JPH11143510A - Execution method and device for sequence program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily correct the operation if needed by making every equipment control its own operation by referring to a master circuit. SOLUTION: A programmable controller 10 is connected to an input device 12 which inputs the correction/addition data and also to plural robots 101 to 10N. Then the controller 10 calls a master circuit out of its internal storage to produce an absolute sequence circuit for every robot based on a block operator if exists and executes a ladder sequence circuit that is expanded to an expansion area of every absolute sequence circuit. That is, a master circuit is prepared and the address of every contact, etc., of the sequence circuit is calculated in the execution mode of every robot based on the master circuit. Thereby, it's just required to correct only the master circuit and accordingly to quickly perform this correction when it's desired to change the operations of all robots in the similar ways.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to, for example, a facility for controlling a plurality of robots with the same program.
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for executing a sequence program in which even if a program needs to be corrected, the correction can be performed in a single operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when configuring a production line in which a large number of robots perform the same work and perform mass production, the same program is stored in a programmable controller that controls the operation of each robot, and the playback is performed during playback. The address of the input / output contact of the ladder sequence is automatically set individually based on a preset offset value.

For example, in the offset / substantial method as shown in FIG. 15, the same program is stored in each of the robots 101 (R101), 102 (R102), and 104 (R104), and each robot has its own program. The offset is set, and the address of each contact is determined at the time of playback.

In this method, an offset value i is set to 1 in a program R101 for the robot 101,
In the program R102 for the robot 102, the offset value i is set to 2 and the program R1 for the robot 104 is set.
At 04, the offset value i is set to 4. Therefore, the address of each contact point of the ladder sequence executed at the time of playback is described for each robot on the right side of FIG.

With such a method, it is only necessary to store the same sequence program in the programmable controller of each robot (only copying operation), and it is not necessary to set the address for each contact and the like which is the most troublesome. Therefore, the equipment can be operated in a short period of time.

[0006]

However, even when such a conventional method is used, if it is necessary to change the operation of the equipment, the sequence program must be modified in accordance with the change in the operation. And additional work is a serious problem.

Although the conventional method contributes to shortening the operation of the equipment in the process of newly manufacturing the equipment, when the operation of the manufactured equipment is changed, a sequence program meeting the change request is required. Has to be performed for each robot program, this correction is a very time-consuming task.

As described above, the conventional method can be automated only when a new facility is created, and when a program needs to be modified or added, it must be performed by a conventional manual operation. is there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and has been made in consideration of the above circumstances. Even when the operation needs to be modified, it is possible to easily execute the modification. And its equipment.

[0010]

The present invention for achieving the above object is constituted as follows for each claim. The invention according to claim 1 is a method of executing a sequence program applied to a production line that operates each of a plurality of facilities by the same program, wherein the master circuit is applied to all of the plurality of facilities. , And each facility controls the operation of the facility by referring to the master circuit.

[0011] The invention according to claim 2 is a method of executing a sequence program applied to a production line that operates each of a plurality of facilities with the same program, and is applied to all of the plurality of facilities. When each facility is executed, a ladder sequence circuit for each facility is created with reference to the master circuit, and each facility is operated by executing the created ladder sequence circuit. This is a method of executing a sequence program as a feature.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the execution method of the sequence program according to the second aspect, the ladder sequence circuit of each of the facilities is referred to the master circuit based on the description of the reference circuit. The ladder sequence circuit of interest is extracted from the master circuit, and the contacts and input / output addresses constituting the extracted ladder sequence circuit are determined based on the description of the reference circuit. Features.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for executing a sequence program for operating each of a plurality of facilities by the same program, wherein a master circuit storing a master circuit applied to all of the plurality of facilities. Means, input means for rewriting the master circuit stored in the master circuit storage means to a different circuit, and a ladder sequence circuit of the equipment with reference to the master circuit stored in the master circuit storage means. An apparatus for executing a sequence program, comprising: an absolute sequence circuit generating means for generating; and a control means for executing a sequence program generated by the absolute sequence circuit generating means and controlling operation of the equipment. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the sequence program execution device of the fourth aspect, the absolute sequence circuit generating means stores a reference circuit for generating a ladder sequence circuit for each facility. A reference circuit storage means, and a target ladder sequence circuit is taken out of the master circuit storage means in accordance with the contents of the reference circuit storage means, and each contact or input / output address constituting the taken out ladder sequence circuit is referred to as the reference circuit. Address determination means for determining based on the description of the reference circuit stored in the storage means.

According to the present invention, a master circuit is provided for all of a plurality of facilities, and each facility refers to the master circuit to control the operation of the facility. An execution method, wherein the ladder sequence circuit for the equipment generated from the master circuit is modified, and the ladder sequence circuit for the modified equipment is generated for another equipment. In comparison, when searching for blocks to be grouped in the same group, and when there are blocks to be grouped in the same group, a block in which these blocks are grouped is registered as a child block, while being registered in the same group. Registering as a unique block if there is no block to be combined An execution method of a sequence program.

According to the invention described in claim 7, a master circuit which is applied to all of the plurality of facilities is provided, and each facility refers to the master circuit to control the operation of the facility. An execution method, wherein the ladder sequence circuit for the equipment generated from the master circuit is modified, and the ladder sequence circuit for the modified equipment is generated for another equipment. Comparing and searching for blocks to be grouped into the same group, and when there are blocks to be grouped into the same group, and the number of blocks to be grouped into the same group is the number of blocks existing in the master circuit. If they exist at a certain ratio or more, the blocks combined into the same group In addition, on the other hand, if they do not exist at a certain rate or more, a block that combines these blocks is registered as a child block, and if there is no block that can be combined into the same group, a unique And registering the block as a block.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sequence program execution method according to the sixth or seventh aspect, when a sequence program for a facility is generated from a master program, the child block is applied to the facility. , Referring to all of the unique blocks and the master circuit, and connecting them to form a sequence program for the equipment.

[0018]

The present invention having the above configuration has the following effects. According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, each facility controls the operation with reference to the master circuit. Therefore, even if the operation of the facility changes, the master circuit is changed. Only the change in the operation of all the equipment can be dealt with, and the work efficiency at the time of the change is improved. Also, in the case of the present invention, since only one program needs to be modified, the response to the bug after the modification can be promptly performed, as compared with the conventional method in which the program of all the facilities needs to be rewritten. Can be.

According to the third aspect of the invention, each facility determines each contact and input / output address of the ladder sequence circuit created from the master circuit based on the description of the reference circuit provided for each. I decided to
When equipment is added, it is only necessary to add a reference circuit for the equipment, and it is possible to easily cope with the addition of equipment.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the ladder sequence circuit of the equipment is generated with reference to the master circuit stored in the master circuit storage means, so that the operation of the equipment is changed. Even in this case, it is possible to cope with a change in the operation of all the equipment only by changing the master circuit, and the work efficiency at the time of the change is improved.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, each facility determines each contact or input / output address of the ladder sequence circuit created from the master circuit based on the description of the reference circuit provided for each. I decided to
When equipment is added, it is only necessary to rewrite the contents of the reference circuit storage means and add a reference circuit for the equipment, and it is possible to easily cope with the addition of equipment.

According to the invention described in claims 6 to 8,
Even if the ladder sequence circuit for equipment generated from the master circuit is modified, the modified ladder sequence circuit can be registered as a common block with other equipment. It is possible to cope with a change in the operation of the equipment, and work efficiency at the time of the change is improved. Also, compared to the conventional method that requires rewriting the program of all the facilities, in the case of the present invention, it is only necessary to correct the corresponding program, so that it is possible to quickly respond to the bug after the correction. it can.

[0023]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before describing the present invention in detail, its outline will be described. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1A, a program having the same program but different addresses such as contact points is individually provided for each robot. Therefore, when modifying this program, the exact same modification must be made for each sequence program of each robot.

However, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2B, by modifying only the master circuit, it is possible to obtain the same effect as modifying programs for all robots. . For this reason, it is possible to quickly respond to a request for modification or addition of a sequence program after installation of the equipment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sequence program execution device according to the present invention.

An input device (keyboard) 12 as input means for inputting correction and additional data is connected to the programmable controller 10 for controlling the operation of each robot. Further, a plurality of robots 101 to N are connected as output devices. These robots
The operation is performed by referring to one program stored in the programmable controller 10. This will be described later. The block structure of the sequence circuit used in the method or apparatus of the present invention, the types of block operators, and the data structure of the sequence circuit in the master circuit are configured as shown in FIGS.

That is, the block structure of the sequence circuit is such that a block operator, a block ID, a reference destination ID, and an offset value are sequentially described. Are successively described, and have an operator called EOB (End of Blocks) at the end.

There are four types of operators as shown in FIG. 4, and these operators have a block ID, a reference destination ID, an offset value, an execution The presence or absence of circuit data is described.

Although the names of the block operators have different meanings, VLD is a virtual operator.
This is an operator that stands for Load Reference Circuit. OL
D is an operator for offset load, which means that there is an offset operation. RLD is an abbreviation of reference load, and is an operator meaning a reference source circuit. EOB
Is an abbreviation for End of Block, an operator that means the end of a block.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the program structure of the present invention in the case of forming a ladder sequence circuit as shown on the right side. As shown in FIG. 4, the operator of the VLD is an operator having a block ID and circuit data, a reference destination ID, an offset value, and no execution. Therefore, according to the block structure of FIG. "VLD 001 None None" is described. This is because the block operator is "VLD" and the block I
D is “001”, the reference destination ID is “none”,
This indicates that the offset value is “none”.
Next, data of the ladder sequence circuit is described. The meaning of the data shown in FIG. 5 is also shown in FIG. 3 and is as follows.

That is, "LD A contact X001 4
"0" indicates that the type of branch is LD (load), the attribute is A contact,
This means that the address is X001 and the multiplier is 40. "AND B contact X002 40"
It means that the type of the branch is AND (series connection), the attribute is B contact, the address is X002, and the number is 40. Furthermore, “OUT coil Y001 10”
This means that the type of branch is OUT (output), the attribute is coil, the address is Y001, and the multiplier is 10. The last EOB means that the VLD001 block ends here.

In the case of a conventional ladder sequence circuit, this is composed of data consisting of a branch, an attribute and an address as shown in FIG. 6, but the difference from the data structure of FIG. It's clear.

Next, FIGS. 7 and 8 show a data structure (reference circuit) and a memory map of a sequence circuit used in the method or apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows a circuit provided for each robot. VLD shown in Fig. 5 by robot
This is a circuit to be referred to when 001 is executed, and the meaning of the reference circuit shown in this figure is as follows.

That is, “RLD 001 VLD00
11 ”is the VLD00 stored in the master circuit.
This means that 1 is read and the offset value is set to 1. By executing the above contents, the ladder sequence circuit RLD001 described on the right side in FIG. 7 becomes the execution circuit of the robot.

FIG. 8 shows the programmable controller 10.
The memory map of the storage device provided in
This memory map includes an absolute sequence circuit development area, a sequence circuit, an I / O memory, and a system area.

The absolute sequence circuit development area is an area for storing the reference circuit developed as described above.
This is the area required to perform the method of the present invention or to process the device.

The sequence program execution method and the operation of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The programmable controller 10 calls the master circuit from the internal storage device, and jumps to the head of the master circuit if there is no sequence circuit in the called portion (the block constituting the master circuit) ( S1 to S3).

If there is no block operator as shown in FIG. 4 in the called circuit, the ladder sequence circuit is directly executed according to the description (S4, S5),
If there is a block operator, the operator is
If "VLD", jump to EOB and proceed to the next block (S6, S7).

If the operator is not "VLD", then:
It is determined whether the block operator is RLD, and if RLD, jump to the commanded block and create an absolute sequence circuit from the offset value. For example,
When the reference circuit as shown in FIG. 7 is described, the circuit as described on the right side of FIG. 7 is developed in the absolute sequence circuit development area shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the operator is not RLD, an absolute sequence circuit is created from the offset value. This absolute sequence circuit is created for each robot as shown in FIG. 10 (S8 to S10).

The programmable controller 10 executes the ladder sequence circuit developed in the absolute sequence circuit development area. When the execution is completed, the next circuit is read out, and S10 to S10 are executed until the operator of "EOB" is read out.
Step 12 is repeated (S11, S12).

When the "EOB" operator is read,
In other words, if the readout circuit includes the operator “EOB”, if the execution is performed by “RLD”, the operation jumps to the original position, that is, the specified block. Read the circuit (S13 to S1
5).

As described above, in the present invention, one master circuit is provided, and at the time of execution of each robot, the addresses of the respective contacts of the sequence circuit are calculated based on the master circuit. If it is desired to change the operation in the same way, only the master circuit needs to be modified, and the modification work can be performed quickly.

Next, the above processing alone can only cope with a case where a common correction is required for each robot. However, even when a specific correction is made for each robot, it is also possible to cope with it. Explain how you can.

A certain template program shown at the top of FIG. 11 is an example of a master program stored in a storage device provided in the programmable controller 10.

Although it has been described above that each robot can create its own sequence circuit based on this master program, if only such a method is adopted, all robots operate with the same program. You can only do it. However, at the actual site, it is often the case that a unique movement is required for each robot.

Therefore, when the copy program for the robot 1 created from the master program is changed to a circuit as shown in the lower part of FIG. 11 (A contact X014 is added), this circuit is changed based on the master circuit. It becomes impossible to generate the sequence circuit of FIG. The method described below is a method that can cope with a circuit that has been individually modified in this way.

This method will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. To change the sequence program for a specific robot, use the keyboard 12
Specifies the sequence block change processing to the programmable controller 10 to make a change to a desired sequence program. For example, as shown in FIG.
In the sequence program for the robot 2, the A contact X027 and the A contact X0
29 is added (S20).

In the programmable controller 10, when the sequence program for the robot 2 is specified, the circuit of i = 2 (sequence program after the change for the robot 2) in FIG. 13 is displayed on the editor. (S21).

Then, it is determined whether or not the displayed sequence program can be offset in relation to another sequence program. For example, when the sequence program of i = 2 is compared with other sequence programs of i = 1, i = 3, and i = 4, offsetting is impossible. In this case, the entity unique to the copy program is used. Register as a program. That is, the sequence circuit of i = 2 is registered as a unique program. When a unique program is registered in this way, when a sequence program for equipment is generated, it is not necessary to generate a block corresponding to this part of the master program, so this part of the master program is invalidated (S22, S23). ).

On the other hand, when the changed program has an A contact X017 in addition to the master program as in the sequence program of i = 1, the program is changed to i
= 3, i = 4
X007 + 10i can be offset. If such blocks do not exist in a certain number or more (for example, 50% or more of the blocks constituting the sequence program) (S24), the part that can be offset is registered as a child block. In this case, a block existing in the master program (a block corresponding to the block registered as the actual program this time) is registered as a child template and erased to prevent a decrease in free storage capacity (S25).

If there are a certain number of blocks or more and there is no higher-order child program (S26), the changed part is added to the template program, that is, the master program (S27). If the number of blocks that can be combined is added to the master program when the number of blocks that can be combined is equal to or more than a certain number, the subsequent modification work becomes efficient. In the above example, 50% or more is set to the minimum number of blocks incorporated in the master circuit. The larger this value is, the more efficiently the change work can be performed.However, if the value is too large, the number of child blocks tends to increase, and it becomes difficult to improve the efficiency of the actual change work. The optimum value is selected according to the use condition of the programmable controller (necessity of changing the operation).

On the other hand, if there are a certain number of blocks or more and there are higher-order child programs, they can be combined with the upper-order child programs. Register the combined block as a child block.

In this way, the changed program portions are individually stored as template programs, child programs, grandchild programs, and individual blocks,
At the time of operation of the robot, by connecting these programs in order to form a series of programs, it is possible to create a program capable of performing the operation required for each robot while shortening the change work.

For example, a template program initially provided as a common program for all robots is modified in order to cope with an operation individually required for each robot. Is divided into a template program, a child program, a grandchild program, and an individual program as shown in FIG.

When the robot executes the sequence program, the programs stored separately and connected as shown in the figure are connected, and a copy program constituted by connecting these programs in order is generated. You. The operation of the robot is controlled based on the copy program.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sequence program execution device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block structure of a sequence circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing types of block operators according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure (master circuit) of a sequence circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a conventional sequence circuit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure (reference circuit) of a sequence circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a memory map according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of executing a sequence program according to the present invention and a process of the apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method of executing a sequence program according to the present invention and a process of the apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining another method of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another method of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram provided for explanation of the operation of the flowchart in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a diagram which is used for describing the operation of the flowchart in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram provided for describing a conventional method of executing a sequence program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: programmable controller, 12: input device.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method of executing a sequence program applied to a production line that operates each of a plurality of facilities with the same program, comprising: a master circuit that is applied to all of the plurality of facilities;
A sequence program execution method, wherein each facility controls the operation of the facility by referring to the master circuit. 2. A method of executing a sequence program applied to a production line that operates each of a plurality of facilities with the same program, comprising: providing a master circuit that applies to all of the plurality of facilities;
When executing each facility, a ladder sequence circuit for each facility is created with reference to the master circuit, and each facility is operated by executing the created ladder sequence circuit. Execution method. 3. The ladder sequence circuit of each facility is created by referring to the master circuit based on a description of a reference circuit, extracting a target ladder sequence circuit from the master circuit, and extracting the extracted ladder sequence circuit. 3. The sequence program execution method according to claim 2, wherein the sequence program is created by deciding each contact and input / output addresses constituting the sequence circuit based on the description of the reference circuit. 4. An apparatus for executing a sequence program for operating each of a plurality of facilities by the same program, comprising: master circuit storage means for storing a master circuit applied to all of the plurality of facilities; Input means for rewriting the master circuit stored in the means to a different circuit, and absolute sequence circuit generating means for generating a ladder sequence circuit of the equipment with reference to the master circuit stored in the master circuit storage means And a control means for executing the sequence program generated by the absolute sequence circuit generating means and controlling the operation of the equipment. 5. The absolute sequence circuit generating means includes: a reference circuit storing means for storing a reference circuit for generating a ladder sequence circuit for each facility; and the master circuit storing means according to the contents of the reference circuit storing means. Address determining means for extracting a target ladder sequence circuit from the ladder sequence circuit, and determining addresses of contacts and input / output constituting the extracted ladder sequence circuit based on the description of the reference circuit stored in the reference circuit storage means. The sequence program execution device according to claim 4, comprising: 6. A method of executing a sequence program for providing a master circuit to be applied to all of a plurality of facilities and for controlling the operation of the facilities by referring to the master circuit, wherein each of the facilities includes: Modifying the generated ladder sequence circuit for the equipment, and comparing the modified ladder sequence circuit for the equipment with the ladder sequence circuit generated for the other equipment, and combining them into the same group. In the stage of searching for a block, if there are blocks to be grouped in the same group, register the block in which these blocks are grouped together as a child block. Registering as a block of the sequence program. Row method. 7. A method of executing a sequence program for providing a master circuit applied to all of a plurality of facilities, and controlling the operation of the facilities by referring to the master circuit, wherein each of the facilities refers to the master circuit. Modifying the generated ladder sequence circuit for the equipment, and comparing the modified ladder sequence circuit for the equipment with the ladder sequence circuit generated for the other equipment, and combining them into the same group. The step of searching for blocks and the case where there are blocks to be grouped in the same group, wherein the number of blocks to be grouped in the same group is at a certain ratio or more to the number of blocks in the master circuit In such a case, the blocks combined in the same group are added to the master circuit, while a certain percentage or more is added. If they do not exist, register these blocks as a group as a child block, and if there are no blocks to be grouped into the same group, register them as unique blocks. Characteristic execution method of sequence program. 8. When generating a sequence program for a facility from a master program, refer to all of a child block, a unique block and the master circuit applied to the facility, and connect them to each other to connect the sequence program for the facility. The method of executing a sequence program according to claim 6, wherein: