JPH09128017A - Method for determining address of controller and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remarkably improve the work of the determination for the slot address of a controller although much labor and time is conventionally required for the work and to automatically determine the arithmetic order of the control block composing a control logic diagram by generating the address corresponding to each function of the controller from the determined arithmetic order. SOLUTION: A control block editing part 13 edits the plural control blocks 1 corresponding to each function of a controller 10 and a link 2 defining the input/output relation between these control blocks 1 on a display screen and prepares a control logic diagram. An arithmetic order determination part 14 determines the arithmetic order of the control blocks 1 in the prepared control logic diagram. An address determination part 15 generates the address corresponding to each function of the controller 10 from the determined arithmetic order and transmits the address to the controller 10. Therefore, an operator is required to only prepare the control logic diagram on a screen by using the control blocks 1 and the handling time for setting the slot address in which the controller 10 actually operates can be remarkably reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an address determining method and apparatus for executing various functions prepared in a controller used for process control or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In process control, a control block prepared for each type of function or operation (for example, electronic control for realizing functions such as adjustment control, I / O control, etc.) in order to have a dedicated controller execute a control operation. Hardware such as circuits, or software such as programs that execute those functions) is drawn on a control logic diagram that orders the control blocks according to the flow of control, and that order is assigned to the controller, that is, each control By determining the address of the slot corresponding to the block, the required control operation is achieved. At this time, unless the order of calculation in each control block is accurately determined according to the flow of signals between the control blocks, the calculation cycle may be deviated between the control blocks, which may adversely affect the calculation result. It is important to correctly determine the order of.

As a method of determining the address of the slot of such a controller, an operator writes a control logic diagram by hand or describes it by using a CAD tool (software) operating on a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "personal computer"). The method of deciding the address of the slot of the controller to which the control block is assigned is used while observing the flow of signals between the control blocks shown in the figure.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of control blocks 1 have respective functions of analog input (AI), adjustment control (PID) and analog output (AO),
In the case of the control logic diagram configured by connecting the control blocks 1 with the link 2, the analog input block (A
The output O of I) is the input P of the regulation control block (PID).
Since it is connected to V, the latter control block (PI
The calculation of the former control block (AI) must be completed before D) is calculated. Further, since the output OP of the adjustment control block (PID) is connected to the input R of the analog output block (AO), the former control block (PI) is connected before the latter control block (AO).
It is necessary to complete the operation of D). Therefore, the order of operations of the control blocks is required to be AI → PID → AO.

When assigning the order of such control blocks to the controller, in order to reflect the operation order of the control block in the slot address of the controller, the operator looks at the above control logic diagram and looks at the controller corresponding thereto. The slot address had to be decided, which required a lot of labor and time.

Further, if the control block is added or deleted from the control logic diagram after the slot address of the controller is once determined, it is necessary to set the slot address again, and the work must be repeated. did not become.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to greatly improve the work of determining the slot address of the controller, which conventionally requires a lot of labor and time, and to automatically determine the operation order of the control blocks constituting the control logic diagram. It is to provide a method and a device for doing so.

[0008]

According to the method of the present invention, a plurality of control blocks corresponding to respective functions of a controller having a function of controlling a controlled object such as a process and an input / output function are connected to each other. Corresponding to each function of the controller from the step of editing the link on the screen to create a control logic diagram, the step of determining the operation sequence of the control block edited in the control logic diagram, and the determined operation sequence Generating a generated address.

The apparatus of the present invention has, on the screen, a plurality of control blocks corresponding to respective functions of a controller having a function of controlling a control object such as a process and an input / output function, and links connecting the control blocks. Control block editing means for editing to create a control logic diagram, operation order determining means for determining the operation order of the control blocks edited in the control logic diagram, and corresponding function of the controller from the determined operation order And an address determining means for generating the generated address.

When the method of the present invention is carried out on a personal computer,
A personal computer uses a plurality of control blocks that correspond to control points and input / output ports to a controller that has a function to control a controlled object such as a process and an input / output function, and an operator uses a control logic on a display screen. A control block editing unit configured to edit the diagram,
An operation order determination unit that determines the operation order of all control blocks from a link that defines the control blocks that compose the control logic diagram edited by the control block editing unit and the input / output relationships between them, and the operation order. And an address determiner that determines the slot address of the controller using the output from the determiner and is programmed to implement these functions.

[0011]

[Operation and effect] The operator edits the control logic diagram showing the connection relation between these control blocks and the order of control execution on the display screen by using the control blocks expressing the functions such as PID calculation and opening / closing calculation. . In the present invention, the operation sequence of the control blocks shown in the control logic diagram is obtained, and the address of the function executing means of the controller corresponding to the obtained operation sequence is automatically determined. The address here refers to both hardware and software. That is, when it is stored in the controller as hardware such as a circuit board called "function card", it means the address of the hardware, and for the function programmed in the memory of the controller, it means the address in software. To do.

The address determined by the present invention is set in the controller by writing it in the memory of the controller. However, software for implementing the present invention is incorporated in the control system, or a personal computer is connected to the controller. Address, the address can be written automatically.

According to the present invention, the operator only has to create the control logic diagram on the screen by using the control block, and the time and effort for setting the actually operating slot address of the controller can be greatly reduced.

Further, even if the control logic diagram once created is changed, the operation order as shown in the control logic diagram can be realized by executing the slot address determination logic again.

Furthermore, even if there are a plurality of controllers corresponding to the control blocks, this can be easily handled by preparing a plurality of slot address determination programs for each controller.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an address determination device of the present invention. This is used for determining an address for the controller 10 having a function of controlling a control target such as a process and an input / output function, and is a personal computer main body 11 as a hardware and a display device (CRT) 12 connected thereto. And input operation means (not shown) such as a keyboard and a mouse.

The personal computer main body 11 is provided with a control block editing unit 13, a calculation order determining unit 14, and an address determining unit 15 as function realizing means for executing the method of the present invention, and these functions are stored in the storage unit of the personal computer. Execute according to the program.

The control block editing unit 13 edits a plurality of control blocks 1 corresponding to each function of the controller 10 and a link 2 defining an input / output relationship between these control blocks 1 on a display screen to control logic. It has a function of creating a drawing (in the screen of FIG. 1, the above-mentioned control blocks 1 of AI, PID, and AO and a link 2 connecting them are displayed).

More specifically, when a control logic diagram is created, a control block menu 20 in which a plurality of types of control blocks are displayed with respective symbols is displayed at a predetermined position (for example, the lower part of the screen) in the edit screen. The operator selects a desired control block (symbol) from the menu 20 by operating the mouse or the like and sets it at an arbitrary position in the edit screen. Then, a control logic diagram can be created by performing an operation of connecting each control block with a link.

The operation order determining unit 14 has a function of determining the operation order of the control blocks in the control logic diagram created as described above, as follows.

The address determining unit 15 has a function of generating an address corresponding to each function of the controller from the determined calculation order and transmitting it to the controller 10.

A method of determining the operation order of control blocks using the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described below. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a specific procedure of the method.

First, the connection relationship between control blocks is investigated,
Create "island list" of control block (step ST
1).

The "island list" is a list showing a group (islands) of control blocks connected by links, and is introduced as a concept for managing the link relationship of control blocks. Normally, since there are multiple islands, the island list itself is managed in a list structure. In the initial state, there is one empty "island list" with no list members.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the structure of the island list. Here, one control block A and two control blocks B and C respectively form another island. Therefore, the "island list" is created as follows.

Island list 1 = {A} Island list 2 = {B, C} Island list list = {Island list 1, Island list 2} In the first step ST1, the personal computer controls the edited as described above. Scan the control blocks that make up the logic diagram, repeat the following process for each control block,
By determining whether or not it is the last control block in step ST2, the processing for all control blocks is achieved.

In the processing, if the control block has no link, this control block is regarded as forming one island, and an "island list" is newly created and made a member thereof. Add this new island list to the end of the Island List list.

For example, the control block A in FIG.
Since it has no link with other control blocks, it forms an island by itself.

If the control block has a link from its own port to the port of the other control block (referred to as "output link"), this control block is connected to the output link. Consider a "block pair" with a controlled block. For all the block pairs with a certain control block as a reference, it is checked whether or not the same control block exists in the island list. And
When a pair of control blocks connected by an output link does not exist in any island list, an island list is created as a new island, and the pair of control blocks is used as an element of this island list.

For example, in FIG. 3, control blocks B and C
Is a pair of blocks connected by an output link. When the control blocks are checked in the order of A → B → C, at the time of checking the control block B, the island list has only {A}. Therefore, control blocks B and C form another island.

When either one of the pairs of control blocks connected by the output link includes the same control block in a single island list, the control block on the non-included side is added to this island list. . Also, when the pair of control blocks connected by the output link includes the same control block in the two island lists, it is determined that these two islands are the same island, and the two island lists are set. Recreate one island list.

When a pair of control blocks connected by an output link includes the same control block in a single island list,
This output link is considered the "autoregressive link". In the control block pair connected by this "autoregressive link", a "fixed token" is set to the port of the control block of the output destination (the "token" described later is fixedly placed). Furthermore, when the control block of the link source has no other output connection, the control block is set as the "end point block".
When the control block of the link destination has no other input connection, the control block is set as the "start point block".

For example, in FIG. 4, the control blocks A, C and F are "start point blocks" and the control block B is "end point block". The control blocks D and F are a pair of control blocks connected by an "autoregressive link", and a "fixed token" (indicated by a circle) is set to the port of the control block F that is the output destination of the link from D to F. . Here, since the control block D has an output link to the control block B in addition to the "autoregressive link", it is an "end point block".
Does not. Since the control block F has no input link other than the "autoregressive link" from the control block D, it becomes a "start point block".

When the scanning of all the control blocks is completed as described above and a plurality of island lists remain, that is, when "a plurality of small islands" are present, the members of the individual island lists are included. Apply an algorithm that determines the order of operations with respect to. Further, as the calculation order for each island, the order in which the islands are registered (the order of the “list of island lists”) is applied.

For example, in FIG. 5, the control block is A
It is assumed that the screens are registered in the order of → B → C → D → E. In this case, when scanning in the order of A, B, C, D,
The island list is list 1 {A, E, C} and list 2 {B,
D} is made. If D is connected by the output link of E, when E is scanned, the island list becomes list 1 {A, E, C, B, D}, and one island is completed. However, in this example, E does not have an output link, so two island lists 1 and 2 are finally created, and 2
It can be seen that there are two control block islands. The calculation order in island units is determined at this point, and the order of lists 1 → 2 is determined.

Next, in the flowchart of FIG. 2, a "start point block" list and a "end point block" list are created for each island list (step ST3).

First, the "start point block" list and the "end point block" list are initialized (to an empty list). Then, the control block is scanned from the head of the island list, and the following processing is repeated for all the control blocks.
That is, if the control block has no input link,
Add the control block to the starting block list. If the control block has no output link, the control block is added to the end point block list.

Next, the token is started from the starting point block, and all control blocks are "token" because of the link relation.
Is executed until the end block is reached (step ST4).

Here, the "token" is a visual representation of the transition of these states when the states change in time series, such as the synchronous state of a plurality of processes or the state transition of an event, In the present invention, the control block is made to correspond to the state,
Corresponding links between multiple control blocks to indicators that indicate the transition from one state to another, determining the order in which control blocks are calculated using the "token" indicator that moves between states. It is characterized by doing.

For example, in FIG. 4, the token T is indicated by a circle at the position of the input / output port of the control block. In the present invention, by moving the token T in order from the "fire point" (start point block) indicating the start, the calculation order of the control blocks corresponding to the transition of the event can be determined. The token T in a control block can move to the control block pointed to by the link when all the inputs to that control block have been filled.

In step ST4 of FIG. 2, the index of the calculation order is first initialized to the value set as the initial value. This value is a value determined for each island list and corresponds to a value obtained by adding the number of control blocks for each island. For example, if the number of control blocks in the “island list 1” is 3, the initial value of the next “island list 2” is 4.

Next, the starting point block list is set as the initial state of the "token block list". The “token block list” is a list indicating which control block has a “token”. Then, tokens are placed at the output ports of all the control blocks in the starting point block list.

Further, the following processing is repeated until the control block in the token block list becomes the end block.
That is, the process ends when a member of the token block list (control block having a token) no longer exists.

The process checks whether or not all the input ports have a token (can be fired) for the control block of the token block list. The control blocks are numbered according to the operation sequence, and the numbering is incremented by 1 (+1).

A control block in which all input ports have tokens can fire. The firing control block moves the token to all control blocks connected to the output link and adds these control blocks to the end of the token block list. Further, the control block itself is deleted from the token block list. When the control block is the end block, the token is not moved or added to the token block list.

Control blocks where all input links do not have tokens cannot fire. The control block remains in the token block list and the token is not moved.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, consider a case where control blocks A to F are registered in the control block list in alphabetical order and the links are set as shown. The token is initially present in the starting block list {A, E}. Since the starting point blocks A and E can be fired immediately, the token moves to the next control block {D, B} to which the output is connected. Control block D
Cannot fire unless control block B fires,
Waiting for B to fire. Control block D due to ignition of B
When is fired, the token block list changes to {C, G}. Here, since the control block C is the end point block, the token does not move. When the control block G fires, the token moves to the control block F, but since the control block F is the end block, there is no control block with a token in the token block list, and the scanning ends. As a result, A → E → B → D
The calculation order of C → G → F is determined.

By repeating the processes of steps ST3 and ST4 for each island and determining whether or not it is the end of the island list in step ST5, the processes for all island lists are achieved.

Finally, based on the execution order set in the control block as described above, controller addresses are assigned in descending order of operation for each control point type (step ST6).

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of types (four types A to D in this example) of control blocks (the number is seven).
, Are connected by a link, it is assumed that their operation order is determined in the order shown by the numbers. In this case, it is assumed that the types of control blocks indicated by English characters (A to D) indicate the differences in the types of control points of the controller.

The personal computer can set the address of the controller in the calculation order designated by the control block diagram by sequentially allocating the address for each control point. In FIG. 7, type 1 of control point A
The 2nd and 2nd slots are assigned to the operation order of 1 and 2, the 1st and 2nd slots of type B are assigned to the operation order of 3 and 6, and the slot of type C is 4th. And the first and second slots of type D are allocated to the operation order of No. 5 and No. 7.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an address determination device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a specific procedure of a method of determining a calculation order of control blocks using the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an “island” composed of control blocks.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of determination of a start point block and an end point block on one “island” and an autoregressive link.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram when there are a plurality of “islands”.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the determination of the operation order of the control blocks forming one “island”.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing controller slot allocation corresponding to the operation order of control blocks.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of types of control blocks and links connecting them.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Control block, 2 ... Link, 11 ... PC main body,
12 ... Display device, 13 ... Control block editing unit, 14 ... Calculation order determining unit, 15 ... Address determining unit, 10 ... Controller, 20 ... Control block menu.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of control blocks corresponding to each function of a controller having a function of controlling a control object such as a process and an input / output function, and a link connecting the control blocks are edited on a display screen. Creating a control logic diagram, determining the operation sequence of the control blocks edited in the control logic diagram, and generating an address corresponding to each function of the controller from the determined operation sequence. A method for determining an address of a controller, comprising: 2. A plurality of control blocks corresponding to each function of a controller having a function of controlling a controlled object such as a process and an input / output function, and a link connecting the control blocks are edited on a display screen. And a control block editing means for creating a control logic diagram, an operation order determining means for determining the operation order of the control blocks edited in the control logic diagram, and a function corresponding to each function of the controller from the determined operation order. An address determining device for a controller, comprising: an address determining means for generating an address. 3. An operator on a display screen using a plurality of control blocks corresponding to control points and input / output ports of a controller having a function of controlling a controlled object such as a process and an input / output function. From the control block editing unit configured to edit the control logic diagram, the control block configuring the control logic diagram edited by the control block editing unit, and the link defining the input / output relationship between them, An address order determination unit for determining the operation order of the control block, and an address determination unit for determining the slot address of the controller by using the output from the operation order determination unit. apparatus.