JPH11296777A - Remote control system for measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a remote control system for measuring instrument which can be easily added with measuring instruments or functions. SOLUTION: A terminal equipment management part 25 and a controller management part 25 dynamically register a terminal equipment 3 and a controller 4, and transmit modules in a distribution module group for terminal equipment and a distribution module group 23 for controller. A communication line reservation part 27 cooperates with the controller 4 to manage a communication line from the terminal equipment 3 to a measuring instrument 6-1 or the like having a peculiar function. A server cooperating part 43 is connected to a management server 2 to receive the distribution module group 23 for controller and cooperates with a measuring instrument management part 46 to manage the measuring instrument 6-1 or the like through a communication network 5 having a communication interface different from the communication network 5. A server cooperation part 33 is connected to a management server 3 and receives the distribution module group 22 for terminal equipment corresponding to a measuring instrument which a remote operator selects by a user input part 32, and a remote control part 34 remotely controls the measuring instrument 6-1 or the like through the communication line based thereon.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control system for a measuring apparatus in which a measuring apparatus is remotely controlled from a terminal provided at a location remote from a place where the measuring apparatus is set.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Most of conventional measuring device remote control systems for operating a measuring device from a remote place have been developed for a limited use. Further, in many systems in which a measuring device is remotely controlled using a communication network, the system is often developed on the assumption that a target measuring device exists on the communication network in advance. Furthermore, many systems using such a communication network have been developed on the assumption that each measuring device connects to the communication network through the same type of communication interface. In addition, since a terminal device for remote control has been developed for a specific application, a terminal device specialized for each system is often premised.

[0003]

As described above, since the conventional measuring device remote control system has been developed for a specific application, once it is necessary to change the system after the system has been developed, The change spreads throughout the system, and every time a change is made, the entire system must be reviewed.

Further, in the conventional system, it is assumed that the measuring device always exists on the communication network, and it is not possible to add the measuring device itself or change the function of the measuring device after the system is developed. Not much considered. Therefore, when a new measuring device is installed or a new function is added to the measuring device, all the devices related to the measuring device remote control system need to be reconfigured, added, deleted, etc. It is necessary to change functions.

Further, when existing measuring devices are used, each measuring device usually has a unique communication interface. However,
In a conventional system, all measuring devices must have the same communication interface, so that measuring devices having different communication interfaces cannot be incorporated into the same system. In addition, in conventional systems,
Since there is a restriction that only a specific terminal device can be used, there is a disadvantage that it cannot be easily replaced with another type of terminal device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to add a measuring device itself and add a function to the measuring device while centrally managing measuring devices scattered in a remote place. An object of the present invention is to provide a measuring device remote control system that can be easily performed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote control system for a measuring device that can incorporate measuring devices having different communication interfaces. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a remote control system for a measuring device that can remotely control a measuring device without using a terminal device for a specific system.

[0007]

According to an aspect of the present invention, a terminal device, a control device, and a management server are connected via a communication network, and under the control of the management server, A measurement device remote operation system that operates a measurement device having a unique measurement function from the terminal device through the communication network and the control device, wherein the management server controls an operation of the control device. And a terminal device module that controls the operation of the terminal device and a storage unit that stores in advance for each measuring device, and the control device module or the terminal device module corresponding to the measuring device the control device or the terminal device module. Transmitting means for transmitting in response to a request from a terminal device, and communication on the communication network between the terminal device and the control device in accordance with an instruction from the terminal device The control device recognizes the activation of the measurement device, puts the measurement device under its own control, and controls the control device module corresponding to the measurement device. From the management server, and controls the measurement operation of the measurement device according to the control device module, and the terminal device manages the terminal device module corresponding to the measurement device under the control of the control device. An operation relating to remote operation of the measuring device is controlled through the communication path in accordance with the terminal device module obtained from the server.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the control device recognizes the activation of the measuring device and notifies the management server of the activation, and the management server transmits the notification to the management server. Based on the measurement device information that indicates the measurement device under the control of the control device, the terminal device acquires the measurement device information from the management server, and corresponds to the measurement device selected according to the measurement device information. The obtained terminal device module is obtained. Further, the invention described in claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2
In the invention described in the above, a second communication is performed between the control device and the measurement device for each type of communication interface of the measurement device.
And the control device secures a communication path on the second communication network with the measuring device in response to the communication path management means securing or releasing the communication path. It is characterized by being released.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the remote control system for a measuring device according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, this measuring device remote operation system connects a management server 2, a terminal device 3, and a control device 4 to a communication network 1, and connects a control device 4, a measuring device 6-1 to a communication network 5. .About.6-n (n is a natural number). For convenience of explanation, FIG. 1 shows only one terminal device and one control device, but this is only a minimum configuration, and a plurality of terminal devices and control devices are provided like the measuring device. May be provided. In addition, in order to avoid complication, only the detailed configuration of the measuring device 6-1 is shown in FIG.
The detailed configuration of 6-n is exactly the same.

Next, each unit provided in the management server 2 will be described. The memory 21 stores a distribution module group 22 for terminal devices and a distribution module group 23 for control devices in advance. Among these, the terminal device distribution module group 22 is composed of n software modules to be distributed to the terminal device 3, and thereafter, these software modules are referred to as software modules T-1.
To T-n (not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity). The software modules T-1 to T-n are software for remotely controlling the measuring devices 6-1 to 6-n from the terminal device 3, respectively, and utilize functions unique to the corresponding measuring devices. I have.

On the other hand, the distribution module group 23 for the control device
Is composed of n software modules to be distributed to the control device 4, and these software modules are hereinafter referred to as software modules C-1 to Cn (for simplicity, they are shown in FIG. 1). Absent). Each of the software modules C-1 to C-n includes a measuring device 6
This is software for controlling the measurement operation performed in -1 to 6-n from the control device 4, and uses functions unique to the corresponding measurement device.

The communication section 24 controls communication between the communication network 1 and the management server 2. The terminal device management unit 25 dynamically registers the terminal device 3 via the communication unit 24, and manages the registered terminal device 3. To this end, the terminal device management unit 25, in response to a request from the terminal device 3, transfers the requested software module from the software modules T-1 to T-n that constitute the terminal device distribution module group 22 to the terminal device 3. In addition to the terminal device 3, the terminal device 3 is notified of measurement device information (measurement device information under control device management described later), which is information indicating measurement devices managed by the control device 4.

Similarly, the control device management unit 26 dynamically registers the control device 4 and the measurement devices under its control via the communication unit 24, and manages the registered control device 4.
For this purpose, in response to a request from the control device 4, the control device management unit 26 transfers the requested software module from the software modules C- 1 to C-n constituting the control device distribution module group 23 to the control device 4. 4 and notifies the terminal device management unit 25 of the above-described measurement device information. When remotely controlling the measuring devices 6-1 to 6-n under the control of the control device 4 from the terminal device 3, the communication path securing unit 27 controls the communication network 1 between the terminal device 3 and the control device 4.
In addition to maintaining and managing the above communication path, the control unit 4 is appropriately instructed to maintain and manage the communication path on the communication network 5.

Next, each unit provided in the terminal device 3 will be described. The communication unit 31 manages communication between the communication network 1 and the terminal device 3.
1 to the management server 2 via the communication network 1 and
It comes under the management of the management server 2. The user input unit 32 transmits various information input by the user as the remote operator to the server cooperation unit 33 and the remote operation control unit 37. The information input by the user includes information representing a specific measuring device selected from among the measuring devices under the control of the control device 4, and various instructions for remote control.

The server cooperation unit 33 connects to the management server 2 via the communication unit 31 and the communication network 1, receives the control device-managed measurement device information 34 from the management server 2, and
In addition to the above, the software module T-1 to T-n related to the selected measuring device is received from the management server 2 via the user input unit 32, and is stored in the memory 35 as the receiving terminal device module 36. For example, if the remote operator selects the measuring device 6-n, the measuring device 6-n
The software module T-n corresponding to -n is stored as the receiving terminal device module 36. In other words, only the software modules corresponding to the activated measuring devices are registered in the receiving terminal device module 36. In addition, the server cooperation unit 33 includes the management server 2
It instructs the above-mentioned communication path securing unit 27 to secure or release a communication path between the terminal device 3 and the measuring device selected by the remote operator.

Next, each unit provided in the control device 4 will be described. The communication unit 41 controls communication between the communication network 1 and the control device 4, and the other communication unit 42 controls communication between the control device 4 and the communication network 5. Accordingly, the control device 4 can connect to the management server 2 via the communication network 1 via the communication unit 41 and can be under the management of the management server 2. The server cooperation unit 43 connects to the management server via the communication unit 31 and the communication network 1, and manages the software modules C-1 to C-n related to the measurement devices 6-1 to 6-n under the control device 4. It is received from the server 2 and stored in the memory 45 as the reception control device module 44.
In other words, only the software modules corresponding to the activated measurement devices are registered in the reception control device module 44. The server cooperation unit 43 manages the measurement devices 6-1 to 6-n in cooperation with the measurement device management unit 46.

The measuring device management unit 46 recognizes that the measuring devices 6-1 to 6-n connected to the communication network 5 via the communication unit 42 have been activated, and dynamically registers the measuring devices. And manages the registered measuring devices. At that time, the measuring device management unit 4
6 actually manages the measuring devices under the control of the control device 4 according to the software modules stored in the reception control device module 44. The server cooperation unit 43 and the measurement device management unit 46 described above communicate with the communication path securing unit 27 on the management server 2 while communicating between the control device 4 and the measurement devices 6-1 to 6-n. It also performs maintenance and management such as securing and releasing roads.

Next, each unit provided in each of the measuring devices 6-1 to 6-n will be described. The communication unit 61 controls communication between the communication network 5 and each of the measurement devices 6-1 to 6-n. Here, the communication unit 61 is connected to the communication network 5 using a communication interface different for each measurement device. The measurement device-specific function unit 62 actually performs measurement in accordance with the description contents of the software module group transmitted from the management server 2 to the terminal device 3 and the control device 4, respectively. The measurement will be made using the function.

If there is a measuring device that cannot be connected to the communication network 5 due to a different communication interface or the like, a communication network to which the measuring device can be connected is provided separately from the communication network 5, and the communication network is connected to this communication network. The corresponding communication unit is provided in the control device 4 separately from the communication unit 42,
The new communication unit and the new communication network are connected to each other. In this way, the communication network (such as the communication network 5) to which the measuring device having the unique communication unit is connected is separated from the communication network 1.

Next, the operation of the remote control system for measuring apparatus having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 2 shows an operation sequence performed in the measuring device remote operation system. First, when the administrator of the measuring device remote operation system activates the management server 2 (step S1), the control device management unit 26 in the management server 2 performs control to join the measuring device remote operation system on the communication network 1. Whether there is a device, and a communication network 5 through the control device 4.
The monitoring of whether there is a measuring device participating in the measuring device remote operation system is started (step S2). Next, the administrator installs the control device 4 at an arbitrary location on the communication network 1 and installs the measuring devices 6-1 to 6-n at an arbitrary location on the communication network 5.
Is installed.

Next, the administrator activates one of the measuring devices 6-1 to 6-n (for example, the measuring device 6-n in this case) (step S3), and subsequently activates the control device 4 subsequently. (Step S4). Then, in the control device 4, the measuring device 6-n in which the measuring device management unit 46 is started is connected to the communication unit 42.
(Step S5), and registers the recognized measuring device in the measuring device management unit 46. Following this,
The server linking unit 43 connects to the management server 2 via the communication network 1 via the communication unit 41, and at this time, transmits information on the measuring device 6-n recognized in step S5 together (step S6). . In the management server 2, the control device management unit 26 registers the connected control device 4 in the control device management unit 26 together with the measurement device 6-n under its control (step S7). In this way, the measurement device 6-n is registered in the control device 4, and the control device 4 and the measurement device 6-n under its control are registered in the management server 2. Thereafter, the control device 4 and the measurement device 6-n are registered. There is no need for the administrator to make settings at the location where n is installed.

Upon recognizing the control device 4 on the communication network 1 and the measurement device 6-n on the communication network 5 under the control of the control device, the control device management section 26 executes the software corresponding to the measurement device 6-n. The module C-n is obtained from the control module distribution module group 23 and transmitted to the control apparatus 4 via the communication unit 24 and the communication network 1 (step S8). Accordingly, in the control device 4, the server cooperation unit 43 receives the software module C-n from the communication network 1 via the communication unit 41, and stores the received software module C-n in the memory 45 as the reception control device module 44. I do. Thereafter, the server cooperation unit 43 cooperates with the measurement device management unit 46 in accordance with the content described in the reception control device module 44, and
The management of -n is started (step S9). When a plurality of control devices and measurement devices are installed, steps S3 to S9 described above are repeatedly performed by the number of installed devices.

When the processes of steps S3 to S9 are completed for the activated control device and measuring device, the remote operator activates the terminal device 3 (step S3).
10). Then, in the terminal device 3, the server cooperation unit 33 connects to the management server 2 via the communication network 31 via the communication unit 31 (step S11). In the management server 2, after the terminal device management unit 25 registers the connected terminal device 3 in the terminal device management unit 25, the terminal device management unit 25 inquires the control device management unit 26 and performs measurement under the control of the control device 4. After obtaining information about the device (“measurement device information” shown in FIG. 2),
The measurement device information is transmitted to the terminal device 3 via the communication unit 24 via the communication network 1 (step S12). In the terminal device 3, the server cooperation unit 33 receives the measurement device information from the management server 2 via the communication unit 31 and converts the measurement device information into the control device-managed measurement device information 34 in the memory 35.
(Step S13).

Next, the user input unit 32 obtains the control device-managed measurement device information 34 from the memory 35 and displays the contents on a display to determine which measurement device is under the control of the control device 4. Is notified to the remote operator, and a request is made to select any of the measuring devices to be remotely controlled. In response to this request, the remote operator arbitrarily selects a measuring device to be operated from the measuring devices under the control device 4. Here, it is assumed that the remote operator has designated the measuring device 6-2. Then, the user input unit 32 sends information indicating the measuring device designated by the remote operator to the server linking unit 3.
Notify 3. The server cooperation unit 33 transmits the notified information to the management server 2 via the communication unit 31 via the communication unit 31 (step S14).

In the management server 2, the terminal device management unit 25 takes out the software module T- 2 corresponding to the measuring device designated by the terminal device 3 from the terminal device distribution module group 22, via the communication network 1. The data is transmitted to the terminal device 3 (step S15). In the terminal device 3, the server cooperation unit 33 receives the software module T-2 from the communication network 1 via the communication unit 31, and stores it in the memory 35 as the receiving terminal device module 36 (step S1).
6). Next, the server cooperation unit 33 acts on the communication path securing unit 27 on the management server 2 via the communication unit 31, the communication network 1, and the communication unit 24, and the measuring device 6-2 selected by the remote operator and the terminal device An instruction is made to secure a communication path between the three. As a result, the communication channel securing unit 27 is connected to the terminal device 3 and the control device 4.
Between the communication unit 24 and the communication network 1 and the communication unit 41 to instruct the server cooperation unit 43 and the measurement device management unit 46 on the control device 4 via the communication unit 24, A communication path between the control device 4 and the measurement device 6-2 is secured on the communication network 5 (step S17).

Thereafter, the remote operator enters the user input unit 3
A command to start the remote operation is given to the remote operation control unit 37 via Step 2 (Step S18). Then, the remote operation control unit 37
Is based on the content described in the module 35 for the reception measurement device,
The remote control of the measuring device 6-2 is controlled using the communication path secured between the terminal device 3 and the control device 4. In addition, the measurement device management unit 46 includes the reception control device module 4
In accordance with the description of No. 4, the specific measuring operation of the measuring device 6-2 is controlled using the communication path secured between the control device 4 and the measuring device 6-2.

Thereafter, when the remote operation is completed, the remote operator instructs the remote operation control unit 37 via the user input unit 32 to end the remote operation (step S19). When the remote operation control unit 37 instructs the server cooperation unit 33 to that effect, the server cooperation unit 33 sends the terminal device 3 to the communication path securing unit 27 via the communication unit 31, the communication network 1, and the communication unit 24.
To release the communication path between the device and the measuring device 6-2. As a result, the communication channel securing unit 27 releases the communication channel on the communication network 1 between the terminal device 3 and the control device 4, while releasing the communication channel on the control device 4 via the communication unit 24, the communication network 1, and the communication unit 41. To the server linking unit 43 and the measuring device managing unit 46 to release the communication path on the communication network 5 between the control device 4 and the measuring device 6-2.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the management server 2, the control device 4, and the measuring devices 6-1 to 6-n are activated by the administrator, and the remote operator is activated by the terminal device 3. Only the terminal device 3 is started, and the terminal device 3 specifies a measuring device to be remotely controlled and performs the remote control as appropriate. In the above-described embodiment, only the software module corresponding to the measuring device selected by the user is acquired as the receiving terminal device module 36 from the terminal device distribution module group 22.
Alternatively, all the software modules corresponding to the measurement devices described in the measurement device information acquired from may be acquired as the receiving terminal device module 36.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the control device module and the terminal device module are stored in advance in the management server for each measurement device, and the control device stores the control device module in the measurement device under its control. While acquiring the corresponding control device module from the management server and controlling the measurement operation of the measurement device, the terminal device acquires the terminal device module corresponding to the measurement device managed by the control device from the management server. And controlling operations related to remote operation of the measuring device using a communication path on a communication network between the terminal device and the control device. This allows the management server to collectively manage the modules that control the operations of the control device and the terminal device for each measurement device. Therefore, even when a measuring device is added or when there is a function addition or a function change to the remote operation performed by the terminal device, it is possible to cope only by adding or changing these modules. In addition, the terminal device
It is only necessary to connect to the management server via the communication network, to have an environment capable of acquiring and executing the terminal device module from the management server, and it is not necessary to use a limited specific terminal device as in the related art. .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the control device is notified by the control device that the measuring device has been started, the management server creates the measuring device information, and the terminal device is selected according to the measuring device information created by the management server. The terminal device module corresponding to the measured device is acquired from the management server. As a result, only the terminal device module relating to the measuring device selected by the remote operator as a target of the remote operation is transferred to the terminal device as needed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the control device and the measuring device are connected by the second communication network for each communication interface of the measuring device, and the communication path is secured and released on the communication network. Accordingly, a communication path on the second communication network between the control device and the measurement device is secured and released. Thereby, when the measuring device has a unique communication interface, it is possible to separate the second communication network to which the measuring device is connected from the communication network to which the management server and the terminal device are connected via the control device. Therefore, measuring devices having different communication interfaces can be connected to the measuring device remote control system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a measuring device remote operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation sequence of the system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 5 Communication network 2 Management server 3 Terminal device 4 Control device 6-1, 6-2 to 6-n Measuring device 21, 35, 45 Memory 22 Distribution module group for terminal device 23 Distribution module group for control device 24, 31 , 41, 42, 61 communication unit 25 terminal device management unit 26 control device management unit 27 communication path securing unit 32 user input unit 33, 43 server cooperation unit 34 control device managed measurement device information 36 receiving terminal device module 37 remote operation Control unit 44 Reception control device module 46 Measurement device management unit 62 Measurement device specific function unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A measurement device having a terminal device, a control device, and a management server connected by a communication network, and having a unique measurement function from the terminal device through the communication network and the control device under the management of the management server. A management device remote control system, wherein the management server includes a control device module for controlling the operation of the control device and a terminal device module for controlling the operation of the terminal device for each of the measurement devices in advance. Storage means for storing, transmitting means for transmitting the control device module or the terminal device module corresponding to the measurement device in response to a request from the control device or the terminal device, and according to an instruction from the terminal device Communication path management means for securing or releasing a communication path on the communication network between the terminal device and the control device, wherein the control device is Recognizing the activation of the measurement device, putting the measurement device under its own control, acquiring the control device module corresponding to the measurement device from the management server, and performing the measurement operation of the measurement device according to the control device module. The terminal device obtains the terminal device module corresponding to the measuring device under the control of the control device from the management server, and according to the terminal device module, the measuring device through the communication path. A remote control system for a measuring device, characterized by controlling an operation relating to remote control of the measuring device. 2. The control device recognizes the activation of the measurement device and notifies the management server of the activation of the measurement device, and the management server indicates a measurement device under the control of the control device based on the notification. Information, the terminal device acquires the measurement device information from the management server, and acquires the terminal device module corresponding to the measurement device selected according to the measurement device information, The remote control system for a measuring device according to claim 1. 3. The control device and the measurement device are connected by a second communication network for each type of communication interface of the measurement device, and in the control device, the communication path management unit secures the communication path. The system according to claim 1, wherein a communication path on the second communication network with the measurement device is secured or released in response to the release.