above.

The priority may be set for each part in each of the processes 1 to 7 or to a specific important part, and the unexecuted part of each process is executed in descending order of priority. The processing to be performed may be selected.

When the processing to be executed is selected in this way, information is then read from the stack corresponding to the selected processing and set in a predetermined location (eg, program counter, general-purpose register, status flag, etc.). (S
3). Then, the interrupt routine is finished and the main routine is returned to, whereby the execution of the selected process is started (S4).

As described above, the control processes 1 to 7 are executed in a time division manner, and when viewed in a long cycle, all control processes 1
7 to 7 are executed simultaneously in parallel, and the overall operation control of the water heater proceeds smoothly.

In particular, the remote control communication process 6 and the external system process 7 that may enter a long wait state for waiting for the occurrence of an interrupt are other control processes 1 to 5 that should be executed constantly or periodically. At the same time, since the processes are executed in parallel in a time-sharing manner, the latter control processes 1 to 5 are smoothly executed even while the former control processes 6 and 7 are in a waiting state for a long time. Therefore, there will be no delay or other problems.
That is, a state similar to a state in which each control process 1 to 7 is independently executed is obtained, and the former processes 6 and 7 and the latter processes 1 to 5 can be compatible without substantially interfering with each other. .

Further, in the method of selecting the processing to be executed by using the priority, high priority is given to the processing such as the sensor input processing 1, the combustion processing 2, the actuator output processing 5, etc., which requires high speed. By giving the above, the high-speed execution of these processes is surely guaranteed and smooth control can be secured. Furthermore, according to the method in which the priority is variable according to the progress of each process, smoother control can be expected. Further, according to the method of setting the priority for each part in each process or for the important part, when a part having a high priority of a process is not executed, the process is selected preferentially, and the process has a high priority. After the part is executed, it is selected in a non-prioritized manner, so that an effect similar to that when the priority of each process is changed according to the progress of each process is obtained.

Further, in the above embodiment, since each processing 1 to 7 exists independently, it is not necessary to consider the troublesome relationship with other processing when creating the program for each processing. There are also merits.

In addition to the above-mentioned processes 1 to 7, if a dummy process which does not perform any operation and is passed to another process is incorporated in the main routine in advance, when a new process is added or deleted in the future. Convenient because you can do this independently of existing processing.

Further, the external system process 7 and the other control processes 1 to 6 are executed in parallel, which has the following advantages. Since the control processes 1 to 6 are related to the control of the internal operation of the water heater, they are collectively referred to as "internal control process" below.

That is, the external system is connected to the control unit when conducting an inspection, a performance test, a status check, etc. of the water heater or its control unit, as its outline has already been described and described in detail below. Then, the microcomputer of the control device is instructed to read internal information, rewrite it, and execute a specified control operation. In the external system processing 7 of the water heater control device, processing such as reading and rewriting of internal information and execution of a designated control operation is performed according to an instruction from the external system. The external system processing 7 is performed for the purpose of inspection such as whether the internal control processing 1 to 6 of the water heater function properly, performance test, state check, etc. The purpose cannot be achieved unless the operations 1 to 6 are adversely affected. In this respect, it is preferable that the external system process 7 and the internal control processes 1 to 6 be executed in parallel because the internal control processes 1 to 6 are not substantially affected by the external system process 7.

More specifically, the external system processing 7 includes processing of transmitting / receiving with the external system, analyzing received data, and preparing transmission data. Also, external system interrupt processing 7I
Generates an interrupt when it receives a signal of transmission preparation completion from the external system, and finishes the minimum processing of issuing a start request to the external system processing 7. Here, when the external system process 7 is activated, the process that takes the longest time is transmission / reception with the external system. For example, a simple read command described later is about several tens of milliseconds, and a block read command is several hundreds of milliseconds to several seconds. However, during this period, the external system process 7 gives up the CPU to the other internal control processes 1 to 6, so that the overall control execution speed does not change regardless of communication with the external system. Further, when the activation request is issued from the external system interrupt processing 7I, the external system processing 7 is activated after the other internal control processing with a high priority is completed. Control processing will not be delayed.

On the other hand, contrary to the above, the external system processing 7
The problem that the execution of is significantly delayed by the execution of the other internal control processing 1 to 6 is also solved by the parallel processing. That is, in the external system processing 7, especially reading of internal information (read command or operation read described later) is often performed for the purpose of checking the internal information of the microcomputer, which is changing every moment. If the read operation is done in real time without delay,
I cannot achieve that purpose. From this point as well, the fact that the external system process 7 and the internal control processes 1 to 6 are executed in parallel means that the execution of the external system process 7 is significantly delayed due to the execution of the internal control processes 1 to 6. Is substantially absent, which is preferable.

The external system will be described in detail below.

FIG. 5 shows an overall system configuration in which a water heater and an external system are combined.

In FIG. 5, the present system includes four independent external systems, each of which is intended to assist in different situations. That is, the evaluation support system 200, the control board automatic inspection system 300, the product inspection / adjustment system 400, the field maintenance support system 500.
Is.

These four external systems 200, 30
0, 400, 500 are the respective connection connectors 20
The connection connector 101 of the water heater 100 can be connected via 1, 301, 401, and 501, and bidirectional communication can be performed with the control board 103 of the water heater 100 through this connection. The communication interface at that time is shared by the four subsystems 200, 300, 400, and 500. Therefore, the water heater 100 has one common communication interface, and can communicate with any subsystem through the communication interface. The connector 101 is used for the water heater 100 and the subsystems 200 to 5
00 is communicatively connected, a radio station, an optical communication interphase, or the like may be used in place of this as long as it can perform the same function.

The outline of the water heater 100 and the four external systems 200, 300, 400 and 500 will be described below in order.

The water heater 100 has a control board 103 on which a microcomputer including a CPU and a memory is mounted. A kitchen remote controller 105, a bathroom remote controller 107, various temperature and flow rate sensors (not shown) (not shown), and the above-mentioned connection connector 101 are connected to the control board 103. Control board 10
3 is a programmed function of the microcomputer, which has an original function of controlling a combustion system and a hot water flow system (both not shown) of the water heater 100 based on signals from the remote controllers 105 and 107 and various sensors. In addition to preparing, according to the command from the external system
It has a function of accessing the memory of the microcomputer and reading or rewriting various information such as the internal state of the water heater 100 and the parameters of the control calculation accumulated therein, or executing the instructed control operation. ing. Since the former function is a function also provided in the conventional water heater, no special description will be given in this specification, but the latter function is a function deeply related to the present invention, and will be described later in detail.

The evaluation support system 200 is intended to support the evaluation work of the prototype in the product development stage of the water heater. That is, this system 200 grasps the internal state of the water heater 100, the operation of the CPU, etc. in real time in the test work of the prototype, and visually displays or stores this, thereby detailed the items that can be evaluated, The purpose is to improve the accuracy of evaluation results and the efficiency of evaluation work.

FIG. 6 shows the system configuration of this evaluation support system 200.

As shown in FIG. 6, this system 200
Is an input interface board 205 for connecting to a remote controller or various sensors attached to the product version of the water heater 100 and inputting signals from them to the system, and a disk storage device 207 for storing information read from the water heater 100. A pen recorder 209 for recording information read from the water heater 100 in a graph format, and a personal computer 211 for sending a block read command to the water heater 100 and controlling the units 205, 207, 209 described above. ing. These units 205, 207, 209, 211 and the connector 201 are communicatively connected via a communication interface unit 203.

Referring again to FIG. 5, control board automatic inspection system 300 aims at supporting the inspection process in the manufacturing line of control board 103 of water heater 100. That is,
In this system 300, the quality of the control board 103 is automatically inspected while the CPU in the board 103 and the inspection machine of the present system 300 communicate with each other, thereby shortening the inspection time and ensuring high reliability. Is intended.

FIG. 7 shows a control board automatic inspection system 300.
The system configuration of is shown.

As shown in FIG. 7, this system 300
The board inspection machine 305 to the communication interface unit 3
It is configured to be connected to the connection connector 301 via 03.

Referring again to FIG. 5, product inspection / adjustment system 400 is intended to support the product inspection process in the assembly line of water heater 100. That is, this system 400 aims at reducing the number of inspection personnel, shortening the inspection time, and improving the reliability of the inspection result by semi-automating the adjustment of the proportional valve of the product and the operation inspection of the product. .

FIG. 8 shows the system configuration of the product inspection / adjustment system.

As shown in FIG. 8, this system 400
Has a configuration in which a water heater inspection machine 405 is connected to a connection connector 401 via a communication interface unit 403.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the field maintenance support system 500 is intended to support installation work and maintenance inspection at the site where the water heater is used. That is,
This system 500 is a system that performs a trial run by designating arbitrary conditions during installation work, and reads out an operation history and a state at the time of failure accumulated in a memory in the water heater 100 when a failure occurs. By improving the reliability, accuracy, and efficiency of various operations performed at the work site by storing and displaying the information on the site, the information read and stored from the water heater 100 at that time is utilized for aftercare at a later date. The purpose is to be able to.

FIG. 9 shows the system configuration of the field maintenance support system 500.

As shown in FIG. 9, this system 500
Has a configuration in which an electronic notebook carried by a service person is connected to the connector 501 via the communication interface unit 503. A printer 507 can be connected to the electronic notebook 505, and an IC card 509 as an expansion memory can be inserted, if necessary. I
By removing the C card 509 from the electronic notebook 505 and connecting it to the host computer 511 installed in a business office or the like, the failure information and the like stored in the IC card 509 can be processed by the host computer 511.

A common communication interface is defined between the four external systems 200 to 500 and the water heater 100 as described above. This communication interface exchanges packets with each other,
The types and formats of packets are arranged so that the above-mentioned objects of each external system can be sufficiently achieved. Hereinafter, this communication interface will be described.

From the external systems 200 to 500, the water heater 1
The commands sent to 00 are roughly classified into the following three functions.

(1) Read command A command for extracting the commanded information from the memory of the control board 103 of the water heater in real time.

(2) Write command A command for changing or modifying a program or data specified by the control board 103.

(3) Operation instruction An instruction for forcibly executing the operation specified on the control board 103.

FIG. 10 shows a communication protocol having these three functions.

As shown in FIG. 10, first, command packet 601 is transmitted from external systems 200 to 500 to water heater 100. The command packet 601 is composed of a source code, a command code, a command parameter, a collation code and a checksum in order from the beginning. In the water heater 100 receiving this command packet 601, after the control board 103 performs the processing (read, write, operation) specified by the command code and the command parameter, the response packet 603 is sent as a result to the external system 200-
Return to 500. This response packet 603 has a sender code, a reception code (= command code), and
It is composed of a reception parameter (= command parameter), a collation code, a checksum and data.

FIG. 11 shows details of the packet structure.

As shown in FIG. 11, the packet is basically a source code 701, a command (reception) code 703,
It is composed of a command (reception) parameter 705, a collation code 707, and a checksum 709. Response packet 60
In the case of 3, a packet of read or written data is added after this basic configuration.

The source code 701 is the command packet 60.
1 is the code “5” of the external system 200 to 500, and the response packet 603 is the code “5” of the water heater 100.
A ".

The command code 703 is a code indicating the three functions of the above-mentioned command. The read command is "6", the write command is "A", and the operation command is "5".

The command parameter 705 indicates the specific contents of the command for the above three functions. That is, in the case of a read command, it indicates the start address of the data to be read in the memory and its block length. In the case of a write command, it indicates the address in the memory to be written and the data to be written. Also, in the case of an operation command, a predetermined operation code indicating the operation content to be executed is indicated by the upper byte. Further, in the operation command, in order to confirm the execution result of the operation, desired data can be read from the memory (this is referred to as “operation read”), and the code of the data to be the target of this operation read Is indicated by the lower byte.

The collation code 707 is the command packet 601.
The checksum 709 is a code for establishing correspondence between the response packet 603 and the response packet 603, and the checksum 709 is a value for error check.

In the case of the response packet 603, data follows the above packet structure. This data is the read data in the case of a read command, the written data in the case of a write command, and the data read by the operation read in the case of an operation command.

As the operation command, a command called "simple read" is prepared as a special form. In the operation command, the operation code (upper byte) in the command parameter 705 is set to "no command", and the data to be read is specified by the operation read data code (lower byte), and the specified data is supplied to the hot water. This is a command for reading from the machine 100 to an external system.

The difference between this simple read command and the above-mentioned read command (of command code "5") (hereinafter referred to as "block read") is that the former only needs to specify the code of the data to be read. While easy,
The latter is a complicated point to specify because the start address and block length of the data to be read in the memory must be specified. On the other hand, the simple read can read only the coded data in advance, and even if an attempt is made to increase the amount of read data, the number of data codes that can be specified within the limited data length is limited and a large amount of data can be read. Although it is not suitable for data read, any data can be freely read by the block read command, and the amount of read data is determined by the specified block length, so there is no limit to the amount of read data. Suitable for reading a large amount of data. Furthermore, the simple read command can be used even if the data address is different for each device as long as it has an address table for the data code on the main body side, so there is no need to change the read command of the external system for each device. is there. On the other hand, in the block read command, the main body does not need to convert the address for the data code one by one, and the data can be read all at once from consecutive addresses without reading the data from every address after the conversion. Therefore, high-speed reading is possible.

Therefore, the simple read command uses an electronic notebook, which has a relatively low memory capacity and processing capacity, such as the field maintenance support system 500, but the type of data to be read is fixedly determined, and Suitable for systems where real-time read performance is not so strict. On the other hand, the block read command is suitable for a system, such as the evaluation support system 200, which can be used by a high-performance personal computer, has a wide variety of data to be read, and requires a strict real-time property. The external systems 200 to 500 can selectively use the block read command and the simple read command according to each read purpose.

When the control board 103 of the water heater 100 receives the above command from the external systems 200 to 500, it executes the process according to the command and returns the response to the external systems 200 to 500.

FIG. 12 shows the structure of the control board 103 for that purpose.

In FIG. 12, the communication control unit 801 provides the above-mentioned communication interface to the external systems 200 to 500. External system 2
In the command packet sent from 00 to 500, the transmission control code and error are checked in the communication control unit 801, and the command code and command parameter in the command packet are sent to the data analysis unit 803.

According to the command code, the data analysis unit 803 sends to the read control unit 805 in the case of a block read command, the write control unit 807 in the case of a write command, and the operation control unit 809 in the case of an operation command. Send command parameters. Of the operation commands, only the simple read command is sent to the read control unit 805.

Upon receiving the command parameter, the read control unit 805 determines whether the block read command is simple or read, decodes the data code in the latter case, and specifies the memory address or data to be read. And sends a read request to the RAM control unit 813. The data creation unit 811 is notified of whether the block read is a simple read.

Upon receiving the command parameter, the write control unit 807 turns on the write request flag, specifies the memory address and data to be written, and sends the write request to the RAM control unit 813.

Upon receiving the command parameter, the operation control unit 809 turns on the operation request flag, decodes the operation code, and specifies the operation content to be executed and sends the operation request to the RAM control unit 813.

The data creating unit 811 is a unit for creating data to be added to the response packet, and is a RA to be described later.
The read or written data is received from the M control unit 813, shaped into a format that can be added to the response packet, and sent to the communication control unit 801. The communication control unit 801 creates a response packet using the data received from the data creation unit 811 and the command code or command parameter previously received and stored from the external systems 200 to 500, and creates this response packet. It is returned to the external systems 200 to 500.

The RAM control unit 813 is a unit group 801 for communicating with the above-mentioned external systems 200-500.
811 (corresponding to the external system processing 7 in FIG. 3) and a unit group 8 that performs information processing for controlling a water heater described later.
17-821 (corresponding to the internal control processes 1-6 of FIG. 3)
And a RAM 815 storing various information necessary for controlling the water heater such as the state of the water heater 100 and control parameters, and relays data exchange between these three parties (all in FIG. 3). It corresponds to a set of RAM access processing parts of processings 1 to 7).

That is, when the RAM control unit 813 receives a read request from the read control unit 805, it reads the data from the designated storage area of the RAM 815 and sends it to the data creation unit 811, and the write control unit 807 issues a write request. When receiving, the designated data is written to the designated storage area of the RAM 815. Also, the operation control unit 809
When the operation request is received from the RAM controller 813, the RAM control unit 813 transmits a command for executing the specified operation to the related water heater control unit groups 817 to 821, and the water heater generated as a result of executing the operation RAM815 which receives various states from related water heater control unit groups 817-821
In the corresponding storage area, and further, the data designated as the operation read target is read from the RAM 815 and sent to the data creation unit 811.

Further, the RAM control section 813 keeps operating the hot water supply control unit groups 817 to 821 while controlling the operation of the hot water supply device 100.
Unit group 817-821 according to the request from 1
Data is also input / output between the RAM and the RAM 815.

The input control section 817 is for inputting various information (set temperature Ts, water supply temperature Tc, hot water flow rate QH, hot water temperature TH, remote controller signal, etc.) necessary for hot water heater control from various sensors and remote controllers. is there.

The main controller 819 executes information processing for controlling the combustion amount of the water heater, the hot water flow rate, and other parts of the water heater, based on the input information from the input controller 817.
Output control unit 82 that sends the processing result to output control unit 821
1 has a fan control unit 823, a proportional valve control unit 825, an actuator control unit 827, and the like, and based on the processing result of the output control unit main control unit 819, the intake / exhaust fan 829, the combustion amount adjusting proportional valve 831, and the like. A solenoid valve 833 for turning fuel on / off, an igniter 835, and various actuators 837 are driven.

FIG. 13 shows an overall operation flow of communication performed by the control board 103 configured as described above with the external systems 200 to 500.

As shown in FIG. 13, first, the command packet from the external systems 200 to 500 is transmitted to the communication control unit 801.
Is received (step 901), the data analysis unit 803 subsequently determines the type of command (step 9).
03). If the result is a read command (block read or simple read), it is next determined whether block read or simple read (step 905). If block read, the RAM 81 to be read by the read control unit 805.
Data of the first address to be read and the block length of 5 are created (step 909), and the block read request flag is turned on (step 917). For simple read, the read control unit 805 converts the data code for operation read into the memory address of the RAM 815 to be read (step 911), and turns on the simple read request flag (step 919). The above conversion at the time of simple read is performed by referring to the correspondence table between the data code and the memory address prepared in advance in the RAM 815.

When the result of step 903 is an operation command, the operation control unit 809 converts the operation code into a command representing the specific operation content (step 913) and turns on the operation request flag (step 921).

If the result of step 903 is a write command, then whether the block write is a simple write (as in the case of a read, the block write specifies the memory address to write with a command parameter, the simple write does (Specifying a predetermined data code with a command parameter)
If it is a simple write, the write control unit 807 converts the data code into the data to be written and the memory address (step 915), and then the write request flag 923 is turned on. The above conversion at the time of the simple write is performed by referring to the correspondence table of the data code, the write data and the memory address prepared in advance in the RAM 815.

After the above processing, a read, write or operation request is sent to the RAM control section 813, and the RAM control section 9
The process of 25 is performed (step 925). The details of this processing will be described later.

Following the processing in the RAM control section 813, the processing in the data creation section 811 starts. Data creation unit 811
First, it is checked whether or not the read flag is on (step 927), and if it is on, it is checked whether it is the block read flag or the simple read flag (step 929). As a result, in case of block read, R
Block length data is read from the head address from the RAM 815 through the AM control unit 813 (step 93).
1). In the case of simple read, the read address data is read from the RAM 15 through the RAM control unit 813 (step 933) and the read data is converted into the specified format for simple read (step 93).
5). Note that this designated format means that when the read data is returned to a device with poor processing capacity such as an electronic notebook, the processing load cannot be endured if the data is returned as is, so depending on the data content, It is designed to be sent back after being changed to a simple code that has been defined, and indicates the code format.

Next, reply data is created from the read data or the written data (step 93).
7), it is added to the end of the response packet and returned to the external systems 200 to 500 (step 939).

FIG. 14 shows details of the processing in the RAM control section 925 described above.

As shown in FIG. 14, first, the operation, read, and write request flags are checked (steps 1001, 1005, 1009). If the operation request flag is on, the operation code is analyzed, and based on the result, the operation command is sent to the associated water heater control units 817 to 821. If the read request flag is on, R
Data is read from the read address of AM815,
This data is sent to the data creation unit 811 (step 1007). When the write flag is on, RA
Write data is written to the write address of M815 (step 1011). Furthermore, the water heater control unit 81
If there is a command from 7 to 821, data is exchanged between these units 817 to 821 and the RAM control unit 813 based on this command (step 1013).

FIG. 15 shows the flow of processing performed by the main controller 819.

As shown in FIG. 15, first, it is checked whether or not there is an operation request from the RAM control unit 813 (step 1101). If there is an operation request, the specific contents of the operation based on the request. Is determined (step 110)
3), processing for realizing the operation content is performed, and the result is sent to the output control unit 821 (step 110).
5). In this case, when the target of the operation request is a specific load (for example, a fan), for loads other than the specific load (for example, a proportional valve other than the fan or other actuators), the input control unit 817 Normal control processing based on the signal of is performed in parallel with the execution processing of the operation request.

On the other hand, if there is no operation request, normal control processing based on the signal from the input control unit 817 is executed for all loads (step 1107).

The processing relating to the operation request is shown in FIG.
In addition to the processing shown in 5, the following processing is possible.

The operation request acceptance mode is set by a signal from the outside, and the operation related to the operation request is not performed unless the operation request acceptance mode is set.

As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation where an unfamiliar service person makes an erroneous operation, the proportional valve is required to be fully opened, and hot water is suddenly discharged. In other words, since it is necessary to set the operation request acceptance mode before such an operation request, it is possible to prevent such an operation request from being accepted due to an erroneous operation, and to reduce the possibility of a sudden dangerous situation. You can

The cancellation of the operation realized based on the operation request is performed not only when there is an operation cancellation command from the outside but also when the transmission from the outside is interrupted for a certain period of time.

As a result, it is possible to prevent a dangerous situation in which, for example, the proportional valve is left in a fully opened state in response to an operation request, and then, during normal use, suddenly hot water is discharged.

The processing described above with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 13 to 15 is the control board 103 of the water heater 100.
External system 200-500 by being performed above
Can cause the water heater 100 to read out any data, perform any operation, change any state or control parameter, and change the program. Moreover, the original control process of the water heater 100 is also normally executed in parallel with various processes based on the commands from the external systems 200 to 500. This allows the external system 200
~ 500 of the above-mentioned objects will be effectively achieved.

In the following, taking some concrete cases as examples, the water heater 10 is utilized by utilizing the external systems 200 to 500.
The work of checking the state and operation of 0 will be described.

First, suppose a service engineer responds at the site in response to a complaint from the user that a fan error has occurred in the water heater and the water heater cannot be used.

The service person must check the fan for abnormalities. The check points at that time are: a) whether the fan rotates, b) whether the rotation speed is normal, or c) whether there is abnormal noise, and d) Combustion is good (air volume is normal), etc. In the past, in order to perform this check, the service person would turn on the operation switch of the remote control, set the set temperature, open the faucet, and perform a series of work such as checking the points mentioned above. You have to go back and forth between the kitchen (or bathroom) and the water heater.

On the other hand, according to this embodiment, the service person connects the portable electronic notebook 505 (field maintenance support system 500) to the water heater 100 and sends an operation command from the electronic notebook 505 to the water heater 100. Thus, a desired operation can be executed, and at the same time, information required for checking can be read from the hot water supply device 100 by the operation read and displayed and stored in the electronic notebook 505.

FIG. 16 shows an example of information exchange between electronic notebook 505 and water heater 100 at this time.

As shown in FIG. 16, first, when the service person inputs an operation on operation to the electronic notebook 505, the electronic notebook 505 instructs the operation on (“04H”) and the fan rotation speed lead (17H). The operation command packet thus generated is sent to water heater 100. The water heater 100 executes the operation ON in response to this operation command, adds the fan rotation speed at that time (for example, 0 rpm) from the RAM to the response packet, and also returns the electronic notebook 505. Upon receiving this response packet, the electronic notebook 505 displays "operation on" and "fan rotation speed".

After confirming the display of "driving on", the service person next inputs a fan start operation into the electronic notebook 505. Then, the electronic notebook 505 starts the fan (“06
H ″) and a fan rotation speed read command packet are sent to the water heater 100. In response to this, the water heater 100 activates the fan to set the minimum rotation speed (eg, 1500r).
pm), and at the same time, the response packet to which the fan rotation speed is added as data is returned to the electronic notebook 505. The electronic notebook 505 displays “fan startup” and “fan rotation speed”.

The service engineer checks the movement of the fan while looking at the "fan rotation speed" display, and if it is normal, then inputs the operation for driving the maximum rotation speed. Then, the electronic notebook 505 sends to the water heater 100 an operation command packet instructing the maximum rotation speed drive (“09H”) and the fan rotation speed read. In response to this, the water heater 100 drives the fan at the maximum rotation speed (for example, 4500 rpm), and returns a response packet in which the fan rotation speed is added as data to the electronic notebook 505. The electronic notebook 505 displays the "fan rotation number", and the service person checks it to check whether it is normal or not.

In this way, the service person is the water heater 1
You can do all the work before 00, and moreover,
Since the contents to be checked can be specified and the contents can be quantitatively recognized, accurate diagnosis can be performed. In addition, if there is a complicated situation in the water heater that cannot be fast-tracked at the site, the lead command (block or simple) is used, as well as the result of the check using the operation command as described above. Information that seems to be related to each other is read out, stored in the electronic notebook 505, brought back, and subjected to a detailed analysis by the host computer 511 of the sales office, so that the cause of the failure can be accurately investigated and appropriate measures worthy of it can be established. It will be possible.

Next, as a second case, it is assumed that the controllability of the hot water temperature control of the prototype is measured and evaluated at the development stage of the water heater.

Generally, the main controller 819 performs feedback (FB) calculation and feedforward (FF) calculation in order to keep the outlet heated water temperature TH constant regardless of any change in the input parameters, and the results of both calculations are calculated. Combustion amount (F) is calculated in combination with, and the proportional valve and fan are controlled.

Conventionally, in the process of establishing such hot water temperature control, the experimenter actually changes various input parameters, and the combustion amount F is calculated from the resulting hot water temperature TH and the voltage value of each part of the control board. Is calculated back to estimate the calculation process and the value of each variable that is performed inside the microcomputer of the control board, and rely on these estimated values to improve and establish each aspect of the control calculation one by one. The approach is to go.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the experimenter connects the evaluation support system 200 to the water heater 100 and changes the input parameters in various ways, while using the block read command, the FF calculated value and the FB calculated value. Further, it is possible to directly read out from the RAM 815 the values that change with the passage of time, such as the constants of P, I, and D used for the calculation, and display them visually. As a result, it becomes possible to grasp and evaluate the control contents more efficiently, easily and accurately than in the conventional case, and to establish better control.

FIG. 17 shows an example of block read in such a case.

In FIG. 17, first, the experimenter inputs into the personal computer 211 of the support system 200 an operation for reading the combustion amount F, the FF calculated value, the FB calculated value, the P, I, D coefficients and the like. The support system 200 is
A block read command packet of these data is created and transmitted to water heater 100.

FIG. 18 shows a map example of the RAM 815. As shown in FIG.
When the above-mentioned data to be read exists in the storage area 1401 of 56 bytes, the head address "F856" and the block length "256" are described in the command parameter of the block read command packet.

Upon receiving this command packet, water heater 100 reads all the data in designated storage area 1401 of RAM 815, adds it to the response packet, and returns it to evaluation support system 200. Evaluation support system 20
At 0, this data is displayed on the display of the personal computer 211, drawn as a graph by the pen recorder 209, and stored in the disk storage device 207.

By repeating the above processing at sufficiently short time intervals, as a result, the control state that changes with the passage of time can be grasped in real time and quantitatively.

Instead of the block read as described above or in combination with the block read, the simple read can be performed.
The data that can be used by the simple read is predetermined, and it is a flag or representative data that is expected to frequently generate read requests from the external system. For the data that can be used for these simple reads, see RAM 81.
A code table showing the correspondence between the addresses of the storage areas in 5 and the data code is prepared in the RAM 815, and if the data code is designated from the external system, the RAM control unit 813 in the water heater 100 is provided. Will refer to the code table, convert it to an address, and read the data. In addition, RAM815
In some cases, the storage address may be changed, but in that case, the RAM control unit 813 rewrites the address of the code table with the changed address. Therefore, the external system does not need to be aware of the address change in the RAM 815.

FIG. 19 shows the operation of the evaluation support system 200 when reading out the values of various thermistors in the water heater 100 using the simple lead. This can be used when you want to perform an experiment while displaying the values of various thermistors.

In FIG. 19, first, the evaluation support system 200 sends "00H" + "0C as a command parameter.
An operation command packet including H ”is sent to the water heater 100. Here, the command parameter“ 00H ”means“ no operation command ”, and“ 0CH ”is a value read from the heat exchanger thermistor and the boiling thermistor. Is a simple read command that requests

In the water heater 100 having received such a command, the values of both thermistors are read from the RAM 815, added to the response packet and returned.

Next, the evaluation support system 200 uses the code "0CH" for designating the boiling thermistor and the water supply thermistor.
Is sent, and then a simple read command including the code "0EH" for designating the bath thermistor and the hot water supply thermistor is sent.

In this way, by successively requesting the reading of various thermistor data and displaying them, the experimenter can proceed with the experiment while confirming the value of the thermistor in real time.

Next, as a third case, it is assumed that the sequence of hot water beaming to the bathtub is confirmed and the program is evaluated at the development stage.

For example, in an automatic hot water beam sequence, all constants necessary for hot water beam control such as the height difference between the water heater and the bathtub, the shape of the bathtub, and the volume are calculated, estimated, and learned in the hot water beam sequence. The algorithm is built to do so. When designing and programming such a complicated sequence, it often happens that at the operation confirmation and evaluation stage, it is often the case that the operator wants to confirm the operation by intentionally changing internal constants, flags, learning values, etc. .

In general, the sequence is different between the initial first time and the second and subsequent times of hot water welding, and the above constants are learned in the initial first time and the learning value is used in the second and subsequent times. Therefore, when changing the learning content, conventionally, every time the change is made, the first sequence is actually performed to learn the changed value, and then the second sequence is executed. Absent. for that reason,
The experiment takes a considerable amount of time and is inefficient.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the learning value and the flag in the RAM 815 can be freely rewritten by using the write command, so that the labor for executing the initial first sequence can be omitted and the efficiency can be improved. Is. Moreover,
Since only the target data can be changed without changing any other data or state, it is possible to perform an experiment with a high degree of freedom and accuracy as compared with the conventional method.

FIG. 20 shows an example of the operation of the evaluation support system 200 for confirming the hot water beam sequence using the write command.

In FIG. 20, first, the evaluation support system 200 sends a write command packet for setting the hot water welding frequency (Y) flag to “second time”. That is, the command parameter of this packet includes the address "F" of the Y flag.
A value "83" indicating 083 "and a value" 1 "indicating the second time are described.

Upon receiving this command, the water heater 100 has a RAM
The Y flag in 815 is set to “1” and a response packet indicating Y flag = 1 is returned.

Next, the evaluation support system 200 transmits a write command packet for changing the bathtub size to 2.2 square meters. That is, in the command parameter of this packet, the value "85" indicating the bathtub size address and the value "220" indicating 2.2 square meters are described. Receiving this, water heater 100 rewrites the bathtub size in RAM 815 to "220" and returns a response packet to that effect.

After setting the number of hot water beams and changing the bathtub size in this way, the instruction for automatic switch-on is given to the water heater 100 using the operation command, so that the second time under the changed bathtub size condition. You can experiment with Yuhari sequence.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention can be implemented in various modes other than this embodiment. For example, the present invention can be applied to various devices other than the water heater.

[0162]

As described above, according to one aspect of the present invention, in a computer control device that executes a plurality of control processes necessary for the operation of a device, each of the plurality of control processes is independent. Since it can be executed in parallel in a state close to that of being executed, the operation of the device can be smoothly controlled.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the internal control processing for controlling the internal operation of the equipment and the external system processing for controlling the operation of the equipment with respect to the external system are executed in parallel. It is possible to smoothly control both the internal operation of the device and the control for the external system, especially when the external system is for the purpose of inspecting the internal operation of the device, performance test, evaluation, status check, etc. The function of the system can be effectively exerted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional processing method.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another example of a conventional processing method.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of processing switching processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of an overall system configuration in which a water heater and an external system are combined.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of an evaluation support system 200.

7 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of a control board automatic inspection system 300. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a product inspection / adjustment system 400.

FIG. 9: Field maintenance support system 500
Block diagram showing the system configuration of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a communication protocol between an external system and a water heater.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing details of a packet configuration.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control board 103 of the water heater.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a control board 103 as an external system 200-50.
The flowchart which shows the whole operation | movement flow of communication performed between 0 and.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing details of processing in a RAM control unit 925.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the main control unit 819.

FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram showing an example of information exchange between the electronic notebook 505 and the water heater 100.

FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram showing an example of block read.

FIG. 18 is a memory map showing a map example of a RAM 815.

FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a simple read.

FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example of confirming a hot water beam sequence using a write command.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sensor input processing 2 Combustion control processing 3 Bath operation processing 4 Immediate hot water operation processing 5 Actuator output processing 6 Remote control communication processing 7 External system processing 6I Remote control communication interrupt processing 7I External system interrupt processing 6W, 7W Interrupt waiting loop 8 Processing switching Process 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Stack

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for executing a device control process by a computer, the first control process to be executed constantly or periodically,
A computer control device for an apparatus, comprising: parallel processing means for concurrently executing, in a time-division manner, a second control process including a part where an execution request is generated irregularly or suddenly. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parallel processing means switches the processing to be executed periodically or when the control processing being processed enters a waiting state. Computer control of equipment. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parallel processing means preferentially executes a control process having a higher priority, based on the priorities set in the first and second control processes. A computer control device for equipment characterized by the above. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the parallel processing means changes the priority of the first and second control processings according to the execution status of the first and second control processings. A computer control device for equipment characterized by the above. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parallel processing unit has a high priority for an unexecuted portion based on a priority set for a predetermined portion of the first and second control processing. A computer control device for an apparatus, which is characterized in that the control process is preferentially executed. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part of the second control process to be executed by the execution request generated irregularly or suddenly is configured as an interrupt routine, and A computer control device for equipment, wherein the remaining part including an interrupt waiting loop for waiting for the generation of the execution request is configured as a main routine which is executed in parallel with the first control processing. . 7. An apparatus for executing a control process of a device by a computer, wherein an internal control process for controlling an internal operation of the device and an external system process for controlling an operation of the device with respect to an external system are performed in parallel by a time division method. A computer control device for equipment, comprising: a parallel processing means for executing the above.