JPH11237911A - Autonomous controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an autonomous controller which can autonomously controls a control object such as a manhole pump and also can quickly and surely notify a manager of the failure of the control subject even when the controller is installed at a place where the controller is hardly monitored directly. SOLUTION: This controller is provided with a control device 31 which autonomously controls manhole pumps 1 and 2 and also detects the failures of the pumps 1 and 2 based on the water level in a manhole that is detected by a water level detector 4 to write the pump failure data into a prescribed address (address A) of a dual port memory 33 and a notifying device 32 which notifies a notifying destination 6 of the effect that the pumps 1 and 2 are in failure via a public network 5 in the case that the data which are read out of the address of the memory 33 are the pump failure data. Meanwhile, the device 32 monitors the state of the device 31 via the memory 33 and notifies the destination 6 of the effect in the case that the device 31 is in failure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an independent control device which is installed in a place where direct monitoring by humans is difficult (for example, underground) and controls an object to be controlled such as a manhole pump.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been known a manhole pump for pumping sewage flowing through a sewer through a manhole. The sewage is sent to the sewage treatment plant using the height difference of the sewer, but it is difficult to maintain this height difference over a long distance. For this reason, in the manhole provided at a predetermined interval in the sewer, the sewer is designed so that the sewage flowing from the upstream is pumped up by the manhole pump and discharged to the downstream.

In general, a control panel for controlling start / stop of a manhole pump is mounted on a concrete pillar or the like set up on the ground. However, since the control panel has a large external dimension (for example, the external dimension of a case for housing the control panel is about 700 mm × 500 mm × 1600 mm), and requires a large installation space, it is necessary to secure the installation place on the ground. In some cases, it can be difficult. For example, there is a possibility that pedestrians may be hindered, and installation on the sidewalk must be abandoned, or negotiations with landowners are not successful and installation on private land has to be abandoned Such as a case. Therefore, it has been conventionally proposed to bury the control panel underground.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a configuration in which a conventional control panel is buried underground. As shown in this figure, the underground control panel 4
To 0, a manhole pump 41, a water level detector 42 for detecting a water level in the manhole, and a public network 43 on the ground are connected. The control panel 40 includes a control device 44 and a notification device 45. The control device 44 controls the start / stop of the manhole pump 41 according to the water level detected by the water level detector 42, and controls the water level detector. A failure of the manhole pump 41 is detected based on the water level detected by the controller 42, and a failure signal indicating the failure is output. In addition, the notification device 45 transmits a failure signal from the control device 44 to the public network 43.
Transfer to the report destination 46 via

The control panel 40 includes a nonvolatile memory for storing an operation program describing the operation of the control panel 40, and a C for executing the operation program stored in the nonvolatile memory.
It comprises a PU (Central Processing Unit), a rewritable memory accessed by the CPU, various interfaces, a modem, a power supply, and the like. Has been realized.

[0006]

However, when the control panel 40 is buried underground as shown in FIG. 4, the control device 44 fails, and even if the manhole pump 41 fails, a failure signal is output from the control device 44. There is a case that is not done. In such a case, there arises a problem that the manager of the report destination 46 does not notice the failure of the manhole pump 41 and cannot take prompt action. Further, the configuration shown in FIG. 4 has a problem that if the notification device 45 fails, the failure signal from the control device 44 is not transferred to the notification destination 46, and the administrator cannot take prompt action as described above.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and in a self-contained control device that self-controls a control target such as a manhole pump, even if the control target is installed in a place where direct monitoring is difficult, It is an object of the present invention to provide an independent control device capable of promptly and surely notifying a manager of a failure.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an independent control device according to the present invention is provided in a place where direct monitoring by a human is difficult, and the independent control device independently controls a controlled object. A control means for controlling the control object independently and detecting a state of the control object, and a notification means for notifying a detection result by the control means and monitoring a state of the control means to notify a monitoring result. It is characterized by having. According to this configuration, the state of the control means (for example, “abnormal”) is notified to the administrator or the like.

In the above configuration, the control means may be configured to monitor the status of the notifying means and notify a monitoring result, or may monitor the status of the notifying means, and the monitoring result may be determined by the monitoring result. The detection result may be reported when the abnormality of the reporting means is indicated. In the former case, the status of the control means such as abnormal / normal is monitored and notified to an administrator or the like. In the latter case, even if the state of the reporting means is abnormal, the state of the control target is reported to the administrator or the like.

Further, in the above-mentioned configuration, the notifying means may notify the detection result and the monitoring result via a communication line. In this case, the control target and the control means are notified to a remote supervisor. Can be notified. Further, in the above-described configuration, the control unit and the reporting unit include a readable and writable storage unit, and the control unit and the reporting unit alternately read and write information from and to the storage unit. One of the notifying means monitors the other state by checking the content of the read information, and the control means notifies the detection result when a monitoring result regarding the notifying means indicates an abnormality of the notifying means, The notifying unit may notify a monitoring result regarding the control unit. In this case, the independence of the control means and the notification means is increased.

Further, in each of the above-described configurations, the control means and the notification means may be realized on independent hardware. In this case, the probability that both means will be abnormal at the same time is reduced.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a self-contained control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1: Configuration FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a manhole and related facilities in which an independent control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed. In this figure, a manhole MH is formed under the roadway CW. ing. 1, 2 is this manhole MH
Is a manhole pump installed in the inside, pumps up sewage flowing into the manhole MH from the inflow pipe IP,
Discharge from the water discharge pipe OP. Reference numeral 3 denotes a control panel for controlling start / stop of the manhole pumps 1 and 2, which starts / stops the manhole pumps 1 and 2 according to the water level detected by the water level detector 4 installed in the manhole MH. Control. Here, in order to avoid complicating the drawing, the illustration of the connection between the control panel 3, the manhole pumps 1, 2 and the water level detector 4 is omitted.

As is apparent from the figure, the control panel 3 is buried in a facility storage hole CH formed under the sidewalk MW, and is supplied with power from a power cable CB via a hollow pillar EP erected on the ground. And the support E
It is connected to the public network from the subscriber line TL via P.
An alarm lamp AL is attached to the support EP. The turning on / off of the alarm lamp AL is controlled by the control panel 3, and forms an independent control device together with the control panel 3. Further, not only the alarm lamp AL but also equipment such as a transaction instrument panel and an operation panel are attached to the column EP, but they do not require a large installation space unlike the control panel 3. For this reason, even if the support | pillar EP is stood on the sidewalk MW, it will not hinder pedestrian traffic. The equipment storage holes in which the control panel 3 is buried are provided with waterproofing measures, thereby avoiding a situation where the control panel 3 is flooded.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of the self-contained control device according to the present embodiment. In this figure, the same reference numerals are given to parts common to FIG. It is assumed that the report destination 6 in the figure has a manhole MH manager. In this figure, the components of the self-contained control device according to the present embodiment include a control panel 3, a water level detector 4,
And an alarm lamp AL. The point that this self-standing control device differs from the conventional one is that an alarm lamp AL is added,
The point is that the configuration of the control panel 3 is changed.

The control panel 3 is provided with a control device (control means) 31 composed of certain hardware, a reporting device (reporting means) 32 composed of another hardware, and accessible from both devices 31, 32. Dual port memory 3
And 3. The control device 31 controls the manhole pump 1 according to the water level detected by the water level detector 4.
2 is controlled, the failure of the manhole pumps 1 and 2 is detected based on the water level detected by the water level detector 4, and pump failure notification data indicating the failure is sent to the specific address ( Thereafter, the data is written to the address A). The notification device 32 reads data from the address A of the dual port memory 33 at predetermined time intervals, and when the data is the pump failure notification data, the data indicating that the pump has failed from the internal modem (hereinafter referred to as pump failure data). ) Is transferred to the report destination 6 via the public network 5.

The control device 31 and the notification device 32 are configured to monitor each other's status via the dual port memory 33. Specifically, the control device 31 writes predetermined control device normality notification data to a specific address (address B) of the dual port memory 33 at predetermined time intervals, and the notification device 32 writes the data of the dual port memory 33 at predetermined time intervals. Write predetermined notification device normal notification data to address B. Further, the control device 31 and the notification device 3
2 is configured to read data stored at the address B of the dual port memory 33 immediately before the write processing.

FIG. 3 shows how the dual port memory 33 is accessed. However, in this figure, only the access timings for reading and writing the control device normal notification data and the notification device normal notification data are shown. As shown in this figure, at the address B of the dual port memory 33, the writing of the notification device normal notification data is completed before the reading by the control device 31,
The operation timing of the control device 31 and the notification device 32 is set so that the writing of the control device normal notification data is completed before the reading by the notification device 32. Further, the control device normal notification data and the notification device normal notification data are fixedly set so that the contents are different from each other. Therefore, when the control device 31 and the notification device 32 are operating normally, the content of the data read from the address B by each device is different from the content of the data written to the address B immediately before itself. The control device 31 and the notification device 32 are configured to monitor each other's state using this fact.

When the control device 31 is not operating normally, the notification device 32 sends data indicating that the control device has failed (control device failure data) from the internal modem via the public network 5 to the notification destination. Transfer to 6. On the other hand, the control device 31
When the notification device 32 is not operating normally, when the failure of the manhole pumps 1 and 2 is detected based on the water level detected by the water level detector 4, the power supply to the alarm lamp AL is started.

In this self-contained control device, the control device 31 and the notification device 32 are configured as independent systems except for a clock signal. this is,
This is because by increasing the independence of the devices 31 and 32, the probability that both devices stop operating simultaneously is reduced. As is apparent from the above description, in the related art, when the control device breaks down, there is a very high possibility that the notification device realized by the same hardware will stop. Therefore, in the conventional device, even if a function of detecting a failure of the control device is added to the notification device, the notification device also stops when the control device fails, and there is a high possibility that the failure of the control device cannot be notified. . Therefore, in this self-contained control device, the control device 31 and the notification device 32 are configured by independent hardware, and the probability that both devices stop operating simultaneously is reduced.

More specifically, a non-volatile memory storing an operation program describing the operation of its own device, a CPU executing the operation program stored in the non-volatile memory, various interfaces, and the like are provided for each of the devices 31 and 32. The dual port memory is shared as a work memory for both CPUs. Note that both CPUs and the dual port memory operate in synchronization with the same clock signal. Of course, the work memories of both CPUs may not be shared, but may be provided separately for each CPU, and the two devices 31, 32 may be connected via the I / O interface. In order to control, various information other than those described above (such as control information of the manhole pumps 1 and 2 and information indicating a change in the water level in the manhole MH) are required.
Since it is necessary to secure a sufficient bandwidth between the two devices 31 and 32, in this embodiment, the dual port memory 3 is used.
3 is shared. Needless to say, a memory other than the dual-port memory may be provided for each of the devices 31 and 32, and the role of the CPU as a work memory may be excluded from the dual-port memory 33, so that a configuration with higher independence may be adopted.

2: Operation The operation of the self-contained control device having the above-described configuration will be described in different cases. (1) When the control device 31 and the notification device 32 are operating normally When the control device 31 and the notification device 32 are operating normally, the data stored in the address B of the dual port memory 33 is stored in the control device 31 And the notification device 32 are alternately rewritten. By confirming the rewriting, each device 3
1, 32 recognize that the other device is operating normally. In such a situation, when the manhole pumps 1 and 2 fail and the water level detected by the water level detector 4 becomes an abnormal value, the control device 31 writes the pump failure data to the address A of the dual port memory 33. This address A
Is written by the notification device 32 and transferred to the notification destination 6 via the public network 5.
When the administrator of the report destination 6 recognizes the reception of the pump failure data, the notification of the failure of the manhole pumps 1 and 2 to the administrator is completed.

(2) The control device 31 fails and the notification device 3
When the control device 31 is malfunctioning and the notification device 32 is operating normally, the content of the address B of the dual port memory 33 is not rewritten by the control device 31. ,
The notification device 32 reads the notification device normal notification data written by itself from the address B. This allows
The notification device 32 detects that the control device 31 has failed, and the control device failure data is notified to the notification destination 6 via the public network 5. The reception of this controller failure data is reported to destination 6
Is notified, the notification of the failure of the control device 31 to the administrator is completed.

(3) The notification device 32 fails and the control device 3
1 is operating normally When the notification device 32 is out of order and the control device 31 is operating normally, the contents of the address B of the dual port memory 33 are not rewritten by the notification device 32. ,
The control device 31 reads the control device normal notification data written by itself. Thereby, the control device 31 recognizes that the notification device 32 has failed. In such a situation, when the manhole pumps 1 and 2 fail and the water level detected by the water level detector 4 becomes an abnormal value, the control device 31 starts supplying power to the alarm lamp AL on the ground, and the alarm lamp AL Light. Therefore, if a mechanism is provided in which the pedestrian who visually recognizes the lighting of the alarm lamp AL notifies the administrator, the failure of the manhole pumps 1 and 2 is notified to the administrator.

3: Summary As described above, according to the self-contained control device of the present embodiment, if at least one of the control device 31 and the notification device 32 is normal, the manhole pumps 1 and 2 and the control device 31 fail. Can be notified to the administrator. Moreover, since the control device 31 and the notification device 32 are independent systems, the probability that both of them have failed at the same time is extremely low, and the situation that the failure of the manhole pumps 1 and 2 cannot be notified to the administrator hardly occurs. .

4: Supplement In the above-described embodiment, the control device normal notification data and the notification device normal notification data are fixed values. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in each of the control device 31 and the notification device 32, a predetermined number is added to the data read from the address B and written to the address B. When the read data is the same as the data written immediately before itself, the other It may be determined that one of the devices is out of order.

In each of the devices 31 and 32, it is not necessary to make the write address and the read address of the data for judging the abnormality / normal of the other device coincide with each other.
It suffices that the write address of the control device 31 matches the read address of the notification device 32, and the write address of the notification device 32 matches the read address of the control device 31.

Furthermore, an example has been shown in which the alarm lamp AL is used as a means for notifying the failure of the manhole pumps 1 and 2 to the ground when the notification device 32 fails, but instead, an alarm buzzer or telephone contact information is notified. For example, a sounding device that emits sound may be used. Further, the modem in the notification device 32 may be shared by the notification device 32 and the control device 31, and information indicating a failure may be notified from any of them to the notification destination 6 via the public network 5. Further, the control device 31 is configured to immediately notify or report when a failure of the reporting device 32 is detected.
May be configured.

Further, an example in which the present invention is applied to the control system of the manhole pumps 1 and 2 has been described. Further, a sufficient effect can be obtained even when applied to any independent control system installed in a place where direct or continuous monitoring by humans is difficult, not limited to underground.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Not only the state of the control target but also the state of the control means can be promptly and reliably notified to the administrator. Therefore,
Even if the control means breaks down, some countermeasures can be taken before the control target abnormally operates, and the reliability of the self-contained control device can be improved. Further, if the state of the notifying unit is notified to the monitor, or if the state of the notifying unit is abnormal, the state of the control target is notified, the reliability can be further improved.

Further, if the state of the control target or the control means is notified via the communication line, the burden on the administrator can be reduced. Further, if the control means and the notification means alternately read and write information from and to the readable and writable storage means to monitor the other state, the independence between the control means and the notification means is increased, and the reliability is further improved. Can be improved. If the control means and the notification means are realized on independent hardware, the independence of the control means and the notification means can be further enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an independent control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a manhole on which the self-sustaining control device is installed and related facilities.

FIG. 3 shows a dual port memory 33 of the self-contained control device.
6 is a time chart showing a state of access to the server.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example when a conventional control panel is buried underground.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 ... manhole pump, 3 ... control panel, 4 ... water level detector, 5 ... public network, 6 ... report destination, 31 ... control device, 32 ...
Notification device, 33 ... Dual port memory

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An autonomous control device installed in a place where direct monitoring by a human is difficult, and autonomously controlling an object to be controlled, a control means for autonomously controlling the object to be controlled and detecting a state of the object to be controlled. And a notifying means for notifying the detection result by the control means, monitoring the state of the control means and notifying the monitoring result. 2. The autonomous control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit further monitors a state of the notification unit and notifies a monitoring result. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit further monitors a state of the notifying unit, and notifies the detection result when the monitoring result indicates an abnormality of the notifying unit. Independent control device. 4. The autonomous control device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit notifies the detection result and the monitoring result via a communication line. 5. The control means and the notifying means include a readable and writable storage means, wherein the control means and the notifying means alternately read and write information from and to the storage means, and wherein the control means and the notifying means One monitors the other state by examining the content of the read information, and the control means notifies the detection result when a monitoring result related to the notifying means indicates an abnormality of the notifying means; 2. The self-contained control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit notifies a monitoring result regarding the control unit. 6. The self-contained control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit and the notification unit are realized on independent hardware.