JPH0883107A - Method and mechanism for cooperative control for programmable controller group - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simultaneously satisfy real-time throughput at a level required for the control of an FA system and the flexibility of FA system constitution by limiting the communication method of executing states among plural programmable controllers just to message exchanges to be independently performed by respective controllers. CONSTITUTION: In order to reduce the required time of a processing request, a star connecting state is adopted for directly connecting a programmable controller 14 and a low-order message exchanging device 16 and directly connecting the device 16 and a high-order message exchanging device 17 by one-to-one and waiting time with line control is excluded. Besides, in order to reduce delay time up to the reception of the processing request, the connecting capacity of the devices 16 and 17 is limited, the data structure of the processing request is made routine and further, the time required for preprocessing is shortened by facilitating the decision of processing request contents. Thus, the communicating method of the executing states among the controllers 14 is limited just to the message exchanges to be independently performed by the respective controllers 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a programmable controller group cooperative control method and mechanism for performing a cooperative control of programmable controller groups used in large quantities in a factory automation (FA) system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 13 shows an FA system to which the conventional cooperative control method for programmable controller groups shown in page 88 of "Sequence Control Engineering" (November 20, 1988, Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan) is applied. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of FIG. In the figure, 131 is a company-wide host computer for managing the entire company, 132 is a factory host computer for managing the factory, 133 is an FA computer for managing the line, 134 is a cell computer for managing the manufacturing cell, and 135 is a machine. A programmable controller 136 for controlling is an input / output device. Also, 1
37 is a company-level network that connects a company-wide host computer 131 and a factory host computer 132;
38 is a line management network that connects the factory host computer 132, FA computer 133 and the cell computer 134, 139 is a cell net that connects the cell computer 134 and the programmable controller 135, and 13A is a field that connects the programmable controller 135 and the input / output device 136. It is the net.

Next, the operation will be described. In the FA system, which is a centralized control system having a hierarchical structure, a production instruction is issued from an upper layer to a lower layer, and the lower layer reports the execution state to the upper layer when the execution state changes. That is, the company-wide host computer 131 collects and manages company-wide information, and the factory host computer 132 centrally controls the entire factory composed of a plurality of lines under the management of the company-wide host computer 131. The FA computer 133 centrally manages the manufacturing status of a line consisting of a plurality of manufacturing cells, and the cell computer 134 controls the inside of the manufacturing cell under the management of the FA computer 133. Programmable controller 1
Reference numeral 35 controls the operation of each manufacturing cell using the input / output device 136 installed in the manufacturing apparatus. The manufacturing cells in the same line are closely related to each other, and operate in cooperation while exchanging information via the line management network 138, the cell net 139, and the field net 13A.

Many of these FA networks are based on the assumption that the system configuration is static, that is, the system configuration is not changed or is rarely changed during the period in which the system is operating. As a premise, a ring network topology is adopted, and a unique address space is assigned to each station to control the line by polling. Further, since these adopt a master / slave type centralized control system, the interaction between the stations is mainly limited between the master station and the slave stations.

[0005]

Since the conventional cooperative control method for programmable controllers and its mechanism are configured as a centralized control system having a hierarchical structure as described above, production instructions are given from upper to lower levels. The lower control unit reports the execution status to the upper control unit when the execution status changes, and the upper control unit has a structure suitable for efficiently managing the entire system.
It is necessary for the upper-level control device to always fully understand the configuration and operation of the entire system, and when considering the time required for communication, etc. when the system is operating, there is an extra space to enable flexible system configuration. The introduction of the mechanism may increase the processing time. Therefore, in order to fully understand the configuration and operation of the entire system and minimize the time required for communication during system operation, a static system configuration that keeps the system configuration constant for as long as possible is used. It is effective to adopt this, and therefore, the management is performed by the absolute address in which a unique address space is assigned to each component. When such management is performed, each component is developed in a statically tightly coupled form, and each component is inseparable, so the effect of local changes will spread to the entire system. However, there has been a problem that it is difficult to flexibly respond to a configuration change, and further it is difficult to develop the FA system in stages and independently develop each component.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and has a form that simultaneously satisfies the real-time processing capability of the level required for controlling the FA system and the flexibility of the FA system configuration. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a coordinated control method and mechanism of a programmable controller group capable of realizing coordinated operation between programmable controllers.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooperative control method for a programmable controller group, comprising:
The communication method of the execution state between the plurality of programmable controllers forming the control system is limited to only the message exchanges performed by each programmable controller.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coordinated control mechanism for a programmable controller group, comprising: a conversion and storage means for converting an execution state among a plurality of programmable controllers into a message and storing the message; Message transfer request transmitting means for performing, message transfer request receiving means for receiving message transfer request, message transfer request processing means for processing the received message transfer request, message location storing means for storing the location of the message in all control systems, all Message location management means for managing the location of messages in the control system,
And a transfer means for transferring the message and the message transfer request.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coordinated control mechanism for a programmable controller group, which comprises a memory management mechanism for adjusting the size of the area and the arrangement of the storage areas according to the amount of messages to be stored, and a message name. The conversion storage means is formed by a mapping mechanism that converts a message into a storage area of the corresponding message.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group, the message transfer request transmitting means is formed by the message exchange mechanism operating on the execution control mechanism of the programmable controller. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coordinated control mechanism for a programmable controller group, which is an input / output interface operating on an execution control mechanism that uses priority-based scheduling and round-robin scheduling within the same priority. The mechanism forms the message transfer request receiving means.

Further, the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group according to the invention of claim 6 is a passive control that operates on an execution control mechanism that uses priority-based scheduling and round-robin scheduling within the same priority. The message transfer request processing means is formed by such a message transfer request processing mechanism.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooperative control mechanism for a programmable controller group, comprising: a memory management mechanism that adjusts the size of an area and the arrangement of storage areas according to the amount of messages to be managed; and a message name. The message location storing means is formed by a mapping mechanism that converts a message to a message storing mechanism name for managing the corresponding message.

Further, in the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group according to the invention described in claim 8, a plurality of message location management means are distributed and arranged in the control system,
Each of them comprises the message location storing means described in claim 7.

The cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group according to the invention described in claim 9 realizes data transfer between a plurality of message location management means having the message location storage means described in claim 7. The data communication path, the message transfer request transmitting means described in claim 4, and the message transfer request receiving means described in claim 5 form the transfer means.

[0016]

In the cooperative control method of the programmable controller group according to the invention described in claim 1, the communication of the execution state among the plurality of programmable controllers is limited only to the message exchange which each programmable controller forming the control system mainly performs. By doing so, it is possible to change the system configuration more flexibly.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group, which is a message transfer request transmitting means for transmitting a transfer request of a message converted and accumulated from execution states among a plurality of programmable controllers, Message transfer request receiving means for receiving the message transfer request, message transfer request processing means for processing the received message transfer request, message location storing means for storing the location of the message in all control systems, and message location managing means for managing it , And a transfer unit for transferring a message and a message transfer request, the flexible system configuration can be changed by limiting the interface between the programmable controllers to only message exchange, and each programmable controller While realizing a flexible cooperative control while maintaining an active message exchange function by providing independence of the programmable controller, the message management mechanism distributed to reduce the overhead time during the message exchange.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the conversion storage means reduces the memory area by adjusting the size of the storage area and its arrangement according to the amount of messages to be stored by the memory management mechanism. The access time is shortened by converting the message name into the storage area of the corresponding message by the mapping mechanism.

Further, the message transfer request transmission means in the invention according to claim 4 operates by using the execution control mechanism peculiar to the programmable controller as it is by operating the message exchange mechanism on the execution control mechanism of the programmable controller. The operation of is maintained so that it can be easily programmed even by a user of a conventional programmable controller having no special programming technique, and special hardware is not required, and the cost is reduced.

Further, the message transfer request receiving means in the present invention operates the input / output interface mechanism on the execution control mechanism provided with the priority-based scheduling function and the round-robin scheduling function within the same priority. By doing so, real-time processing is realized at low cost.

Further, the message transfer request processing means in the invention according to claim 6 is a passive message transfer request on the execution control mechanism having a priority-based scheduling function and a round-robin scheduling function within the same priority. By operating the processing mechanism, real-time processing can be realized at low cost, and software reconfiguration according to the control content is not required, which enables commonization, generalization, and simplification.

Further, the message location storing means in the invention of claim 7 reduces the memory area by adjusting the size of the storage area and its arrangement according to the amount of messages to be managed by the memory management mechanism. , The mapping mechanism converts the message name into the name of the message storage mechanism that manages the corresponding message, thereby shortening the access time.

Further, the message location management means in the invention described in claim 8 is distributed in the control system and each has a plurality of message location storage means described in claim 7, whereby the message location management means It enables local changes without having to manage the location collectively, reduces the amount of data to be managed, and shortens the access time when accessing local messages.

The transfer means in the invention described in claim 9 connects a plurality of message location management means having the message location storage means described in claim 7 by a data communication path, and the transfer means in claim 4 By providing the described message transfer request transmitting means and the message transfer request receiving means described in claim 5, it becomes possible to freely exchange information within the combined system, and one message management is performed from the programmable controller. Make it look like a mechanism.

[0025]

【Example】

Example 1. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an implementation method of a cooperative control method for a programmable controller group according to the first embodiment,
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration example of an assembly line to which it is applied. In FIG. 2, reference numerals 21 and 22 denote parts warehouses, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 denote manufacturing cells, and 28 denotes a product warehouse. Figure 1 is this Figure 2
The system configuration is shown when the line consisting of the five manufacturing cells shown in Fig. 3 is realized by using the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group. In FIG. 1, 11 denotes five manufacturing cells (MCs corresponding to the manufacturing cells 23 to 27).
_1 to 5), and 12 is a manufacturing apparatus (MM_1 to 5) in each manufacturing cell 11. 13 is each manufacturing device 12
An input / output device (I / O) incorporated in the inside, 14 is a programmable controller (PC) in each manufacturing cell 11,
Reference numeral 5 is a message transfer request transmission device (ARS). 16 and 17 are message exchange devices (MCs) for exchanging messages between programmable controllers.
In U), 16 is a lower message exchange device arranged in each manufacturing cell 11, and 17 is an upper message exchange device arranged outside the manufacturing cell 11. Reference numeral 18 denotes a message transfer path connecting the lower message switching device 16 and the upper message switching device 17.

The shaded circle in the center of FIG. 1 indicates the coordinated control mechanism (C) of the programmable controller group.
CM). The cooperative control mechanism of this programmable controller group includes message exchange devices 16 and 17 and an active message transfer request transmission device 15.
In a system using the coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group, there is no hierarchical structure between the programmable controllers 14, and in the entire system, the plurality of programmable controllers 14 that share the control of the manufacturing line pass through the coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group. The structure is connected to each other. In consideration of increasing flexibility during system development and modification, each manufacturing cell 11 is provided with a lower message exchange device 16 and each programmable controller 14 is provided with a message transfer request transmission device 15 independently. There is. The programmable controller 14 is connected to the message exchange device 16 in the same manufacturing cell 11 via the message transfer request transmission device 15. The higher-level message exchange device 17 is a higher-level message exchange device that manages which lower-order message exchange device 16 the publicly accessible public message (hereinafter referred to as GM) entity belongs to. The GM exchange between the cells 11 is realized. The entity of the GM output by the programmable controller 14 is the same manufacturing cell 1
It is stored in the lower-level message exchange device 16 in the No. 1. The GM exchange of each programmable controller 14 is performed via the subordinate message exchange device 16 in the same manufacturing cell 11. The GM exchange between the lower message exchanges 16 is performed via the upper message exchange 17 in the center.

The assembly line shown in FIG. 2 operates as follows. Simultaneously with the start of execution, the parts A and B are transferred from the respective parts warehouses 21 and 22 to the manufacturing cell 23 or 24.
Is supplied to. The plurality of programmable controllers in the manufacturing cells 23 to 27 execute predetermined steps in cooperation with each other. When the assembly process in the manufacturing cell 27 is completed, the assembled product is stored in the product warehouse 28.

Next, the operation will be described. The processing content of the programmable controller 14 can be roughly divided into a unique local control which each programmable controller 14 performs independently and in parallel, and a control related to another programmable controller 14. In the coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group, these two controls are clearly divided, and information held by each programmable controller 14 is GM accessible from the outside and a private message (hereinafter referred to as LM) that can be used only inside. Clearly, and only the GM can be referred to via the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group. Furthermore, the independence of each programmable controller 14 is realized by eliminating the static and close coupling relation between the programmable controllers 14 and loosely coupling the programmable controllers 14 through the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group. . As a result, the line has a number of programmable controllers 1 that have unique functions and can operate independently.
4 is realized by the programmable controller group system loosely coupled via the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group. Each programmable controller 1
4 implements a cooperative operation with another programmable controller 14 by performing GM exchange via the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group as needed.

In order to achieve the purpose of the entire line, the operation of each manufacturing cell 11 must be precisely controlled in synchronization with the product flow. In order to achieve this while maintaining independence of the programmable controller 14 without taking the form of centralized control, the programmable controller 14 performs all GM exchanges between the programmable controller 14 and the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group. Actively take the lead. Each programmable controller 14 can freely read the GM written on the coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group at any time by actively requesting the coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group to read. . Further, each programmable controller 14 actively writes the execution state, the execution result, etc. as a GM on the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group at any time.

GM of all programmable controllers 14
In the case of centralized management, the GM management overhead time increases as the number of programmable controllers connected increases, and it becomes difficult to realize the real-time processing capability. In consideration of this point, the lower-level message switching device 16 and the higher-level message switching device 17 are distributedly arranged in the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group, and these have an independent GM management function and mutual communication function. By doing so, the GM management is distributed and the overhead time is shortened. The processing request from the programmable controller 14 is output to the lower message exchanging device 16 which is directly connected. When the corresponding GM does not exist on the lower message exchange device 16, the lower message exchange device 16 transfers the processing request to the upper message exchange device 17 by using the communication function. Read GM
Is written in the requesting programmable controller 14 by tracing the transfer route of the processing request in reverse. FIG. 3 shows the GM read operation of the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group in response to the processing request from the programmable controller 14, and FIG. 4 shows the GM write operation. In both figures, PC indicates the operation of the request source, and MCU_1 indicates the operation of the message exchange device to which the request source is connected. Also, t _ms ,
_{t rdl, t mpp, t mpr} , t mpw, t mrd will be described later formula
It corresponds to each element of (1) to (3). In addition, in FIG. 4, MCU_i indicates the operation of the message exchange device that manages the corresponding GM to which the processing request has been transferred for the i-th time.

Here, the programmable controller 14
To the lower-level message exchange device 16 directly connected to
If the time required from the output of the M read request to the acquisition of the desired GM is defined as T _rd , this time T _rd is _calculated by the following equation.
It is represented by (1).

T _rd = (2N-1) (t _ms + t _rdl + t _mpp ) + t _mpr + t _ms + t _mrd (1) N: GM read request transfer count t _ms : processing request including waiting time required for line control, etc. Time required for transfer t _rdl : Delay time until acceptance of processing request in message exchange device t _mpp : Time required for pre-processing for processing request such as determination of presence / absence of GM and determination of processing request transfer destination t _mpr : Store corresponding GM The corresponding GM read time in the message exchange device to be _executed t _mrd : Read delay time of the processing result in the request source programmable controller

On the message exchange device, a processing request source (programmable controller or other message exchange device)
The processing requests from are sequentially polled and accepted, and are processed in the order of arrival. The delay time t _rdl is expressed by the following equation (2).

[0034]

[Equation 1]

After outputting the GM read request, the programmable controller 14 shifts to another executable process without waiting for this completion. Completion of the GM read request is confirmed by periodically polling it. It should be noted that the read delay time t _mrd is the time when the corresponding GM is written to the programmable controller 14 which is the read request source by the lower message exchange device 16 and the programmable controller 14.
This corresponds to the deviation from the read request completion confirmation time due to.

The programmable controller 14 writes G on the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group.
M is stored on the lower message exchange device 16 to which each programmable controller 14 is connected. If the time required for the programmable controller 14 to output the GM write request to the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group until it is completed is defined as T _wr , this time T _wr is each element of the formula (1). Using
It is represented by (3).

[0037] _{T wr = t ms + t rdl} + t mpw (3) t mpw: applicable GM write time of the message exchange device

The time T expressed by the equations (1) and (3)
_In order to shorten _rd and T _wr , it is necessary to reduce each element in equations (1) to (3). Of these, the read delay time t
_mrd is a processing time depending on the processing capability of the programmable controller 14 alone. In order to reduce the time t _ms required for processing, the programmable controller 14
Between the lower message exchange device 16 and the lower message exchange device 16, and between the lower message exchange device 16 and the upper message exchange device 17.
A star-type connection is used to directly connect between the two, eliminating the waiting time associated with line control. _Further , in order to reduce the delay time t _rdl until the processing request is received, the lower message switching device 16 and the upper message switching device 1
In addition to limiting the connection capacity of _No. 7, the data structure of the processing request is standardized and the determination of the content of the processing request is facilitated, the time t _mpp required for the _{preprocessing} is shortened.

As described above, by limiting the communication method of the execution state between the programmable controllers 14 to only the message exchanges which each programmable controller 14 mainly performs, the real time of the level required for the control of the FA system is obtained. It becomes possible to control the cooperative operation between the programmable controllers 14 while simultaneously satisfying the processing capacity and the flexibility of the FA system configuration.

Example 2. Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the implementation structure of the prototype system of the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group in the second embodiment. In the figure, reference numerals 51 and 52 are basic constituent elements of the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group, which are upper and lower message exchange devices that realize flexible GM exchange in the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group. It realizes a function as a message location management means for managing the location of messages in the entire system. Reference numeral 53 is a message transfer path for transferring messages between constituent elements, 54 is a programmable controller connected to the lower message exchange apparatus 52 via this message transfer path 53, and 55 is a lower message exchange apparatus 52 and a programmable controller. 54 is a manufacturing cell including 54.

Further, message exchange devices 51 and 52
In the figure, reference numeral 56 denotes a GM storage unit (GMS) that stores GM and the like that can be accessed from the outside. The function as a message location storing means for storing the location of the message is realized. Reference numeral 57 denotes an input / output port having a serial interface for realizing communication with the outside, which realizes a function as a message transfer request receiving means for receiving a message transfer request for requesting the transfer of the message and transfers the message and the message. It also shares the function of transfer means for transferring requests. A message transfer request processing unit (PR) 58 operates in response to the processing request input to the input / output port 57.
In P), the function as a message transfer request processing means for processing the received message transfer request is realized. Further, in the message switching devices 51, 52 and the programmable controller 54, 59 is a message transfer request transmitting device that actively outputs a message transfer request, and functions as a message transfer request transmitting means for transmitting a message transfer request. In addition to realizing it, it also shares the function of transfer means for transferring a message and a message transfer request.

Next, the operation will be described. Each programmable controller 54 includes a lower message exchange device 52.
To the lower message switching device 52, the programmable controller identification number of itself (hereinafter PC-
and the GM identification number of the GM output by itself (hereinafter referred to as GM-id). Each manufacturing cell 55
The lower message switching device 52 in the inside stores the message switching device identification number (hereinafter referred to as MCU-id) of itself in the upper message switching device 51 when connecting to the central upper message switching device 51. G of GM
Register the M-id. In the GM exchange in the coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group, the programmable controller 54 transmits a command packet of the following format to the lower message exchange device 52 via the message transfer request transmission device 59, and the message transfer request is made. The processing unit 58 is realized by evaluating this.

At the time of GM writing: [packet-id command G
M-id data] When reading GM: [packet-id command sender-id G
M-id] packet-id: command packet identification number command: processing request command sender-id: processing request source identification number data: data to be stored in GM

The message transfer request processing unit 58 evaluates the content of the received processing request command (command) and executes the designated procedure. In the case of the write operation, the message transfer request processing unit 58 searches for the corresponding GM data storage area and writes the data to be stored in the GM there. In the case of the read operation, the message transfer request processing unit 58 operates differently depending on the location of the GM. In the case of processing for the GM stored by itself, the data is read and transferred to the message transfer request transmission device 59 of the programmable controller 54 which is the processing request source indicated by the processing request source identification number (sender-id). . In the case of GM processing that is not stored by itself, the processing request source identification number (sender-id) of the original command packet is stored in association with the command packet identification number (packet-id), and then the MCU-id of its own. Is generated as a processing request source identification number (sender-id) and is transmitted to the higher-level message switching device 51. When the message transfer request processing unit 58 in the higher-level message switching device 51 receives this, it searches for an MCU-id that stores the corresponding GM and transfers the received command packet to this. Upon receiving the command packet from the upper message switching device 51, the lower message switching device 52 reads the corresponding data from the GM storage area. This data is transferred to the message transfer request transmission device 59 of the programmable controller 54 which is the processing request source, via the upper message exchange device 51 and the transfer lower message exchange device 52.

The reading side determines the time of reading the GM and the handling of the GM. The programmable controller 54 on the reading side reads out the GM when it becomes necessary, and executes the process when the execution condition is satisfied. Note that the processing content activated by the GM is the programmable controller 5 on the reading side.
4 user program. The operation of the programmable controller 54 is determined based on the read GM contents and the operating state of the controlled object.

Example 3. Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the message exchange device according to the third embodiment.
Reference numeral 61 is the message exchange device. Also, 62 is a multi-task kernel that uses priority-based scheduling and round-robin scheduling within the same priority together, which is the core of the message switching device, and 63 shows the size of the area depending on the amount of messages to be accumulated. A GM storage unit as a conversion and storage unit that includes a memory management mechanism that adjusts the arrangement of storage areas and a mapping mechanism that converts a message name into a storage area of the message.
Reference numeral 64 is an input / output port for inputting / outputting messages.

Next, the operation will be described. First, PC-
A mapping table that associates id with the input / output port numbers (P0 to P7) to which the programmable controller of the input / output port 64 is connected is created. Then GM
A storage area for GM data is secured in the storage unit 63, and the GM data is stored.
-Create a mapping table between id and its GM data storage area. The execution state of the programmable controller is converted into a message by referring to a predetermined message conversion table, and then stored in a predetermined area of the GM storage unit 63 using the above mapping table.

In the third embodiment, the corresponding GM read time t _mpr and the corresponding GM write time t described in the first embodiment.
_In order to reduce _mpw , the data structure of GM is simplified and standardized. Furthermore, when registering in the system, G
By allocating the M storage areas and generating a mapping table for these areas, the time required for searching and data manipulation is reduced.

Example 4. Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the programmable controller and the manufacturing apparatus in the manufacturing cell in the fourth embodiment, where 71 is the programmable controller and 72 is the manufacturing apparatus. In the programmable controller 71, 73 is a message transfer request transmission device that outputs a message transfer request, and 74 is an LM storage unit (LM) that stores an LM that can be used only internally.
S), 75 are control function blocks (CFB) obtained by dividing the user program into a plurality of parts according to functions, and 76 is a system management block (SMB) that performs system management in the programmable controller 71. Reference numeral 77 is an input / output device incorporated in the manufacturing apparatus 72 and connected to the control function block 75 in the programmable controller 71. The message transfer request transmission device 15 directly connected to the programmable controller 14 in FIG. 1 has a message transfer request transmission device 7 in consideration of system flexibility improvement and overhead time reduction.
3 in the programmable controller 71, and using the LM in the LM storage unit 74, on the programmable controller execution control mechanism by the programmable controller 71, the control function block 75, the system management block 76, the input / output device 77, and the like. It functions as a message exchange mechanism that operates.

Next, the operation will be described. The programmable controller 71 is the input / output device 77 of the manufacturing apparatus 72.
Independent and parallel processing of unique user programs based on the data from GM and GM. The programmable controller 71 has a control mechanism that realizes a unique execution control method. Note that the message transfer request transmission device 73 and the LM storage unit 74 mounted on the programmable controller 71 are controlled by a program operating on an execution control system peculiar to the programmable controller 71, as in a general control program. In this way, the message exchange mechanism is operated on the execution control mechanism of the programmable controller, and the execution control mechanism unique to the programmable controller 71 is used as it is to maintain the unique operation. Even a user of the programmable controller can easily program the program, and since no special hardware is required, the cost can be reduced.

Embodiment 5 FIG. Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the message exchange device according to the fifth embodiment,
81 is the message exchange device. Reference numeral 82 denotes a multi-task kernel which is a core of the message exchange device and which has a priority-based scheduling function and a round-robin scheduling function within the same priority.
Reference numeral 83 is an input / output port provided with an input / output interface mechanism for inputting / outputting messages, 84 is a message transfer request transmission device for outputting a message transfer request, 85 is a message transfer request processing unit, and 86 is a GM storage unit. .

Next, the operation will be described. In the message exchange device 81, the input / output interface mechanism of the input / output port 83 and the message transfer request processing unit 8
5, the GM storage unit 86, and the message transfer request transmission device 84 are realized as tasks operating on the multi-task kernel 82 as an execution control mechanism that uses priority-based scheduling and round-robin scheduling within the same priority in combination. Has been done. The message transfer request from the outside is individually accepted by the input / output interface mechanism provided in the input / output port 83 as the message transfer request accepting unit according to its importance. As described above, by operating the input / output interface mechanism on the simple and simple real-time multitasking kernel 82, real-time processing can be realized at low cost.

Example 6. Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the message exchange device according to the sixth embodiment.
91 is the message exchange device. Further, reference numeral 92 is a multi-task kernel which is a core of the message exchange device and has a priority-based scheduling function and a round-robin scheduling function within the same priority.
Reference numeral 93 is a message transfer request processing unit having a passive message transfer request processing mechanism for processing the received message transfer request, 94 is a GM storage unit, 95 is a message transfer request transmitting device, and 96 is an input / output port.

Next, the operation will be described. In the message exchange device 81, the message transfer request processing unit 93, the GM storage unit 94, and the message transfer request transmission device 95 use an execution control mechanism that combines priority-based scheduling and round-robin scheduling within the same priority. Is implemented as a task that operates on the multi-task kernel 92. The external message transfer request individually accepted by the input / output port 96 is individually processed by the passive message transfer request processing mechanism of the message transfer request processing unit 93 according to the degree of importance. Thus, by operating the passive message transfer request processing mechanism on the simple and simple real-time multi-task kernel 92, real-time processing can be realized at low cost. Since it is irrelevant to the control content of, it is not necessary to rearrange the software according to the control content, and the software can be standardized, generalized, and simplified.

Example 7. Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the message exchange apparatus according to the seventh embodiment, and 101 is the message exchange apparatus. Also, 1
Reference numeral 02 denotes a multi-task kernel which is a core of the message switching device and has a priority-based scheduling function and a round-robin scheduling function within the same priority. Reference numeral 103 denotes an area according to the amount of messages to be accumulated. A GM storage unit as a message location storage unit having a memory management mechanism that adjusts the size and the arrangement of storage areas and a mapping mechanism that converts a message name into a message storage mechanism name that manages a corresponding message.

Next, the operation will be described. If the message switching device 101 is a higher-level message switching device, a mapping table that associates all the GM-ids with the MCU-ids of the lower-level message switching devices that store the GM-ids is generated, and the mapping table in the entire control system The location of the message obtained by converting the operating state of each programmable controller is stored in its own GM storage unit 103. If the message exchange device 101 is a lower-level message exchange device in each manufacturing cell, a mapping table that associates the GM-id in the manufacturing cell with the PC-id of each programmable controller is generated to store the GM of itself. Part 10
Store in 3. As a result, it is possible to reduce the use of scales and shorten the access time.

Example 8. Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is a block diagram for explaining the location management of the message in the entire control system in the highlight control mechanism of the programmable controller group in the eighth embodiment. In the figure, 11
Numerals 1 and 112 denote message exchange devices as message location managing means, which are arranged in a distributed manner in the control system, and each of which is described in the seventh embodiment and has GM storage as message location storing means having a memory management mechanism and a mapping mechanism. The unit 113 is provided. Reference numeral 111 denotes a high-order message exchange apparatus arranged in the center, and 112 denotes a low-order message exchange apparatus arranged in each manufacturing cell.

Next, the operation will be described. The control system is the message exchange device 1 having the GM storage unit 113 as the message location storage means described in the seventh embodiment.
11 and 112 are hierarchically arranged in a distributed manner in the control system, and when managing the location of a message in the entire control system, the upper message switching device 111 is controlled by the lower message switching device 112. The location of the held message is managed, and the subordinate message switching device 112 manages the message held by the connected programmable controller. in this way,
By not managing the location of messages all at once, local changes are facilitated, system flexibility is improved, the amount of data to be managed can be reduced, and the access time when accessing the LM can be shortened. it can.

Example 9. Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 12 is a block diagram for explaining transfer of the message and the message transfer request in the entire control system in the highlight control mechanism of the programmable controller group in the ninth embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 121 is a message exchange device functioning as a message location management means. 122 is a manufacturing cell, 123 is a data communication path for realizing data transfer, and 124 is a programmable controller in the manufacturing cell 122. 125 is each message switching device 121
Numeral 126 is a GM storage unit provided as a message location storage means described in the seventh embodiment, 126 is a message transfer request transmission device as the message transfer request transmission means described in the fourth embodiment, and 127 is a fifth embodiment. It is an input / output port as the message transfer request receiving means described in the above.

Next, the operation will be described. Manufacturing cell 12
The message transfer request transmitted from the message transfer request transmission device 126 of the programmable controller 124 in 2 is transferred to the message exchange device 121 via the data communication path 123 and accepted by the input / output port 127. Based on that, the message switching device 121 is
The storage unit 125 is searched and the obtained corresponding message is transmitted to the requesting programmable controller 124 via the data communication path 123. This allows information to be freely exchanged within the combined system, and can operate like a message management mechanism from the viewpoint of the programmable controller.

[0061]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the communication method of the execution state between the programmable controllers is limited to only the message exchange which each programmable controller mainly performs. As a result, it becomes possible to independently write a user program unique to each programmable controller without being aware of the line configuration or the processing contents of other programmable controllers, and to locally change the definition of GM. Only by doing so, it is possible to obtain the cooperative control of the programmable controller group capable of flexibly responding to the dynamic system configuration change.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group converts the execution state between a plurality of programmable controllers into a message and stores the message, and issues a message transfer request. Means, a means for receiving the message transfer request, a means for processing the received message transfer request, a means for storing the location of the message in the entire control system, a means for managing the location of the message, and a message and a message transfer request. Since it is configured to be formed by means of transferring, the required level of real-time processing capability of FA system control and the flexibility of FA system configuration are satisfied at the same time. A more flexible system that can easily support independent development and maintenance It is possible to obtain a cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group can be changed adult further exhibits various excellent effects as follows.

That is, since the programmable controller is the main constituent and actively carries out all the GM exchanges between the programmable controller and the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group, each programmable controller has a GM relating to the flow of products and the like. It becomes possible to actively collect the messages and appropriately select and execute the functions to be processed accordingly. In addition, the message switching devices distributed in the control system are subordinated to manage the entity of the GM. And a lower message switching device that manages which lower-level message switching device the GM entity belongs to, and the upper-level message switching device is directly connected to all lower-level message switching devices. Therefore, the message in the cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group is It is possible to reduce and equalize the number N of transmission requests, and it is possible to easily cope with a change in system configuration and addition / deletion of GM by locally updating only the related mapping table. It will be possible.

As described above, in the system using the coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group, the programmable controller connected to the coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group should not assume the state of other programmable controllers or the process of starting the GM. It is possible to operate independently of each other without referring to the GM without changing the control contents and the system configuration dynamically, and to change the local handling of the GM and in each message switching device. This can be easily dealt with only by locally changing the mapping table of.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the conversion storage means, the memory management mechanism adjusts the size of the storage area and its arrangement according to the amount of messages to be stored, and the mapping mechanism adjusts the messages. Since the name is converted to the storage area of the corresponding message, the GM storage area can be statically allocated at the time of registration in the system, the memory area can be reduced, and the generated mapping table can be used for searching and data. It is possible to reduce the time required for the operation.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the message transfer request sending means is configured to operate on the execution control mechanism of the programmable controller by the message exchange mechanism. Therefore, the execution control mechanism unique to the programmable controller is provided. Can be used as it is to maintain its unique operation, and can be easily programmed by users of conventional programmable controllers without special programming technology.
Since no special hardware is required, the cost can be reduced.

According to the invention described in claim 5, the input / output interface mechanism of the message transfer request accepting means is provided with the priority-based scheduling function and the round-robin scheduling function within the same priority. Since it is configured to operate on the mechanism, a simple and simple execution control mechanism can be used to execute priority-based scheduling and further real-time processing by round-robin scheduling at the same priority. The cost can be reduced.

According to the invention described in claim 6, the passive message transfer request processing mechanism of the message transfer request processing means is provided with a priority-based scheduling function and a round-robin scheduling function within the same priority. Since it is configured to operate on the built-in execution control mechanism, real-time processing can be realized at low cost by using a simple and simple execution control mechanism, and software reconfiguration according to the control content is not required, so that common It can be generalized, generalized, and simplified.

According to the invention described in claim 7, in the message location storing means, the size of the storage area and its arrangement are adjusted by the memory management mechanism according to the amount of messages to be managed, and the mapping mechanism is used. Since it is configured to convert the message name to the message storage mechanism name that manages the corresponding message, it is possible to reduce the memory area for storing the location of the message in the control system, and the generated mapping table enables the access time. It is also possible to shorten.

According to the invention described in claim 8, the message location management means, each having a plurality of message location storage means described in claim 7, are arranged in a distributed manner in the control system. Since it has been configured, it is not necessary to manage the location of messages all at once, it is possible to change local messages, the amount of data to be managed can be reduced, and the access time when accessing local messages is shortened. It is also possible.

According to the invention described in claim 9, the data communication path connecting between the message location management means having the message location storage means described in claim 7, the message described in claim 4 Since the transfer request transmitting means and the message transfer request receiving means described in claim 5 constitute the transfer means, information can be freely exchanged within the combined system. It becomes possible to operate like one message management mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an implementation method of a cooperative control method for a programmable controller group according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration example of an assembly line to which the cooperative control method of the programmable controller group according to the above-described embodiment is applied.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing a GM read operation in response to a processing request from the programmable controller in the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing a GM writing operation in response to a processing request from the programmable controller in the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an implementation configuration of a prototype system of a cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a message exchange device of a cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a programmable controller of a cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group and a manufacturing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a message exchange device of a cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a message exchange device of a cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a message exchange device of a cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram for explaining message location management of an emphasis control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram for explaining transfer of a message and a message transfer request of an emphasis control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an FA system to which a conventional cooperative control method of a programmable controller group is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 55 Manufacturing cell, 12 Manufacturing device, 13 Input / output device, 14, 54 Programmable controller, 15
Message transfer request transmission device, 16, 17 message exchange device, 18 message transfer path, 51, 52, 11
1, 112, 121 message exchange device (message location management means), 53 message transfer path (transfer means), 56 GM storage section (conversion storage means, message location storage means), 57 input / output port (message transfer request reception means, Transfer means), 58 message transfer request processing section (message transfer request processing means), 59, 73, 1
26 message transfer request transmission device (message transfer request transmission means), 63 GM storage section (conversion storage means), 71
Programmable controller (execution control mechanism), 75
Control function block (execution control mechanism), 76 system management block (execution control mechanism), 77 input / output device (execution control mechanism), 82,92 multitask kernel (execution control mechanism), 83 input / output port (input / output interface mechanism) ), 93 message transfer request processing unit (message transfer request processing mechanism), 103, 113, 125 G
M storage unit (message location storage unit), 123 data communication path, 127 input / output ports (message transfer request reception unit).

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A cooperative control method of a programmable controller group for performing cooperative control of each of the programmable controllers in a control system including a plurality of programmable controllers, wherein a communication method of an execution state between the programmable controllers is set to each of the programmable controllers. A method for cooperative control of a programmable controller group, characterized in that it is limited only to message exchanges that are carried out independently by. 2. A conversion storage means for converting an execution state among a plurality of programmable controllers forming a control system into a message and storing the message, and a message requesting transfer of the message converted and stored by the conversion storage means. Message transfer request sending means for sending a transfer request,
Message transfer request receiving means for receiving a message transfer request sent by the message transfer request sending means,
Message transfer request processing means for processing the message transfer request received by the message transfer request receiving means,
Message location storage means for storing the location of the message in the control system, message location management means for managing the location of the message in the control system, and transfer means for transferring the message and the message transfer request Coordinated control mechanism of the equipped programmable controller group. 3. The conversion storage means includes a memory management mechanism that adjusts the size of the area and the arrangement of the storage area according to the amount of messages to be stored, and a mapping mechanism that converts the message name into the storage area of the corresponding message. It has, The cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group of Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to claim 2, wherein said message transfer request transmission means is constituted by a message exchange mechanism operating on the execution control mechanism of the programmable controller. . 5. The message transfer request receiving means is constituted by an input / output interface mechanism operating on an execution control mechanism having a priority-based scheduling function and a round-robin scheduling function within the same priority. The cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group according to claim 2. 6. The message transfer request processing means is constituted by a passive message transfer request processing mechanism operating on an execution control mechanism having a priority-based scheduling function and a round robin scheduling function within the same priority. The cooperative control mechanism of the programmable controller group according to claim 2, wherein the cooperative control mechanism is provided. 7. The message location storage means uses a memory management mechanism that adjusts the size of the area and the arrangement of the storage area according to the amount of messages to be managed, and a message name as a message storage mechanism name that manages the message. The coordinated control mechanism of the programmable controller group according to claim 2, further comprising a mapping mechanism for converting. 8. The message location management means is a memory management mechanism for adjusting the size of the area and the arrangement of the storage area according to the amount of messages to be managed by each of them, and a message storage for managing the message name. The cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to claim 2, further comprising the message location storing means having a mapping mechanism for converting into a mechanism name, and being distributed and arranged in a control system. 9. The transfer means converts a memory management mechanism that adjusts a size of an area and an arrangement of storage areas according to an amount of a message to be managed, and a message name into a message storage mechanism name that manages the corresponding message. A data communication path that realizes data transfer between a plurality of message location management means, each of which has the message location storage means having a mapping mechanism, and a message exchange mechanism that operates on the execution control mechanism of the programmable controller. The message transfer request transmitting means configured,
The message transfer request receiving means comprises an input / output interface mechanism that operates on an execution control mechanism having a priority-based scheduling function and a round-robin scheduling function within the same priority. Item 3. A cooperative control mechanism of a programmable controller group according to item 2.