JPH1115690A - Image processor and method for establishing communication between image processor and computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor by which an execution mode is changed-over into a debugging mode for a picture processor by the operation of a computer. SOLUTION: The image processor A starts an operation by resetting, a CPU 4 executes initial setting, etc., such as hardware setting, etc., a system program is read from an ROM 5 so as to be transferred to an RAM 6 and the execution mode/debugging mode is changed-over in accordance with mode information which is stored in the RAM 6. A program P2 is directly operated in the execution mode and the program P is operated under management of a debugging monitor for managing debugging in the debugging mode. A mode is changed-over by receiving a command which is transmitted from the computer 7 with the interface of an RS-232-C.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus used for a product quality inspection and the like and a method for establishing communication between the image processing apparatus and a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many image processing apparatuses have recently been introduced as production equipment in factories and the like as various types of visual inspections that have conventionally relied on human vision can be accurately, rapidly and automatically inspected. The device has become In general, an image processing apparatus first converts a product in the course of a process (hereinafter, referred to as a target) flowing on a production line to be measured into a TV.
After being captured as an image signal by the camera and performing various image processing, the calculated numerical value or the result of pass / fail determination is output. On the other hand, since the types of targets are various, it is not practical to make an image processing apparatus individually corresponding to each target.

[0003] For this reason, a programming-type image processing method in which the user can customize the various functions provided in the image processing apparatus by writing the program himself or herself so that the user can customize the contents. Equipment has been widely introduced. The development of a program in such a programming type image processing apparatus can be broadly classified into two types: one in which all processing from source program to debugging is performed only by the image processing apparatus, and one in which development is performed by connecting to an external computer or the like. .

[0004] The former can perform all the processing by itself, but it is necessary to incorporate in the image processing device functions that are not originally required by the image processing device, such as an editor function for editing a source program. Also has the problem of being scarce. On the other hand, the latter can use abundant software assets of general-purpose personal computers,
There are many advantages such as the use of a sophisticated screen editor for creating and editing source programs. Further, the function can be extended by, for example, updating a library linked with the source program.

For this reason, an environment is constructed in which the image processing apparatus is connected to a computer using a general-purpose interface, and the program is created while repeating the debugging and execution of the program only by operation on the computer. Generally, during debugging, the function is checked while repeatedly executing and stopping the program. Because execution is required to stop the program during execution or to obtain data for knowing the execution result, the execution speed during debugging is
It is slower than when the program runs alone.

A mode in which a program is executed at a high speed by itself is called an "execution mode", and a mode in which execution speed is sacrificed to check the function of the program is called a "debug mode". Generally, when a program is created, it is checked whether a program created in a debug mode normally operates, and an actual operation performance is checked in an execution mode. In addition, when image processing equipment is used as a part of the production equipment, high speed image processing is generally required, so that it is operated in the execution mode.

Since the switching of each mode is a concept belonging to the image processing apparatus, for example, a method of directly selecting a mode by a hardware switch provided in the image processing apparatus is used. It was not possible to switch. However, as described above, image processing apparatuses are often introduced into production equipment, and are often arranged in equipment when debugging, and it is difficult to switch modes using hardware switches. Many. In addition, although debugging is apparently performed on a computer, there is a problem that only a mode change must be performed on an image processing apparatus.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to execute and debug modes of an image processing apparatus by operating a computer connected via an interface. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of switching between image processing and image processing that enables a computer to efficiently search for a suitable protocol and establish communication even when the communication protocol of image processing forgery is unknown. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for establishing communication between a device and a computer.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an execution mode operating according to a predetermined program, and a debugger for creating a program executed in the execution mode. It has a mode, and each mode is switched by a mode change command from a computer connected via an interface.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, in the execution mode, a data reception interrupt from a computer connected via an interface is received, and the received data is a mode change command in the activated interrupt processing program. Is recognized, the mode is switched from the execution mode to the debug mode.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, in a debug mode, a data reception interrupt from a computer connected by an interface is received,
When the received data is recognized as a mode change command in the activated interrupt processing program, the mode is switched from the debug mode to the execution mode.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, in the debug mode, a computer connected by an interface so that a program can be debugged and a debug monitor made so as to be able to send and receive commands are provided in the mode. When the change command is recognized, the mode is switched from the debug mode to the execution mode.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an execution mode operating in accordance with a predetermined program, and a debug mode for creating a program executed in the execution mode. In the method for establishing communication between the image processing apparatus in which each mode is switched by the command and the computer, when the computer holds all possible combinations of communication protocols at present and the communication with the image processing apparatus is established. Prepare a communication protocol file to arrange communication protocol combinations in the order of establishment,
It is characterized in that communication with the image processing apparatus is attempted in the order in which the communication protocol file is arranged, and the communication protocol setting of the image processing apparatus is searched.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the invention, the combination of the held communication protocols is all possible protocols.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a conceptual overall configuration block of an embodiment of an image processing apparatus A according to the present invention. In an image processing apparatus A, for example, an analog image signal from a TV camera 1 which images an object to be inspected. An image signal unit 3 comprising a display processing circuit for converting a digital image signal into a digital signal and displaying the digital image signal on a frame memory or a display 2 for D / A conversion and outputting as an analog image signal; and ROM5 using EEPROM (flash memory) which stores the P ₁ and programs P _2, and RAM6 program P ₁ stored in the ROM5, P ₂ is stored is transferred, the external personal computer For example, an RS-232-C port 8 and an RS-232-C control circuit 9 for performing communication with the computer 7, Run the program P ₂ on AM6 from the image signal unit 3 captures the digitized image signals, or perform quality determination, etc. of the inspected object, the system program of the debug monitor based on P ₁ processing and interrupt processing, etc. And a CPU 4 for performing processing.

[0016] The system program P ₁ consisting of the interrupt processing program ranging program debug monitor as a program to be transferred to the RAM 6, consists of a program P ₂ for execution of the image processing. The external computer 7 has an RS-232-C port 10 for communication and has an application 11 for creating and transmitting a command to the image processing apparatus A.

Next, the operation of the image processing apparatus A will be described. First, the image processing apparatus A starts operation by reset as shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 4 performs initial settings such as hardware settings, etc., reads out a system program from the ROM 5, transfers it to the RAM 6, and stores it in the RAM 6. Switch between run mode and debug mode according to the mode information. Program P ₂ operates directly in run mode, in debug mode operates the program P ₂ is under management by the debug monitor to manage the debugging.

[0018] Figure 3 shows the case of the execution mode, the high-speed memory access is required in the execution mode, the program P ₂ is activated transferred from ROM5 the RAM 6. Once the execution control is passed from the system program P ₁ in the program P _2, the program P ₂ is performed without being obstructed by the program other than the interrupt processing. Therefore, it is possible to execute the program P ₂ at a high speed.

The program P ₂ normally does not require the external computer 7 for execution, but when changing modes, the computer 7 is connected and an interrupt processing program is used by sending a mode change command. That is, in the execution mode, since the program does not always manage the communication, the mode is changed by interrupt processing.

[0020] In the case of contrast debug mode, the program for the debug monitor in the system program P ₁ is performed as shown in FIG. The debug monitor is configured to perform debugging program P ₂ while communicating with the computer 7, the program P ₂ made on computer 7, the communication between the application 11 and the debug monitor on computer 7 RAM
6. The debug monitor uses the program P ₂
Application 1 on the computer 7
This is performed by a command from 1. And the program P ₂
Users who finish checking operation is allowed to function, through the computer 7 sends a command to store in ROM5 in order to execute the program P ₂ in run mode, and stores a program P ₂ to ROM5.

In the debug mode, since the debug monitor manages communication, the computer 7 can communicate with the debug monitor and send a mode change command to the debug monitor. Similarly to the execution mode, the interrupt processing program can receive the mode change command and change the mode by interrupt processing.

As in the image processing apparatus A of the present invention, RS-2
In the case where the 32-C interface is used, the receiving side is set to the interrupt processing as described above so as not to be missed. FIG. 5 shows the reception interrupt used for the interrupt processing for accepting the mode change in the image processing apparatus A of the present invention. 1 shows an embodiment of a processing program. RS-232-C
ASCII code “05 (HEX)” from the computer 7 connected to the image processing apparatus A by the interface of
Is defined to mean a change to the execution mode when receiving the command, and a change to the debug mode when the ASCII code "06 (HEX)" is received. This is called a mode change command.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the execution mode / debug mode, the program P ₂ or the system program P ₁
When the above-mentioned ASCII code is sent from the computer 7 while the debug monitor is operating, the reception interrupt processing program is started. Then, the CPU 4 first determines whether or not the command is a mode change command by the reception interrupt processing program. If it is not a mode change command, the process returns from the interrupt processing program. If it is a mode change command, the mode change command is stored in the RAM 6, and a mode change notification is sent to the computer 7,
Perform a software reset and use the operation procedure shown in FIG.
You can switch to run mode / debug mode.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the reception interrupt processing program used for the interrupt processing for accepting the mode change. This embodiment has the same concept as the embodiment of FIG. In the example, the mode change command is AS
CII code string "05 23 80 00 58 (H
EX) ”, change to execution mode, ASC
II code string "05 23 80 01 57 (HE
X) "defines a change to debug mode, where the first byte of the ASCII code string is the length of this code string, the second and third bytes are fixed, and the fourth byte is the execution mode. Indicates the debug mode, and the fifth byte is a checksum.

Now, in the case of the present embodiment, there is a possibility that an interrupt is generated every time each byte is received.
It is checked whether or not the data of 5 bytes or more is ready in the receive buffer of 5 bytes or more prepared by the interrupt processing program in advance. If not, the process returns from the interrupt. Check if there is, if not, return from the interrupt, if it is a mode change, store the mode change command in the RAM 6, send a mode change notification to the computer 7, perform a software reset, In the operation procedure shown in FIG. 2, the mode can be switched between the execution mode and the debug mode.

FIG. 7 shows an image processing apparatus A according to the present invention.
9 shows an embodiment of a program of a debug monitor that receives a mode change, and the debug monitor is configured to wait for reception in a polling process. If it is a mode change command, the mode change command is
And sends a mode change notification to the computer 7 to perform a software reset. In this manner, the mode can be switched between the execution mode and the debug mode by the operation procedure shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method for establishing communication of the computer 7 with the image processing apparatus A according to the present invention.
First, a communication protocol file is read according to this flowchart. The communication protocol file is a file that describes all possible combinations of communication protocols at present. As shown in the figure, the file is rewritten when communication is established. The latest protocol is read first in chronological order, and the oldest communication protocol is rewritten so that it is read last. That is, the protocol is rearranged so that the next search for the protocol at the time when the communication is established is performed first.

Next, the RS-232-C port 10 is initialized with the protocol read from the communication protocol file. Next, the computer 7 sends the mode switching command defined in FIG. 5 or 6 to the image processing apparatus A. As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the interrupt processing program and the debug monitor constantly check whether a mode switching command has been received. If the communication protocol is different between the image processing apparatus A and the computer 7, data is not normally transmitted from the image processing apparatus A side. Therefore, the computer 7 does not receive the mode change notification from the image processing apparatus A, and a timeout occurs.

When this timeout occurs, the next communication protocol is read from the communication protocol file.
If the communication protocol that caused the timeout is the final protocol, a "communication establishment failure" is notified. When the mode change notification is received, it means that communication has been established, and the communication protocol file is updated.

[0030]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an execution mode operating according to a predetermined program, and a debug mode for creating a program executed in the execution mode. Each mode is switched by the mode change command.
The switching between the execution mode and the debugging mode can be performed by a computer operation, so that a switching switch for switching the mode is not required, and remote control is possible. As a result, the image processing device is incorporated in the production equipment, so that it is practically possible. Even when the switch cannot be operated, there is an effect that customization such as debugging and saving of a program can be performed if an interface for connecting to a computer such as a personal computer is outside.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, in the execution mode, a data reception interrupt from a computer connected via the interface is received, and the received data is a mode change command in the activated interrupt processing program. Is recognized, the mode is switched from the execution mode to the debug mode, so that the execution mode can be changed to the debug mode by a command from the computer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, in the debug mode, a data reception interrupt from a computer connected via an interface is received, and the received data is a mode change command in the activated interrupt processing program. When the program is recognized, the mode is switched from the debug mode to the execution mode. Therefore, according to the invention of claim 1, in the debug mode, a command is transmitted and received between the computer connected via the interface so that the program can be debugged. When the debug monitor configured to execute the command recognizes the mode change command, the mode is switched from the debug mode to the execution mode. Therefore, the mode can be changed from the debug mode to the execution mode by a command from the computer.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an execution mode operating in accordance with a predetermined program, and a debug mode for creating a program executed in the execution mode, and a mode change from a computer connected via an interface. In the method for establishing communication between the image processing apparatus in which each mode is switched by a command and the computer, a combination of a plurality of communication protocols is held in the computer, and the communication protocol is established when communication with the image processing apparatus is established. Prepare a communication protocol file in which the combinations are arranged in the order of establishment, attempt communication with the image processing device in the order listed in the communication protocol file, and search for the communication protocol setting of the image processing device. If the computer is not There is an effect that Tokoru can establish a search and communication.

Particularly, in the invention of claim 6, in the invention of claim 5, since the combination of the held communication protocols is all conceivable protocols, the communication can be established more efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between the image processing apparatus and a computer.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an execution mode according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a debug mode according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of an interrupt processing program for receiving a mode change according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of an interrupt processing program for accepting a mode change according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of one embodiment of a debug monitor for receiving a mode change according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of establishing communication with the image processing apparatus by the computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List A Image processing apparatus 1 TV camera 2 Display 3 Image signal unit 4 CPU 5 ROM 6 RAM 7 Computer 8 RS-232-C port 9 RS-232-C control circuit 10 RS-232-C port 11 Application P ₁ System program P ₂ programs

Claims (6)

[Claims] An execution mode that operates according to a predetermined program and a debug mode for creating a program that is executed in the execution mode. Each mode is executed by a mode change command from a computer connected via an interface. An image processing apparatus characterized by switching. 2. In the execution mode, when a data reception interrupt from a computer connected via the interface is received and it is recognized that the received data is a mode change command in the activated interrupt processing program, the mode is changed from the execution mode to the debug mode. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching is performed. 3. In the debug mode, upon receiving a data reception interrupt from a computer connected via the interface and recognizing that the received data is a mode change command in the activated interrupt processing program, the mode is changed from the debug mode to the execution mode. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching is performed. 4. In a debug mode, when a computer connected by an interface so that a program can be debugged and a debug monitor made so as to be able to exchange commands recognize a mode change command, the mode is changed from the debug mode to the execution mode. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mode is switched. 5. An execution mode that operates according to a predetermined program, and a debug mode for creating a program that is executed in the execution mode. Each mode is executed by a mode change command from a computer connected via an interface. In the method for establishing communication between the image processing apparatus and the computer, the combination of a plurality of communication protocols is held in the computer, and when the communication with the image processing apparatus is established, the communication protocol combinations are arranged in the order of establishment. The communication between the image processing apparatus and the computer is characterized in that a communication protocol file is prepared, communication with the image processing and embedding is tried in the order in which the communication protocol file is arranged, and a communication protocol setting of the image processing apparatus is searched. How to establish. 6. The method for establishing communication between an image processing apparatus and a computer according to claim 5, wherein the combination of the held communication protocols is all possible protocols.