JP6127701B2 - Control device support device and control device support method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to program development support for industrial controllers that control industrial machines, manufacturing apparatuses, and manufacturing lines.

In a factory, an apparatus that requires axis control by a servo motor often requires synchronous control by a plurality of axes. An electronic cam that realizes synchronization using cam data that associates the phase of the master encoder attached to the master axis that determines the timing of synchronization control and the position of the slave axis on a one-to-one basis as a method conventionally used when performing synchronization control Control is widely known (see Patent Document 1).
In addition, there are motion commands such as so-called positioning commands whose trajectory is defined by speed, acceleration, time, etc., and control for starting these motion commands by signal input or the like is widely known (see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent No. 3665008 JP 2009-282625 A

The rotation speed of the master encoder can be adjusted. When the speed is increased, the rotation speed of each servo motor and the moving speed of the workpiece are increased, and the productivity in the production facility using the synchronous control device is improved.
In order to increase the rotation speed of the master encoder, it is necessary to consider not only the limitation due to the speed limit depending on the specifications of various devices such as a servo motor, but also the limitation caused by the time relationship. In the support device for creating a control program as it is using the method, the cam operation is started by specifying the start angle, the control instruction by time cannot be performed, and the rotation of the master encoder considering the time constraint information There was a problem that the speed could not be calculated.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a control device support device that also takes into account the constraints caused by the time relationship.

The control device support device, based on the angle of the master encoder, for each control program for each axis to be controlled, based on the rotation speed candidate, the constraint including the time factor of each control program and external constraint information It has a productivity improvement department that judges whether it can be executed without warping.

According to the present invention, for each control program that controls each axis based on the angle of the master encoder, restrictions and external factors including the time factor of each control program based on the rotation speed candidates of the master encoder Since the productivity improvement unit that determines whether execution is possible without violating the constraint information is provided, it is possible to automatically generate a program in consideration of constraints caused by time.

The block diagram of the control apparatus assistance apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the operation example 1 of a manufacturing line. 6 is an example of a program setting screen for each axis by the control program information setting unit 5 according to the first embodiment. 6 is an example of a program setting screen for a signal to a machining device by the control program information setting unit 5 in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is an example of a program setting screen (timing chart format) for each axis by the control program information setting unit 5 in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the productivity improvement unit 11 in the first embodiment. The figure which shows the operation example 2 of a manufacturing line. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the productivity improvement unit 11 in the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the productivity improvement unit 11 in the first embodiment.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a control device support apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
The control device support apparatus 1 includes an input unit 2 that performs screen operations and inputs for development by a device developer, a display unit 3 that displays program information for synchronization control, a created synchronization control program, and external constraint information. The master encoder information is written in the control device, and the communication unit 4 that reads out the information stored in the control device and the program for each slave axis using the rotation angle of the master encoder, the execution time of the operation, etc. A control program information setting unit 5 for providing means for creating, a control program information managing unit 6 for managing the created control program information, and a condition that cannot be controlled by the controller using the rotation angle of the master encoder, time, etc. External constraint information setting unit 7 that provides a means for setting, and external constraint information for managing the set external constraint information A controller 8, an encoder information setting unit 9 that provides means for setting information such as the rotation speed of the master encoder, an encoder information management unit 10 that manages the set master encoder information, and the generated control program information, A productivity improving unit 11 for deriving the fastest rotation speed of the master encoder after satisfying the constraints written in the external constraint information.

  The control device support apparatus 1 includes an input unit 2, a display unit 3, a communication unit 4, a control program information setting unit 5, a control program information management unit 6, an external constraint information setting unit 7, an external constraint information management unit 8, and a master. The encoder information setting unit 9, the master encoder information management unit 10, and the productivity improvement unit 11 are also provided with a control unit 12 that manages execution and data reference.

The following operation example will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation example 1 of the production line.
In the production line using the synchronization device shown in FIG. 2, the signal of the master encoder attached to the master shaft for determining the timing of the synchronization control is input to the synchronization control device (CPU1) and the synchronization control device (CPU2). The CPU 1 controls the shaft 1, the shaft 2, and the shaft 3 based on the encoder signal, and the CPU 2 controls the belt conveyor.

The numbers listed below the belt conveyor indicate the position of the workpiece placed on the belt conveyor corresponding to the angle of the master shaft.
The axis 1 is located at a position of 20 degrees as the angle of the master axis, and is an axis for performing compression processing on the workpiece 1. The axis 2 is an axis for moving the axis 1 in accordance with the movement of the workpiece on the belt conveyor, and is movable from 20 degrees to 60 degrees depending on the angle of the master axis. The process of the axis 3 is used for the process after the end of the compression process on the axis 1 and is assumed to be positioned at 60 degrees as the angle of the master axis.

Suppose that there is a restriction that the workpiece is compressed for 3 seconds.
A workpiece introduced with a phase of 0 degree reaches the start point of the axis 1 at 20 degrees and reaches the start point of the process of the axis 3 at 60 degrees regardless of the rotation speed of the master encoder. In the case of such an apparatus, if the master encoder rotates 40 degrees or more within 3 seconds, the compression processing of the shaft 1 is not completed before the processing of the shaft 3 is started, so that correct processing cannot be performed. Therefore, the rotation speed of the master encoder cannot be set to rotate 40 degrees or more within 3 seconds.
In addition, there are restrictions on time because there are restrictions that appear in the servo motor control program, such as the above-mentioned 3-second crimping process, and because the controller cannot control the time required for filling the air pressure of the air cylinder. There are also constraints (external constraints) that do not appear in the program.

As shown in the operation example 1 of the production line as shown in FIG. 2, not only the axis for processing the workpiece is operated according to the phase of the master encoder, but also devices such as robots and belt conveyors for moving the workpiece are used as masters. Often operates according to the phase of the encoder.
Therefore, there is a correlation between the position information such as the movement distance of the workpiece and the phase of the master encoder. Therefore, when creating the synchronization control program, the position information of the workpiece is determined from the phase value of the master encoder. Programming is done.

Next, a program example based on the operation example 1 of FIG. 2 will be described.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a program setting screen for each axis by the control program information setting unit 5 in the first embodiment.
Operation No. The columns indicate the order of operations in numbers.
The angle condition sequence sets a condition according to the angle of the master encoder, and the command sequence sets a command to be executed when the angle condition of the master encoder is satisfied.
In the other condition column, conditions other than the establishment of the angle condition of the master encoder, for example, that other (axis) operations have been completed are set.
The instruction string sets time when an instruction for specifying time is set.
Examples of cases where an operation time sequence needs to be set include a WAIT command for stopping an operation on a fixed time axis and a command for repeating a specific operation for a specified time.
Since the angle of the master encoder returns to 0 at a constant angle, the program is repeated according to the cycle.

The operation program according to the operation example 1 of FIG. 2 is as follows.
In the operation program for the upper shaft 1 in FIG. 3, first, in the operation No1, when the master encoder reaches 20 degrees, an operation (compression processing) according to the CAM 11 is performed.
Next, in the operation No. 2, after the operation of the CAM 11 is finished, the camera stops for 3 seconds.
Next, in operation No. 3, the operation (decompression) of the CAM 12 is performed.
In the operation program for the shaft 2 in the middle stage of FIG. 3, first, in the operation No1, when the master encoder reaches 20 degrees, the operation according to the CAM 21 (movement of the shaft 1 along the belt conveyor) is performed.
Next, in operation No2, when the master encoder completes 60 degrees and operation 2 of the shaft 1 (compression is stopped for 3 seconds), the operation of the CAM 22 (initialization of the shaft 1 along the belt conveyor) is performed.
In the operation program for the shaft 3 in the lower stage of FIG. 3, in the operation 1No, the master encoder performs CAM 31 (processing of the shaft 3) after the operation 2 (compression release) of the shaft 1 is completed at 60 degrees.

The setting of the cams (CAM1, CAM2,...) May be prepared in advance on the control device support apparatus side, or means for setting each cam separately from the setting screen as shown in FIG. good.
In addition to the equal sign, an angle sign or a range specified condition may be written in the angle condition, and a condition such as “when a certain signal becomes a specific value” may be set in the other condition, and It may be possible to set a composite condition based on these conditions.

As an example of the operation program, information set as a program may be in a timing chart format. FIG. 5 is an example of a program setting screen (timing chart format) for each axis by the control program information setting unit 5 in the first embodiment.
In FIG. 5, the horizontal axis shows the rotation angle of the master encoder, and the vertical axis shows the movement of each axis. By displaying in this way, in the example of FIG. 5, the axis 1 and the axis 2 start to move simultaneously at the angle 20, or the axis 2 starts the WAIT command and stops for 3 seconds. It is possible to visually grasp what to do.
The control program information management unit 6 manages information on the operation program set by the control program information setting unit 5 described above.

Similarly to the axis control by the cam or the like, it is possible to set a control program for controlling the ON / OFF of the signal according to the angle of the master encoder.
Next, a case where the processing portion of the shaft 3 in FIGS. 2 and 3 is performed by ON / OFF control according to a signal to the processing equipment instead of CAM control will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a program setting screen for signals to the machining equipment by the control program information setting unit 5 in the first embodiment.
In contrast to FIG. 3, in FIG. 4, the operation sequence is only ON-OFF, and the operation time sequence is deleted.

In FIG. 1, an external constraint information setting unit 7 provides a means for setting external constraint information. The external constraint information indicates information that is not controlled by the controller among constraints that must be observed between operations on axes and signals.
For example, if the ON command ("signal" process) in operation No. 1 in FIG. 4 is related to the execution process of the air cylinder, and once executed, 10 seconds are required to fill the air pressure, the external constraint information setting unit displays “ TIME (time from the end of the signal operation No1 to the start of the signal operation No2)> = 10 seconds ”can be set.

In addition, for the purpose of facilitating the input of external constraint information, a setting support command may be defined. For example, INTERVAL_ON indicating the execution interval time of the ON instruction may be determined, and when the execution interval time is 10 seconds or longer, “INTERVAL_ON (signal))> = 10 seconds” may be input.
Moreover, it is good also as input of the limit value of the rotational speed in each axis | shaft specification. Further, the rotational speed limit value may be acquired from profile data in which static specification information of each axis is filed.

In addition, since the operation time “3S” of the command “WAIT” set in the operation No. 3 of the axis 1 in the example of FIG. 3 indicates that the controller controls waiting for the axis 1 for 3 seconds. Needless to say, it is not external constraint information.
In FIG. 1, information set by the external constraint information setting unit 7 is managed by the external constraint information management unit 8.

In FIG. 1, an encoder information setting unit 9 provides a means for an apparatus developer to set information on a controller controlled by the rotation speed of the master encoder and the angle of the master encoder.
The set information is managed by the encoder information management unit 10. Note that the rotation speed of the master encoder is not only set by the apparatus developer, but may also be set by the productivity improvement unit 11.

Next, the operation performed by the productivity improvement unit 11 in FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the productivity improvement unit 11 in the first embodiment.
In step S11, the productivity improvement unit 11 performs a control program from each of the control program information management unit 6 and the external constraint information management unit 8 in order to perform the process of determining the rotation speed of the master encoder that determines the productivity of the production facility. Get information and external constraint information.

In step S <b> 12, the productivity improvement unit 11 extracts a candidate for the rotation speed so that the master encoder derives the highest rotation speed.
Extraction of rotation speed candidates may be performed with all values operable with the specifications of all servo motors used. At that time, it may be extracted one by one with respect to the value that is gradually increased from the slow value, or first, the range of the fastest value may be roughly specified, and then the search range may be gradually narrowed. . Further, when a rotational speed that does not violate the constraint can be extracted, the margin between the execution at the rotational speed and the constraint may be analyzed and used for extracting the next rotational speed candidate. Note that due to the nature of the synchronous control system, when the constraint is not satisfied at a certain rotational speed, the constraint is hardly satisfied even if the speed is further increased. Therefore, when a rotational speed that does not satisfy the constraint is found, a rotational speed higher than that may be excluded from the candidates.

In step S <b> 13, the productivity improvement unit 11 checks whether or not the constraint is not violated when the control program is executed at the rotation speed candidate.
For one of the rotation speed candidates, it is checked whether the control program can operate without violating restrictions on the control program or external restrictions. In the constraint check, for example, the angle at which the execution of another operation is not started before the operation being executed on the same axis is completed, and the operation is performed before another operation specified in “Other conditions” is completed. It is checked that the angle at which the execution is not started is reached and that the execution start angle is not reached before the time set by the external constraint elapses. The check flow may be performed by checking the operation start angle for each axis or signal in order, but if the operation completion angle of the other axis is required to obtain the operation start angle, it will be used once. After checking the start angle of the axis movement, it is necessary to restart the original axis check. For this reason, the operations of all axes and signals may be checked sequentially from 0 degree, and the entire check may be performed while determining the start angle and completion angle of the operation of each axis.

In step S14, all rotation speed candidates are checked, and if the fastest rotation speed is found, the process ends. If not, the process returns to step S12.
When the process ends, the productivity improving unit 11 determines the boundary between the rotational speed that satisfies the constraint and the rotational speed that does not satisfy the constraint. If the fastest rotational speed is found, the productivity improving unit 11 indicates the value to the apparatus developer or the encoder. This is reflected in the rotation speed setting of the information management unit 10 and the process is terminated.

  As described above, the maximum rotational speed of the master encoder operable with the current control program can be calculated based on not only the restrictions on the program controlled by the control apparatus but also the external restrictions not dependent on the controller. Therefore, in the apparatus using the current apparatus configuration and control program, it is possible to obtain a rotation speed that can maximize the production amount.

On the other hand, the above method does not assume that the mechanical positional relationship itself shown in FIG. 2 is changed. For example, in the case of FIG. 2, since there is a compression process of 3 seconds on the shaft 1, the rotation speed of the master encoder cannot be made shorter than about 3 seconds by an angle of 40 degrees.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation example 2 of the production line.
In FIG. 7, the angle of the master encoder corresponding to the signal position is changed from 60 degrees to 80 degrees with respect to FIG. 2, and the movable range of the shaft 2 is also expanded from the master encoder angle of 60 degrees to 80 degrees. Then, considering the 3 second compression process of axis 1, the master encoder's rotational speed can be increased to about 20 degrees per second, and unless there is another bottleneck on the line, the production line speed can be increased to produce Can increase the sex.
The following describes the operation of the productivity improvement unit 11 that enables a program change including a mechanical positional relationship accompanying a change in the apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the productivity improvement unit 11 in the first embodiment.
In step S <b> 21, the productivity improvement unit 11 acquires control program information from the control program information management unit 6.
In step S22, the productivity improving unit 11 sets 0 as an initial value to the angle in order to confirm the operation of the control program in order from the angle 0 of the master encoder.

In step S23, the productivity improvement unit 11 checks the operation in the control program at an angle X for all axes and signals.
In step S24, the productivity improving unit 11 proceeds to step S27 if it can be executed without violating the constraints in the operation of step S23, and proceeds to step S25 otherwise.
In step S <b> 25, the productivity improvement unit 11 calculates the minimum angle Y that can be executed without violating the constraints by increasing the start angle of the operation that starts execution at the angle X of the master encoder.

For example, when the end angle of the operation immediately before the operation to start execution at 100 degrees is 120 degrees, or when the end of another operation is specified by other conditions and the end angle of the operation is 120 degrees, the minimum The angle Y is 120 degrees. If the operation that starts to be executed at 100 degrees includes the operation that should be set to 110 degrees and the action that should be set to 120 degrees, the angle Y is set to 120 degrees.
In step S <b> 26, the productivity improving unit 11 adds the difference between the angle Y and the angle X to all angle conditions for which the angle X or more is set in the control program. That is, the control program is changed so that all processes after X are delayed by the difference between the angle Y and the angle X and executed at the minimum start angle. Thereby, the operation programmed to start at the angle X can be executed without violating the constraint, and the relationship with the operation programmed to start at the angle X or later can be maintained.

In step S27, the productivity improving unit 11 increments the value of the angle X if the operation in the angle range that has not been checked remains, returns to step S23, and repeats the processing. The angle X may be incremented by 1 or may be incremented so as to skip an angle unrelated to the start of the operation by checking the start angle of all the operations in advance.
When the check of all the operations is completed, in step S29, the productivity improving unit 11 presents the changed control program to the user when the control program changing process is generated by the process of step S26. At that time, the control program of the control program information management unit 6 may be rewritten or may be managed separately from the program before the change.

  As described above, the control device support apparatus 1 uses the time of each control program based on the rotation speed candidate of the master encoder for each control program that controls each axis with respect to the angle of the master encoder. By providing the productivity improving unit 11 that determines whether execution is possible without violating constraints including factors, the rotation speed of the fastest master encoder in the apparatus configuration can be calculated.

  Further, the productivity improvement unit 11 of the control device support device 1 also uses the external constraint information to determine whether it can be executed based on the rotation speed candidates without violating the constraints including the time factor of each control program. The rotational speed of the fastest master encoder in the device configuration considering external constraint information can be calculated.

  Further, the productivity improving unit 11 of the control device support apparatus 1 starts the operation angle when the control program cannot be executed based on the rotation speed candidates without violating the constraints including the time factor of each control program. By calculating the minimum start angle of the operation that satisfies the constraints by increasing the value, not only the rotation speed of the fastest master encoder in the current device configuration is calculated, but also faster than the fastest after changing the device configuration It is also possible to automatically generate a control program that calculates the rotation speed of the master encoder and does not cause a problem even if executed at that rotation speed. Thereby, there exists an effect which improves the production amount by an apparatus. As a result, the production volume can be increased in a situation where the arrangement and configuration of the apparatus can be rearranged, such as during redevelopment.

Next, a control device support device that generates a control program that can increase the rotation speed as much as possible in consideration of external constraints by using a function of automatically changing the angle condition set in the control program will be described.
Only the portions that have been added and changed in terms of functions will be described below.

The external constraint information setting unit 7 can set not only constraint information used for checking when the rotation speed is changed as shown in the first embodiment, but also constraint information for program change processing in the productivity improvement unit 11 These are also stored in the external constraint information management unit.
For example, as shown in the examples of FIGS. 2 and 7, when the execution start angle of the master encoder corresponding to the processing position of the axis 3 is delayed (increased) from 60 degrees to 80 degrees, the belt conveyor or Although the size of the device increases, the maximum value of the angle that can be used for the angle condition can be set in the external constraint information as a constraint for preventing the belt conveyor and the device from becoming too large. Further, for the axes that cannot be physically separated, for example, constraint information is set such that “the start angle of the operation No 1 of the axis 1 from the end of the operation No 2 of the axis 2” is less than 60 degrees.

Furthermore, the productivity improvement unit 11 includes the rotational speed as high as possible including the external constraint information and the rotational speed including the case where it can be executed by changing the control program information shown in the first embodiment. Indicates the control program information necessary for execution.
The determination of the presence or absence of problems in execution also confirms that the corresponding rotation speed and the changed control program do not cause a problem with the external constraint information stored in the external constraint information management unit 8.

The operation will be described.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the productivity improvement unit 11 in the first embodiment.
Step S31 is the same as step S11 in FIG.
Step S32 is the same as step S12 in FIG.
In step S33, the productivity improvement unit 11 performs the processes from step S22 to step S28 in FIG. 8 after determining the rotation speed candidate in step S32, and is necessary for executing at the rotation speed as a candidate. Change the control program accordingly.

In step S34, the productivity improvement unit 11 checks whether the control program can be executed without violating external constraints. The external constraint check may be executed in the same manner as the processing in step S13 in FIG.
In order to speed up the processing, external constraints may be checked in the processing in steps S22 to S28 in FIG. 8 instead of the processing in step S34.
Step S35 is the same as step S14 in FIG.

  When the processing is completed, the productivity improvement unit 11 indicates the rotation speed that can be executed at high speed and without violating the constraint to the apparatus developer as in the first embodiment, or the master encoder information management unit It is reflected in the rotation speed setting. When the control program is changed, the control program of the control program information management unit may be rewritten as in the second embodiment, or may be managed separately from the control program before the change.

As described above, the productivity improvement unit 11 of the control device support apparatus 1 uses each control program based on the rotation speed candidates for each control program that controls each axis based on the angle of the master encoder. The control program is executed without violating the constraints including the time factors of each control program based on the rotation speed candidates. If this is not possible, the start angle of the operation that satisfies the constraints is calculated by increasing the start angle of the operation, thereby calculating not only the rotation speed of the fastest master encoder in the current device configuration, but also changing the device configuration. Calculate the master encoder rotation speed as fast as possible above, and run a control program that does not cause any problems even if it is executed at that rotation speed. It can be generated. Thereby, there exists an effect which improves the production amount by an apparatus. As a result, the production volume can be increased in a situation where the arrangement and configuration of the apparatus can be rearranged, such as during redevelopment.
Also, based on not only the restrictions on the program controlled by the controller but also the external restrictions not dependent on the controller, the rotation speed of the high-speed master encoder can be calculated after changing the control program. Therefore, when developing a device by changing the current device configuration, it is possible to develop a device with a larger production amount.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control apparatus assistance apparatus 2 Input part 3 Display part 4 Communication part 5 Control program information setting part 6 Control program information management part 7 External restriction information setting part 8 External restriction information management part 9 Encoder information setting part 10 Encoder information management part 11 Production Improvement unit 12 Control unit

Claims (6)

For each control program that controls each axis based on the angle of the master encoder, based on the rotation speed candidate of the master encoder, against the constraints including the time factor of each control program and external constraint information A control device support apparatus, comprising: a productivity improvement unit that determines whether or not execution is possible.   The productivity improvement unit restricts the control program by increasing an operation start angle when the control program cannot be executed based on the rotation speed candidate without violating the constraint including the temporal factor of each control program. The control device support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a minimum start angle of an operation that satisfies the above is calculated. The productivity improvements unit, the control device supporting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that to change the control program on the basis of the rotational speed candidate and the minimum starting angle, which is determined to be executed. For each control program that controls each axis based on the angle of the master encoder, based on the rotation speed candidate of the master encoder, against the constraints including the time factor of each control program and external constraint information A determination step for determining whether it can be executed without
A control device support method comprising: When the control program cannot be executed based on the rotation speed candidates without violating the constraints including the temporal factors of the control programs, the minimum start angle of the operation that satisfies the constraints by increasing the operation start angle The control device support method according to claim 4 , further comprising a calculation step of calculating. In the calculation step, the control unit support method according to claim 4 or 5 having a changing step of changing the control program on the basis of the rotational speed candidate and the minimum starting angle, which is determined to be executed.

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