JPS62131330A - Output unit for programmable controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a programmable controller by which a sound signal can be obtained without preparing a hardware separately by selecting a series of messages from a message group prepared in advance according to a sound output command by a user program. CONSTITUTION:A sound memory card 128 is inserted to a sound output unit 108 after a cover 124 is removed, and a ROM on which thirty two kinds of message data are written is built in the sound memory card 128. In the ROM, a word consists of eight bits, and an address storage area 130a in which start addresses and stop addresses are respectively stored by every message number are stored, and a sound data storage area 130b in which the message data by every message number are stored are provided. And messages No.4, No.5, and No.6 are set as silent messages, and the lengths of them are set as 1sec, 0.5sec, and 5sec, respectively.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an output unit of a programmable controller, and more particularly to an output unit of a programmable controller from which an audio signal is directly obtained.

(Summary of the Invention) In the output unit according to the present invention, a series of messages are selected from a group of messages prepared in advance according to an audio output command from a user program, and the messages are sequentially converted into audio signals.

The message group includes various types of voiced messages as well as multiple silent messages of different lengths, and a series of messages to be converted into an audio signal consists of multiple silent messages that are arbitrarily combined into voiced messages. It is formed by being inserted between.

(Prior Art and its Problems) When various industrial machines are controlled using a programmable controller, it is often preferable for the machine to give necessary information to the user of the programmable controller by voice.

Conventionally, in such cases, an audio signal generator, an endless tape device, etc. constructed using a speech synthesis LSI, etc., is prepared, and a binary signal is given to that type of device from the output unit of the programmable controller. Machine information was given to the programmable controller user via voice.

However, in the past, a device for obtaining audio signals was prepared separately from the output unit of the programmable controller, resulting in a problem that the system became complicated and expensive.

(Object of the invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems,
The purpose is to provide an output unit of a programmable controller from which an audio signal can be obtained directly without the need for other equipment.

(Structure and Effects of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a message storage means for storing a plurality of silent messages of different lengths together with various sound messages, and a voice output command obtained by a user program. a message reading means for reading out a series of messages in which a plurality of arbitrarily combined silent messages are inserted between sound messages from the message storage means in accordance with the voice output command. and audio signal generating means for successively converting each message into an audio signal.

As described above, according to the present invention, the audio signal is directly outputted from the output unit without preparing a separate device.
It becomes possible to make the configuration of the programmable controller simple and inexpensive.

In general, according to the present invention, since a silent message is inserted between spoken messages, it is possible to easily form a silent section of a certain length between messages.

Furthermore, since the data of the silent message forming the silent part can take the same command form as the data of other voiced messages on the user program, it is possible to immediately check it from the monitored user program.

On the other hand, when the silent part is formed using a timer, the length of the message to be uttered first is calculated or measured, and the timer whose timer time has been set in advance times up as soon as the utterance ends. Sometimes a later message is uttered, but it is necessary to find the message length each time the message to be uttered first is changed, and it is also necessary to be aware of the timer time when creating a user program. Inconveniences arise, such as the fact that the timer command for forming a silent section, which has a different format from the command used for uttering a message, cannot be intuitively confirmed from the monitored user program.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to create, confirm, and change user programs more easily than when a timer is used to create silent sections between messages.

Particularly, according to the present invention, since silent messages arbitrarily combined are inserted between voiced messages, it is possible to precisely form free-length intervals between these voiced messages.

(Description of Embodiments) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

The programmable controller 1 to roller 100 whose appearance is shown in FIG. 1 includes a power supply unit 102, a CPU unit 104,
It is composed of a plurality of I10 units 106 and an audio output unit 108.

The units 102, 104, 106, and 108 are shaped like a book case, and are connected to each other by plugs provided on their backs being inserted into sockets on the rack 110 side.

The audio signal obtained by the audio output unit 108 is supplied to an amplifier 112, and the amplifier 112 drives a speaker 114.

FIG. 2 shows the external appearance of the audio output unit 108, and FIG. 3 shows its circuit configuration.

In FIG. 2, the front panel of the housing 116 has 32
120.8-bit DIR switch 122 from the jack from which the audio signal is taken out, front M
124 is provided, and a plug 126 of the amplifier 112 in FIG. 1 is inserted into the jack 120.

Here, M124 is removed and a voice memory card 128 is inserted into the voice output unit 108, and the voice memory card 128 has a built-in ROM 130 shown in FIG. 3 in which 32 types of message data are written. has been done.

This ROM 130 has 8 bits per word, and as shown in FIG. 4, the ROM 130 includes an address storage area 130a in which a message number, a start address, and a stop address are respectively stored.
A voice data storage area 130b in which message data is stored separately for message numbers is provided.

Messages No. 4, No. 5, No. 6 are all silent, and each of these messages has a length of 1.
seconds, 0.5 seconds, and 5 seconds. However, other No.
The message is considered to be audible.

Also, this ROM 130 has jumper wire 1 in FIG.
An identification bit whose state can be set by disconnecting 32 is provided to determine whether the audio output command given to the audio output unit 108 is in the code format shown in FIG.
Alternatively, the bit format shown in FIG. 6 is identified by the audio output unit 108 based on the contents of the identification bit.

Among these voice output commands, the code format shown in FIG. 5 has a length of 32 bits, and is obtained by executing a user program using the MOV command.

and O bit to 7 bits, 24 bits to 31 bits,
Data corresponding to the first message to be uttered, the next message to be uttered, and the last message to be uttered are each inserted in the 1-byte portion of 16 bits to 23 bits as a BCD code, and the 14th bit is (message recognition bit) changes from O to 1, thereby instructing the start of audio output.

When the 15th bit (priority function selection bit) becomes 1, priority utterance of these series of messages is commanded. The number and number of repetitions are each indicated.

On the other hand, the bit format audio output command shown in FIG.
This command is obtained by executing a user program using the OUT command.

And those 32 bits are written in ROM130.
Each bit corresponds to two types of messages, and when any bit changes from 0 to 1, audio output of the corresponding message is commanded.

Therefore, when a series of messages is to be audio output, a plurality of bit format audio output commands are sequentially given to the audio output unit 108.

The above audio output commands are input into the audio output unit 108 via the plug 136 inserted into the socket 134 of the system bus 3B shown in FIG. It is obtained by executing the user program in the CPU unit 104 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, the CPU unit 104 is connected to the system bus SB by inserting the plug 140h into the socket 138 provided on the system bus SB of the rack 110. Programming tools that have not been connected are connected.

A user program created by the programming tool is written in a FROM 144 of 8 bits per word, and the user program is written in a high-level MMH programmable controller language. In this embodiment, the program is in a format for inputting a ladder diagram.

This user program is stored in ROM14 with 8 bits per word.
6 (in this example, the system program written in EN
MPU 14 with 8-bit configuration according to D refresh method)
8, and during the execution, the RAM 150 of 8 bits per word is used for temporary storage of calculated values.

In addition, the RAM 152 uses 8 bits per word, and its address space includes an input/output canister where input/output can be assigned in 8-bit units, an auxiliary relay area, a count information area for the counter element, and a keep relay area. area, which is assigned to the time information area of the timer element.

FIG. 8 shows a system program written in the ROM 146, and when the system program is started by turning on the power, initial settings are made for the RAM 150, 152, etc. (step 200).

Next, various system service processes are performed (step 202), which include service processes such as monitoring and failure diagnosis, as well as program writing to the PROM 144 if a programming tool is connected.

Next, input update processing is performed (step 204), and in this input update processing, the states of the terminals assigned to the inputs in the I10 unit 4 are sequentially fetched in 8-bit units, and transferred to the corresponding addresses in the RAM 152. processing is performed.

Further, it is determined whether or not the operation mode of the programmable controller 100 is the RUN (operation) mode (step 206>), and if the RUN mode is not selected, the above operation is repeated.

After that, in the service process (step 202), when a key operation to select the RUN mode is performed and the selection is confirmed (affirmative determination in step 206), the user command is read from the PROM 144 according to the contents of the program counter, and the ladder Circuit calculations and the like are performed according to the contact connection relationships shown in the figure, and the corresponding output canisters in the RAM 152 are rewritten according to the calculation results (step 208).

In this embodiment, the user program of the programmable controller word 8H is executed indirectly via an interpreter program prepared in advance in the ROM 146.

When the instruction execution is repeated and the END instruction is read out, the instruction execution processing is ended and output update processing is performed (step 210).

In this output update process, the output contents of the RAM 152, which have been rewritten as a result of the instruction execution, are transferred to the eight terminals assigned as outputs of the I10 unit 4, and it is assumed that the RUN mode will continue to be selected. The conditions include system service processing (step 202>), input update processing (step 204), and command execution processing (step 20).
8>, the output update process (step 210) is repeatedly performed.

At that time, if a user program based on the MOV instruction shown in the ladder diagram of FIG. 9 has been written in the PROM 144, if it is confirmed that the OP code is based on the MOV instruction after reading the instruction, Input 1000 is ON
It is confirmed whether or not.

When input 1000 is turned on, data 0001
．． 0103.0204.0005.0O02 is sequentially transferred to the Qch (indicated by data OO) of the RAM 152 shown in FIG. 10, and corresponds to the 14th bit of the code format audio output command shown in FIG. The bit is then set to 1.

Furthermore, these data 0001.0103.0204.0
The lower 2 bits of data 01.03 of 005.0002
．． No. 2, No. 4 in Figure 4 by 04.05.02
, No. 5, No. 6, No. 3 are commanded to output message audio, respectively, and the third digit bit data 011.
2.0, those audio output times in Ol 1.2.3.1.
1 is indicated respectively.

In the case of a user program that uses the 0tJT instruction, when a predetermined contact is turned ON, for example, in FIG. 11, the 1st bit turns on once, the 3rd bit turns on twice, the 4th bit turns on three times, The corresponding area write process of the RAM 152 is performed so that the 5th bit becomes 1 once and the 2nd bit becomes 1, respectively.

However, when the OUT command of the OP code is executed, the area is always rewritten to the contents according to the calculation result of the corresponding output, but in the case of the MOV code, the contents of the channel are rewritten only when the calculation result is ON. If it is OFF, the rewriting will not be performed.

The audio output command in FIG. 5 or 6 obtained as described above is divided into four times in 8-bit units and time-divisionally outputs CPt.
is sent from the J unit 104 onto the system bus 3B,
As shown in FIG. 3, the data is converted into parallel 32 bits by a latch section 154 provided in the audio output unit 108.

The latch section 154 has four 8-bit latch circuits connected in parallel, and each latch circuit can be selectively accessed via an address decoder, and the parallel 32-bit data (audio The output command) is output to the audio output unit l-1 in 8-bit units by the latch unit 156.
It is sent onto the data bus DB in 08.

Note that this latch section 156 has four 8-bit latch circuits arranged in parallel, and each gate output is commonly connected in units of 8 bits, so that each latch circuit is triggered simultaneously and each gate is connected to the address decoder output. It is possible to send data in units of 8 bits onto the data bus DB by selectively operating the data bus DB.

When the audio output command is taken in in this way, the MPU 158 of the audio output unit 108 processes the data from the latch section 156 according to the system program written in advance in the ROM 160, and in this process, the ROM
A series of messages are read out from 130, and the messages are converted into audio signals by a speech synthesis section 162.

In this embodiment, the ADPCM method is adopted to generate the audio signal, and the audio signal obtained by the audio synthesis section 162 is supplied to the output transformer 166 and the monitor amplifier 168 via the low-pass filter 164, and their outputs are is switched by the selector switch 170 and the jack 12
It is taken from 0.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, since the amplifier 112 is connected to the audio output unit 108, the changeover switch 170 is switched to the output transformer 166 side.

As shown in FIG. 12, the working RAM 172 is provided with first and second stack areas.
Each ED display 118 is connected to the data bus DB via a latch section 174.

This latch section 174 has substantially the same configuration as the latch section 154, and the outputs of the respective DIP switches 122 are taken in through the gate section 176.

When the power is turned on to the above audio output unit 108,
General initialization processing (not shown) is performed, and then the jumper wire determines whether the audio output command taken in from the system bus SB is in the code format shown in FIG. 5 or in the bit format shown in FIG. The determination is made using the identification bit set in step 132 (step 212 in FIG. 13).

At this time, if it is determined that the voice output command is in the code format shown in FIG. 5, initialization processing is performed for the first and second data areas of the working RAM 172 (step 214).

When the 14th bit of the audio output command changes from 0 to 1, an interrupt signal (interrupt 2) is given to the MPU 158, thereby starting the process shown in FIG.

In this process, the audio output command from the latch unit 154 is first transferred to the latch unit 156 and latched (step 216), and then read into the MPU 158 via the data bus DB (
step 218).

If it is confirmed that audio is not being output (negative determination at step 220), the audio output command is transferred to the second stack area that functions as a FIFO stack (step 222).

On the other hand, in the process shown in FIG. 13, after the initialization process (step 212), it is confirmed that the audio is not being output (
If a negative determination is made in step 224), and transfer of the audio output command to the second stack area is confirmed in the process of FIG.
8), the 0th bit to 7 in FIG.
The number of the message indicated by the bit-th BCD code and to be output as voice first is read (step 230).

The start and stop addresses corresponding to the message number are roughly read (step 232), and the address of the ROM 130 is set based on the start address (step 234).

And the LED display 1 corresponding to that message No.
18 is lit (step 236), the speech synthesis section 1
A start command is output to 62, and a flag indicating that audio is being output is set (step 238).

According to the setting of the start address, 1 byte of data stored at the corresponding address is read out from the audio data ROM 130 side to the voice synthesis section 162.
At 62, voice synthesis processing is performed in accordance with Star 1 to commands.

Through the voice synthesis process, voice signals corresponding to the message No. are synthesized for a minute amount of time, and when the synthesis is completed, an interrupt signal (interrupt 1) is sent back to the MPU 158.

The interrupt signal starts the process shown in FIG. 15, and it is determined whether the current set address has reached the stop address (negative determination in step 240 → step 242).
At step 244, it is determined that the voice output command is in the code format, at which time it is determined that the stop address has not been reached.

This increments the current configuration address (
Step 246>, the address of the ROM 130 is set using the new address (Step 248).

By setting the address, an audio signal for a minute period corresponding to the message No. 9 is synthesized, and an interrupt signal (interrupt 1) is sent back to the MPU 158, thereby repeating the above operations.

After that, when the current setting address reaches the stop address (affirmative determination in step 244), the speech synthesis unit 16
A stop command is sent to 2 (step 250>
, the LED display 118 corresponding to the sounding message No., which had been lit up until then, is turned off (step 25).
2).

Next, when it is confirmed that the voice output message is the first message and that the message concatenation is not 1 (affirmative determination in step 254, negative determination in step 256), the second message ( (see FIG. 5) are read (step 258).

After the start address of the second message is set (step 260), the LED display 118 corresponding to the message number is turned on (step 26).
2>, a start command is sent to the audio output unit 162 (
step 264).

As a result, the audio output of the second message is performed in the same manner as the first message, and when the end of the audio output is confirmed (affirmative determination in step 244), the third message is output in the same manner as the first message. (Negative determination in step 254, affirmative determination in step 266, negative determination in step 268, steps 270, step 272, step 262, step 264).

If the number of message connections is 1 or 2 (affirmative determination in steps 256 and 268 in FIG. 15), the message is repeated the number of times indicated by the 8th to 11th bits in FIG. It is determined whether or not the messages have been sent (step 274), and the messages are repeatedly output as audio for the number of repetitions (step 274).
5).

One or more new audio output commands are taken in during rough audio output (affirmative determination in step 220 in Figure 14, after the start command is sent until the stop command is sent) If so, a voice output command is pushed to the second stack area (step 276>, and each series of messages is voice output in the order in which the voice output commands arrive).

Then, when it is confirmed from the 15th bit in FIG. 5 that the voice output command newly taken in during voice output should be prioritized (affirmative determination at step 278),
It is determined whether or not the audio output command that is being outputted is also one that should be prioritized (step 280), and if the audio output command that is currently being outputted is not one that should be prioritized, the audio output is interrupted and a new one is issued. Audio output based on the audio output command is started, and after that audio output, audio output based on the original audio output command that was interrupted is resumed (step 2).
77.279.281.282).

Furthermore, if the voice output command that is currently being output is one that should be prioritized, the voice output is performed in the order of arrival (step 28
2).

If a voice output command to be given priority is taken in when no voice output is being performed, the command is stored in the first stack area on the priority side (step 284); Audio is output (first
Figure 3 step 285).

Also, when audio output is not being performed (13th
Figure: Negative judgment at step 224.226.228)
, when the test switch corresponding to the second bit of the DIR switch 122 is operated (affirmative determination at step 286), the message number specified by the operation of the 3rd to 7th bits of the DIP switch 122 is read ( In step 287), the message is output as audio.

The above processing is performed in accordance with a code format audio output command, but in the case of a bit format audio output command, an initialization process is performed in advance in the process shown in FIG. 13 (step 28B).

When the predetermined bit becomes 1, the bit change is confirmed after the audio output command is latched, and the message No. corresponding to that bit is stored in the first stack area of the working RAM 172 (steps 290 and 292).
and negative determination at 294, step 296.298
positive determination, step 300).

In the next cycle, it is confirmed that message data is stored in the stack (affirmative determination at step 292), and a message corresponding to the voice command is output as voice (steps 302, 304, 306, 30).
8, Figure 15 Step 310.312.314.31
6.318.32Q).

Furthermore, if the number of repetitions is specified by operating the third to sixth bit switches of the DIR switch 122, each message is repeatedly output as voice for the specified number of times (if a negative determination is made in step 320) ,
Step 322.324.326).

A new audio output command is latched during audio output,
and a change in state is recognized in a bit different from the previous one, and the priority function selection switch (DIP switch 12
(corresponding to the Oth bit of 2) is not manipulated (
(affirmative determination in step 290, positive determination in step 328, step 330, negative determination in step 332), the data of the new message number is sequentially bushed in the stack area (step 334), are sequentially output as voices in the order in which the voice output commands arrive.

Then, when the priority function selection switch is operated, the message with the smaller message number is prioritized and output as voice (affirmative determination in step 336, step 338.
340.342.334).

Also, when messages are stored in the stack and are not being output as audio, if the priority function is selected, the message with the lowest message number will be output first, and if it is not selected, the message will be output in the order of arrival. (Steps 344.346.348).

Further, when the operation of the test switch set as the second bit of the DIR switch 122 is confirmed (step 290.2
Negative determination at step 92, positive determination at step 294>
, 3rd bit to 7th bit 5 of DIP switch 122
Message number specified by bit binary data
, is read (step 350), and its message N
o, message is output as voice.

When the test switch is operated during voice output, the occurrence of a message interruption command is confirmed in the process shown in FIG. 15 (affirmative determination in step 240), and a stop command is immediately issued to the voice synthesis section 162. As well as (
Step 352), and the LED is turned off (step 354).

As a result, it becomes possible to forcibly interrupt the audio output of a message at any time.

Since the above processing is performed by the audio output unit 108, when the audio output command shown in FIG. 9 is given, the first
As shown in Figure 6, first, No.

Message No. 2 is audio output once (A in the same figure), then message No. 4 is audio output twice (C in the same figure),
Furthermore, the message No. 095 is audio output three times (D in the same figure), then the message No. 6 is audio output once (E in the same diagram), and finally the message No. 3 is audio output once (E in the same diagram). Figure B).

Here, as mentioned above, the messages No, 2, No, and 3 are all made sound, and the messages No.

The messages of 4, NO, 5, No, 6 are said to be silent for 1 second, 0.5 seconds, and 5 seconds, so NO, 2, No.
, 3, an interval having a length of 8.5 seconds is inserted between the voiced messages of 3 (FIG. 3F).

As explained above, according to this embodiment, the audio signal can be directly obtained from the output unit 108 without preparing any other device, so the configuration of the programmable controller 100 can be made simple and inexpensive. Become.

Roughly speaking, according to this embodiment, since a silent message is inserted between voiced messages, it is possible to easily form a silent part of a certain length between messages, and the data of the silent message forming the silent part can be easily formed. Since the message can take the same command form as the data of other voiced messages on the user program, it can be confirmed immediately from the monitored user program.

Therefore, it becomes possible to easily create, check, and change user programs.

Particularly, according to this embodiment, three types of silent messages with different lengths are prepared, and intervals are formed between voiced messages by arbitrary combinations of these, so the intervals can be freely and precisely set. becomes possible.

Also, as can be understood from Figure 9, the number of times each silent message is repeated can be set up to 10 times, so an interval of up to 65 seconds (=0.5X10+1X10+5X10) can be created in 0.5 second units between voice messages. becomes possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external view of the programmable controller, Fig. 2 is an external view of the audio output unit, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the audio output unit, Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the storage contents of the audio data ROM, Fig. 5, Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the format of the audio output command, Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the CPU unit, Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the system program of the CPU unit, Fig. 9 is a ladder diagram for explaining the user program, Fig. 10, 11th
12 is an explanatory diagram of the data storage contents of the input/output fiRAM, FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the stack area of the beam-king RAM, and FIGS. 13, 14, and 15 are flowcharts illustrating the system program of the audio output unit. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the audio output operation of the audio output unit. 100...Programmable controller 1-○-ra 104...
・CPLJ unit 108...Audio output unit 128...Audio memory card 130...Audio data ROM 132...Jumper wire 158...MPU 160...System program ROM 162...Audio synthesis unit 172... ...Working RAM 174...Latch section SB...System bus Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Me! /l-y"Nal~N0.16 May yb-V'No, 1t-No, 32 Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Fig. 1I br ----------br b. To f, t, nD:' SRAM Fig. 12 tz (2~〉RAM) Fig. 14 Fig. 16 Ink-11+le

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) a message storage means for storing a plurality of silent messages of different lengths together with various types of sound messages; a command importing means for importing audio output commands obtained by a user program from a system bus of a programmable controller; Message reading means for reading out from the message storage means a series of messages in which silent messages arbitrarily combined are inserted between voiced messages in accordance with a voice output command; and voice signal generation means for sequentially converting each message into a voice signal. An output unit of a programmable controller, comprising: .