KR102269002B1 - Module Combination Type Field Automation Equipment Control and Management System and Method - Google Patents

Abstract

A control and control system is provided for more efficient control/control of modular field automation equipment and effective interworking with higher-level systems. The factory control method includes collecting data from block devices that perform different processes for product production; storing the collected data; Transmitting the stored data to the upper system; includes, and the block devices are combined with each other to form a production line, and can be separated.

Description

Module Combination Type Field Automation Equipment Control and Management System and Method}

The present invention relates to smart factory technology, and more particularly, to on-site automation technology for supporting flexible production systems.

As the future manufacturing trend expands to individual consumer-tailored production, interest in flexible production systems suitable for small-lot production of various types is also rapidly rising.

In general, it was difficult to actively accept a flexible production system because the unit cost increases as the types of manufactured products increase. However, as related technologies such as the industrial Internet, multi-functional robots, 3D printing, and big data develop simultaneously and simultaneously, smart flexible production systems Expectations for production systems are skyrocketing.

Advanced automobile and electronics manufacturers have expanded flexible production for a long time to respond to diversification of customer needs, and recently, traditional manufacturing industries such as chemical and machinery, which are represented by mass production and fixed equipment, are considering introducing them for survival.

The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to more efficiently control/control module-combined field automation equipment, and to provide a control and control system for effective interworking with higher-level systems. have.

A factory control method according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object includes collecting data from block devices that perform different processes for product production; storing the collected data; Transmitting the stored data to the upper system; includes, and the block devices are combined with each other to form a production line, and can be separated.

The factory control method according to the present invention may further include transmitting a control command received from an upper system to block devices.

The upper system may include at least one of a production management system, a product lifecycle management system, an enterprise-wide resource management system, and a virtual process system.

The block device includes a mechanism unit on which a mechanism for product production is mounted; and a BB (Base Block) for controlling a process performed by the mechanical unit and collecting process data, and may configure a production line in combination with at least one other block device.

The block device may be removable from the construction of the production line and replaceable with another block device.

The mechanical part and the BB may have a separable structure.

The mechanical part may be replaceable with another mechanical part.

On the other hand, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a first server for collecting data from block devices that perform different processes for product production; A second server that stores the collected data and transmits the stored data to a higher-level system, wherein the block devices are combined with each other to form a production line, and a factory control server is provided, characterized in that it can be separated .

As described above, according to the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to more efficiently control/control the module combination type field automation equipment, and to effectively interwork with the upper system.

1 is a smart factory construction architecture for modular field automation according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is an external perspective view of the module combination type standard block device shown in Figure 1;
3 is a view provided for explaining a method of building a production line of a smart factory by module combination of the standard block devices shown in FIG. 1;
Fig. 4 is a detailed view of the front surface of the standard block device shown in Fig. 1;
5 is a diagram provided for a conceptual explanation of the F-TOP;
6 is a table showing the interface of the F-TOP,
7 is a table showing the main functions of the F-TOP,
8 is a diagram showing the network configuration of the F-TOP;
9 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the F-TOP server, and,
10 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an F-TOP server.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a smart factory construction architecture for modular field automation according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the modular combination field automation system for a smart factory is composed of a field area, a control area and an enterprise area.

The field area, as a production line, is configured through interconnection of standard block devices 100 , which are a plurality of modular process blocks for performing core processes of manufacturing various parts, such as loading, assembling, and inspection, etc. Interface linkage between manufacturing equipment is possible.

A modular standard block device 100 for performing a component manufacturing process operation in a field area will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 .

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the standard block device 100 shown in FIG. 1 . The standard block device 100 is a modular block for performing a component manufacturing process, and is divided into a mechanical unit 110 as an upper end and a Smart Based Block (SBB) 120 as a lower end.

The mechanism unit 110 includes a universal table 111 on which various process equipment, for example, a robot, a UNIT for assembly of parts, a VISION for inspection, etc. can be mounted, a display panel 112 that can display the process and operation status, and a conveyor belt 113 for product transport.

In addition, the universal table 111 of the mechanism unit 110 may be equipped with, replace, or remove the tools required for the production of products in various industries (machinery, processing, electronics, injection molding, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics) customized.

The SBB 120 is responsible for process control and data collection, and includes a PLC 121 for this purpose, various electronic devices 122 , and a universal connector 123 for physical connection with other SBBs.

The socket, connector, and wiring standards of the SBB 120 are unified on a standard basis (IPC SMEMA), so the efficiency is very high when designing an interface for interworking with other standard block devices.

The standard block device 100 can be combined with other standard block devices in module units. For coupling with other standard block devices, a docking pin 120a is provided on one side of the SBB 120 , and a docking hole 120b is provided on the other side of the SBB 120 , respectively.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 3 , a number of standard block devices 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 are combined as if assembling a block, thereby constructing a production line of a smart factory for flexible production. .

Specifically, the production line is composed of modules with standard block devices (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), and the modules required for product production are attached at any time in a prefabricated manner, and flexibly added and replaced according to customer needs. , it can be removed and customized production is possible.

Furthermore, when the demand of the main product decreases and the demand of other products increases, or when a part of the standard block device fails, it can be flexibly adjusted by reconfiguring (replacing, rearranging, etc.) the standard block device.

Furthermore, even in one standard block device 100 , the mechanical unit 110 and the SBB 120 are not fixed, but have a structure that can be separated from each other.

Therefore, the mechanism part-1 of the standard block device-1 (100-1) can be removed and coupled to the SBB-2 of the standard block device-2 (100-2), and the standard block device-1 (100-1) It is also possible to replace the mechanical part-1 of the new mechanical part-1 or another type of the mechanical part-3, and more various combinations are possible as needed.

Furthermore, even within one standard block device 100 , the positions of the mechanical unit 110 and the SBB 120 may be changed. That is, the standard block device 100 can be implemented in a structure where it is free to change the coupling state so that the mechanical unit 110 is located at the bottom and the SBB 120 is located at the top as needed.

4 is a view showing the front of the standard block device 100 shown in FIG. 1 in detail. As shown in FIG. 4 , the SBB 120 is configured in a slot-type two-stage structure to facilitate expandability of modular components. That is, the SBB 120 is composed of an upper-SBB and a lower-SBB, and by combining the upper-SBB and the lower-SBB in various types, the SBB 120 of various specifications can be configured.

To this end, a tapping hole is applied to the SBB 120 so that a module of any function can be mounted. In addition, the SBB 120 is provided with a universal connector for interfacing with the SBB of other standard block devices coupled thereto.

Again, referring to FIG. 1 , the control area and the enterprise area will be described in detail.

The control area is implemented as a Factory-Total Operation Package (F-TOP) server 200 that collects and integrates production process information in real time through the factory's backbone network.

In the enterprise area, based on the data received through the F-TOP server 200, MES (Manufacturing Execution System: Production Management System), PLM (Product Lifecycle Management: Product Lifecycle Management System) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning: Enterprise Resources) It is an area for performing higher-level applications such as management system), energy management, and 3D virtualization.

5 is a diagram provided to explain the concept of the F-TOP server 200 . As shown in FIG. 5 , the F-TOP server 200 plays a middleware role in all layers, and is responsible for interworking with upper systems such as MES, ERP, PLM, and CPS (virtual process system).

Specifically, the F-TOP server 200 provides an interface for interworking with an upper process management system, a field control device, an inspection device, and a virtual/simulation system, as shown in the table of FIG. 6 .

The main functions of the F-TOP server 200 include on-site data tracking, control management of the standard block device 100, data DB storage and management, and maintaining network connections with upper/lower systems through industrial standard protocol support functions. , detailed functional requirements are shown in the table of FIG. 7 , and the network configuration of the F-TOP server 200 is shown in FIG. 8 .

9 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the F-TOP server 200 , and FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the F-TOP server 200 .

10, the F-TOP server 200 is a KVM 210, a Switch 220, a UPS 230, a field gateway server 240, a database server (Database Server) ( 250), and may optionally include a firewall 260 and a NAS 270.

The KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) 210 is configured with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse set for checking and controlling the status of the F-TOP server 200 locally.

The Switch 220 connects the F-TOP server 200, the standard block device 100, and the upper system through a network.

The UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) 230 is an emergency power supply in case the power supply is cut off.

The field gateway server 240 is connected to the standard block device 100 through a network to periodically collect on-site process/operation data, and transmits the collected data to the database server 250 .

The field gateway server 240 can configure a network with the standard block device 100 and the industrial protocol EtherNet/IP-based OPC standard, ProfiNet, etc., and the number of standard block devices 100 combined to form a production line Accordingly, the number of field gateway servers 240 may be extended to two or more.

Since expansion is required according to the number of standard block devices 100 connected to the lower part, the field gateway server 240 is operated separately from the database server 250 to be described later.

The database server 250 receives data from the field gateway server 240 and stores it in the database, and transmits the data when there is a request from the upper process management system.

In case the network connection with the upper system is cut off, the database server 250 preserves data in a local storage to prevent data loss, and synchronizes the data with the upper system when it returns to a normal state.

The firewall 260 is a security means for allowing/blocking access according to the trust level of traffic, and the NAS 270 is a file-level computer storage device connected to the network and provides data access rights to different network clients.

Up to now, a preferred embodiment has been described in detail for a modular combination field automation equipment control and control system and method.

The F-TOP server 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention periodically receives field process/operation data from a lower IoT device such as a PLC provided in the SBB 120 of the standard block device 100, which is a module combination type field automation equipment. It collects, stores this data in a database, and passes it on to higher-level systems upon request.

In addition, the F-TOP server 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention receives a control signal for the standard block device 100 from the upper management system and transmits it to the standard block device 100, and industrial Ethernet, fieldbus It supports interworking with upper/lower systems through protocol support.

On the other hand, it goes without saying that the technical idea of the present invention can also be applied to a computer-readable recording medium containing a computer program for performing the functions of the apparatus and method according to the present embodiment. In addition, the technical ideas according to various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form of computer-readable codes recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium may be any data storage device readable by the computer and capable of storing data. For example, the computer-readable recording medium may be a ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical disk, hard disk drive, or the like. In addition, the computer-readable code or program stored in the computer-readable recording medium may be transmitted through a network connected between computers.

In addition, although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and the technical field to which the present invention belongs without departing from the gist of the present invention as claimed in the claims In addition, various modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or perspective of the present invention.

100: standard block device
110: mechanism 120: SBB (Smart Based Block)
200: F-TOP (Factory-Total Operation Package) server
210: KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) 220: Switch
230: UPS 240: field gateway server
250: database server 260: firewall
270 : NAS

Claims (9)

collecting data from block devices that perform different processes for product production;
storing the collected data;
Including; transmitting the stored data to the upper system;
block devices,
Combined with each other to form a production line, characterized in that it is possible to separate,
The block device includes a mechanism unit on which a mechanism for product production is mounted; BB (Base Block) for controlling the process performed by the mechanism unit and collecting process data; includes,
The mechanical part and the BB are separable structures, and the mechanical part is replaceable with another type of mechanical part, and the BB is replaceable with another type of BB,
The BB is a factory control method, characterized in that the upper-BB and the lower-BB are arranged in a slot-type two-stage structure.
The method according to claim 1,
Transmitting the control command received from the upper system to the block devices; Factory control method further comprising a.
The method according to claim 1,
The upper system is
Factory control method comprising at least one of a production management system, a product lifecycle management system, an enterprise resource planning system, and a virtual process system.
The method according to claim 1,
block device,
A method of controlling a factory, characterized in that it constitutes a production line in combination with at least one other block device.
5. The method according to claim 4,
block device,
A method of controlling a factory, characterized in that it is removable from the configuration of the production line and is replaceable with another block device.
delete delete a first server for collecting data from block devices that perform different processes for product production;
A second server that stores the collected data and transmits the stored data to the upper system;
block devices,
Combined with each other to form a production line, characterized in that it is possible to separate,
The block device includes a mechanism unit on which a mechanism for product production is mounted; BB (Base Block) for controlling the process performed by the mechanism unit and collecting process data; includes,
The mechanical part and the BB are separable structures, and the mechanical part can be replaced with another type of mechanical part, and the BB can be replaced with another type of BB,
The BB is a factory control server, characterized in that the upper-BB and the lower-BB are arranged in a slot-type two-stage structure.
A server that collects data from block devices that are combined with each other for product production, constitute a production line, and which can be separated, and transmit the data to a higher system system;
The upper system is characterized in that it includes at least one of a production management system, a product lifecycle management system, an enterprise resource planning system, and a virtual process system,
The block device includes a mechanism unit on which a mechanism for product production is mounted; BB (Base Block) for controlling the process performed by the mechanism unit and collecting process data; includes,
The mechanical part and the BB are separable structures, and the mechanical part can be replaced with another type of mechanical part, and the BB can be replaced with another type of BB,
The BB is a factory control system, characterized in that the upper-BB and the lower-BB are arranged in a slot-type two-stage structure.

Images