JPH09171405A - Device and method for controlling fa system, and control program generating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To describe control programs of FA system integrating into one, to automatically allocate it to respective processors and to convert the control program into programs for these processors. SOLUTION: The work specifications of respective cells consisting of the FA system are described in a single language, program module groups by functions are generated for performing sequence control, control of automatic machine and control of programmable peripheral equipment, and these respective program modules 1601 by functions are separated into program groups 1803 by processors composed of plural programs 1802 by processors. At this time, a unit block processing time estimating and evaluating means 1801d evaluates the processing time of each unit block corresponding to processor configuration and function data 1801c, and a unit block connecting means 1801e connects unit blocks 1602 so as to optimize the distribution of processing load at plural processors.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an F including a robot.
The present invention relates to a control device and method of an A system, and more particularly, to a control device and method of an FA system configured by a plurality of devices including an automatic machine such as a robot and programmable peripheral devices such as a visual sensor, and control in such a system. It relates to a program generation method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FA (Factory Automation) systems composed of a plurality of devices including automatic machines such as robots and programmable peripheral devices such as visual sensors have been widely known and put into practical use. There is. And, such a conventional FA system and its control method are
Generally, input / output of various devices (hereinafter abbreviated as "I / O")
A programmable controller for controlling the robot, a robot controller for controlling the robot, an image processing device, and the like are connected by parallel I / O or a network to control each device constituting the FA system. In the control of the FA system according to the related art, different control devices (for example, programmable controller, robot controller, image processing device, etc.) are used in combination for each control target of each device, and furthermore, each control device is controlled. Used a different programming language.

Therefore, when constructing an FA system,
It is necessary to learn several different programming languages, and in order to control one FA system, it is necessary to make full use of such different programming languages to create multiple programs that are related to each other. It was Further, as the functions of the FA system have become more sophisticated, the configuration of the control device of the FA system has become more complicated, and a great deal of labor has been required to create the program. , Was a major impediment to improving the development efficiency of programs that control FA systems.

By the way, conventionally, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, for example, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-84768, an FA system is created in which a program for operating FA equipment is integrated into one form. Is described. In order to solve the above problems, for example, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-72920, F
A control method for an FA system that collectively describes a control program for the A system has already been proposed.

That is, in the control method of the FA system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-84768, which is the former of the above-mentioned prior art, FA devices such as a robot and an image processing device are unified in one programming language. An integrated program for operating is created and decomposed into a program executed by a programmable controller, a robot controller, and an image processing device. The integrated program described here is a so-called extended ladder program in which a robot program and an image processing program are added in the form of a subroutine to a conventional programmable controller ladder program. , Robot program,
The method is divided into three image processing programs.

Further, the latter prior art mentioned above, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.
In the FA system control method described in Japanese Patent No. 72920, a sequence control program and a robot control program are automatically generated from a control program that collectively describes the work of the FA system. The control program of the FA system described here explicitly expresses the work specifications of the FA system as a whole by a programming language that applies Petri nets.

[0007]

However, the control method and control program of the FA system proposed by the above-mentioned prior art are effective in improving the efficiency of the program development accompanying the sophistication of the functions of the FA system. Although it works, the problem pointed out below was not mentioned.

That is, when the distributed cooperation by a plurality of control devices or control processors is advanced as the function of the FA system is advanced, the control method and the control program of the FA system proposed by the above two prior arts. In addition to simply separating the program by function such as sequence control or robot control, as described above, it is also necessary to distribute the optimum processing load according to the configuration and performance of the control device or control processor. It becomes necessary to divide the program for each control device or each processor. For example, in a control system in which a plurality of sequence control processors, robot control processors, and image processing processors are combined, a complicated FA system can be constructed if automatic optimal program division for each processor can be performed. Also in this case, the user can create a more efficient control program for the FA system as a single program without paying attention to the hardware configuration of the control system.

Therefore, in the present invention, in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, further, based on the recognition of the prior art by the inventors, that is, the control program of the FA system is created as a single program. In addition to the above, it is also possible to provide a control device and method for an FA system that enables the FA system to be controlled more efficiently by a created control program, and a method for generating a control program in such a system. With the goal.

[0010]

In order to achieve the objects of the invention set forth above, according to the invention, a plurality is provided, each comprising at least an automatic machine and programmable peripherals associated with said automatic machine. FA composed of cells
A system control device, wherein for each of the plurality of cells, a work control of the entire cell is described in the same language, and a work of the automatic machine and peripheral devices from the cell control program. Based on the separation conversion means for separating and converting into a program related to sequence control, a program related to operation control of the automatic machine, and a program related to control of the programmable peripheral device, and each program separated and converted by the separation conversion means. And a plurality of processor means for respectively controlling the operations of the automatic machine and the programmable peripheral device forming the cell, wherein the separation conversion means further includes at least the automatic machine or the programmable device. A plurality of the above-mentioned processes for controlling the operation of peripheral devices respectively. Control device for FA system comprising a processing load allocation means for performing the allocation of processing load in support means is raised.

According to the invention, also in order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the invention, from a plurality of cells each comprising at least an automatic machine and programmable peripherals associated with said automatic machine. In a control method for controlling a configured FA system, a work specification of the entire cell is described in the same language in order to control devices constituting at least one cell of the plurality of cells by a plurality of processors. A cell control program is created by using the created cell control program, and a program related to control of the work order of the automatic machine and peripheral devices, a program related to operation control of the automatic machine, and a programmable peripheral device control Separately converted into a program and based on each of the separated and converted programs, A method of controlling an FA system for controlling the operations of the automatic machine and the programmable peripheral device, each of which comprises a plurality of processors, at the time of separating and converting the program, and further at least the automatic machine or the A method of controlling an FA system has been proposed in which the processing load is distributed in each of the plurality of processors that controls the operation of a programmable peripheral device.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, also in order to achieve the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, a plurality of cells each comprising at least an automatic machine and programmable peripherals associated with said automatic machine are provided. A FA system control program generation method for generating a control program for controlling equipment constituting at least one cell of the plurality of cells by a plurality of processors, respectively, in the FA system configured A cell control program is created by describing overall work specifications in the same language, and a program related to control of the work order of the automatic machine and peripheral devices and a program related to operation control of the automatic machine are created from the created cell control program. And the program for controlling the programmable peripherals There is proposed a control program generation method for an FA system, which performs separate conversion into, and automatically distributes a processing load in each of the plurality of processors that controls at least the operation of the automatic machine or the programmable peripheral device. There is.

In addition, according to the present invention, the above objects are
In a control method of an FA system composed of a unit (cell) of a plurality of devices including an automatic machine including a robot and programmable peripheral devices such as a visual sensor, a work specification of the entire cell is directly described, Information regarding control of work order of equipment, information regarding control of input / output of the plurality of equipment, information regarding operation control of the automatic machine, information regarding control of the programmable peripheral equipment, and synchronization between the plurality of equipment From the cell control program having the information on the operation timing to obtain the information, the function-based module separation conversion unit separates and extracts the information on the work order of the plurality of devices and the information on the input / output control, A sequence control program that describes the process for controlling the work order of the equipment and the input / output control. A ram module, and an automatic machine control program module in which a process for separating and extracting information on the operation control of the automatic machine and the operation timing to control the positioning and the trajectory of the automatic machine is described. In addition, a control program for the programmable peripheral device and information regarding the operation timing are separated and extracted to generate a peripheral device control program module in which a process for controlling the programmable peripheral device is described. The sequence control program module, the automatic machine control program module, and the peripheral equipment control program module are respectively provided by the sequence control processor-specific module dividing means, the automatic machine control processor-specific module dividing means, and the peripheral equipment control processor-specific module dividing means. Based on the configuration and performance of the processor that controls the cell, it is divided into program modules that optimize the distribution of the processing load of each processor, and these divided program modules are executable by each processor. To generate a sequence control processor program group, an automatic control processor program group, and a peripheral device control processor program group, and convert each processor program group into a processor group that interprets and executes each program. This is achieved by the control method of the FA system that outputs the output.

That is, according to the present invention, when constructing a unit element (hereinafter, referred to as a cell) that constitutes an FA system and includes one set of a plurality of devices, an automatic machine such as a robot included in the cell and a visual sensor. A program for controlling programmable peripheral devices such as the above and other devices is integrated and described as a cell control program. Further, from this cell control program, according to the configuration and performance of the processor of the control device of the FA system, By automatically generating a program for each processor so that the processing load of each processor is optimally distributed, multiple programs can be created according to the configuration of the control device as in the past, and several programs can be programmed. There is no need to learn a language, and as a result, the efficiency of developing FA system control programs is improved. It becomes possible to provide a control method of the FA system capable.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a processing process in the control device of the FA system according to the present invention. Generally, an FA system is composed of a plurality of devices including a robot which is an automatic device, and each of the plurality of devices is called a "cell" as a unit of the plurality of devices. In the case of FIG. 2, the cell 116 which is the device of the FA system to be controlled is, for example, two robots 116a and 116b.
And visual sensors 116c and 116d, and other peripheral devices 116e and 116f.

When creating a program for controlling the work of the cell 116 of the FA system, first, the cell control program 102 describing the work specifications of the cell 116 as a whole is configured by a computer or the like.
It is created by the so-called cell control program editing means 101. The cell control program editing means 10
1 is a graphical user interface capable of describing the operation sequence of each device of the cell 116 in a Petri net format on the screen of a terminal (shown in FIG. 3) connected to the control device of the cell 116. Is to have. The Petri net representation of the cell control program 102 will be described later using a specific example.

The cell control program 102 includes (1) information relating to operation control of the robots 116a and 116b,
(2) Information regarding image processing of the visual sensors 116c and 116d, (3) Information regarding control of I / O connected to other peripheral devices, (4) Operation sequence of these devices and operation timing between the devices. Information about synchronization is in cell 1
The work specifications of the entire 16 are described in one type of programming language (hereinafter referred to as a cell control language). By thus describing the work specifications of the cell 116 as one program, the operation sequence of the cell 116 as a whole can be explicitly expressed. The specifications of the cell control language are described in the above-mentioned prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-72
This is an extension of the one described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 920, and a common method is used for the basic parts such as the application of Petri nets to the sequence expression.

The cell control program 102 is as follows.
By the function-based module separation conversion means 103, (a)
Sequence control program module 104, (b)
A robot control program module 105, and
(C) The image processing program module 106 is separated and converted into three modules. Here, the sequence control program module 104 is the cell 116.
Sequence control as a whole and various peripheral devices 116
The robot control program module 1 is a program module for controlling I / O such as e and 116f.
Reference numeral 05 is a module relating to operation control of the robots 116a and 116b, and the image processing program module 106 is a program relating to image processing of the visual sensors 116c and 116d. In the following description, the program modules classified according to control functions such as sequence control, robot control, and image processing are collectively referred to as function-specific program modules in some cases.

These function-specific program modules correspond to the configuration of a control processor (each independent controller such as a programmable controller or robot controller is also considered to be a control processor in a broad sense) in which it is processed. Converted into a program module. That is, according to the present invention, assuming that the control device of the cell 116 is composed of a plurality of control processors, a function-specific program module is provided so as to optimize the distribution of the processing load of each of these processors. By dividing each processor, a processor-specific program that is finally executed by each processor is generated. Specifically, from the sequence control program module 104,
Sequence control processor-specific module dividing means 107
By sequence control processor program group 1
Generate 10. In addition, the robot control processor-specific module grouping unit 108 generates the robot control processor-specific program group 111 from the robot control program module 105. Further, the image processing processor module dividing unit 109 generates an image processing processor program group 112 from the image processing program module 106.

The sequence control processor-specific program group 110, the robot control processor-specific program group 111, and the image processing processor-specific program group 1
12 is a program group 110 for each of these processors,
It is output to the processor that interprets and executes 11, 112. That is, the sequence control processor program group 110 is for the sequence control processor group 113, the robot control processor program 114 is for the robot control processor group 114, and the image processing processor program group 112 is for the image processing processor group 11.
5, and the respective processors interpret and execute these programs to control the cell 116.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the screen display of the terminal in the cell control program editing means 101 among the constituent requirements of the control device of the FA system shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the cell control program editing means 101 has a graphical user interface for editing the operation sequence in the cell control program 102 in the so-called Petri net format. The cell control language, which is the description language of the cell control program 102, is a kind of graphic language that applies the graphical representation form of Petri net to the description of the operation sequence of the cell 116. In the example of FIG. 3, the place of the Petri net (indicated by “◯” in the figure) is the operating state of the device forming the cell 116, and the transition (“−” in the figure).
Is defined as the transition condition for transition to the next operating state, and the place where the token (not shown in the figure) is placed is defined as the current activated state (hereinafter referred to as the activated state). , I'm thinking of a safe petri net where each place has at most one token.

The net editing window 201 shown in FIG.
Then, using a pointing device such as a mouse, it is possible to edit the Petri net without changing the graphic image on the screen. Command edit window 202
Is for defining the operation of the device (robot operation command, I / O ON / OFF, etc.) and other processing in the editing state S106 indicated by the mouse cursor in the net editing window 201. A window for editing commands. The state end condition edit window 203 displays the condition (OK) of the normal end of S106 being edited.
This is a window for editing the conditions) and the abnormal termination conditions (NG conditions). Each window has a simple input environment that uses a menu selection format with a mouse or function keys.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a Petri net created by the cell control program editing means 101 described above. The Petri net of FIG. 4 is, for example,
FIG. 7 illustrates an inserting operation of the electronic components shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 below.

The work shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is to insert an electronic component 405 such as an IC into the printed circuit board 406. First, the printed circuit board 406 conveyed by a conveyor or the like is positioned, and the parts are fed by a parts feeder or the like. The supplied component 405 is grasped by the hand 402 provided at the tip of the component insertion robot 401 and inserted into a predetermined position. Furthermore, the lead of the component 405 that has been inserted is
The clinch hand 408 at the tip of the clinch robot 407, which is accessed from below the printed board 406, bends to prevent the component 405 from falling off the printed board 406. Further, in order to correct the positions of the robots 401 and 407 with respect to the printed circuit board 406, the visual sensors 404 and 409 measure the displacement. FIG.
Shows the state of each device immediately before such component insertion, and FIG. 6 shows the state immediately after component insertion.

The operation sequence of the entire cell represented by a Petri net in FIG. 4 is roughly divided into a module 304 of a component insertion robot 401 (hereinafter, abbreviated as “ROB1”) and a clinch robot 407 (hereinafter, “RO”).
B2 "module 305, component insertion visual sensor 404 (hereinafter abbreviated as" CAM1 ") module 306, clinch visual sensor 409 (hereinafter" C ").
AM2 ”) (module abbreviated as“ AM2 ”). Each module is a group of devices and is a sequence that is grouped for each device that can operate in parallel with each other (hereinafter, such a device group is referred to as a "unit"). The modules are associated with each other by being connected by a synchronous place 303 (denoted by a double circle in the figure).

Next, the place 301 in FIG. 4 shows the operating state of the unit, which is called a state place. For example, “S10 added to the state place 301
"6" indicates the reference number of the operating state. The specific content of the operation in the status place 301 is defined as a command sequence such as a robot command or an I / O control command. Further, the transition 302 indicates a condition for making a transition from one state to the next state. Transition 30
The transition condition of 2 is determined by the connection relationship of the Petri net and the ending condition of each state. In addition, this transition 30
“OK1” added to 2 means a normal end of the state that is an input to the transition 302, and the determination condition of the normal end is defined as an expression of the state end condition. The synchronization place 303 defines synchronization of operation timing between modules, and for example, "REQ"
6 ”means that the state S105 is normally completed and the state S20 is
4 ends normally, the transition condition to the next state S106 is satisfied, and the two end states are synchronized. A comment indicating the content of the operation in that state is added beside the state place 301 in FIG.

The outline of the operation sequence shown in FIG. 4 will be described below. First, the ROB 1 positions the component 405 gripped by the hand 402 on the printed circuit board 406 on which the component 405 is positioned.
Move to a predetermined position (insertion point) on the table (S100)
And CAM1 is the target position of ROB1 (printed circuit board 40
The position deviation from (relative position to 6) is measured (S15
1) Then, the ROB 1 performs a position correction operation based on the position shift amount (S102). Further, the ROB 1 lowers the list to a predetermined height, then opens the hand 402 and releases the component 103 (S103). RO during this
B2 moves to a predetermined position (clinch point) immediately below the printed circuit board 406 (S200), and the ROB2 performs position correction based on the result of the position shift measurement (S251) by the CAM2 (S202). Is raised to a predetermined height (S203). When release of the component 405 is detected by a sensor (not shown) provided in the hand 402 of the ROB 1, the center pusher 403 provided at the end of the ROB 1 is lowered to cause the component 405.
Down to place the component 40 in the predetermined hole on the printed circuit board 406.
5 is inserted deeply (S104). A center pusher 403 is provided by a sensor (not shown) provided at the end of the ROB 1.
When it is detected that the
The second clinch hand 408 is closed and the leads of the component 405 are bent (S204). Clinch hand 40
When a sensor (not shown) provided on the ROB 1 detects that the clinch is completed, the clinch hand 408 is opened (S205), and the center pusher 403 of the ROB 1 is opened.
Rises (S106). Thereafter, ROB1 moves to the insertion preparation point (S107), ROB2 moves down the list (S206), and moves to the clinch preparation point (S20).
7).

Next, in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cell control program editing means 101 described in FIG.
FIG. 2 shows an example of the edited Petri net of FIG. 1 and coded, that is, an example of the cell control program 102 of FIG. As is clear from the figure, the cell control program 10
2 is composed of two types of blocks, one is a cell block (a block following the "cell" sentence) shown in FIG. 7, and the other is a def block (a "def" sentence shown in FIG. 8). Is the block that follows).

Regarding this cell control program 102,
Furthermore, the detailed contents will be explained.
The block defines the connection relationship of the Petri net and the operation of the device in each state. cell label 601
In, the serial number of the state, the type of the unit that is the main operating body in the state, and the serial number are defined. For example, the unit in the state S106 is ROB1, which is the component insertion robot 401 and the hand 402 accompanying it.
Shows a unit composed of peripheral devices such as. The transition condition expression 602 is an expression that defines the connection relationship of the Petri net, and defines the serial number of the state connected as an input to the input transition of that state and the end condition of that state.
The input transition of the state S106 is connected to the normal end OK1 of the state S105 and the OK of the synchronous place REQ6. The command string 603 is a command string that defines the operation of the devices that make up the unit in that state and other processing. The process in the state S106 is RE
SET Y101 (OFF of output Y101, that is, rise of center pusher 403) and SET TD121
0. (Set of on-delay timer TD12).

The def block in FIG. 8 defines the ending condition for each state. The def label 701 defines a reference number of the state, and the definitional expression 702 defines a conditional expression of a normal end (OK) and an abnormal end (NG) of the status.
The normal end condition (OK1) in the state S106 is X101 =
It is OFF (the input X101 is OFF, that is, the contact detection sensor of the component 405 is OFF) and TD12 = OFF (the on-delay timer TD12 is OFF, that is, the time has not expired). The abnormal termination condition (NG1) in the state S106 is X101 = ON and TD102 = ON.
(Even when the on-delay timer TD102 is up, the sensor remains ON). In the figure, "=
= Indicates that it is a conditional expression.

As described above, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation sequence of each device can be structurally and explicitly described by applying the Petri net expression to the description of the cell control program 102. . Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the control program for the devices in the cell is unified as the cell control program 102, and the operation sequence of each device is explicitly provided to develop the software of the FA system. It becomes possible for a person to easily create the cell control program 102 by directly describing the work specifications of the entire cell without being aware of the configuration of the control device of the device in the cell and the difference in the programming language. . That is, the developer of the cell control program 102 does not need to learn several different programming languages as in the past, and as a result, the development efficiency of the program is improved,
Maintainability as software is also improved.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned FIGS.
From the cell control program 102 as described above, a sequence in which the function-based module separation conversion means 103 describes the processing for controlling the operation order of the devices that make up the cell and controlling the I / O connected to these devices Control program module 104 and robots 116a and 116b
Robot control program module 105 in which processing for positioning the robot and controlling the trajectory is described, and the visual sensor 1.
The image processing program module 106 that describes the processing relating to the images 16c and 116d is generated.

FIG. 9 shows a processing process of the functional module separation conversion means 103. Note that the cell block of the cell control program 102 is stored in the cell block of the cell control program 102, as shown in FIGS.
The l block defines the connection relation of each place in the Petri net, that is, the net structure and the operation of the device in each state, and the def block defines the ending condition of each state.

Function-dependent module separation conversion means 103 in the figure
The function-specific data extraction means 103a first extracts the net structure 103b from the contents of the cell block and the state end condition 103c from the contents of the def block. Further, the I / O control instruction sequence 103d is extracted from the cell block. Then, the sequence control program generating means 103i generates the sequence control program module 104 from the extracted net structure 103b, the state end condition 103c, and the I / O control command sequence 103d.

Further, the function-specific data extraction means 103a is
From the contents of the cell block, the robot control command sequence 10
Information regarding 3e and the robot operation timing 103f is extracted. Then, the robot control program generation means 1
03j generates the robot control program module 105 based on the extracted information.

Similarly, function-specific data extraction means 103a
Is the image processing instruction sequence 103 based on the contents of the cell block.
g and information on the image processing timing 103h, and further, the image processing program generation means 103k
The image processing program module 106 is generated based on these pieces of information.

FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 show the cell control program 102 illustrated in FIGS.
Function-specific module separation conversion means 103 shown in FIG. 9 above.
An example of the sequence control program module 104 produced | generated by FIG. The programming language for sequence control in this example is based on a rule type description of IF-THEN-type. That is, each rule is conditional on the execution status of the operation of the device in each state, an input signal from the outside such as a sensor, an evaluation formula for the value of an internal variable, etc., and if a predetermined condition is satisfied here, A process of ending the operation of the device in the state and starting the operation of the device in the next state is described. For example, the rule 1001 shown in FIG.
Indicates that the status S203 ended normally and the synchronous place RE
If Q5 ends normally, it means that the execution status of the state S204 is set to executing (EXEC S204), and the output Y200 and the on-delay timer TD20 are set.

As the programming language for sequence control, a programming language such as a ladder diagram can be used in addition to the rule-based programming language as in this example. In that case, a module for each function is used. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the separation conversion means 103 will generate a ladder program as the sequence control program module 104.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the robot control program module 105 generated by the function-specific module separation conversion means 103 from the cell control program 102 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. A block 1203 shown in FIG. 13 is in a state S203 (STT203).
In, the ROB2 list is raised by 10 mm (MOVE L, * + (0., 0., 10.)). Here, STTn (n is the same as n in state Sn)
Is the sequence control program module 1 shown above.
04 is a state label indicating a reference number of a state common to the state No. 04 (hereinafter referred to as state No.). Is shared by each program, the state transition of the entire cell can be controlled.

FIG. 14 shows an example of the image processing program module 106 generated by the function-specific module separation conversion means 103 from the cell control program 102 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The image processing program module 106 generated here has the same configuration as the robot control program module 105, and STTn
Following the sentence, various image processing instruction sequences are described.

Further, FIGS. 15 to 24 show flowcharts for explaining the details of the processing of the function-based module separation conversion means 103. First, FIG. 15 shows an outline of the function-specific module separation conversion processing in the function-specific module separation conversion means 103. In this function-specific module separation conversion process, when the process is started, first, the cell control program is analyzed to extract the function-specific data (process 1100a), and the function-specific module is generated based on the data obtained here. To do. That is, the sequence control program generation means 103i generates the sequence control program module 104 (process 1100b),
The robot control program generation means 103 j generates the robot control program module 105 (Process 1
100c), the image processing program generating means 103k generates the image processing program module 106 (processing 1100d).

FIG. 16 is a function-specific data extraction process 1100a of the function-specific module separation conversion process shown in FIG.
The details are shown below. In this function-specific data extraction process 1100a, when the process starts, the cell control program ce
Code analysis is performed in the order of the ll block and the def block, and necessary data extraction is performed for each. First, cell
In the block analysis, the operation timing 1 for each robot
03f and a robot control command sequence 103e to secure a data area (process 1101a), image processing timing 103h and image processing command sequence 103 for each visual sensor.
Securing a data area for storing g (process 1101
b), securing a data area for storing the I / O control command sequence 103d (process 1101c). Next, the cell control program is sequentially processed from the beginning in a block unit corresponding to one place of the Petri net, and the connection relation of the places, that is, the net structure 103b is extracted by code analysis (process 1101d), and further, , Analyze the command sequence defined in each place (Process 1
101e). These analyzes are repeated until there is no block in the next place (process 1101f). In the analysis of the def block, the end condition 10
3c is extracted by code analysis (process 1101g),
This is repeated until there are no blocks in the next place (process 1101h), and the process ends.

Next, FIGS. 17 and 18 show the details of the net structure analysis processing 101d for each place. In the net structure analysis processing 101d for each place, first,
Secure a net structure data area for each place (Process 11
02a), then the cell label 601 and the transition condition expression 6
02 analysis is performed. In the cell label analysis of FIG. 17, first, it is checked whether the cell label is the label of the state place or the label of the synchronous place (Process 1
102b), and if the result is status place, the status NO. Is extracted and stored as one of the net structure data (process 1102c). Further, from the cell label, the unit type and the unit number. Is extracted and stored as net structure data (processes 1102d and 1102e).
Here, if the unit type is a robot (process 110)
2f), the state No. previously extracted as the data of the robot operation timing 103f. Is stored (processing 1102
g). If the unit type is the visual sensor (processing 1102h), the data of the image processing timing 103h is used as the previous status NO. Is stored (processing 1102i). On the other hand, if the cell label is the label of the synchronous place (process 1102b), the reference number of the synchronous place (hereinafter, synchronous NO.) Is extracted and stored as net structure data (process 1102j).

On the other hand, in the analysis of the transition condition expression of FIG. 18, first, the transition condition expression 602 (in the example of FIG. 7, S105:
OK1 REQ6: OK) to status NO. (S105)
And the end condition (OK1) are extracted and stored as net structure data (processes 1103a and 1103b).
Here, if there is a synchronization condition (process 1103c), synchronization N
O. (REQ6) is extracted and stored as net structure data (process 1103d). Further, if there is another transition condition, the same analysis process is performed for the transition condition, and if there is no transition condition, the analysis process is completed (process 1103).
e).

As described above, by the net structure analysis processing shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the connection relation of each place of the Petri net equivalent to the given cell control program,
That is, information on the net structure 103b is obtained.

Next, FIG. 19 shows the details of the command sequence analysis 101e for each place. Here, cell
The command sequence 603 following the label 601 (see FIG. 7) and the transition condition expression 602 is analyzed. First, the command sequence 60
One command is extracted from the block of 3 (process 1104
a), if this is an I / O control instruction (process 1104)
b), stored as I / O control instruction sequence data (Process 1)
104c). If the extracted command is a robot control command (process 1104d), this is stored as robot control command sequence data (process 1104e). If the extracted command is an image processing command (process 1104)
f), it is stored as image processing instruction sequence data (processing 11)
04g). If there is the next command, the process 1104
Repeat a and subsequent steps, and if there is no command, the analysis process is completed (process 1104h).

FIG. 20 shows the details of the end condition analysis 101g for each place. Here, the ending condition of each place (state) defined in the def block of the cell control program is analyzed. First, an area for storing the end condition data for each place is secured (process 1105a).
Further, from the def label 701, the status NO. (In the example of FIG. 8, S106) is extracted (processing 1105b). Next, the definition formula of the OK condition following the def label 701 (see FIG. 8).
In the example, X101 = OFF & TD12 = OFF)
Is extracted and stored as termination condition data (process 1105c). This process is repeated until the next OK condition disappears (process 1105d). Furthermore, the definition formula of the NG condition (in the example of FIG. 8, X101 = ON & TD12 =
ON) is extracted and stored as termination condition data (process 1105e). This process is repeated until the next NG condition disappears (process 1105f). Through the above processing, the ending condition of each state can be obtained.

21 and 22 show details of the sequence control program generation processing 100b. here,
A sequence control program is generated for each unit based on the data of the net structure 103b, the state end condition 103c, and the I / O control instruction sequence 103d obtained by the above-described function-specific data extraction processing 100a. First, a program buffer area is secured for each unit (process 1106).
a). Next, the previously generated net structure data is sequentially examined one place at a time, and the sequence control program is generated for each place.

Therefore, first, the place type is acquired from the net structure data for each place (process 1106b),
If the place is a state place (process 1106)
c), the state NO. (The reference number is i. Below,
"= I") and the unit number. (Process 1
106d). If that place is not a state place,
Synchronous NO. From the net structure data. (= I) is acquired (process 1106e). Further, from the net structure data and the end condition data, the status NO. (= J) and the definition formula of the end condition are acquired (process 1106f). The ending condition of the previous state is "CompleteNorm"
If "ally" (process 1106g), "IF Sj
= CompleteNormally "is output to the program buffer (process 1106h), and" AnyErrro "is output.
If rOccur ”(process 1106i), then“ IF
"Sj = AnyErrorOccur" is output to the buffer (step 1106j).
"IF Sj = Executing & (definition formula)" is output to the buffer (process 1106k).

If the current place is the status place (process 1106l), it is checked whether or not there is a synchronous place connected to the current place. If there is a synchronous place (process 1107a), the synchronization NO. (= K) is acquired from the net structure data (process 1107b), and "& REQk =
"CompleteNormally" is output to the buffer (process 1107c). With the above process, the sequence control program for one place, that is, rule 1
The conditional part of 001 (see FIG. 11) is generated.

Next, as an execution unit of the rule 1001, first, "-> TERM Sj" is output to the buffer (process 1107d). If there is a synchronous place connected to the current place (process 1107e), "TERM"
REQk "is output to the buffer (process 1107f).
Furthermore, "EXEC Si" is output to the buffer (processing 1107g), and the contents of the I / O control instruction string data of the current place (Si) is output to the buffer (processing 1107).
h). If the current place is a synchronous place (process 1106l), "-> TERM Sj" and "EXEC"
REQi "is output to the buffer (process 1107i,
1107j). Through the above processing, the execution part of the rule 1001 is generated. Thereafter, the net structure data is further examined, and if the next place is found (process 1107k), the process 1106b and subsequent processes are repeated. If there is no next place, the program buffer for each unit is combined, and the sequence control program module 104 (see FIG. 9).
Is generated (processing 1107l).

FIG. 23 shows details of the robot control program generation processing 100c. First, a program buffer area is secured for each unit (process 1108a).
Next, from the data of the robot operation timing 103f for each unit obtained in the function-specific data extraction processing 100a, the state No. (= I) is acquired one by one (Process 110
8b), the status label "STTi" is output to the program buffer (process 1108c). Further, if there is data of the robot control command sequence 103e obtained in the above-described function-specific data extraction process 100a (process 1108d), the content of the robot control command sequence data is output to the buffer (process 1108e). If there is no robot control command sequence data, "NOP" is output to the buffer (process 1108).
f). By the above processing, the robot control program for one state is generated. Here, the robot operation timing data is examined, and if a next subsequent state is found (process 1108).
g), processing 1108b and subsequent steps are repeated. If there is no next state, this means that the robot control program for one unit has been generated. Further, it is checked whether or not there is robot operation timing data for the next unit, and if there is data for the next unit (process 1108h), process 110
Repeat 8b and subsequent steps. If there is no data for the next unit, the program buffer for each unit is combined to generate the robot control program module 105 (see FIG. 9) (process 1108i).

FIG. 24 shows the image processing program generation processing 1
Details of 00d are shown. In addition, as is clear from the figure,
Here, the image processing is performed from the data of the image processing timing 103h (see FIG. 9) obtained in the function-specific data extraction processing 1100a of FIG. The program module 106 is generated.

Next, FIG. 25 shows the cell control program 10.
2 (see FIG. 9) to the sequence control program 104
The procedure for generating the robot control program module 105 and the robot control program module 105 will be specifically described by taking a part of the cell control program shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 as an example.

Reference numerals 1401 and 1402 in FIG.
Part of the cell block and the def block of the cell control program 102 are shown respectively. In the cell block 1401, the cell label 6 described above is used.
01 (see FIG. 7) and the state transition expression 602 are combined to indicate the state connection relation 1401 of the Petri net in this figure.
a, 1401c. This state connection relation 1401a
Indicates that there is one input transition to the state S106, and the normal end OK1 of the state S105 and the OK of the synchronous place REQ6 are connected thereto as inputs. Similarly, the state connection relation 1401c has a state S107.
There is only one transition, and there is OK in state S106.
1 is connected.

The def block 1402 defines the end condition of each state. The normal end OK1 state end condition 1402a of the state S105 indicates that the operation in the state S105 is completed without any error. Similarly, the status end condition 1402c of OK1 in status S106
Indicates that the input X101 is OFF and the on-delay timer TD12 has not timed up.

From the state connection relation 1401a and the state end condition 1402a, the sequence control program 140
The condition part 1403a of the rule in FIG. 3 and the state transition instruction 1403b (EXEC S106 etc.) of the execution part are generated (processing 1405, 1406). In other words, the rule condition part 1403a "If the state S105 is normally completed and the synchronous place REQ6 is satisfied"
Is generated, and the state transition command 1403b is "state S1.
Execute 06 ”and the like are generated. Similarly, from the state connection relation 1401c and the state end condition 1402c, the rule condition part 1403d and the execution part state transition instruction 14
03e is generated (processing 1407, 1408).

At the same time, the state connection relation 14
01a and 1401c, the status NO. That is, the robot operation timing 103f is extracted and the status labels 1404a and 140 in the robot control program 1404 are extracted.
4c is generated (processing 1409, 1410).

Further, the I / O control instruction sequence 1401b is extracted from the command sequence of the cell block 1401 to generate the command sequence 1403c of the consequent part of the rule of the sequence control program 1403 (process 141).
1). Furthermore, the robot control command sequence 1401d is extracted from the command sequence of the cell block 1401,
Command sequence 1404 of robot control program 1404
b, 1404d is generated (processing 1412, 141)
3).

FIG. 26 shows a procedure for generating the sequence control program 104 and the image processing program module 106 from the cell control program 102 (see FIG. 9).
Again, this is specifically shown by taking a part of the cell control program shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 as an example. That is, as in the case of FIG. 25 described above, the cel of the cell control program 102 is
The procedure for generating the sequence control program 1503 and the image processing program 1504 from the 1 block 1501 and the def block 1502 is shown.

As described above, the function-specific program modules generated by the function-specific module separation conversion means 103 have a common program structure, and the structure is shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 27, in the program structure, the function-specific program module 1
601 is composed of several unit blocks 1602, and further, this unit block 1602
Is configured by the status block 1603. This unit block 1602 has a unit label (#UNI
Tn, #ROBn, #CAMn and the like, n is a block of the program following the unit serial number). A state block 1603 corresponds to the rule 1001 in the sequence control program, and a block following the state label (STTn, n is the state NO.) In the robot control program and the image processing program.

For example, the sequence control program illustrated in FIG. 11 is the unit block 1602 of ROB1, and the rule 1001 is state block 1 of state S203.
Corresponding to 603. In addition, the robot control program of FIG. 14 includes the unit block 1201 of ROB1 and RO
It is composed of the unit block 1202 of B2,
Further, the block 1203 in the figure is the state S20 of FIG.
3 corresponds to the state block 1603. The image processing program of FIG. 14 is also shown in FIG. 27, as in FIG.
It is composed of a unit block 1602 of CAM1 and a unit block 1602 of CAM2.

The block structure of the function-specific program module 1601 shown in FIG. 27 is closely related to the code execution procedure of the processor-specific program obtained by dividing the function-specific program module 1601. That is, when the program is executed, the currently activated state block 1603 is selected from a certain unit block 1602, and the instruction sequence described in that block is sequentially executed. Further, similar processing is performed in another unit block 1602.
Here, the unit label number indicating the unit block 1602 being processed (such as n in #UNITn) is the reference number of the unit itself (hereinafter referred to as the unit number).
This unit is the same as this unit. Are managed as information (hereinafter, referred to as program control data) for performing program control when the program is executed. Further, the number of the state label indicating the state block 1603 in which the operation in the current state of the device, that is, the activated state is described, is the state number. Managed as.

Next, FIG. 28 shows an execution procedure of this processor-specific program. In the processing flow shown in FIG. Is read from the program control data (process 1701), and the unit N
O. A jump is made to a unit label having the same number as (step 1702). Next, the state No. of the activated state. Is read (process 1703) and the state label is jumped to (process 1704). The instruction sequence following this state label is executed in sequence (processes 1705 and 1706), and when the execution is completed, the unit No. 1 is processed to process the next unit block 1602. Is updated (process 1707) and the flow returns to the beginning. As described above, the program is executed in the unit block 1602 as a unit, and therefore the function-specific program module 1601 is
It can be further divided in units of 602. In addition, the above-described processor-specific program includes the function-specific program module 1601 and the unit block 1 described above.
It is generated by decomposing 602 as a unit.

Next, FIG. 1 shows a processing process of so-called processor-specific module dividing means 1801 for generating a processor-specific program group 1803 from the function-specific program module 1601. In the processor-based module dividing unit 1801, first, the function-based program module 1601 is divided into individual unit blocks 16 by the unit block dividing unit 1801a.
02 to generate a unit block group 1801b.

Here, the data (processor configuration and performance data) 1801c regarding the processor configuration and its performance for actually controlling the device, that is, how many control processors are used and connected in what form. Whether the processing time of each unit block 1602 (see FIG. 27) is estimated based on the information on that, and the information on the processing time of the program code of the control processor, and the processing required for the control. It is evaluated whether the time (for example, scan time in sequence control or sampling period in robot control) is satisfied. This is done by the unit block processing time estimation and evaluation means 1801d, which creates data on the processing time of each unit block 1602. Note that the processing time of the program code can be obtained by adding the time required for processing each instruction code (assuming that it has been checked in advance for each control processor) by the amount of the executed instruction code. . For example, if the scan time in the sequence control processor (the time required for one process), the scan time can be estimated by adding the process time of the instruction code for the amount of execution in one scan.

Next, unit block connecting means 1801
e is based on the estimation data of the processing time of each unit block 1602, and
To generate a processor-specific program group 1803 which is finally executed by each processor. In this embodiment,
Since the execution procedure of the program code as shown in FIG. 28 is taken, each processor can execute a plurality of unit blocks 1602 within a range satisfying the criterion of the processing time required for its control. That is,
It is possible to add the estimated processing times of several unit blocks 1602, and if they are within the range of control criteria, combine these unit blocks 1602 and make it a processor-specific program 1802. However, when the unit blocks 1602 are combined, it is desirable that optimal load distribution is performed according to the performance of the processors so that the processing load is not concentrated on a specific processor. Therefore, the unit block coupling means 1801e
In this way, the unit blocks 1801e are combined to generate the processor-specific program group 1803 so that the processing load distribution is optimized. That is, the processing load is distributed so that the capacity of each processor is not exceeded and the processing time of the processor that requires the maximum time is minimized.

In FIG. 29, the function-specific program module 1601 is divided by the processor-specific module dividing means 1801 to obtain the processor-specific program group 1
The example which generated 802 is shown. Here, an example is shown in which two processor-specific programs 1904 and 1905 are generated from three unit blocks 1901, 1902 and 1903 included in the function-specific program module 1601.

The sequence control programs shown in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 will be described as an example. There is one sequence control processor that executes these programs, and all of these programs are executed. If the scan time in this case is within a predetermined time, these programs are combined as one sequence control program. On the other hand, for example, when there are two sequence control processors, for example, FIG. 10 is made into one program, and FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are combined into one program, and these two programs are given to each sequence control processor. Output.

The processor-specific program 1802 generated by the unit block combining means 1801e shown in FIG. 1 may also need to be converted into a program code that can be executed by the output destination processor. is assumed. Such a case can be dealt with by previously providing a code conversion means for each processor for converting the language for each processor after the unit block combination means 1801e.

Next, FIG. 30 shows a processor group program group 1803 (see FIG. 1) generated from the cell control program 102 (see FIG. 9) as described above, that is, a sequence control processor program group. 11
0, robot control processor program group 111, image processing processor program group 112 (see FIG. 2)
An example of an FA controller that interprets and executes the above and controls the cell is shown. The controller shown in FIG. 30 is
The sequence control processor group 113, the robot control processor group 114, and the image processing processor group 115 are connected by a shared bus 2004 to form a so-called multiprocessor controller 2001. In addition, reference numeral 2014 in the drawing denotes a cell, and this cell includes a peripheral device (I / O) 2011, a robot 2012, and a visual sensor 2013.

In the configuration shown in this figure, the sequence control processor 2005 is configured to include a bus driver 2005d that is an interface with the shared bus 2004, and a computing means 2005a that interprets and executes the program for the sequence control processor. Also, I / O
It is connected to the peripheral device (I / O) 2011, which is the control target, via the interface 2008.

The robot control processor 2006 is composed of a bus driver 2006f, a teaching means 2006b for teaching the position and orientation of the hand of the robot, an arithmetic means 2006a for interpreting and executing a robot control processor program, and the like, and a motor drive circuit 2009. Through the robot 2012, which is the control target.

Then, the image processor 2007
A visual sensor including a bus driver 2007f, a teaching unit 2007b for teaching a reference image, an arithmetic unit 2007a for interpreting and executing a program for an image processor, and the like, which is configured by an industrial television camera or the like via an image interface 2010. It is connected to 2013.

Further, the programs executed by the sequence control processor group 113, the robot control processor group 114, and the image processing processor group 115 have information on the operation timing of the equipment incorporated therein. Moreover, in order to synchronize such operation timing, it is necessary to share necessary data among the processors. Therefore, the shared data storage means 2003 is connected to the shared bus 2004 that can be accessed by each processor.

FIG. 31 shows the shared data storage means 20.
The structure of the shared data 2101 stored in 03 is shown. As described above, in the cell control program 102 (see FIG. 9), the operation sequence of each unit is described based on the concept of state transition, so that each program generated from it is also executed. , Activated state N
O. Is shared among the processors, the operation timing of the units can be synchronized. Therefore, the shared data 2101 includes the unit-specific status data 2
102, the activated state NO. 2101a,
The execution status 2102b (more detailed information regarding the activation state) is stored. Each processor can synchronize the operation timing described in each program by accessing the unit-by-unit state data 2102 during execution of each program.
Further, in the shared data 2101, in addition to the unit-based state data 2102, various data to be shared between the processors can be stored as shared variables 2103.

The multiprocessor type controller 2001 shown in FIG. 30 is connected to a host computer 2015 such as a personal computer by a communication means 2002. The host computer 2015 has a cell control program editing means 101.
(See FIG. 2) and function-based module separation conversion means 10
3. The software of the processor module dividing unit 1801 can be installed, and the program created here can be transmitted to each processor by the communication unit 2002.

Further, FIG. 32 shows a configuration of a control device of an FA system having a conventional general configuration, which is different from the multiprocessor type controller 2001 shown in FIG. That is, this is an example in which the programmable controller 2201, the robot controller 2202, and the image processing device 2203 are connected by the network 2208 in order to control the cell 2207. Even in the case of the configuration in which several controllers are combined in this way, FIG.
The shared data 2101 shown in FIG.
By exchanging and sharing between the controllers via 208, the operation timing between the units can be synchronized. Therefore, the control method of the present invention is
It can also be applied to a control device having a conventional configuration.

Further, FIG. 33 shows a control device of the FA system having another configuration. In this case, a plurality of multiprocessor controllers 2301 and 2302 are connected by a network 2306. Even in this case, each controller passes through the network 2306 and
By exchanging shared data 2101 as shown in
The units can be synchronized with each other, so that the cell set 2305 as shown in FIG. 33, that is, the larger F
It is understood that the present invention can be applied to the A system.

Further, the multiprocessor type controller 2001 as shown in FIG. 30 and the FIG.
Even in the case of the control system in which the conventional controllers as shown in FIG. In the example of the above-described embodiment, the cell including the robot is targeted as the automatic machine, but the present invention is similarly applied to the cell including the automatic machine other than the robot, for example, the NC machine tool. It is possible to apply

Further, in the above example, the cell including the visual sensor was targeted as the programmable peripheral device, but the present invention is similarly applied to the cell including the programmable peripheral device other than the visual sensor. It is possible to apply In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the normal FA system is targeted, but the present invention is similarly applied to an intelligent robot system including a plurality of manipulators, sensors, peripheral devices, and the like. Therefore, the FA system in the present invention is a concept including such an intelligent robot system.

[0082]

As is apparent from the above detailed description, according to the present invention, a user combines an automatic machine such as a robot with a plurality of devices including programmable peripheral devices such as a visual sensor, and FA When constructing a system, it goes without saying that a program for controlling each device can be integrated and described as a cell control program.
A program for each processor can be automatically generated so that the processing load of each processor is optimally distributed according to the configuration and performance of the processor of the system control device. It is not necessary to create a plurality of programs or learn a number of programming languages according to the configuration of (1), and as a result, it is possible to improve the development efficiency of the control program of the FA system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a processing process of generating a program for each processor of a module dividing unit for each processor in a control device of an FA system, which is a feature of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a processing process in the control device of the FA system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display of a terminal in the cell control program editing means of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a Petri net representing a part of the electronic component inserting operation to which the present invention is applied.

5 is a diagram showing a state immediately before component insertion in the electronic component insertion work of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state immediately after component insertion in the electronic component insertion work of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a cell block of a cell control program in which the Petri net of FIG. 4 is coded.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a def block of a cell control program in which the Petri net of FIG. 4 is coded.

9 is a block diagram showing a processing process for generating a function-specific program module in the function-specific module separation conversion unit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a part of a sequence control program generated from the cell control programs shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 (RO
It is a figure which shows the unit block of B1.

11 is a part of the sequence control program generated from the cell control program shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 (RO
It is a figure which shows the unit block of B2.

FIG. 12 is a part of a sequence control program generated from the cell control programs shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 (CA
It is a figure which shows the unit block of M1 and CAM2.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a robot control program generated from the cell control program shown in FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an image processing program generated from the cell control program shown in FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing of the function-based module separation conversion means shown in FIG. 9;

16 is a flowchart showing details of function-specific data extraction processing of the flow shown in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is the first half of the flowchart showing the details of the net structure analysis processing for each place of the flow shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is the latter half of the flowchart showing the details of the net structure analysis processing for each place in the flow shown in FIG. 16;

19 is a flowchart showing details of command sequence analysis processing for each place in the flow shown in FIG.

20 is a flowchart showing details of the end condition analysis processing for each place in the flow shown in FIG.

FIG. 21 is the first half of the flowchart showing the details of the sequence control program generation processing of the flow shown in FIG. 15;

22 is the latter half of the flowchart showing the details of the flow sequence control program generation processing shown in FIG.

23 is a flowchart showing details of the robot control program generation processing of the flow shown in FIG.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing details of image processing program generation processing of the flow shown in FIG. 15;

25 is a diagram showing an example of a processing process for generating a sequence control program and a robot control program from a cell control program by the function-specific module separation conversion means shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a processing process for generating a sequence control program and an image processing program from a cell control program by the function-specific module separation conversion means shown in FIG. 9;

27 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a program module for each function shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

28 is a flowchart showing a code execution procedure of the function-specific program module shown in FIG.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a processing process for generating a processor-specific program group from the function-specific program module shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 30 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control device (multiprocessor type controller) according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a structure of shared data in the control device shown in FIG. 30.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control device (control system in which a conventional controller is combined) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control device (a control system in which a plurality of multiprocessor controllers are combined) according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 cell control program editing means 102 cell control program 103 function-specific module separation conversion means 103a function-specific data extraction means 103b net structure 103c state end condition 103d I / O control command sequence 103e robot control command sequence 103f robot operation timing 103g image processing command Column 103h Image processing timing 103i Sequence control program generation means 103j Robot control program generation means 103k Image processing program generation means 104 Sequence control program module 105 Robot control program module 106 Image processing program module 107 Sequence control processor-specific module division means 108 Robot control processor Separate module dividing means 109 Module for each image processor Dividing means 110 Sequence control processor program group 111 Robot control processor program group 112 Image processing processor program group 113 Sequence control processor group 114 Robot control processor group 115 Image processing processor group 116 Cells 116a, 116b Robot 116c, 116d Visual sensor 116e , 116f Peripheral device 1601 Function-specific program module 1801 Processor-specific module dividing means 1801a Unit block dividing means 1801b Unit block group 1801c Processor configuration and performance data 1801d Unit block processing time estimation and combining means 1801e Unit block combining means 1802 Processor specific program 1803 Processor Another program group

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. A controller of an FA system comprising a plurality of cells, each of which includes at least an automatic machine and programmable peripherals associated with the automatic machine, wherein: A cell control program in which work specifications of the entire cell are described in the same language, a program related to control of the work order of the automatic machine and peripheral devices, and an operation control of the automatic machine from the cell control program. Separation and conversion means for separating and converting into a program and a program related to control of the programmable peripheral device; and the automatic machine and the programmable device that configure the cell based on each program separated and converted by the separation and conversion means. Multiple processor means for controlling the operation of various peripheral devices, respectively. In addition, the separation conversion means further includes a processing load distribution means for distributing a processing load in the plurality of processor means for controlling the operation of at least the automatic machine or the programmable peripheral device, respectively. Characteristic FA
The control unit of the system. 2. The FA system control device according to claim 1, wherein the processing load distribution unit of the separation conversion unit further includes a unit that decomposes the separated and converted program for each unit, and a unit for each unit. And a means for evaluating the processing time of the program decomposed into the above by the processor means. 3. The FA system control device according to claim 2, wherein the processing load distribution unit of the separation conversion unit further operates the automatic machine or the programmable peripheral device forming the cell. A control device for an FA system, comprising means for providing data relating to the configuration or performance of a plurality of processor means for controlling each. 4. The FA system control device according to claim 3, wherein the means for evaluating the processing time of the program decomposed into each unit is data relating to the configuration or performance of the processor means from the data providing means. A controller for an FA system, characterized in that it is configured to be evaluated based on. 5. The FA system control device according to claim 4, wherein the processing load distribution unit of the separation conversion unit further includes a program decomposed into units by the decomposition unit, and a processing time of the program. A control device for an FA system, characterized in that it is provided with means for connecting by evaluation by an evaluation means. 6. A control method for controlling an FA system comprising a plurality of cells, each comprising at least an automatic machine and programmable peripherals associated with the automatic machine, the method comprising: In order to control the devices constituting at least one cell by a plurality of processors respectively, a work control specification for the entire cell is described in the same language to create a cell control program, and the created cell control program is used to generate the automatic machine. And a program related to control of the work order of peripheral devices, a program related to operation control of the automatic machine, and a program related to control of the programmable peripheral device, and the cells are converted based on the respective separated and converted programs. Of the automatic machine and the programmable peripherals that make up the The A control method for each FA system controlled by said plurality of processors, upon separation conversion of the program,
Furthermore, the control method of the FA system is characterized in that at least the processing loads of the plurality of processors that control the operation of the automatic machine or the programmable peripheral device are distributed. 7. The FA system control method according to claim 6, wherein the processing load is distributed to the processors in a plurality of processors controlling the operations of the respective devices. A method for controlling an FA system, characterized in that the FA system is distributed so as not to perform. 8. The FA system control method according to claim 6, wherein the distribution of the processing load in the plurality of processors is performed by dividing the separated and converted program into units, and controlling the respective devices. The FA is characterized in that each of the programs decomposed for each unit is evaluated based on the configuration or performance of the plurality of processors to be executed, and the programs are combined for each processor based on the result of the evaluation. How to control the system. 9. An FA system comprising a plurality of cells, each comprising at least an automatic machine and programmable peripherals associated with the automatic machine, wherein at least one cell of the plurality of cells is configured. Is a control program generation method of an FA system for generating a control program for controlling each of the devices to be controlled by a plurality of processors, wherein a work control specification of the entire cell is described in the same language to create a cell control program. , The created cell control program is automatically separated into a program related to control of work order of the automatic machine and peripheral devices, a program related to operation control of the automatic machine, and a program related to control of the programmable peripheral devices. Convert and, at least, the automatic machine or the professional A method for generating a control program for an FA system, characterized in that the processing load is automatically distributed in each of the plurality of processors that controls the operation of a peripheral device capable of programming. 10. The control program generation method for an FA system according to claim 9, wherein the distribution of the processing load among the plurality of processors is performed by disassembling the separated and converted program into units, Evaluating each of the programs decomposed for each unit based on the configuration or performance of the plurality of processors to be controlled, and based on the result of the evaluation, by connecting for each of the processors. A characteristic FA system control program generating method. 11. A control method of an FA system comprising a unit (cell) of a plurality of devices including an automatic machine including a robot and programmable peripheral devices such as a visual sensor, wherein a work specification of the entire cell is directly specified. The information about the control of the work order of the plurality of devices, the information about the input / output control of the plurality of devices, the information about the operation control of the automatic machine, the information about the control of the programmable peripheral device, From the cell control program having the information on the operation timing for synchronizing the plurality of devices, the cell control program conversion means separates and extracts the information on the work order of the plurality of devices and the information on the input / output control. And a process for controlling the work order of the plurality of devices and the input / output control is described. And a control program for the automatic machine, and a process for separating and extracting information regarding the operation timing and the operation timing to control the positioning and the trajectory of the automatic machine. In addition, the control of the programmable peripheral device and the information on the operation timing are separated and extracted to generate a peripheral device control program in which a process for controlling the programmable peripheral device is generated, and this sequence is generated. A FA system characterized by outputting a control program, an automatic machine control program, and a peripheral device control program to sequence control program interpretation execution means, automatic machine control program interpretation execution means, and peripheral equipment control program interpretation execution means, respectively. Control method. 12. A control method of an FA system comprising a unit (cell) of a plurality of devices including an automatic machine such as a robot and programmable peripheral devices such as a visual sensor, wherein a work specification of the whole cell is directly specified. The information about the control of the work order of the plurality of devices, the information about the input / output control of the plurality of devices, the information about the operation control of the automatic machine, the information about the control of the programmable peripheral device, From a cell control program having information on operation timing for synchronizing a plurality of devices, by function-specific module separation conversion means,
A sequence control program module that describes a process for separating and extracting information regarding the work order of the plurality of devices and information regarding the input / output control, and performing the work order control and the input / output control of the plurality of devices. And generating an automatic machine control program module in which a process of performing operation control of the automatic machine and information regarding the operation timing is separated and extracted to perform positioning and trajectory control of the automatic machine, and Generating a peripheral device control program module in which a process for controlling the programmable peripheral device is separated and extracted by separating and extracting information on the control of the programmable peripheral device and the operation timing, and further, this sequence control Program module and automatic machine control Program module and peripheral device control The program module is divided into sequence control processor-specific module dividing means, automatic machine control processor-specific module dividing means, and peripheral equipment control processor-specific module dividing means, respectively, based on the configuration and performance of the processor that controls the cell. Divide into program modules so that the processing load is optimally distributed, and then convert these divided program modules into programs that can be executed by each processor, and then program groups for sequence control processors and programs for automatic control processors Group and a peripheral device control processor program group are generated, and each processor program group is output to a processor group that interprets and executes each program. 13. The cell control program expresses a transition of operating states of the plurality of devices by a Petri net,
13. The program according to claim 12, which is a program in which a command string defining operation contents of the plurality of devices and a conditional expression defining end of the operation state are added thereto.
A system control method. 14. The cell control program includes a graphical user interface including a window for editing the Petri net, a window for editing the command sequence, and a window for editing the conditional expression. 14. The FA system control method according to claim 13, wherein the FA system is created by editing means. 15. The control method of the FA system according to claim 13, wherein the cell control program is expressed and stored as a program code corresponding to the structure of the Petri net on a one-to-one basis. 16. The sequence control program module, the automatic machine control program module, and the peripheral device control program module, as information for synchronizing operation timings of the plurality of devices, an instruction indicating a serial number of the operation state. The method for controlling an FA system according to claim 13, further comprising a code. 17. The cell control program describes, as one module of a Petri net, an operation sequence of a group of devices among the plurality of devices, which are capable of operating in parallel with each other. 14. The FA system control method according to claim 13, wherein the modules are connected by a place for synchronization. 18. The control method for an FA system according to claim 17, wherein the cell control program is expressed as a program code having a structure in which the module is one program block (unit block). 19. The sequence control processor-specific module dividing means, the automatic machine control processor-specific module dividing means, and the peripheral device control-processor-specific module dividing means divide the program module in units of the unit block. The control method for the FA system according to claim 18. 20. The sequence control processor-specific module dividing unit, the automatic machine control processor-specific module dividing unit, and the peripheral device control processor-specific module dividing unit estimate a processing time by a processor as a target of the unit block, The unit blocks are combined within a range in which the processing time satisfies a control requirement, and the sequence control processor program group, the automatic control processor program group, and the peripheral device control processor program group are generated. 20. The FA system control method according to claim 19, wherein: 21. The sequence control processor program group, the automatic control processor program group, and the peripheral device control processor program group are connected via a shared bus to a sequence control processor group and an automatic machine control processor group. 13. The F according to claim 12, which is interpreted and executed by a peripheral device control processor group.
A system control method. 22. The sequence control processor group, the automatic machine control processor group, and the peripheral device control processor group are synchronized in operation timing of the plurality of devices stored in shared data storage means connected to the shared bus. 22. The method for controlling an FA system according to claim 21, wherein the information for obtaining the information is accessible. 23. The sequence control processor program group, the automatic control processor program group, and the peripheral device control processor program group are respectively composed of a plurality of programmable controllers, automatic machine controllers, and peripheral device controllers connected by a network. The FA system control method according to claim 12, wherein the FA system control method is provided. 24. The programmable controller, the automatic machine controller, and the peripheral device controller exchange and share information for synchronizing operation timings of the plurality of devices with each other via the network. The FA system control method according to claim 23. 25. The sequence control processor program group, the automatic control processor program group, and the peripheral device control processor program group are connected via a shared bus to a sequence control processor group and an automatic machine control processor group. 13. The method of controlling an FA system according to claim 12, wherein a plurality of multiprocessor type controllers each including a peripheral device control processor group are connected by a network. 26. The FA according to claim 25, wherein the multiprocessor type controller exchanges and shares information for synchronizing operation timings of the plurality of devices with each other via the network. How to control the system.