JPH09114516A - Operating state monitoring method for equipment control sequence and sequence controller in equipment control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To verify whether operation inside of a sequencer is normal or not by a minimum memory capacity and CPU load by comparing the simulation result of a sequence control logic and state data after the operation of an equipment control sequence. SOLUTION: A sequence control mechanism 8 started from the control mechanism 17 of the sequencer starts a race mechanism 15 before starting the equipment control sequences 7, 7a,..., 7n and after finishing the operation of the equipment control sequences 7, 7a,..., 7n. The trace mechanism 15 time- sequentially stores information on the contents of an operation instruction 12, the state change of an interface register 9, etc., in a trace file 16. In addition a trace editing and diagnostic mechanism 4 simulates the operation of the equipment control sequences 7, 7a,..., 7n from information in the trace file 16 and that in a control operation definition file 18, compares predicted result and information in the trace file 16 and outputs the trace contents and the comparing result to an input/output device 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sequence control device for production equipment such as foods, chemicals, chemicals, general machinery, etc., and an equipment control sequence which operates at a fixed cycle.
The present invention relates to a device that is suitable for determining whether or not the operation of a facility control sequence is normally operating in a field where an operation process operates asynchronously via an interface register (shared memory).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sequencer for automatically controlling production equipment such as food, chemicals, chemicals, and general machinery is equipped with only a single or a plurality of equipment control sequences that operate at a fixed cycle. Instruction processing was performed from a meter or computer installed outside the sequencer.

Due to the recent development of sequencers and the complicated equipment to be controlled, equipment control sequences and a plurality of operation instruction processes for the equipment control sequences are often mixed in the same sequencer. Further, instead of a single sequencer, information can be shared by a plurality of sequencers through a shared memory or communication, and a processing configuration similar to that of a single sequencer can be realized.

For this reason, the equipment control sequence operation has become complicated, and the interface between the equipment control sequence and the operation instruction processing for the equipment control sequence has also become complicated. In such complicated processing, it is difficult to investigate the cause when an abnormality occurs. A trace for monitoring the operating state of the equipment control sequence is effective as a means for acquiring information for investigating the cause. As a tracing method, a method of generally monitoring the state of the register reflecting the operating state of the equipment control sequence at a constant cycle. With this method, it is easy to capture the state of the equipment control sequence that operates in a fixed cycle, but it is difficult to reliably capture the state of operation instruction processing that operates asynchronously. In order to reliably capture the state, it is necessary to provide a trace that operates on an event before or after the operation instruction processing. When there are a plurality of operation instruction processes that operate asynchronously, providing a trace for all the processes consumes a huge amount of memory for storing the trace information and greatly increases the CPU load of the sequencer, which is not preferable.

[0005]

As described above, in the prior art, in the situation where there are a plurality of control sequences that operate in a fixed cycle and a plurality of operation instruction processes that operate asynchronously, each detailed operation is performed. To provide a trace mechanism for specifying, a huge memory for storing trace information is required, and the number of equipment control sequences, operation cycles,
There is a problem that the CPU load is greatly increased depending on the number of operation instruction processes.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the equipment control sequence and the operation instruction processing are
Focusing on exchanging information of each other through the interface register (shared memory), with the minimum memory capacity and CPU load, regardless of the number of equipment control sequences, the cycle, and the operation timing of operation instruction processing, An object of the present invention is to provide a sequence control device and a method for monitoring the operating state of an equipment control sequence of an equipment control system, which can verify whether or not the operation inside a sequencer is normal.

[0007]

A method for monitoring an operating state of an equipment control sequence of an equipment control system according to the present invention is a food product,
Production equipment such as chemicals, chemicals, and general machinery, a sensor / actuator for detecting the operating state of the production equipment and changing the operating state of the production equipment according to a command, and the detection output of the sensor, Equipment control of an equipment control system including a equipment control sequence for generating a signal to be output to the actuator based on a defined control logic, and a sequence controller for automatically controlling the operation of the production equipment via the sensor / actuator In a sequence operation state monitoring method, a sequence control logic during the operation of the equipment control sequence is simulated, and the simulation result is compared with the state data after the operation of the equipment control sequence stored in the trace file to perform operation diagnosis. It is characterized by performing.

Further, the sequence control device of the equipment control system of the present invention detects production equipment such as food, chemicals, chemicals, general machinery and the like, and detects the operating state of the production equipment, and commands the operating state of the production equipment. The production equipment including a sensor / actuator for changing and an equipment control sequence for receiving a detection output of the sensor and generating a signal to be output to the actuator based on a predetermined control logic. In the equipment control system having a sequence control device for automatically controlling the operation of 1., the sequence control device has a state monitoring mechanism for monitoring the state of the sequence operation of the equipment control sequence.

Further, in the sequence control device of the equipment control system of the present invention, the sequence control device manages the operation of the equipment control sequence and activates the state monitoring mechanism, and an input / output device by an operator. An operation instruction file in which operation instruction data input via the operation instruction file is stored, equipment operation means for notifying the equipment instruction sequence of the operation instruction data extracted from the operation instruction file, and an operator indicating an operation state of the equipment control sequence. Of the equipment monitoring means for creating status response data for notifying the user, a status response file in which the status response data created by the equipment monitoring means is stored, the equipment control sequence, and equipment operating means or equipment monitoring means. It has an interface register for interfacing, and The sequence control device includes a register previous state memory that stores and holds the state data of the interface register, a trace file that stores trace information and operation instruction data of the interface register before and after the activation of the equipment control sequence, and the sequence control mechanism. A control mechanism that is started by the control register that stores the status data of the interface register and the information of the operation instruction file in the trace file and the register previous status memory, and the control operation definition data for the operation simulation of the equipment control sequence. The sequence control logic of the equipment control sequence is simulated using the definition file, the contents of the trace file and the control operation definition data of the control operation definition file, and the simulation result and the Comparing the status data after the operation of the equipment control sequence stored in the trace file, and having a trace editing and diagnostic mechanism for operation diagnosis.

Further, in the sequence control device of the equipment control system of the present invention, the input / output device includes a display device,
The display device displays the trace information of the interface register and the diagnosis result together in time series by the trace editing / diagnosis mechanism.

According to the present invention, the state before the operation of the equipment control sequence is simulated by using the operation simulator of the equipment control sequence to estimate the result when the equipment control sequence operates normally, and the equipment control sequence is estimated. It is possible to judge whether the operation inside the sequencer is normal or not and to detect the abnormal portion by comparing with the state after the operation.

Further, since the trace information of the sequence operation state of the equipment control sequence and the diagnostic result are displayed on the display device in chronological order, it is possible to easily judge whether the operation from the operation instruction to the control sequence is normal or not. Since it is easy to identify the abnormal part when the error occurs, the equipment downtime can be shortened.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the solid line shows the flow of processing and the broken line shows the flow of data.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an equipment control system to which the present invention is applied.

In the figure, the equipment control system is a food,
A production facility 1 for chemicals, chemicals, general machinery, etc., and a sensor / actuator 2 for detecting the state of the production facility 1 and instructing the state change of the production facility 1, and a signal from the sensor / actuator 2 Sequencer 3 as a sequence control device that outputs an operation command to production facility 1 through 2, and a sequencer 3 that receives input from an operator
And an input / output device 5 that notifies the operator of the operating status of the sequencer 3.

The sequencer 3 includes an input / output register 6 for inputting / outputting data to / from the sensor / actuator 2,
Equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ..., 7 that create operation commands to be output to the input / output register 6 according to control logic
n, a sequence control mechanism 8 that manages the operations of the equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ..., 7n, and an operation instruction 12 given by an operator, the equipment control sequences 7, 7a,
, 7n, and equipment monitoring means 1 for creating state response data for notifying the operator of the operating states of the equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ..., 7n.
1 and status response file 1 in which status response data is stored
, 3n, an equipment control sequence 7, 7a, ..., 7n, an interface register (shared memory) 9 for interfacing with the equipment operating means 10 and the equipment monitoring means 11, and control of start and stop of each element of these sequencers 3. Sequencer control mechanism 17 and equipment control sequences 7, 7
, 7n and a state monitoring mechanism 19 for monitoring the operating state of the equipment operating means 10.

The status monitoring mechanism 19 uses the trace file 1
6, the register previous state memory 14, and the sequence control mechanism 8 is activated by the activation signal, and the state of the interface register (shared memory) 9 and the operation instruction file 1
2 is stored in the trace file 16 and the register previous state memory 14, and the control operation definition data for defining the information for the operation simulation of the equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ..., 7n is stored. Based on the control operation definition file 18, the control operation definition data of the control operation definition file 18 and the information of the trace file 16, the operation states of the equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ... It comprises a trace editing / diagnosis mechanism 4 for editing the information output to the entry output device 5.

That is, the sequence control mechanism 8 activated from the control mechanism 17 of the sequencer is the equipment control sequence 7,
, 7n, and after the operation of the equipment control sequence 7, 7a, ..., 7n is completed, the trace mechanism 1
5 is started. The trace mechanism 15 that has been started is the contents of the operation instruction 12, the interface register (shared memory)
Information such as the state change of item 9 is stored in the trace file 16 in time series.

Further, the trace editing / diagnosing mechanism 4 receives an operator's request through the input / output device 5, and from the information of the trace file 16 and the information of the control operation definition file 18, the equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ... Simulate behavior and predict results. Then, the predicted result is compared with the information in the trace file 16, and the trace content and the comparison result are output together to the input / output device 5.

In this example, the case where the equipment control sequence and the equipment operation exist in a single sequencer has been described, but the same applies when the equipment is distributed to a plurality of sequencers.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the sequence control mechanism 8 and the trace mechanism 15. The sequence control mechanism 8 is activated by the control mechanism 17 of the sequencer, inputs the information of the interface register (shared memory) 9 storing the operation instruction of the operator, and operates the equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ..., 7n. Operation output processing step 81 for outputting, equipment control sequence 7,
Step 8 of activating the trace mechanism 15 for tracing the state before activating 7a, ..., 7n, after activating the trace mechanism 15, the equipment control sequence 7, 7
.., 7n, and a step 84 for activating the trace mechanism 15 to store the state after the equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ..., 7n are activated.

The trace mechanism 15 is activated from the trace mechanism activation processing steps 82 and 84 of the sequence control mechanism 8, fetches the execution time, determines the execution division, and stores the execution time and the execution division in the trace file 16 (step 151). Register, processing step 152 of comparing the state of the previous state memory 14 and the state of the interface register (shared memory) 9 at the time of execution to detect a state change, and if there is a state change as a result of the state change detection, a state change is made. A processing step 153 of storing the register number and the changed state in the trace file 16, a processing step of storing the contents of the interface register (shared memory) of this time in the register previous state memory 14 to detect the state change when the operation is performed next time. 154, equipment from start information from the sequence control mechanism 8 Determining processing step 155 either before or after the control sequence start, the determination processing step 155
As a result, when the equipment control sequence is not activated yet, the processing step 156 stores the operation instruction information 12 in the trace file 16, and finally the processing step 157 updates the next trace address of the trace file 16 for storing the next trace information. Composed of.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the trace editing / diagnosing mechanism 4.

The trace editing / diagnosing mechanism 4 is started by receiving an operator's request through a start signal from the input / output device 5, and the trace start relative address in the trace file 16 in which the latest trace information of the trace file 16 is stored. Latest address fetching process to calculate
1. The processing result of the latest address extraction processing step 41, the change register number for extracting the trace information from the calculated latest address, the content, the time extraction processing step 42, the information defined in the control operation definition file 18, and the processing step The information obtained in 42 is compared and the matching information is taken out, and the sequence operation simulation is performed from the information obtained in the processing of the control operation collation processing step 43 and the control operation collation processing step 43 to estimate the operation result and the input / output device 5 Output simulation processing step 44 for creating output information for the unit, the unit end determination processing step 45 for determining whether or not the processing from the processing step 42 to the processing step 44 has been completed by a series of processing of the target equipment control sequence, From the processing step 42 to the processing step 44 After the processing is completed, the process 4
Compare the result of 4 with the information in the trace file 16,
When it is determined as abnormal as a result of the collation processing step 46 with the control operation definition for judging whether the operation is normal and the collation processing step 46 with the control operation definition, an abnormality mark is added. The mark adding processing step 47 and the all-case end determination processing step 48 for determining whether or not the processing of all the information in the trace file 16 is completed.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the operation of storing information in the trace file 16 of the trace mechanism 15 and the specific output from the trace editing / diagnosis mechanism 4 to the input / output device 5 when the sequence control operates normally. . As the status at the time of operation, the operation instruction 12 and the status of the register previous status memory 14 are as illustrated.

Process step 82 of sequence control mechanism 8
The trace mechanism 15 started from the execution state, the execution section, the register previous state memory 14 and the interface register (shared memory) 9 in the trace file 16 as the status before the operation of the equipment control sequences 7, 7a, ..., 7n. The change register number and the changed state obtained as a result of the comparison with and the operation instruction content corresponding to the register number of the change register are stored (16a).

Process step 83 of sequence control mechanism 8
, 7n is started, and after the operation is completed, the trace mechanism 15 started from the processing step 84 of the sequence control mechanism 8 stores in the trace file 16 the equipment control sequences 7, 7a ,. ，
As a situation before the operation of 7n, the execution time, the execution classification in the trace file 16 and the change contents obtained as a result of the comparison between the storage contents of the register previous state memory 14 and the storage contents of the interface register (shared memory) 9 are obtained. The number and the changed state are stored (16b).

In addition, the operator's request is sent to the input / output device 5
Trace editing / diagnosis mechanism 4 that is activated by receiving through
Edits the execution time before the operation of the equipment control sequence stored in the trace file 16a, the change register number, the state after the change, and the operation instruction content of the change register in the operation unit of the equipment control sequence, and performs the control operation. Interface register (shared memory) after operation of equipment control sequence using input condition definition of definition information file 18
9 states are simulated.

The simulation result is compared with the changed register number and the changed state stored in the trace file 16b. If they match, the operation is judged to be normal, and if they do not match, the operation is judged to be abnormal.

When it is determined that the operation is abnormal, it is further determined whether or not the content of the trace file 16a matches the operation content and the change state. If they match, the abnormal part is in the equipment control sequence. If it does not match, it is determined that the abnormal portion is on the operation instructing side.

The operator is notified via the input / output device 5 of the trace contents and the result of the judgment as to whether the operation is normal or not.
For the display, the change of the register according to the operation instruction and the change of the register according to the equipment control sequence are performed in a time chart format, and the display color is changed to notify whether the operation is normal or not. This operation example is an example in which the simulation result matches the register state after the operation, and the operation is determined to be normal.

FIG. 5 shows a concrete example of storing information in the trace file 16 of the trace mechanism 15 when the sequence control is abnormally operated due to an error in the operation instruction, and the input / output device 5 from the trace editing / diagnosing mechanism 4. It is an operation example of various outputs. As the situation at the time of operation, the operation instruction file 12,
The state of the register previous state memory 14 is as shown in the figure. Trace file 16 of the trace mechanism 15
The information stored in is operated in the same manner as in FIG.

In this example, the trace edit / diagnosis mechanism 4 determines that the simulation result and the contents 16b of the trace file do not match, and it is determined that there is an abnormality. This is an example in which the operation instruction is determined to be the abnormal portion because the instruction contents do not match. A mark * indicating an abnormality is added to the misoperation register in the operation instruction and displayed.

Similarly, a mark * indicating an abnormality is added to the erroneous operation register in equipment control and displayed. Since it is displayed in the time chart format, the operator can easily recognize that the equipment control sequence has malfunctioned due to the effect of an incorrect operation instruction at an early timing.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the operation of storing information in the trace file 16 of the trace mechanism 15 and the specific output from the trace editing / diagnostic mechanism 4 to the input / output device 5 when the sequence control alone operates abnormally. Is. As the status at the time of operation, the statuses of the operation instruction file 12 and the register previous status memory 14 are as illustrated.

Trace file 16 of the trace mechanism 15
The information stored in is operated in the same manner as in FIG. In this example, the trace edit / diagnosis mechanism 4 determines that the simulation result and the content 16b of the trace file do not match, and it is determined that there is an abnormality. Further, in the determination of the equipment control sequence pre-operation state, the changed state and the operation instruction content are This is an example in which the operation instruction is determined to be normal and the equipment control sequence is determined to be an abnormal portion because they match. Then, an erroneous operation register in equipment control is also displayed by adding a mark * indicating an abnormality. The operator can recognize at a glance that the equipment control sequence has malfunctioned.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the operation of storing information in the trace file 16 of the trace mechanism 15 and the specific output from the trace editing / diagnosis mechanism 4 to the input / output device 5 when the sequence control alone operates abnormally. Is. As the situation at the time of operation, the states of the operation instruction file 12 and the register previous state memory 14 are as illustrated.

Trace file 16 of the trace mechanism 15
The information stored in is operated in the same manner as in FIG. In this example, the trace edit / diagnosis mechanism 4 determines that the simulation result and the content 16b of the trace file do not match, and it is determined that there is an abnormality. Further, in the determination of the equipment control sequence pre-operation state, the changed state and the operation instruction content are This is an example in which the operation instruction is determined to be normal and the equipment control sequence is determined to be an abnormal portion because they match. In this case, a mark * indicating an abnormality is also added to the erroneous operation register in equipment control and displayed. The operator can easily recognize that the equipment control sequence has malfunctioned.

[0039]

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the operation from the operation instruction to the control sequence is normal, and it is easy to identify the abnormal portion when the operation falls into an abnormal condition. The downtime can be shortened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an equipment control system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing contents of a trace mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing contents of a trace editing / diagnosis mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the trace mechanism and the trace editing function shown in FIG.
It is a flow chart which shows an example of a concrete operation of a diagnostic mechanism.

FIG. 5: Trace mechanism and trace editing shown in FIG.
It is a flow chart which shows other examples of concrete operation of a diagnostic mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the trace mechanism and the trace editing function shown in FIG.
It is a flow chart which shows other examples of concrete operation of a diagnostic mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the trace mechanism and trace editing shown in FIG.
It is a flow chart which shows other examples of concrete operation of a diagnostic mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 production equipment 2 sensor / actuator 3 sequencer 4 trace editing / diagnosis mechanism 5 input / output device 6 input / output register 7 equipment control sequence 8 sequence control mechanism 9 interface register (shared memory) 10 equipment operating means 11 equipment monitoring means 12 operation instruction file 13 state response file 14 register previous state memory 15 trace mechanism 16 trace file 17 sequencer control mechanism 18 control operation definition file 19 state monitoring mechanism

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A production facility such as food, chemicals, chemicals, general machinery, etc., a sensor / actuator for detecting an operating state of the production facility, and changing the operating state of the production facility according to a command, and the sensor. And a sequence controller for automatically controlling the operation of the production facility via the sensor / actuator, which includes a facility control sequence for generating a signal to be output to the actuator based on a predetermined control logic. In the operation state monitoring method of the equipment control sequence of the equipment control system having, simulating the sequence control logic at the time of the equipment control sequence operation, the simulation result and the state data after the operation of the equipment control sequence stored in the trace file, Equipment for comparing operation and performing operation diagnosis Operating state monitoring method of the equipment control the sequence of your system. 2. Production equipment such as food, chemicals, chemicals, general machinery, etc., a sensor / actuator for detecting the operating state of the production equipment, and changing the operating state of the production equipment according to a command, and the sensor. And a sequence controller for automatically controlling the operation of the production facility via the sensor / actuator, which includes a facility control sequence for generating a signal to be output to the actuator based on a predetermined control logic. In the equipment control system having, the sequence control device has a state monitoring mechanism for monitoring a state of a sequence operation of the equipment control sequence, the sequence control device of the equipment control system. 3. The sequence control device stores a sequence control mechanism that manages the operation of an equipment control sequence and that activates the state monitoring mechanism, and operation instruction data input by an operator via an input / output device. And an operation instruction file for notifying the equipment control sequence of the operation instruction data extracted from the operation instruction file, and status response data for notifying an operator of the operation state of the equipment control sequence. An equipment monitoring means, a status response file in which status response data created by the equipment monitoring means is stored, the equipment control sequence, and an interface register for interfacing the equipment operating means or equipment monitoring means, The sequence control device includes the interface register A register for storing and holding state data, a previous state memory, a trace file in which trace information and operation instruction data of the interface register before and after the equipment control sequence is activated, and a state data of the interface register activated by the sequence control mechanism. A trace mechanism that stores the information of the operation instruction file in the trace file and register previous state memory, a control operation definition file that stores the control operation definition data for the operation simulation of the equipment control sequence, and the contents of the trace file And a sequence control logic of the equipment control sequence using the control operation definition data of the control operation definition file, and the simulation result and the equipment control sequence of the equipment stored in the trace file. The sequence control device of the equipment control system according to claim 2, further comprising a trace editing / diagnosis mechanism that compares the state data after the operation and performs the operation diagnosis. 4. The input / output device includes a display device, and the display device displays the trace information of the interface register and the diagnostic result together in time series by the trace editing / diagnosing mechanism. The sequence control device of the equipment control system according to claim 3.