JP2005115426A - Anomaly recovery support apparatus and anomaly recovery support system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an anomaly recovery support apparatus that enables a quick recovery upon an unidentified stop during a line operation. <P>SOLUTION: A sampling unit 16 of a PLC 10 passes data indicating a time series transition of periodically collected IO data on each contact of a CPU unit 11 to the anomaly recovery support apparatus 20. In the anomaly recovery support apparatus, a comparison and capture part 23 compares data collected at an anomaly with a normal model based on data collected at a normal state in time series for every contact to detect different portions. If there is a plurality of different contacts, a pertinent circuit display part 24 detects and displays a circuit about the contact that differs first from the normal model in time series. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an abnormality recovery support apparatus and an abnormality recovery support system.

  A programmable controller (PLC) is used as a control device for factory automation (FA) installed in a production factory (manufacturing site). This PLC is composed of a plurality of units. That is, a power supply unit of a power supply source, a CPU unit that controls the entire PLC, an output unit that inputs a switch or sensor signal attached to an appropriate place in an FA production device or facility device, an output that outputs a control output Various units such as a unit and a communication unit for connecting to a communication network are appropriately combined.

  The control in the CPU unit of the PLC is based on a user program written in a user program description language (for example, ladder language) registered in advance by fetching a signal input from the input unit into the I / O memory of the CPU unit (IN refresh). Performs logical operation (operation execution), writes the operation execution result to the I / O memory and sends it to the output unit (OUT refresh), and then transmits / receives data to / from another PLC on the communication network via the communication unit In addition, cyclic transmission / reception processing (peripheral processing) such as data transmission / reception with an external device via the communication port provided in the CPU unit is performed. Note that IN refresh and OUT refresh may be performed together (I / O refresh).

  By the way, in the above-described FA system, there is a system for notifying the user of an abnormality and assisting early recovery when any abnormality occurs. As an example, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the PLC 1 and the monitoring device 2 are connected via a network 3. In relation to such monitoring and recovery support, the PLC 1 is a CPU unit 1a that cyclically executes a user program, a communication unit 1b that is connected to the network 2, and a remote I / O that transmits and receives various IO data. O1c, output unit 1d, and input unit 1e are provided.

  In order to notify when an abnormality occurs, it is necessary to define an abnormality to be detected and notified in advance on the user program, for example, to notify a special auxiliary relay of a communication unit bus abnormality. For example, by defining the IO status when the detection target becomes abnormal, the processing when abnormal, etc., the presence or absence of abnormality is determined by monitoring the corresponding IO status. To do. If an abnormality is detected, the CPU unit 1a notifies the monitoring device 2 via the communication unit 1b. At this time, information necessary for notifying the user is also sent.

  Upon receiving such notification, the monitoring device 2 generates an abnormality notification screen as shown in FIG. 2 based on the received information and displays it on the display device. By looking at the display content, it is possible to know the cause of the abnormality and the location where the abnormality has occurred. Further, as this type of prior art, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1.

In addition, as another error notification, when a detection means for detecting a hardware abnormality of the unit or the terminal sensor itself, such as an error LED of the CPU unit 1a, detects an abnormality, the error LED, etc. There are things that turn on a warning light or emit a buzzer or other alarm.
JP-A-6-195111

  However, in any of the conventional abnormality monitoring / notification systems, it is necessary to previously define the abnormality content. Therefore, for example, even when some kind of abnormality occurs and the system is stopped, if the cause of the abnormality is not defined in advance, it is not possible to notify the abnormality location / cause.

  And in order to identify abnormality in such a case, the method as shown in FIG. 3 was conventionally taken. (1) First, the corresponding command in the user program when the system is stopped is displayed. This is because the system stopped and the completion of the operation of the process being executed does not turn ON. For example, the IO data at the time of the stop is sent to the monitoring device 2 and acquired at the input / output contact of the user program stored in the monitoring device By setting the IO data, it is possible to extract a corresponding command whose operation completion is OFF and display it on the screen.

  (2) Next, using the input contact of the displayed command as a key, the program is checked one by one while going back. In addition, it is possible to go back to the contact where the input setting status is different from the normal status, but there are some contacts that do not necessarily keep the status at the time of occurrence of an abnormality, so all the contacts will be checked as a result. .

  (3) As described above, it is possible to search for the cause of abnormality while going back through each contact point, and finally to trace back to the root cause (for example, sensor failure). However, in order to finally reach the root cause in this way, it is necessary to repeat many trials and errors such as going back and forth, and it takes a lot of labor and time, and early recovery cannot be performed. .

In addition, in order to reach the root cause quickly, it is necessary to select the contact point to be checked correctly, which requires skilled skills and knowledge, the contents of the user program and the FA system (production line). If the proficiency level of the whole is not so high, there are many useless checks, and it may take a very long time to reach the root cause, and in some cases, it may not be possible to reach. Furthermore, since the production line [process] is pursued after it has stopped due to an abnormality, the individual states are not recorded and cannot be reproduced.
An object of the present invention is to provide an anomaly recovery support apparatus and an anomaly recovery support system that can promptly recover when a cause is unknown during line operation.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the abnormality recovery support apparatus according to the present invention provides an abnormality recovery support for obtaining information for identifying the cause of an abnormality based on data indicating time series transition of IO data of each contact of a programmable controller. Comparing means for comparing a normal model based on data collected at normal time and data collected at the time of occurrence of abnormality in time series for each contact and detecting different parts, and normal detected by the comparing means An output means for outputting information related to contacts different from the model is provided. When there are a plurality of different contacts, at least information on contacts that differ from the normal model first is output in time series. Here, the abnormality means that the line [process] stops for some reason, and is an abnormality that is not defined as an abnormality in programming in advance.

  For example, the information on the contact point may correspond to a time series transition of IO data including different parts and a time series transition of IO data of a normal model corresponding to the different parts. In the embodiment, this corresponds to the time chart shown in FIG. Further, it may be a circuit including the corresponding contact in the sequence program. In the embodiment, this corresponds to the program shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, a storage unit that stores and holds the normal model may be provided. That is, the normal model that is a reference for comparison may be stored and held in advance, or may be passed to the abnormality recovery support apparatus when comparing data collected when an abnormality occurs.

  Further, the abnormality recovery support system according to the present invention is an abnormality recovery support system including a programmable controller having a sampling unit for collecting IO data and each of the above-described abnormality recovery support devices, the abnormality recovery support device. The data indicating the time-series transition of the IO data of each contact given to is collected by the sampling unit.

  The programmable controller and the abnormality recovery support device are connected via a network, and the data indicating the time series transition of the IO data of each contact collected by the sampling unit is recovered via the network. It can be given to the support device. Furthermore, the sampling unit may include a memory for storing and holding the normal model.

  According to the present invention, contacts having different state transitions are captured while comparing the contact state in time series between the normal model and the data when the abnormality occurs. That is, a potential abnormality can be compared and captured based on a normal system. The detected different contact is likely to be the cause when an abnormality occurs. And since it compares with a normal model, it is not necessary to define all abnormality beforehand, and abnormality detection with an unknown cause is attained. Furthermore, since the state transition of each contact is recorded, it is possible to easily reproduce the operation of each contact when an abnormality occurs.

  In addition, when data is provided to the error recovery support apparatus via the network, the data monitored by the error recovery support apparatus is only the status of the line [process], so the communication load of the control LAN is not applied. It is hard to affect the control.

  In the present invention, when the cause is unknown while the line is in operation, the contact point of the time series transition different from the normal model is detected and information related thereto is provided, so that the abnormal part can be quickly identified and recovered.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a PLC 10 that controls a production line and an abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 are connected via an information network 30 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). The PLC 10 is composed of a plurality of units. In the example shown in the figure, a CPU unit 11 that executes user programs and cyclically executes I / O refresh and peripheral processing, a communication unit 12 that communicates with other nodes, and a control system network 31 are used. A remote I / O 12 for controlling a connected remote terminal 32, an output unit 13 and an input unit 15 for connecting input / output devices, and a sampling unit 16 for collecting data are provided. These units are connected via a system bus. As other units, there are a power supply unit that supplies power to each unit constituting the PLC, a master unit for performing master-slave communication, and the number of units to be connected is increased or decreased as necessary.

  FIG. 5 is an internal configuration diagram showing a relationship among the CPU unit 11, the sampling unit 16, and the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 as the main configuration of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the CPU unit 11 has a user memory 11a for storing a user program (sequence program), an IO data acquired via the remote I / O 13, the output unit 14 and the input unit 15 and the like. A memory 12 is included. Of course, although not shown in the figure, an MPU that executes a user program and an interface circuit that is connected to the PLC bus 10a and transmits / receives data to / from other units are also provided.

Further, the CPU unit 11 adds a task program having the following functions (sampling unit sampling start / stop setting, abnormality definition) to the user program using a PLC programming tool.
* Sampling unit sampling start / stop setting The sampling unit 16 provides a predetermined area of memory for interfacing with the CPU unit 11. Therefore, an “instruction parameter” is set in the area, and a “sampling start / stop” timing is defined. Timing is one cycle start step / final step of the process.

* Definition of abnormality Define the state where the line does not operate normally. For example, when the step circuit does not advance for a certain time during automatic operation, a circuit is added so as to be abnormal. Furthermore, it is preferable to define a variable so that the fixed time (timeout time) can be changed.

  The sampling unit 16 collects IO information of preset contacts (tags) at a predetermined period (for example, 20 msec), and stores and holds the information. In the present embodiment, a hard disk composed of a detachable PC card is mounted as the nonvolatile memory 16a for storing and holding collected data. The non-volatile memory 16a stores collected data (sampling file) and a setting file in which setting conditions such as contacts to be collected and a collection cycle are recorded.

  The setting file is set using, for example, a sampling unit setting tool. For example, the tool and the sampling unit can be connected via the network 30 or can be connected via another network. In addition, a setting file once set can be edited and stored. The contents to be specifically set are the tag name and sampling definition.

  First, a tag to be sampled can be set by registering a tag to be sampled in, for example, a spreadsheet file worksheet stored in the sampling unit (see FIG. 6A). As the definition of sampling, “save file name, sampling period, number of records” is set (see FIG. 6B).

  Whether or not to register a tag in sampling tag registration performed using the setting tool of the sampling unit 16 is determined by the user as appropriate. However, in order to identify the cause of the abnormality, it is preferably as many as possible (preferably All) to register. However, the upper limit of the number that can be registered is determined by the sampling period and the performance of the unit. Therefore, it is preferable to first target real I / O related to actual devices. This eliminates the internal auxiliary relay and the like. If the total number of all real I / Os is large and exceeds the above upper limit, for example, real I / Os for single-function devices such as position sensors and limit switches may be selected and registered. In other words, for example, in the case of an intelligent IO device that has a function of determining whether there is a failure / abnormality by itself and notifying the abnormality, etc., when the line is stopped due to the IO device The cause can be identified by notifying abnormality of the IO device or the like without needing to identify the abnormal part using the present embodiment. In other words, the above-described single-function device is a device that does not have a self-diagnosis / abnormality detection function.

  The sampling unit 16 collects and stores IO data of the set contacts (tags) at a predetermined sampling period. The file unit at the time of saving is one cycle of a line. That is, the behavior [ON / OFF transition] of one cycle of the PLC real I / O line is stored by each file.

  The sampling is started by the PLC user program. That is, since the sampling start is normally set to be the same as the start timing of the line [process], it is set to be the same as the start timing of the line 1 cycle. Sampling is stopped when the line stops abnormally. The abnormal stop here is an explicit abnormality incorporated in the PLC program. The start and stop can also be commanded from the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20, and in such a case, the start / stop is started at the instruction timing of the operator.

  Each time the line [process] operates normally for one cycle, one file is generated and stored in the nonvolatile memory 16a. The file name is date time. Further, the sampling file collected during the normal operation in which the one-cycle operation is completed without stopping the line is stored as a “normal file” in the hard disk attached to the sampling unit. Here, the normal operation can be defined as “when no abnormal signal is output from the start to the end of the cycle”. It is also possible to register normal files manually. If any abnormality occurs in the PLC, sampling is stopped, and sampling data from the start of the line cycle to the time of occurrence of the abnormality is stored in the nonvolatile memory 16a as an “abnormal file”.

  The normal file and the abnormal file stored in the nonvolatile memory 16a in this way are respectively supplied to the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20, and the cause and part of the abnormality are investigated there. The collected sampling data is transferred to the abnormality recovery support device 20, but the nonvolatile memory 16a is constituted by a detachable PC card. Therefore, the nonvolatile memory 16a is removed from the sampling unit 16 at an appropriate timing and the abnormality is recovered. This can be dealt with by attaching to the support device 20 and transferring data. The appropriate timing may be every predetermined interval or when an abnormality occurs.

  Further, data may be transferred via the network 30. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the file generated by the sampling unit 16 is stored as a ring file. Therefore, since the file is managed in several text zones, data is transferred to the abnormality recovery support apparatus for each text zone, and the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 (personal computer) reflects the data as needed. Further, in order to clarify the sampling start record, the file of the sampling unit 16 may be cleared when the file is stored in the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 after the sampling is stopped. Furthermore, the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 backs up a plurality of files (for example, 100 files).

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, it is preferable to save one of normal files collected during normal operation in the past as a normal model in both the sampling unit 16 and the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20. The normal model may use one of normal files as it is, or may generate an average from a plurality of files.

  As described above, the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 always collects one cycle of sampling files generated by the sampling unit 16, but when an abnormality occurs, the "normal file" and the abnormal file that are held in advance are stored in BOOT. Comparison is made for each unit variable to search for inconsistent parts.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 uses a memory 21 that stores a sequence program corresponding to the sequence program stored in the memory CPU unit 11, and collected data (sampling file) collected by the sampling unit 16. A sampling file storage unit 22 to be stored, a collection data to be inspected stored in the sampling file storage unit 22, a comparison capturing unit 23 for comparing the collected data based on a normal model as a comparison reference, and a comparison thereof An instruction / circuit corresponding to an abnormal point detected by the capturing unit 23 is detected and displayed, and a corresponding circuit display unit 24 is provided. The processing result of the comparative capturing unit 23 and the circuit detected by the corresponding circuit display unit 24 are displayed on the display device 25. It is designed to output.

  Of course, although not shown, the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 has a function of collecting data collected by the sampling unit 16 and storing it in the sampling file storage unit 22. As such a collecting function, for example, a device capable of mounting a hard disk composed of a PC card or a device connected to the network 30 and acquiring data transferred through the network and storing it in the file storage unit 22 It can be realized by.

  The comparison capturing unit 23 compares the ON / OFF transition state between the tags of the collection data (abnormal file) to be inspected and the normal model (normal file), and captures and extracts different portions. At this time, even if it is normal, there will be a slight timing shift. Therefore, after the normal file ON / OFF changes according to the pre-registered comparison detection error, the status of the abnormal file even if the comparison inspection error has elapsed And the part where the state of the normal file does not change even after the comparison inspection error has elapsed after the ON / OFF of the abnormal file changes.

  As a result of comparison, the time series transition of variables (tags) is displayed in the time chart (see FIG. 9). As shown in FIG. 9, a time chart based on a normal file (broken line) and a time chart based on an abnormal fill (solid line) are displayed with the same tags overlapped. Thereby, it can be known at a glance which tag has an abnormality.

  Further, the comparison result (tags having different parts) is passed to the corresponding circuit display unit 24, and the corresponding circuit display unit 24 searches the sequence program using the acquired tag as a key, and finds the contact point of the corresponding tag. The included circuit is extracted and displayed (see FIG. 10). At this time, a tag to be searched is a tag that first causes an abnormality in time series transition. According to the example of FIG. 9, an abnormality has occurred in the two tags “Sensor” and “Ready”, but “Sensor 1” that first becomes abnormal is targeted.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, the circuit extracted and displayed by the corresponding circuit display unit 24 is a circuit including “Sensor1”. Further, when there are a plurality of corresponding circuits, for example, they are displayed in order from the top of the program. When there are a plurality of corresponding portions as described above, the cursor can be moved by the programming tool function and the interlocking sub-window SW to jump to an arbitrary circuit as the next candidate.

As described above, the tag that caused the abnormality first was selected. The abnormality after the second is most likely due to the abnormality of the tag that became abnormal first. This is because there is a high risk of a contact (tag) that has become abnormal first. In this embodiment, by presenting information (time-series transition, circuit) related to the first abnormal tag in this way, the cause of the line stop can be solved in a short time. Recovery is also possible early.
The comparison process in the abnormality recovery support apparatus 20 may be performed every time a sample file is collected, or may be performed when an abnormality occurs.

It is a figure which shows a prior art example. It is a figure which shows an example of the conventional abnormality notification screen. It is a figure explaining the conventional investigation method of the cause of abnormality. It is a figure which shows one suitable embodiment of this invention. It is an internal block diagram which shows suitable one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the setting file stored in the non-volatile memory 16a of the sampling unit 16. It is a figure which shows an example of the data transfer of a sampling file. It is a figure explaining the sampling file and normal model which are hold | maintained in a sampling unit and an abnormality recovery assistance apparatus. It is a display example for demonstrating the operation principle and effect | action of this invention. It is a display example for demonstrating the operation principle and effect | action of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 PLC
11 CPU unit 11a User memory 11b IO memory 12 Communication unit 13 Remote I / O
14 Output unit 15 Input unit 16 Sampling unit 20 Abnormality recovery support device 21 Memory 22 Sampling file storage unit 23 Comparison capturing unit 24 Corresponding circuit display unit 25 Display device 30 Network 31 Control system network 32 Terminal

Claims (8)

An abnormality recovery support device for obtaining information for identifying a cause location of an abnormality based on data indicating a time-series transition of IO data of each contact of a programmable controller,
Comparison means for comparing the normal model based on the data collected at normal time and the data collected at the time of abnormality occurrence in time series for each contact point, and detecting different parts,
An abnormality recovery support apparatus comprising output means for outputting information relating to a contact different from the normal model detected by the comparison means.   2. The abnormality recovery support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when there are a plurality of different contacts, at least information on contacts that differ from the normal model first is output in time series.   3. The information on the contact point is obtained by associating time-series transitions of IO data including different parts with time-series transitions of normal model IO data corresponding to the different parts. The abnormality recovery support device described in 1.   The abnormality recovery support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information about the contact is a circuit including the corresponding contact in a sequence program.   The abnormality recovery support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit that stores and holds the normal model. An abnormality recovery support system including a programmable controller including a sampling unit for collecting IO data and the abnormality recovery support device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The abnormality recovery support system, wherein the data indicating the time series transition of the IO data of each contact given to the abnormality recovery support apparatus is collected by the sampling unit.   The programmable controller and the abnormality recovery support device are connected via a network, and the data indicating the time series transition of the IO data of each contact collected by the sampling unit is transmitted via the network to the abnormality recovery support device. The abnormality recovery support system according to claim 6, wherein the abnormality recovery support system is provided.   The abnormality recovery support apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the sampling unit includes a memory that stores and holds the normal model.

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