WO2013073023A1

WO2013073023A1 - Sequence program creation device

Info

Publication number: WO2013073023A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/076404
Authority: WO
Inventors: 孝行山岡; 康輝太田
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2011-11-16
Filing date: 2011-11-16
Publication date: 2013-05-23

Abstract

The present invention is provided with: a rule recording unit (5) that records a gesture table (50) that associates gestures resulting from operations using an input unit (1) with actions indicating the contents of editing a sequence program; an input processing unit (21) that, when there has been an operation using the input unit (1) when in a gesture mode for editing a sequence program using gestures, specifies a gesture corresponding to the performed operation on the basis of the gesture table (50) recorded at the rule recording unit (5); an editing control unit (22) that edits the sequence program in accordance with the editing contents indicated by the action associated with the gesture specified by the input processing unit (21); and a display control unit (23) that displays the sequence program after the editing by the editing control unit (22) at an editor window (30).

Description

Sequence program creation device

The present invention relates to a sequence program creation device.

Ladder is known as one of description methods of a sequence program executed by a programmable logic controller (PLC). Since ladders are easy to understand from the appearance, ladders are widely used when writing PLC programs.

Since the ladder program is intended to control the FA device, the processing is often a device value reference (sensor value reading, etc.) and a change (switch ON / OFF, etc.).

In the conventional ladder editor, there are a method of using a keyboard and a method of using a mouse as input operations when parts (hereinafter referred to as symbols) constituting a ladder are arranged on the ladder editor.

There are two methods of using the keyboard: a method of pressing a function key corresponding to a symbol, and a method of keying in a symbol name on a ladder editor.

Also, as a method of using a mouse, there is a method of searching for a symbol from a symbol list (toolbar, component selection window, etc.), selecting it with a pointer (mouse cursor), and placing the symbol on a ladder program. Pointing devices can be broadly classified into methods that move the pointer (mouse, trackball, touchpad, etc.) and methods that specify the position (coordinates) on the screen (touch panel, pen tablet (graphics tablet, etc.)). . For convenience, in the following description, the former is referred to as “pointer movement type” and the latter is referred to as “coordinate designation type”. Even when an input operation is performed using a coordinate-designated pointing device, the content of the operation is the same as when using a mouse. After specifying the position of the desired symbol from the symbol list, the ladder program Specify where to place the symbol.

The problem with the operation of a pointing device represented by a mouse is that even if the user wants to know the name of the symbol that he wants to input, it is necessary to search for the target symbol from a list of symbols. And the amount of finger movement), it is impossible to program quickly.

Also, an information processing apparatus that performs editing processing based on an editing command associated with a line drawing drawn by a drawing input means is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-149467

However, the invention described in Patent Document 1 must draw a line drawing on information on the screen. Therefore, when the invention described in Patent Document 1 is applied to the creation of a ladder program, the pointer must be moved one by one when the pointing device is a pointer movement type, and the position at which an operation is performed one by one in the case of a coordinate designation type. Since it must be changed, there arises a problem that it is difficult to input symbols quickly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a sequence program creation device capable of quickly inputting symbols with a small amount of operation.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a sequence program creation device for creating a sequence program by causing a user to perform an operation for editing a sequence program executed by a programmable logic controller on an editor screen. A rule storage unit that stores a gesture table that associates a gesture by an operation using a pointing device and an action indicating an editing content for the sequence program, and a gesture mode in which the sequence program is edited using the gesture When an operation using a pointing device is performed, an input processing unit that identifies a gesture corresponding to the performed operation based on a gesture table stored in the rule storage unit, and an input processing unit An edit control unit that edits the sequence program according to the editing content indicated by the action associated with the gesture, and a display control unit that displays the sequence program after being edited by the edit control unit on the editor screen. To do.

The sequence program creation device according to the present invention has an effect that the movement amount of a mouse or a finger when inputting a symbol is small and the sequence program can be edited quickly.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a ladder program creation device as a first embodiment of a sequence program creation device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a gesture table stored in the rule storage unit. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of symbol input processing using a gesture. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a ladder created by the sequence program creation device and displayed on the editor screen. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation contents and ladder transitions when creating a ladder. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation contents and ladder transitions when creating a ladder. FIG. 7A is a diagram schematically illustrating the amount of mouse movement during ladder creation. FIG. 7B is a diagram schematically illustrating the amount of mouse movement during ladder creation. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a gesture table stored in the rule storage unit. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an SFC program creation device as a third embodiment of the sequence program creation device according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a gesture table stored in the rule storage unit.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a sequence program creation device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a ladder program creation device as a first embodiment of a sequence program creation device according to the present invention. The ladder program creation device 10 is a grid-type ladder program creation device in which cells into which symbols are input are arranged in a grid pattern, and a cell on which a cursor is arranged is a symbol input position. The ladder program creation device 10 includes an input unit 1, a control unit 2, a display unit 3, a storage unit 4, and a rule storage unit 5. The input unit 1 is a user interface for a user to perform an operation, and is a pointer movement type pointing device. In the following description, it is assumed that the input unit 1 is a mouse, but other types of pointer movement type pointing devices can also be applied. The display unit 3 is a device that displays an editor screen 30 for editing the ladder 60, and an LCD, an organic liquid crystal panel, or the like is applicable. The storage unit 4 includes a storage area that the control unit 2 uses as a work area, and stores data of a program (ladder program) created by editing the ladder 60. The rule storage unit 5 stores, in a nonvolatile manner, a gesture table 50 that defines gesture rules (correspondence between gestures and actions (edit contents for ladders)).

The control unit 2 includes an input processing unit 21, an edit control unit 22, and a display control unit 23. The input processing unit 21 performs processing for specifying a gesture performed via the input unit 1. At this time, an operation “input” within “a certain period” is recognized as one gesture. For example, “a certain period” is a time during which the right button of the mouse is pressed, and “input” is a moving direction of the mouse (a direction designated by a mouse operation) and its order. The edit control unit 22 performs processing for assigning an action to the gesture specified by the input processing unit 21 and processing for executing the action. When assigning an action, the gesture is converted into an action by referring to the gesture table 50 stored in the rule storage unit 5. The edit control unit 22 also performs processing similar to that of a conventional ladder program creation device such as movement of a pointer. The display control unit 23 causes the ladder unit 60 to display the editor screen 30 on the display unit 3 by reflecting a change caused by input of a symbol or movement of the cursor according to the action executed by the editing control unit 22.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a gesture table stored in the rule storage unit 5. The arrows in the gesture column of the gesture table 50 indicate the order of the direction specified by the mouse operation. For example, the gesture in the fifth column from the top first performs the operation of specifying the upward direction and then moves the right direction. This means that a series of operations for performing a specified operation is defined as one gesture. The action indicates the processing contents for the ladder, and the action in which only the symbol name is displayed indicates that the process of inputting the symbol to the input position is performed. For example, the action “a contact” means inputting an a contact at the input position. In the gesture table 50 shown in FIG. 2, the direction designated by the mouse operation when inputting a gesture is given a meaning, the upper direction is “input symbol”, the lower direction is “output symbol”, and the right direction is “ruled line”. ", The left direction is" No ". Thereby, for example, gestures for inputting symbols are all defined to start from an operation for designating an upward direction. As an example, consider the case where it is desired to input the b contact, and the b contact is classified as an input symbol, which means the negation of the a contact. Therefore, the gesture is defined so that the user can input the b-contact by performing an operation of designating the upward direction and then performing an operation of designating the left direction. Note that during the operation of inputting a gesture, the editing control unit 22 does not perform a process of moving the pointer. For example, during an operation for inputting a gesture, even if the mouse is moved to the right as an operation for designating the right direction, the pointer does not move in the right direction.

By giving meaning to the direction specified by the mouse operation when inputting a gesture, for example, for a gesture for inputting a symbol, the user only has to memorize only the operation following the operation for specifying the upward direction specified first. Thus, it is possible to reduce erroneous operations. The same applies to gestures for output symbols and ruled lines.

The gesture rules shown in the gesture table 50 of FIG. 2 are an example, and it is possible to define different gestures. It is also possible to assign a plurality of symbol inputs to one gesture. For example, it is possible to assign an action for inputting both the a contact and the coil to one gesture. It is also possible to assign multiple actions to the same gesture. In this case, after specifying the gesture, it is preferable that the action candidates are displayed on the editor screen 30 in a pop-up screen so that the user can select an action to be executed. Furthermore, the operability can be improved by allowing the user to set the rules of the gesture by himself / herself.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of symbol input processing using gestures. When an operation using the mouse as the input unit 1 is performed, the input processing unit 21 checks whether or not it is in a mode for inputting a symbol with a gesture (gesture mode) (step S1). Here, the gesture mode is ON while the right mouse button is pressed, and the gesture mode is OFF when the right mouse button is released, and is performed while the right mouse button is pressed. A series of mouse operations is treated as one gesture. That is, the gesture is fixed when the right button of the mouse is released.

If the gesture mode is not ON (step S1 / No), the editing control unit 22 performs normal mouse operation processing such as movement of the pointer and selection of an object indicated by the pointer in accordance with the mouse operation (step S6). ), The process is terminated.

When the gesture mode is turned on (step S1 / Yes), the input processing unit 21 refers to the gesture table 50 stored in the rule storage unit 5 (step S2) until the time when the gesture mode is turned off. The type of gesture is specified with the series of operations as one gesture (step S3). The edit control unit 22 executes an action corresponding to the gesture specified by the input processing unit 21 (step S4). For example, when only the mouse operation for designating the upward direction is performed, the contact a is input to the input position. When a mouse operation for designating the left direction is performed following a mouse operation for designating the up direction, the b contact is input to the input position.

The display control unit 23 creates a ladder after the editing control unit 22 executes the action corresponding to the gesture, and displays the ladder on the display unit 3 (step S5).

A specific example of the operation of the sequence program creation device according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a ladder 60 that is created by the sequence program creation device 10 and displayed on the editor screen 30. An operation for creating the ladder 60 shown in FIG. 4 will be described on the assumption that the gesture table 50 shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the rule storage unit 5. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are diagrams showing the operation contents at the time of creating the ladder and the transition of the ladder 60. For convenience of explanation, a cell is specified by a combination of a column number (A to H) and a row number (1 to 3). In the figure, the shaded cell represents the cell where the cursor is placed and which is the input position. The parentheses in the arrow indicate the content of the gesture.

First, move the pointer to cell A1 where the symbol is first entered and left-click. This operation is a normal mouse operation. Thereby, the cursor (input position) moves to the left-clicked cell A1 (FIG. 5A).

まま While holding down the right button, use the mouse to specify the upward direction and release the right button. As a result, the a contact is input to the cell A1, and the cursor moves to the right cell B1 (FIG. 5B).

まま While holding down the right button, use the mouse to specify the upward direction and release the right button. As a result, the contact a is input to the cell B1, and the cursor moves to the right cell C1 (FIG. 5C).

* While holding down the right button, specify the up direction, and then use the mouse to specify the left direction, then release the right button. As a result, the b-contact is input to the cell C1, and the cursor moves to the right cell D1 (FIG. 5D).

まま Hold down the right button and use the mouse to specify the down direction, then release the right button. Since this gesture is an operation to input a coil as an output symbol, the coil is input to the cell H1 at the end of the row instead of the cell D1, and the cursor moves to the cell A2 at the left end of the next row (FIG. 6 (e)). )).

まま While holding down the right button, use the mouse to specify the upward direction and release the right button. As a result, the contact a is input to the cell A2, and the cursor moves to the cell B2 on the right (FIG. 6 (f)).

まま Perform the operation to specify the right direction with the mouse while pressing the right button, and release the right button. As a result, a horizontal ruled line is input to the cell B2, and the cursor moves to the right cell C2 (FIG. 6 (g)).

Designated the right direction while holding down the right button, and further specify the upward direction with the mouse, and release the right button. As a result, a vertical ruled line is input to the cell C2, and the cursor moves to the leftmost cell A3 of the next row (FIG. 6 (h)).

The ladder 60 shown in FIG. 4 is completed by the above eight operations. In this example, after the pointer is first moved on the cell A1, the pointer does not move from the cell A1 while inputting by a gesture. That is, the symbols are input to the cells B1 and C2 with the pointer positioned on the cell A1.

In the above example, only symbols are input in a continuous operation, but it is possible that another operation is required on the way. Even in such a case, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to input a gesture regardless of where the pointer is located. For this reason, it is not necessary to move the pointer from the toolbar area or the part selection window to perform another operation and then return the pointer to the toolbar area or the part selection window.

Also, if you want to delete a symbol that has been entered incorrectly, it was necessary to select the delete menu after displaying the context menu in the past, but in this embodiment, you can hold down the right mouse button. By left-clicking, the symbol can be deleted by gesture, and the amount of mouse movement can be reduced.

In the above description, the gesture mode is turned on while the right button of the mouse is pressed. However, the gesture mode can be turned on by clicking the right button of the mouse. In this case, if no mouse operation is performed for a certain period after the last mouse operation, the gesture mode is turned off and the gesture is determined. By enabling the user to arbitrarily set the time from the last mouse operation until the gesture mode is turned off, it is possible to customize according to the speed of each user's input operation. Can be improved. It is also possible to provide an icon for turning on the gesture mode on the editor screen and turn on the gesture mode when this icon is pressed.

7A and 7B are diagrams schematically showing the amount of mouse movement during ladder creation. FIG. 7A shows the amount of mouse movement in the conventional ladder program creation device, and FIG. 7B shows the amount of mouse movement in the ladder program creation device 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment. The larger the arrow in the figure, the greater the amount of mouse movement. When inputting symbols using the toolbar 81 in the editor screen 35 with a conventional ladder program creation device, it is necessary to reciprocate the pointer on the toolbar 81 many times, which increases the amount of mouse movement, creating a program. It is difficult to improve speed. On the other hand, in this embodiment, in addition to not having to move the pointer on the toolbar 82 in the editor screen 30, it is only necessary to identify the operation direction and specify the gesture. Good. Therefore, the program creation speed can be improved.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to search for a symbol from the toolbar or the component selection window, or to perform an operation for aligning the pointer with the symbol, and the amount of movement of the mouse can be suppressed.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the ladder program creation device of the second embodiment of the sequence program creation device according to the present invention, the input unit 1 is a coordinate designation type pointing device. In the following description, it is assumed that the input unit 1 is a touch panel.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the gesture table 50 stored in the rule storage unit 5. By performing a tap operation on the touch panel which is the input unit 1, the gesture mode is turned on. After inputting each gesture shown in FIG. 8, a gesture is confirmed by performing a tap operation, and the gesture mode is turned off. For example, a symbol of the a contact can be input by performing a tap operation after moving two fingers down on the touch panel. Further, after moving two fingers on the touch panel, a b-contact symbol can be input by performing a tap operation after drawing a diagonal line. Furthermore, a symbol of an application instruction can be input by performing a tap operation after drawing a square on the touch panel. Note that the gesture table in FIG. 8 is merely an example, and it is possible to use different gestures.

In this embodiment, unlike Embodiment 1, it is not possible to give meaning to the direction specified when inputting a gesture, so the user needs to remember all the gestures. For this reason, when an input operation common to a plurality of gestures is performed, a display that suggests an input operation that can be continuously executed may be performed until the gesture is confirmed. For example, if an operation to move two fingers down on the touch panel is performed, a diagonal line is displayed as a dotted line between the two lines until the tap operation is performed, and then a diagonal line is displayed. It is possible to suggest that input is possible.

In the above description, a touch panel capable of multi-touch is taken as an example. However, when a touch panel or a pen tablet that does not support multi-touch is used as the input unit 1, a double-line gesture is performed by continuing a vertical line twice. It is also possible to correspond to the drawing operation.

In combination with the first and second embodiments, it is possible to provide two pointing devices of a pointer movement type and a coordinate designation type as the input unit 1 so that a symbol can be input by a gesture from either one. .

In this embodiment, an intuitive operation is possible by defining a gesture having a shape close to the input symbol in the gesture table.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an SFC (Sequential Function Chart) program creation apparatus according to the third embodiment of the sequence program creation apparatus of the present invention. The SFC program creation device 20 is a grid-type SFC program creation device in which cells into which symbols are input are arranged in a grid pattern, and a cell on which a cursor is arranged is a symbol input position. The SFC program creation device 20 includes an input unit 91, a control unit 92, a display unit 93, a storage unit 94, and a rule storage unit 95. The input unit 91 is the same as the input unit 1 of the first embodiment. The display unit 93 is a device that displays an editor screen 930 for editing the SFC 960. The storage unit 94 includes a storage area used as a work area by the control unit 92, and stores data of a program (SFC program) created by editing the SFC 960. The rule storage unit 95 stores a gesture table 950 that defines gesture rules in a nonvolatile manner.

The control unit 92 includes an input processing unit 921, an edit control unit 922, and a display control unit 923. These are the same as the input processing unit 21, the edit control unit 22, and the display control unit 23 of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a gesture table stored in the rule storage unit 95. The arrows in the gesture column of the gesture table 950 indicate the order of directions specified by the mouse operation. As actions, processing for inserting and deleting symbols in SFC such as steps, transitions, branches, and convergence is defined.

Although the editing target is SFC instead of ladder, the operation flow of the SFC program creation device 20 according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the ladder program creation device 10 of the first embodiment, and the gesture mode is ON. If so, the SFC 960 on the editor screen 930 is edited by executing an action corresponding to the gesture. Thereby, the amount of mouse movement at the time of SFC program creation can be reduced, and the program creation speed can be improved.

As in the second embodiment, the present invention can be implemented as an SFC program creation device using a coordinate designation type pointing device.

As described above, the sequence program creation device according to the present invention is useful in that the amount of movement of a mouse, a finger, and the like is small and the program creation speed can be improved. Is suitable.

DESCRIPTION OF

SYMBOLS

1,91 Input part 2,92

Control part

3,93

Display part

4,94 Storage part 5,95 Rule storage part 10 Ladder program creation apparatus 20 SFC program creation apparatus 30, 930

Editor screen

50, 950 Gesture table 60 Ladder 82 Toolbar

Claims

A sequence program creation device for creating a sequence program by causing a user to perform an operation for editing a sequence program executed by a programmable logic controller on an editor screen,
A rule storage unit for storing a gesture table in which a gesture by an operation using a pointing device and an action indicating editing contents for the sequence program are associated;
When an operation using the pointing device is performed during a gesture mode in which the sequence program is edited using the gesture, the gesture corresponding to the performed operation is stored in the rule storage unit. An input processing unit that is identified based on the gesture table;
An editing control unit that edits the sequence program according to the editing content indicated by the action associated with the gesture specified by the input processing unit;
A display control unit for displaying the sequence program after editing by the editing control unit on the editor screen;
A sequence program creation device comprising:
The pointing device is a method of moving a pointer on the editor screen,
The operation using the pointing device is an operation of designating a direction with the pointing device,
2. The sequence program creation device according to claim 1, wherein during the gesture mode, movement of the pointer according to an operation using the pointing device is stopped.
The pointing device is a method for designating an arbitrary position on the editor screen,
The sequence program creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation using the pointing device is an operation of drawing a predetermined shape on the editor screen by the pointing device.