JPH11109933A - Monitoring and controlling system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct the software of a terminal with basic software only and to reduce cost required for system composition or screen change, in the system which receives on-line information (measuring value, status value or the like) through LAN (ethernet), which fits the information in a monitoring and controlling screen, and which monitors and controls equipment on site through a terminal for displaying in a CRT and the like. SOLUTION: With a server 4 installed on LAN 1, and with the MMI(man- machine interface) data 101 for each kind of various monitoring and controlling screens stored in this server like a home page in Internet, the MMI data being the one in which the data (written in the language HTML) of an original screen displayed for monitoring and controlling by a terminal 3 is paired with data collecting programs 121 (written in language JAVA) including the process that the terminal 3 collects on-line information from an on-site equipment to fit it in this screen; the corresponding MMI data is distributed from the server to the terminal in accordance with the demand of the terminal, carrying out the display of the monitoring and controlling screen using the distributed data as well as the program execution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal as a man-machine interface device (also referred to as an MMI device) for performing monitoring and control in various plant facilities, water and sewage facilities, and the like, and a thermometer, a flow meter or a sequencer. A monitoring and control system for monitoring and controlling the field devices via terminals is connected to a field device as a monitored and controlled device connected to a LAN such as Ethernet, and in particular a server on the LAN. The terminal does not have an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk, and the data of the original screen that is the basis of the monitor control screen to be displayed by the terminal and the data of the field devices that the terminal should fit into this monitor control original screen. The terminal performs the monitoring and control, including the process of collecting and inserting online data such as measured values and status values from field devices. The data (referred to as MMI data for the sake of convenience) for each type of monitoring control screen in combination with the program to be executed while displaying the screen is stored in this server as if it were a homepage on the Internet. M corresponding to the terminal from the server according to the screen request of the terminal
The present invention relates to a monitoring and control system that distributes MI data so that field devices can be monitored and controlled, thereby reducing costs required for constructing a monitoring and control system and changing and modifying a monitor and control screen.

[0002] In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in various plant facilities, water supply and sewage facilities, etc., a terminal as an MMI device and field devices are connected to a LAN and dispersedly arranged in the facility, and monitor and control the field devices via the terminals. In some types of monitoring and control systems, an auxiliary storage device containing software customized for each terminal is provided, and online data (measured values, status values, etc.) of field devices are displayed on a monitoring and control screen on the terminal. Also, field devices are controlled using a monitor control screen.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned monitoring and control system, when the monitoring and control screen is changed and corrected, the updated software must be stored for each terminal again, and the work is troublesome at the same time. There was a problem that the cost was high. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring control system capable of solving such a problem.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring and control system for displaying a monitor and control screen on a LAN (Ethernet 1 or the like) installed in a facility such as a plant. One or a plurality of terminals (3) as a man-machine interface device including a screen display means (e.g., a CRT) for inputting a command, and a data operation input means (a keyboard, a mouse, etc.) for inputting commands and the like. A plurality of field devices (2) are coupled, the terminal obtains the online information of the field devices via the LAN, fits in the position where the online information is to be displayed in the monitor control screen, and displays it on the screen display means. In a monitoring and control system for monitoring or monitoring and controlling the field devices via the terminal, the field device is monitored for each of a plurality of types of the monitoring control screen. The terminal obtains the data of the monitor control original screen (111 included in the screen data 11) as the monitor control screen to which the online information is to be first fitted, and the terminal obtains the online information of the on-site equipment and displays the monitor control screen. A pair of data (MMI data 101) with a program (a data collection program 121 or the like included in the program 12) to be executed while the terminal displays the monitor control screen, including at least the fitting process, is stored. One server (4) is provided on the LAN, the terminal sends a screen request for specifying the type of the monitor control screen to the server, and the pair of data corresponding to the specified type of monitor control screen is transmitted from the server. Is transmitted, and the monitor control original screen is displayed on the screen display means using the distributed data of the pair, and the program is executed. To.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the supervisory control system according to the first aspect, the server has a configuration corresponding to a WWW server, and the data of the original monitor control screen is described in a language HTML. , The program is described in an object-oriented language such as the JAVA language, and the terminal has a WWW browser (120 ′).
The screen request is transmitted to a server via a WW browser.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the supervisory control system according to the second aspect, the WWW browser is distributed from the server (by copying the browser 120 of the server) when the terminal is started. I do. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the supervisory control system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the terminal does not have an auxiliary storage device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the monitoring control system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein a menu screen listing types of the monitoring control screen is provided, and the menu screen is displayed. The terminal transmits the screen request by designating the type of the monitor control screen through the data operation input means while displaying the screen request on the screen display means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the supervisory control system according to the fifth aspect, the menu screen data (110) is stored in a server, and the menu screen data (110) is transmitted from the server when the terminal is started. Is copied so as to be distributed to the corresponding terminal (as menu screen data 110 ').

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the monitoring control system according to the sixth aspect, wherein the data of the menu screen is described in a language HTML, and when the terminal is started, the data is transmitted from the server to the terminal after the WWW browser. To be delivered. That is, the operation of the present invention is as follows.

In the Internet, a WWW server (however, W
WW stands for World Wide Web) and the language HT
ML (Hyper Text Markup Lang)
The abbreviation of "uage" is a structured tag language developed for creating a WWW homepage on the Internet. The screen data is stored as a homepage for each client, and the WWW server responds to a request from the client. Sends the requested screen data to the client.

If the WWW server stores the program to be executed by the client whose program name is registered together with the screen data in the screen data, that is, in the screen using the screen data, WW
From the W server, not only the screen data but also the program is transmitted. In the present invention, the concept of the Internet is used for the monitoring control system. That is, a server corresponding to a WWW server is provided on a LAN connecting a terminal and a field device, and online data such as a measured value of the field device as variable data on a screen displayed by the terminal for monitoring and controlling the field device is provided. The data of a screen whose display location is blank or predetermined exemplary data (for convenience, referred to as an original screen for monitoring and control) is described in a language HTML, and the original screen data for monitoring and control and the online (Variable data) can be obtained and fitted to the corresponding display location within the original screen for monitoring and control, or the operator can use this terminal to control on-site equipment under the display of the screen for monitoring and control corresponding to this original screen. To be stored in this terminal (that is, to be executed by the terminal), it is written in an object-oriented language such as the JAVA language. The MMI data in combination with the program (the program name is to be registered in the monitor control original screen data) is used for various types of monitor control screens, as if on a website on the Internet. It is stored in the server as follows.

Then, the server responds to the screen request of the terminal,
MMI data corresponding to the type of request monitoring control screen,
That is, the monitor control original screen data and the paired program are distributed to the terminal. The terminal receives online data from necessary field devices by executing a paired program (data collection program described later) distributed at the same time in the corresponding location in the monitor / control original screen data distributed from the server. Is displayed as a monitor control screen. The operator operates the data operation input means of the terminal to control the on-site equipment while the terminal executes another paired program (a control program to be described later) similarly distributed while watching the monitor control screen. can do.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first essential part of a supervisory control system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 to 8 show the operation of the essential part in the system of FIG. FIG. In FIG. 1, 2 is a field device as a monitored and controlled device such as a flow meter and a sequencer, 3 is a terminal as an MMI device for monitoring and control, 1 is a field device 2
Ethernet (Eth) as a LAN connecting
(Ethernet), 4 is a server provided on the Ethernet 1.

Here, there may be a plurality of field devices 2 and terminals 3, respectively, and FIG. 1 shows one of them as a representative device. On the other hand, there is only one server 4 for a plurality of field devices 2 and terminals 3 communicating on the Ethernet 1, that is, in this monitoring and control system. In response to a request from the terminal 3 or the server 4, the on-site device 2 transmits its own online data (for example, a measured value at that time, a state value, and the like), and depending on the type of the on-site device 2, It is controlled by a control command.

Terminal 3 as MMI device for monitoring and control
Is provided with screen display means such as a CRT for displaying a monitor control screen and the like, and data operation input means such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting commands, data and the like. Such an auxiliary storage device is not provided. Then, while the desired monitor control screen is displayed on the screen display means as described later, the terminal 3 can monitor and control the field device 2 via the data operation input means.

The server 4 includes a screen display unit such as a CRT and a data operation input unit such as a keyboard and a mouse in the same manner as the terminal 3, and also has an auxiliary storage device unlike the terminal 3. The configuration is the same as that of a so-called WWW server except that it is connected to Ethernet 1 as a LAN. On the auxiliary storage device of the server 4, screen data 11 described in the language HTML of the screen to be displayed on the screen display means by the terminal 3 for the monitoring control operation, and a program 12 to be executed by the terminal 3 are also stored. Is stored.

Here, the screen data 11 includes the terminal 3
Is a monitoring control screen before online data such as measured values and status values collected from the field device 2 is inserted, that is, a place where the online data is displayed in the monitoring control screen is blank or fixed as predetermined exemplary data. There are all types of the above-mentioned monitoring control original screen data 111 as monitoring control screens consisting only of data, and menu screen data 110 including a table of contents of all types of monitoring control screens.

The programs 12 include a data collection program 121 and a WWW browser (abbreviated simply as a browser) 120. Here, the data collection program 121 is a program provided in one-to-one correspondence with various monitor control original screen data 111. (a) The terminal 3 collects online data from the field device 2 (Referred to as a data collection program) for executing a process of fitting to the corresponding display location in the corresponding monitor control original screen, or (b) the data collection program and the terminal 3 are fitted with online data. While the monitoring control screen is displayed, the operator operates the data operation input means to input the field device 2 from the terminal 3.
Is a program combined with a program executed by the terminal (referred to as a control program) so that the terminal can be controlled.

The data collection program and the control program are described in an object-oriented language such as the JAVA language.
1 includes a data collection program 1
21 names or numbers are registered. In the following, for the sake of convenience, the paired data of the monitor control original screen data 111 and the data collection program 121 are referred to as MMI data 1
Call it 01.

Next, the browser 120 is an application program for generally viewing information transmitted from the WWW server, and is also called browsing software. In this example, the terminal 3 transmits the menu screen data 110 from the server 4 to the menu screen data of the operator. This is a program that is executed by the terminal 3 and includes a process of obtaining the MMI data 101 corresponding to the designation.

As described above, the paired data (MMI data) 101 of the monitor control original screen data 111 and the data collection program 121 etc. are stored in the server 4 for all kinds of monitor control screens, as if on the Internet. It is stored as follows. Screen data 11 and program 12
Is usually created on the server 4 using its screen display means and data operation input means, but can be created on the terminal 3 in the same manner except for the browser 120. In this case, the MMI data 101 and the menu screen data 110 created on the terminal 3 are transmitted to the server 4 via the WWW browser on the terminal 3 and stored in the server 4.

The server 4 is basically a terminal 3 for collecting data from the field device 2 and controlling the field device 2.
Is not performed. For example, when online data of the field device 2 is to be stored as a file in the server 4, data can be collected from the server 4. For testing on the server 4, etc.
The desired MMI data 101 in the auxiliary storage device is taken out through the data operation input means, and the necessary monitor control screen is displayed on the screen display means of the server 4 or under the display of the monitor control screen. The on-site equipment 2 can be controlled.

Next, the operation of the main part of the supervisory control system of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1) Initial processing at terminal startup (see FIGS. 2 to 4):
When the terminal 3 starts, a signal indicating the start of the terminal 3 is sent to the server 4 by means provided outside the drawing provided in the terminal 3, and the browser 120 ′ that copies the browser 120 from the server 4 to the terminal 3 is transmitted. Are distributed as shown by the thick arrow in FIG.

The browser 120 automatically transmits a signal requesting the menu screen data 110 to the server 4 as initial processing as shown by a thick arrow in FIG. 110
Is distributed as shown by the thick arrow in FIG. Thereby, the menu screen corresponding to the screen data 110 'is displayed on the screen display means of the terminal 3. 2) Monitoring / control screen request processing from terminal to server (FIG. 5)
When the user operates the data operation input means of the terminal 3 and designates a desired type of monitoring control screen using the menu screen displayed on the screen display means, the browser 1
By the operation 20 ', a screen request signal indicating this is transmitted to the server 4 as indicated by the bold arrow in FIG. 3) Screen distribution processing for monitoring control from server to terminal (FIG. 6)
Based on the screen request signal, the server 4 sends the MMI data 101 corresponding to the type of the monitor control screen designated to the terminal 3, that is, the corresponding monitor control original screen data 111 and the data collection The monitor control original screen data 111 'obtained by copying the programs and the like 121 and the data collection program and the like 121' are distributed as indicated by the thick arrows in FIG.

As a result, the monitor control original screen corresponding to the designation is displayed along with the menu screen on the screen display means of the terminal 3 by the operation of the browser 120 '. In this embodiment, the menu screen and the monitor control screen are configured to be simultaneously displayed on the screen display means of the terminal. However, the menu screen is evacuated during the display of the monitor control screen separately. Alternatively, the menu screen may be called up by a predetermined operation of the data operation input means when necessary.

In the present invention, the browser 120 ′, the menu screen data 110 ′, the monitor control original screen data 111 ′, the data collection program, etc.
21 'are all stored in the main memory of the terminal 3. 4) Data request processing from the terminal or the server to the field device (see FIG. 7): The terminal 3 monitors the distributed monitor control original screen by executing the distributed data collection program 121 'and the like. A data request signal for requesting the on-line data (measured value, state value, and the like) to the field device 2 to be controlled is transmitted as shown by the thick arrow in FIG.
Usually, this data request signal is transmitted periodically, and the monitor control screen is periodically refreshed by the processing of the following item 5).

When it is necessary to store a file of the online data of the field device 2 as described above, the server 4 can transmit a data request signal to the field device 2 in the same manner as the terminal 3. 5) Collection processing of field device data by the terminal or the server (see FIG. 8): The field device 2 sends its own online data to the terminal 3 based on the data request signal transmitted from the terminal 3 in FIG. Send as a bold arrow. Therefore, the terminal 3 fits the original screen for monitoring and control displayed on the screen display means by executing the data collection program 121 ′ with the online data transmitted from the field device 2 at a corresponding position in the screen data. A normal monitoring control screen based on the included monitoring control screen data 111 ″.

When the field device 2 receives the data request signal from the server 4, it also sends its own online data to the server 4. 6) Field device control processing from the terminal or the server: based on the monitor control screen displayed on the screen display means of the terminal 3
If necessary, the operator operates the data operation input means, so that the terminal 3 can operate the data collection program 1 or the like.
During execution of the control program in 21 ′, a control signal can be sent from the terminal 3 to a desired on-site device 2 to control the on-site device 2.

Further, the field device 2 can be controlled from the server 4 as necessary, similarly to the terminal 3.

[0031]

According to the present invention, an LA for connecting a terminal as an MMI device and a field device as a monitored and controlled device is provided.
N, the terminal has no auxiliary storage device, the terminal does not have the auxiliary storage device, the data of the original screen of the monitor control screen to be displayed by the terminal (written in the language HTML) and the terminal A program (an object such as JAVA language) that the terminal should execute while displaying the monitor / control screen concerned, including a process of collecting and fitting online data such as measured values and state values of the field device to be fitted. MMI data for each type of monitoring and control screen, which is described in a directional language), is stored in the server as if it is a homepage on the Internet, and the server responds to the screen request of the terminal from the server. To the terminal, the corresponding M
By distributing a pair of monitoring control original screen data as MI data and a program so as to monitor and control on-site equipment, the following effects are obtained, and eventually a system construction and monitoring control screen are obtained. The cost required for changing and modifying the data can be reduced. 1) The screen displayed on the terminal can be collectively managed on the server side. 2) Since a program in an object-oriented language such as the JAVA language is distributed from a server to each terminal and executed by the terminal, online data can be displayed on the terminal in real time without imposing a load on the server. 3) If the server is further connected to an external network, MMI data and the like stored in the server can be maintained from a node having a WWW browser such as a personal computer provided at a distance through the external network. 4) Since the software of the terminal can be constituted only by the basic software, the terminal is inexpensive.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first main part of a monitoring and control system as one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a browser distribution operation from a server to a terminal in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a menu screen request operation from a terminal to a server in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a menu screen distribution operation from a server to a terminal in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a monitor control screen request operation from a terminal to a server in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a monitor control screen distribution operation from a server to a terminal in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a data request operation from a terminal or a server to a field device in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining a data collection operation from a field device to a terminal or a server in the system of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ethernet 2 Field device 3 Terminal 4 Server 11 Screen data 12 Program 101 MMI data 110, 110 'Menu screen data 111, 111' Original screen data for monitoring control 111 "Screen data for monitoring control 120, 120 'WWW browser (browser) 121, 121 'Data collection program, etc.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI G09F 9/00366 G05B 15/02 Z H04L 12/28 H04L 11/00 310Z

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A LAN installed in a facility such as a plant.
Screen display means for displaying a monitor control screen,
One or more terminals as a man-machine interface device provided with data operation input means for inputting commands and the like are coupled with one or more field devices, and the terminal
Obtain the online information of the field device via the AN, insert it into the position where the online information is to be displayed in the monitor control screen, display it on the screen display means, monitor the field device via this terminal, Or, in a monitoring control system that monitors and controls, for each of a plurality of types of the monitoring control screen, the data of the monitoring control original screen as the monitoring control screen to which the online information of the field device should be first fitted, and the terminal One device storing at least the data of a pair with a program to be executed while the terminal displays the monitor control screen, including at least a process of obtaining online information of the field device and fitting the monitor control original screen. Server on the LAN, the terminal sends a screen request to the server to specify the type of monitor control screen, and the server performs this type of monitor control. The paired data corresponding to the screen is distributed, and the monitor control original screen is displayed on the screen display means using the distributed paired data, and the program is executed. Monitoring and control system. 2. The monitoring control system according to claim 1, wherein the server has a configuration corresponding to a WWW server, and the data of the monitor control original screen is described in a language HTML.
The program is described in an object-oriented language such as the JAVA language, and the terminal has a WWW browser.
A monitoring control system for transmitting the screen request to a server via a W browser. 3. The monitoring and control system according to claim 2, wherein the WWW browser is distributed from a server when the terminal is started. 4. The supervisory control system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal has no auxiliary storage device. 5. The monitoring control system according to claim 1, further comprising a menu screen listing types of the monitoring control screen, wherein the menu screen is displayed on the screen display means. A monitoring control system, wherein the terminal transmits the screen request by designating the type of the monitoring control screen via a data operation input unit. 6. The monitoring control system according to claim 5, wherein the data of the menu screen is stored in a server, and is distributed from the server to the terminal when the terminal is started. system. 7. The monitoring control system according to claim 6, wherein the data of the menu screen is described in a language HTML,
A supervisory control system characterized in that when a terminal is activated, the server distributes the information to the terminal after the WWW browser.