JPH11134007A - Monitor system for facility using programmable controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitor system for facilities using the programmable controller which saves process data regarding the operation output state of input/output equipment corresponding to a variety of sates including unexpected states such as a power cutoff and a power failure when the programmable controller stops. SOLUTION: The control process part 28 of a PC 12 controls the operation of the input/output devices 14a to 14i and stores their process data in a 1st data storage part 43 of a memory 32. Then when an emergency stop signal etc., is outputted, a monitor process part 62 of a monitor computer 13 performs a process for saving the process data, stored in the 1st data storage part 43, in a 2nd data storage part 74 of a memory 66.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facility monitoring system using a programmable controller having a monitoring computer connected via communication means to a programmable controller capable of sequence-controlling the operation of input / output devices. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an automobile production line,
In order to perform automatic control of production equipment, a programmable controller is used. The programmable controller includes a computer, and input / output devices including a plurality of robots and workpiece transfer devices connected to the computer via communication means. The input / output devices are configured based on a sequence program set in the computer. By controlling the input / output device, automatic processing in complicated equipment is realized.

By the way, in such a programmable controller, when an operator finds an abnormality in the state of the equipment, an emergency stop may be performed. In such a case, the operating state of the input / output device is temporarily changed. There is a need to save. In addition, there is a need for a system that can save the operation state even when an unexpected situation such as a power failure occurs other than the emergency stop by the operator.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and has been made to cope with various situations including an accidental situation such as a power cutoff or a power failure when a programmable controller is stopped. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facility monitoring system using a programmable controller capable of storing processing data relating to the operation state of an input / output device.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to a programmable controller, which is used when an operation is terminated, an emergency stop by an operator, a power failure occurs, and the like. The processing data indicating the state of the device is transferred to the monitoring computer via the communication means and stored. Then, when the operation of the input / output device is restarted, the processing data can be transferred to a computer constituting the programmable controller, and the processing can be continued.

[0006]

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a system comprising a programmable controller 10 to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied and a monitoring computer 13 connected thereto via a communication line (communication means) 11. Is shown. The monitoring computer 13 has a communication line (communication means) 1
5 can be connected to further programmable controllers.

[0007] The programmable controller 10 is arranged on a production line of an automobile, and is basically a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a PC) which is a computer.
12 and a plurality of input / output devices 14 connected to the PC 12 via a communication line (communication means) 16.
, Power is supplied from a power supply 19 via an uninterruptible power supply 17. The communication lines 11, 15, and 16
Is not limited to a wired type, but may be a wireless type.

The PC 12 basically has a computer main body 18 and an interface (I / O) of the computer main body 18.
/ F) and a CRT 24 as a display for a human-machine interface (HMI) connected to the terminals 20 and 22, and a mouse and keyboard 26 (not shown) as input means.

The computer main body 18 has a control processing unit 28 such as a CPU. The control processing unit 28 is provided with a memory 32 as storage means, an interface board (I / F board) 34 and Interface 20,
22 are connected. In this case, the interface board 34 is configured to be detachable from the computer main body 18 and has a network function. For this reason, the communication line 11 is
Thus, the PC 12 and the monitoring computer 13 are connected to the network.

The memory 32 stores a control program storage section 40 for storing a control program for performing control processing of the input / output device 14, and a system program having a role of assisting the creation and execution of the control program. And a first data storage unit 43 for storing processing data including an operation state of the input / output device 14 generated by processing of the control program.

The control processing unit 28 executes a process for controlling the input / output device 14 according to a system program and a control program.

The input / output device 14 is an input / output device which is electrically controlled through an interface board 34, for example, a cylinder 14a, a sensor 14b, a solenoid valve manifold 14c, a relay 14d, a motion controller 14e, a jig. (Jig) Stocker 14f, Robot A 14g, Robot B 14h, and Selector Panel 14
i.

Here, the motion controller 14e
Is a device for controlling the transfer of an automobile (not shown) as a work via servo motors 44 and 46. The jig stocker 14f is a stocker such as an exchange jig for transferring a work. The selector panel 14i is a control panel to which a push button switch for switching an operation mode (operation mode) of the automobile production line is attached.

The monitoring computer 13 includes a computer main body 52 and an interface (I
/ F) composed of a CRT 58, a mouse, a keyboard 60, and the like connected to the 54 and 56, respectively. Power is supplied from a power supply 63 via an uninterruptible power supply 61.

The computer main body 52 has a monitoring processing unit 62 such as a microcomputer having a CPU. The monitoring processing unit 62 is connected to a memory 66 as storage means via a bus 64 and an interface board (I / F). Board) 6
8 and interfaces 54 and 56 are connected.
In this case, the interface board 68 is configured to be detachable from the computer main body 52, and
Which constitutes the programmable controller 10 via
It is connected to C12 and can be connected to another programmable controller via the communication line 15.

The memory 66 stores a monitoring program storage unit 70 for storing a monitoring program for monitoring the operation state of the PC 12, and a system for storing a system program having a role of assisting the execution of the monitoring program. It has a program storage section 72 and a second data storage section 74 for storing processing data stored in the first data storage section 43 of the PC 12.

Next, the operation of the embodiment using the system configured as described above will be described.

When the operator operates the selector panel 14i and selects, for example, the automatic operation mode as the operation mode, the control processing unit 28 of the PC 12 reads the automatic operation program from the control program storage unit 40 of the memory 32. Is extracted and the automatic operation of the input / output device 14 is started according to the program, while the monitoring computer 1 is
3, an operation start signal of the input / output device 14 is output.

The control processing section 28 of the PC 12 outputs an operation command signal to the robots A14g, B14h, etc. constituting the input / output device 14 via the interface board 34 in accordance with the automatic driving program. Receiving status signals from 14d etc.
The data is stored in the first data storage unit 43 as a part of the processing data. The control processing unit 28 performs the processing operation of the next step using the processing data stored in the first data storage unit 43. By sequentially performing such operations, the operation of the input / output device 14 is controlled.

On the other hand, the monitoring computer 13 monitors the operation state of the programmable controller 10. The monitoring process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The monitoring processing unit 62 constituting the monitoring computer 13 assists the operation of the PC 12 in accordance with the monitoring program stored in the monitoring program storage unit 70.

First, when the operation of the PC 12 is started, a data request signal for requesting processing data relating to the previous state of the input / output device 14 is sent from the PC 12 to the interface board 68.
Is transmitted to the monitoring processing unit 62 of the monitoring computer 13 via (step S1).

Therefore, the monitoring processing unit 62 reads the processing data relating to the previous state of the input / output device 14 stored in the second data storage unit 74 of the memory 66, and reads the processing data of the PC 12 through the interface boards 68 and 34. The data is transferred to the first data storage unit 43 (Step S2). The PC 12 controls the operation of the input / output device 14 according to the processing data as described above.

Here, when the control process of the input / output device 14 by the control program in the PC 12 is completed,
C12 transmits an end signal to the monitoring computer 13. Further, when an emergency stop signal is generated in the PC 12 during the processing of the control program, for example, when it is found that the input / output device 14 is malfunctioning and the operator presses the emergency stop button, The PC 12 transmits an emergency stop signal to the monitoring computer 13. Further, when a situation such as a power failure occurs and a power failure signal indicating a power failure state is output to the PC 12 from the uninterruptible power supply 17,
C12 transmits a power failure signal to monitoring computer 13.

When the monitoring computer 13 detects any one of these end signals or a power cutoff signal such as an emergency stop signal or a power failure signal (steps S3, S4, S3).
5) A request signal for processing data is transmitted to the PC 12 (step S6). Therefore, the PC 12 transfers the processing data stored in the first data storage unit 43 to the monitoring computer 13 based on the request signal. The monitoring processing unit 62 stores the processing data in the second data storage unit 74 (Step S7). By storing the processing data in the second data storage unit 74 of the monitoring computer in this way, the state immediately before the stop of the input / output device 14 is stored.

Next, the operation of the input / output device 14 is resumed,
When the restart signal is transmitted from the PC 12 (step S
8), the monitoring computer 13 uses the second data storage unit 74
Is transferred to the PC 12 and stored in the first data storage unit 43. Therefore, the control program can continue the control operation of the input / output device 14 based on the processing data immediately before the previous stop.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Not only normal termination processing, but also in the event of an emergency stop or power failure, the operation state immediately before the stop of the input / output device can be saved by a monitoring computer provided independently of the programmable controller that controls the input / output device. Therefore, the operation of the input / output device can be quickly resumed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart provided to explain a process of storing process data according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Programmable controller 11, 15, 1
6 Communication line 12 PC 13 Monitoring computer 14 Input / output device 18, 52 Computer main body 28 Control processing unit 43 First data storage unit 62 Monitoring processing unit 74 Second data storage unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A facility monitoring system using a programmable controller including at least one computer and input / output devices connected to the computer via communication means, wherein the computer includes the computer A monitoring computer for monitoring is connected via communication means, the computer includes a control program storage unit having a control program for the input / output device, and control for executing control processing of the input / output device according to the control program. A processing unit, and a first storing processing data generated in association with the processing.
A data storage unit, wherein the monitoring computer has a monitoring program storage unit having a monitoring program for monitoring the operation state of the computer, and a monitoring processing unit which executes monitoring processing of the computer according to the monitoring program. And a second data storage unit for storing the processing data transferred from the computer based on the monitoring processing, and a facility monitoring system using a programmable controller. 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring processing unit transmits the processing data stored in the first data storage unit via a communication unit based on an end signal of the control program. (2) A facility monitoring system using a programmable controller, which performs a process of storing the data in a data storage unit. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring processing unit transmits the processing data stored in the first data storage unit to the second processing unit via a communication unit based on a power-off signal of the computer. A facility monitoring system using a programmable controller, which performs a process of storing data in a data storage unit.