CN102819231A - Control system design device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control system design device that is connected to one PLC in a control system configured by connecting a plurality of programmable controllers (hereinafter referred to as PLCs) via a network, and uses the PLC as a starting point PLC, for the control system, collects network structure information and the online connection paths connected to each PLC in the control system, and calculates the configuration relationship between networks, the connection relationship of PLC, and their coordinates according to the above network structure information and online connection paths, Displayed on the display as an object.

Description

Control system design device

This application is a divisional application based on the Chinese National Application No. 200780053166.8 (International Application No. PCT/JP2007/061060) (control system design device) filed on May 31, 2007, the contents of which are quoted below.

technical field

The present invention relates to a control system design device for assisting setting and management of a system configuration in a control system in which a plurality of control devices such as programmable controllers are connected via a network.

Background technique

Currently, programmable logic controllers (hereinafter referred to as PLCs) are used for controlling production equipment. Predetermined program design and maintenance are performed by connecting to this PLC using a design device. The design device is usually operated by a personal computer. In addition to assisting in the generation of the program for the PLC to execute the control, it also has the following function, that is, the personal computer running the design device is connected to the PLC, and the generated program Send to PLC or monitor the status of PLC control.

Each PLC has a substrate (backplane) on which a communication unit for network connection is mounted. A control system consisting of multiple PLCs is constructed by connecting communication units through communication circuits such as cables. In a control system with a large-scale production facility, a large number of PLCs are used, and the structure of a network connecting these PLCs also becomes complicated.

Among the design devices described above, there is a device capable of generating a network structure of a control system in an off-line state, displaying it graphically, and using the graphical display to monitor the PLC or transfer programs to the PLC. However, in a control system having a complex structure, there may be a plurality of PLCs of the same type, and the PLCs to be set cannot be distinguished on the screen displayed on the design device. Accordingly, a technique for highlighting a PLC to be monitored or set has been proposed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2006-277734

Contents of the invention

However, in Patent Document 1, the user of the design device configures the PLCs on the design device in advance based on the actual network configuration, sets the setting values in each PLC, and creates the control system offline. Information about the network structure and system structure. When information on the network configuration of the control system and the system configuration of the PLC is generated offline, there is a problem that errors may occur in the connection between PLCs and the like.

In addition, in Patent Document 1, although the position of the target PLC can be highlighted, for example, for a method of finding an optimal connection path for designing a device to transmit information from the connected position to the target PLC, It's not public.

In addition, in a control system configured by connecting a plurality of networks, routing parameters for enabling data transfer across a plurality of networks are set in PLCs located between the networks. However, there is a problem that it is difficult for a third party to understand that the routing parameter is for transient transfer from which request source to which request destination. In addition, when adding and changing the existing control system configuration or constructing a new control system, there is a problem that the calculation of routing parameters is manually performed by the system builder, and the calculation is difficult.

The present invention is proposed in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to obtain a control system design device, which can collect the network structure and the system structure of PLC in the existing control system composed of multiple PLCs, and automatically This composition is displayed graphically.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to obtain a control system design device that can automatically calculate the distance from the starting point to the target PLC when the network structure is graphically generated offline. The best connection pathways are highlighted.

Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to obtain a control system design device that can easily set the Network parameters including PLC routing parameters.

In order to achieve the above object, the control system design device according to the present invention is characterized by having a communication unit connected to one control device in a control system in which a plurality of control devices are connected via a network. a starting point control device specifying unit, which specifies the control device connected to the communication unit as a starting point control device; an online network structure information collecting unit, via the communication unit, from the control constituting the control system The device collects online network structure information including the control device structure of the control device and the network to which the control device is connected; a display object coordinate calculation unit that uses the structural elements of the control system as objects for calculation. The structure of each control device to be obtained through the online network structure information collection unit, and the connection relationship between each control device and the network, using objects to display coordinates required on the display unit; and a system structure display unit, It displays the system structure of the control system on the display unit based on the object and the coordinates calculated by the display object coordinate calculation unit, and the display object coordinate calculation unit has a network grid configuration function A module, which extracts the network from the online network structure information, uses the extracted network as a rectangular network frame, and arranges it up and down according to the specified rules; the control device frame configuration function module, which uses the online network structure information extracting the control device, disposing a rectangular control device grid below the network grid connected to the control device, and for the network grids having a connection relationship, between the control device grid and the network grid Arranging rectangular-shaped wiring grids upwards to generate a grid model; the grid size calculation function module calculates the grid size in the grid model according to the structure information of the control device in the online network structure information. The size of the grid of the control device, and corresponding to the size of the control device to change the size of the relevant wiring grid and network grid, so as to calculate the size of the grid; and the grid coordinate calculation function module, which converts the The specified position of the sash model is used as a reference, and the coordinates of each sash in the sash model are calculated by using the size of the sash, and the network sash configuration function module classifies the extracted networks by type, and for classification Each of the following network types performs the following processing. Among the control devices connected to the network, the more the number or ratio of control devices connected to the field network, the lower the configuration, and only the other information system networks will be connected. A network with a greater number or ratio of connected control devices is placed higher up, and a network with a larger number or ratio of control devices that are also connected to other inter-controller networks is placed higher up. The sash configuration function module configures control device sashes connected to the same network closer together.

The effect of the invention

According to the present invention, there is an effect that the information on the overall network configuration of the control system composed of a plurality of control devices such as PLCs and the system configuration of the control devices is collected by connecting to the control system, so that the connection relationship can be obtained together. Graphically displayed together, it is easy to grasp the overall system structure of the network and control device that constitute the control system, and since the collected network structure information is displayed in a network order that is easy for the user to understand, it is easy to control the structure. The network of the system and the system structure of the control device are grasped as a whole. In addition, there is an effect that it is easy to grasp the state of the overall system configuration of the network and the control device constituting the control system.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a network configuration of a control system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the hardware configuration of the control system design device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 1 of the control system design device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4-1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a control system.

FIG. 4-2 is a diagram showing an example of a grid model corresponding to FIG. 4-1.

FIG. 5-1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a control system.

Fig. 5-2 is a diagram showing an example of a grid model corresponding to Fig. 5-1.

FIG. 6-1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control system.

Fig. 6-2 is a diagram showing an example of a grid model corresponding to Fig. 6-1.

FIG. 7-1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a control system.

FIG. 7-2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control system.

Fig. 7-3 is a diagram showing an example of a grid model corresponding to Fig. 7-1.

Fig. 7-4 is a diagram showing an example of a grid model corresponding to Fig. 7-2.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing a functional configuration of a display object coordinate calculation unit.

FIG. 9-1 is a flowchart (Part 1) showing an example of a network configuration information collection processing procedure.

FIG. 9-2 is a flowchart (Part 2 ) showing an example of a network configuration information collection process procedure.

FIG. 9-3 is a flowchart (part 3 ) showing an example of a network configuration information collection processing procedure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of connection path information held in an online connection path storage unit.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of network configuration information stored in an online network configuration information storage unit.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of restrictions on collection of network information.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of priorities in network information output processing.

FIG. 14-1 is a flowchart showing an example of a display object coordinate calculation processing procedure.

FIG. 14-2 is a flow chart showing an example of a network grid arrangement processing procedure.

FIG. 14-3 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process.

FIG. 14-4 is a flowchart showing an example of a cell size calculation processing procedure.

FIG. 14-5 is a flowchart showing an example of a grid coordinate calculation processing procedure.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the result of network grid arrangement processing.

FIG. 16-1 is a flow chart showing an example of the PLC grid layout processing procedure. (its 1).

FIG. 16-2 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of PLC grid layout processing. (its 2).

FIG. 16-3 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process. (its 3).

FIG. 16-4 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process. (its 4).

Fig. 16-5 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process. (5 of them).

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the calculation result of the cell size.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of grid coordinate calculation results.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of a system configuration display processing procedure.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of system configuration information displayed on a display unit by system configuration display processing.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a display having the function of a control system design device.

FIG. 22-1 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional structure of the network grid configuration functional module of the control system design device according to the present invention.

FIG. 22-2 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional structure of the PLC grid arrangement functional module.

FIG. 23-1 is a flowchart (No. 1 ) showing an example of the procedure of the network grid arrangement process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 23-2 is a flowchart (part 2) showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 23-3 is a flowchart (Part 3) showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the result of the network grid layout process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 25-1 is a diagram (No. 1 ) showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 25-2 is a figure (the 2nd) which shows an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement|positioning process concerning this Embodiment 2. FIG.

FIG. 25-3 is a figure (the 3rd) which shows an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement|positioning process concerning this Embodiment 2. FIG.

FIG. 25-4 is a figure (the 4th) which shows an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement|positioning process concerning this Embodiment 2. FIG.

FIG. 25-5 is a figure (the 5th) which shows an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement|positioning process concerning this Embodiment 2. FIG.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the result of calculation of the grid size and grid coordinates with respect to the results of FIG. 25-5 .

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of system configuration information displayed by system configuration display processing.

Fig. 28 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the control system.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a system configuration in which the control system of FIG. 28 is displayed by the method of the first embodiment.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a grid model generated by the method of Embodiment 2 for the control system of FIG. 28 .

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing the system configuration of the control system in FIG. 28 displayed based on the grid model in FIG. 30 .

FIG. 32 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 3 of the control system design device according to the present invention.

Fig. 33 is a flow chart showing an example of a connection path display processing procedure.

FIG. 34-1 is a diagram (part 1 ) showing an example of a procedure for displaying a connection path on the system configuration information display screen.

FIG. 34-2 is a diagram (part 2 ) showing an example of a procedure of connection path display processing on the system configuration information display screen.

FIG. 34-3 is a diagram (part 3 ) showing an example of a procedure of connection path display processing on the system configuration information display screen.

FIG. 34-4 is a diagram (Part 4 ) showing an example of a procedure of connection path display processing on the system configuration information display screen.

FIG. 34-5 is a diagram (part 5 ) showing an example of a procedure of a connection path display process on the system configuration information display screen.

FIG. 35 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 4 of the control system design device according to the present invention.

FIG. 36-1 is a flowchart (Part 1) showing an example of an offline connection path analysis processing procedure.

FIG. 36-2 is a flowchart (Part 2) showing an example of an offline connection path analysis processing procedure.

FIG. 36-3 is a flowchart (Part 3) showing an example of an offline connection path analysis processing procedure.

FIG. 37-1 is a diagram (No. 1 ) showing an example of connected path holding information held in an offline connected path holding unit.

FIG. 37-2 is a diagram (part 2 ) showing an example of connected path holding information held in the offline connected path holding unit.

FIG. 37-3 is a diagram (part 3 ) showing an example of connected path holding information held in the offline connected path holding unit.

FIG. 37-4 is a diagram (Part 4 ) showing an example of connected path holding information held in the offline connected path holding unit.

FIG. 37-5 is a diagram (part 5 ) showing an example of connection path holding information held in the offline connection path holding unit.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing an example of a throughput model (throughput model) according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an offline connection path.

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an offline connection path.

FIG. 41 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 5 of the control system design device according to the present invention.

Fig. 42 is a flow chart showing an example of an optimal connection path calculation processing procedure.

FIG. 43-1 is a diagram (Part 1) showing connection path data in a case where the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-1 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 43-2 is a diagram (part 2 ) showing connection path data when connection path analysis processing is performed with the PLC 10 - 1 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 43-3 is a diagram (Part 3) showing connection path data when connection path analysis processing is performed with the PLC 10-1 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 43-4 is a diagram (No. 4 ) showing connection path data when the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-1 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 43-5 is a diagram (Part 5) showing connection path data when the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-1 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 44-1 is a diagram (part 1 ) showing connection path data in a case where connection path analysis processing is performed with the PLC 10-2 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 44-2 is a diagram (Part 2) showing connection path data in a case where the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-2 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 44-3 is a diagram (Part 3) showing connection path data in a case where the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-2 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 44-4 is a diagram (No. 4 ) showing connection path data when the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-2 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 44-5 is a diagram (part 5 ) showing connection path data when the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-2 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 45-1 is a diagram (Part 1) showing connection path data in a case where the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-4 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 45-2 is a diagram (Part 2) showing connection path data in a case where the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-4 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 45-3 is a diagram (Part 3) showing connection path data in a case where the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-4 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 45-4 is a diagram (Part 4) showing connection path data in a case where connection path analysis processing is performed with the PLC 10-4 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 45-5 is a diagram (part 5 ) showing connection path data when the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-4 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 46-1 is a diagram (Part 1) showing connection path data in a case where connection path analysis processing is performed with the PLC 10-5 as the starting point PLC.

Fig. 46-2 is a diagram (part 2) showing connection path data when the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-5 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 46-3 is a diagram (Part 3) showing connection path data in a case where the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-5 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 46-4 is a diagram (No. 4 ) showing connection path data when the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-5 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 46-5 is a diagram (Part 5) showing connection path data in a case where the connection path analysis process is performed with the PLC 10-5 as the starting point PLC.

FIG. 47 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an optimal connection path.

Fig. 48 is a diagram showing an example of routing parameters set in the control system.

FIG. 49 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 6 of the control system design device according to the present invention.

FIG. 50 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of a routing parameter calculation unit.

FIG. 51-1 is a flowchart (Part 1) showing an example of a routing parameter calculation processing procedure.

FIG. 51-2 is a flowchart (Part 2) showing an example of a routing parameter calculation processing procedure.

Fig. 52 is a diagram showing an example of a connection path to each PLC in the control system of Fig. 28 .

Figure 53-1 is the routing parameter (1) set in the PLC.

Figure 53-2 is the routing parameter (part 2) set in the PLC.

Figure 53-3 is the routing parameter (part 3) set in the PLC.

Figure 53-4 is the routing parameter (4) set in the PLC.

FIG. 54 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 7 of the control system design device according to the present invention.

FIG. 55-1 is a flowchart (Part 1) showing an example of the procedure of the collective parameter rewriting process.

FIG. 55-2 is a flowchart (Part 2) showing an example of the procedure of the collective parameter rewriting process.

Fig. 56-1 is a diagram (Part 1) showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

Fig. 56-2 is a diagram (Part 2) showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

Fig. 56-3 is a diagram (part 3) showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

Fig. 56-4 is a diagram (Part 4) showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

FIG. 57-1 is a flowchart (Part 1) showing an example of a procedure for collectively rewriting parameters of a plurality of networks.

FIG. 57-2 is a flowchart (Part 2 ) showing an example of a procedure for collectively rewriting parameters of a plurality of networks.

Fig. 58-1 is a diagram (Part 1) showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

Fig. 58-2 is a diagram (Part 2) showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

Fig. 58-3 is a diagram (part 3) showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

Fig. 58-4 is a diagram (Part 4) showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10-1~10-13 PLC (programmable logic controller)

11－1A～11－5B Communication unit

12－3～12－5 Input and output unit

13-3 Adding base boards

21 Information System Network No.3

22A inter-controller network No.1

22B Inter-controller network No.2

23 field network

100 Control system design device

101, 155 microprocessor

102, 156 data storage memory

103 communication port

104, 112, 151 display unit

105, 152 input part

106, 154 Storage Department

107, 157 bus

111 Department of Communications

113 Starting point PLC designation department

114 Online Network Structure Information Collection Department

115 Online Connection Path Maintenance Unit

116 Online Network Structure Information Maintenance Department

117 Display object coordinate calculation unit

118 System Structure Display Section

119 Control Department

120 Connection channel display unit

121 System Structure Editorial Department

122 Offline network structure information retention department

123 Connection path analysis selection part

124 Throughput Model Holder

125 Offline connection path maintenance unit

126 Optimal Connection Path Calculation Department

127 Routing parameter calculation department

150 monitors

1171 Sash model retaining function module

1172 Network grid configuration function module

1173 PLC sash configuration function module

1174 Sash size calculation function module

1175 Grid coordinate calculation function module

1271 Connection path inversion function module

1272 Transfer target network serial number extraction function module

1273 Relay target network serial number extraction function module

1274 Relay target site serial number extraction function module

11721 Other network connection PLC extraction unit

11722 Network category sorting unit

11731 PLC sash configuration alternate extraction unit

11732 PLC sash configuration alternate selection unit

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the control system designing device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by these embodiment.

Embodiment 1

In this first embodiment, a control system design device and a control system design method will be described, wherein the control system design device collects data in an on-line state from a control system such as a production facility in which a plurality of PLCs are connected via a network. The network structure information and the connection path information display the network structure constituting the control system and the overall system structure of the PLC based on the network structure information and the connection path information.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a network configuration of a control system. This control system constitutes, for example, a production facility, and has a structure in which a plurality of PLCs are connected via a network. In this example, PLCs 10-1, 10-2 are connected to information system network 21, PLCs 10-1, 10-3, 10-4 are connected to inter-controller network 22A, PLCs 10-1, 10-2, 10- 5 is connected to the inter-controller network 22B, and the PLCs 10-4 and 10-5 are connected to the field network 23. In addition, the control system design device 100 according to the present invention is connected to the PLC 10 - 3 of the inter-controller network 22A via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable 30 .

Here, the information system network refers to a network in which information processing terminals such as PLCs and personal computers coexist and are connected, and Ethernet (registered trademark) and the like can be exemplified. In addition, the inter-controller network is a network in which only PLCs are connected to each other, and the field network is a network in which PLCs and PLC-controlled objects such as servo motors coexist and are connected. Usually, the inter-controller network 22 is constituted by a circuit whose communication speed is higher than that of the field network 23 . In addition, network numbers can be assigned to the information system network 21 and the inter-controller network 22 , but network numbers cannot be assigned to the field network 23 . In FIG. 1 , the network number "No. 1" is given to the inter-controller network 22A, the network number "No. 2" is given to the inter-controller network 22B, and the network number "No. 3" is given to the information system network 21 .

On the substrate of PLC 10-1, communication units 11-1A, 11-1B for communicating via inter-controller networks 22A, 22B, and communication units 11 for communicating via information system network 21 are provided as communication units. -1C.

Here, the PLCs constituting the network are generally referred to as stations. In addition, in the inter-controller network, among the stations, especially among the stations that manage each station in the inter-controller network, the station that holds its own station number and information on how many stations it manages (total number of stations) is called for the administration site. This management station is installed in 1 inter-controller network. In addition, among the stations other than the management station in the inter-controller network, the station that keeps its own station number is called a normal station. In addition, the notation in the figure of the communication unit 11 for communicating via the inter-controller networks 22A, 22B has the following meanings. For example, in the case of "M1-3 communication", "M" indicates the communication unit for communication via the inter-controller network, "1" indicates the network number assigned to the inter-controller network, and the hyphen "-" The number "3" indicates the station number of the PLC (communication unit 11) in the inter-controller network, and the last text indicates whether it is a management station or a normal station. The subscript is "pass".

In addition, in the notation of the communication unit 11 for communication via the information system network 21 in the figure, for example, "E3-1", "E" indicates a communication unit for communication via the information system network, and "3" indicates The network number assigned to the information system network, the number "1" after the hyphen "-" indicates the station number of the PLC (communication unit 11 ) in the information system network.

Thus, the communication unit 11-1A is a communication unit connected to the inter-controller network 22A as a normal station of station number 3, and the communication unit 11-1B is connected to the inter-controller network 22B as a normal station of station number 2. communication unit. In addition, the communication unit E3 - 1 is a communication unit connected to the information system network 21 as the site number 1 .

On the substrate of the PLC 10-2, a communication unit 11-2A for communicating via the inter-controller network 22B and a communication unit 11-2B for communicating via the information system network 21 are provided as communication units. The communication unit 11 - 2A is a communication unit connected to the inter-controller network 22B as the management site of the site number 1 . In addition, the communication unit 11 - 2B is a communication unit connected to the information system network 21 as the site number 2 .

On the substrate of the PLC 10-3, a communication unit 11-3 for performing communication via the inter-controller network 22A is provided as a communication unit. This communication unit 11 - 3 is a communication unit connected to the inter-controller network 22A as the management station of station number 1 . In addition, an input/output (I/O) unit 12-3 is provided on the base board of the PLC 10-3, and an extension base board 13-3 with two I/O units 12-3 is mounted thereon.

On the substrate of the PLC 10-4, in addition to the input and output unit 12-4, a communication unit 11-4A for communicating via the field network 23 and a communication unit for communicating via the inter-controller network 22A are provided as communication units. Communication unit 11-4B.

Here, in the notation of the communication unit 11 for communication via the field network 23 in the figure, for example, "C main site", "C" represents the communication unit for communication via the field network, and the following text represents Whether it is a master station or a local station, in the case of a local station, the station number of the PLC (communication unit 11 ) on the field network is further added to it. In addition, master station and local station are names of stations in the field network. The master station is equivalent to the management station of the inter-controller network, and the local station is also equivalent to a normal station.

Accordingly, the communication unit 11 - 4A is a communication unit connected to the field network 23 as a master station, and the communication unit 11 - 4B is a communication unit connected to the inter-controller network 22A as a normal station of station number 2 .

In the substrate of the PLC 10-5, in addition to the input and output unit 12-5, a communication unit 11-5A for communicating via the field network 23 and a communication unit for communicating via the inter-controller network 22B are provided as communication units. The communication unit 11-5B. The communication unit 11 - 5A is a communication unit connected to the site network 23 as a local station of station number 1, and the communication unit 11 - 5B is a communication unit connected to a normal station of station number 3 in the inter-controller network 22B.

In addition, each PLC holds item information including board information set in the PLC to operate the PLC, connection network information and programs related to the network to which the PLC belongs. The board information includes the number of units (number of slots) mounted on the PLC board, the type of units mounted in each slot of the board, and information on extension boards connected to the board. In addition, the connected network information includes the type of the network to which the PLC belongs, the network number, the station number in the network, whether it is a management station or a normal station, and the total number of stations. In addition, in the following description, the integrated content of the said board|substrate information and connection network information is also called system configuration information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the hardware configuration of the control system design device. The control system design device 100 is composed of an information processing terminal such as a personal computer, and is configured to be connected to a microprocessor 101 via a bus 107, which is used to perform processing of a design tool based on a program (that is, processing of setting and management of a system configuration). ); data storage memory 102, which is used to store temporary data generated with the processing; communication port 103, which is used to communicate with PLC10; display unit 104, which is used to display design tools (windows such as trees or icons) ; an input unit 105 such as a keyboard and a mouse; and a storage unit 106 such as a hard disk device that stores data set by the design tool (that is, setting of the system configuration).

In the example of FIG. 1 , the control system design device 100 is connected to the PLC 10-3 via the USB cable 30 . In addition, under the restrictions described later, information such as PLC data related to the control system and connection paths connected to each PLC 10 is collected, and the system configuration is displayed graphically.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 1 of the control system design device according to the present invention. This control system design device 100 has a communication unit 111, a display unit 112, a starting point PLC specifying unit 113, an online network configuration information collection unit 114, an online connection path storage unit 115, an online network configuration information storage unit 116, and a display object coordinate calculation unit 117. , a system configuration display unit 118, and a control unit 119 for controlling each of the processing units.

The communication part 111 is connected with one PLC which comprises a control system, and performs communication. In addition, the display unit 112 is a means for displaying the system configuration information generated by the system configuration display unit 118 . In addition, the communication unit 111 corresponds to communication means in the claims, and the display unit 112 similarly corresponds to a display unit.

The origin PLC specifying unit 113 specifies to which PLC the control system designing device 100 is connected. For the processing performed by the origin PLC specifying unit 113, for example, the content described in Japanese Patent No. 3587099 can be used. In addition, the starting point PLC specifying unit 113 corresponds to a starting point control device specifying unit in the claims.

The online network configuration information collection unit 114 collects system configuration information including connection network information and board information, and connection path information as a connection path connected to each PLC. The PLC designated by 113 serves as a starting point to form a network to which the PLCs of the control system are connected, and this board information shows the system configuration of the PLC (the configuration of units mounted on the board). In addition, it also has a function of generating network information showing the network configuration, that is, PLCs connected to the network, based on the collected system configuration information. In addition, the collected connection network information and substrate information are used as PLC data, and the generated network is stored as network data in the online network structure information holding unit 116, and the collected connection path information is stored in the online connection path holding unit 115. middle. In addition, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 corresponds to an online network configuration information collection unit in the claims.

The online connection path holding unit 115 holds connection path information that is a connection path to each PLC used in the process of the online network configuration information collecting unit 114 . The connection path information shows a communication path when accessing a certain PLC from the PLC connected to the control system design apparatus 100 .

The on-line network configuration information storage unit 116 stores the connection network information and board information collected by the on-line network configuration information collection unit 114 and the network information generated by the on-line network configuration information collection unit 114 as network configuration information. As described above, the connection network information is information showing the network connected to the PLCs constituting the control system, and the board information is showing the number (number of slots), types, attributes, and connections of units mounted on the same board as each PLC. An add-on base on the base and information on the number, type and attributes of units mounted on the add-on base. In addition, the network information is information including attributes set in the PLCs constituting the network and their communication units.

The display object coordinate calculation unit 117 reads the network structure information stored in the online network structure information storage unit 116, analyzes its content, and calculates the coordinates of each display object (hereinafter referred to as object) for displaying and configuring the control system. The overall network and PLC system structure. The display object coordinate calculation unit 117 corresponds to display object coordinate calculation means in the claims.

The system configuration display unit 118 displays a display object on the display unit 112 based on the coordinates calculated by the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 . The system configuration display unit 118 corresponds to a system configuration display unit in the claims.

Here, the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 will be further described in detail. The display object coordinate calculation unit 117 has a function of calculating placement information based on a grid model as an intermediate stage before finally calculating coordinates of an object to be displayed by the system configuration display unit 118 .

The sash model is a model in which a rectangular lattice is used to represent an arrangement relationship between objects. Here, three types of grids, a network grid, a PLC grid, and a wiring grid, are used as grid models.

A network pane is a rectangular grid (sash) that represents a network. No other panes are arranged on the left and right of the network pane, and when there are multiple network panes, the network panes are arranged up and down.

The PLC grid is a rectangular grid (sash) representing a PLC. The PLC grid is located below the network grid of the network to which the PLC is connected, and is placed together with the wiring grid described later. This PLC pane corresponds to the control device pane in the claims.

The wiring grid is a rectangular grid (sash) representing wiring for connecting the PLC to the network. The wiring grid is disposed between the network grid and the PLC grid, and is formed so as to necessarily extend only upward from the PLC grid.

Also, in addition to this, the entire network grid above the added PLC grid is extended horizontally to include the added lower PLC grid.

Next, a specific example of the lattice model will be described. FIGS. 4-1 to 7-4 are diagrams showing an example of a structure of a control system and an example of a grid model corresponding thereto. In Figure 4-2, the PLC 3 connected to the network No.1 shown in Figure 4-1 is represented by a grid model. As shown in FIG. 4-2 , the PLC grid 3 is arranged below the network grid 1 , and the wiring grid is arranged from the PLC grid 3 toward the network grid 1 .

In the case that PLC 3 is connected to the two networks No.1 and No.2 as shown in Figure 5-1, the grid model is shown in Figure 5-2, from PLC grid 3 and the upper and lower configurations The network grid 1 and the network grid 2 are arranged facing upward with wiring grids.

In the case where two PLCs 3 and 4 are connected to one network No.1 as shown in Figure 6-1, the grid model is shown in Figure 6-2, from the two PLC grids 3 arranged side by side , 4 configure the wiring grid towards the network grid 1 respectively. At this time, as shown in Figure 6-1, two PLCs 3 and 4 are connected to the network grid No. To include 2 PLC grids 3,4.

As shown in Figure 7-1 or Figure 7-2, when PLC 3 is connected to network No.1, PLC 4 is connected to network No.2, and PLC 5 is connected to two networks No.1 and No.2, The grid model becomes the shape shown in Figure 7-3 or 7-4. That is, since there are two networks No. 1 and No. 2, two network cells 1 and 2 are arranged in the vertical direction. Here, the network pane 1 is arranged above the network pane 2 . In addition, since PLC 3 is only connected to network No. 1, PLC grid 3 is arranged between network grid 1 and network grid 2, and the wiring grid is arranged from PLC grid 1 to network grid 1. In addition, since PLC 4 is only connected to network No. 2, PLC grid 4 is arranged below network grid 2, and wiring grids are arranged from PLC grid 4 to network grid 2. In addition, since the PLC 5 is connected to both networks No. 1 and No. 2, the PLC grid 5 is arranged below the network grid 2, and the wiring grids are arranged facing the network grid 1 and the network grid 2. In addition, the network grid 1 is formed in a shape extending in the left-right direction so as to include the PLC grids 3 and 5 , and the network grid 2 is formed in a shape extending in the left-right direction so as to include the PLC grids 4 and 5 .

Under such grid model rules, the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 calculates the coordinates of the object constituting the control system for which the system configuration display unit 118 performs display processing using the grid.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing a functional configuration of a display object coordinate calculation unit. As shown in the figure, the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 has a grid model holding function module 1171, a network grid arrangement function module 1172, a PLC grid arrangement function module 1173, a grid size calculation function module 1174, and a grid coordinate calculation function. Module 1175.

The sash model holding function module 1171 includes the sash model configured by the network sash configuration function module 1172 and the PLC sash configuration function module 1173, and the sash size calculated by the sash size calculation function module 1174. The sash model is maintained.

The network grid configuration function module 1172 reads the network structure information stored in the online network structure information storage unit 116, analyzes the configuration relationship between the networks according to the content, and calculates and configures the grid model of the network. The result is stored in the grid model holding function module 1171.

The PLC grid configuration function module 1173 reads the network structure information held in the online network structure information holding unit 116, analyzes the connection relationship between the PLC and the network according to the content, calculates and configures the grid of the PLC and the wiring Model. At this time, PLC cells and wiring cells are arranged for the cell model calculated by the network cell configuration function block 1172 and stored in the cell model holding function block 1171 . Then, the result is stored in the grid model holding function module 1171 . In addition, the PLC sash configuration function module 1173 corresponds to the control device sash configuration function module in the claims.

The sash size calculation function module 1174 uses the corresponding PLC substrate information in the online network structure information holding unit 116 for each sash in the sash model held in the sash model holding function module 1171, especially the PLC sash, Calculate the size required for the display of the PLC. Here, the grid model used refers to a grid model in which a network grid, a PLC grid, and a wiring grid are arranged. In addition, as board information, the number and types of units mounted on the corresponding PLC board, the presence or absence of an extension board, and the number and types of units mounted on the extension board are used. Then, the result is added to the grid model in the grid model holding function module 1171 and stored.

The grid coordinate calculation function module 1175 adds the grid size sequentially from the upper left PLC grid to the PLC grids in the grid model including the grid size held in the grid model maintenance function module 1171. Calculate grid coordinates. Then, the calculated results are output to the system configuration display unit 118 together with the lattice model.

Next, in the control system design apparatus 100 having the above-mentioned configuration, the collection processing of the network configuration information to the display processing of the system configuration information will be sequentially described.

(collection and processing of network structure information)

(1) Outline of processing

FIGS. 9-1 to 9-3 are flowcharts showing an example of a procedure for collecting network configuration information. First, the user of the control system design device 100 specifies which PLC the control system design device 100 is connected to via the origin PLC specifying unit 113 (step S11 ). Since the designated PLC at this time becomes the starting point for collecting network structure information, it is called the starting point PLC.

The online network configuration information collecting unit 114 reads the system configuration information from the item information held by the designated origin PLC (step S12 ). In addition, at the same time, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 outputs the connection path connected to the starting point PLC (step S13 ), and stores it in the online connection path holding unit 115 as connection path information.

Next, the on-line network configuration information collection unit 114 extracts the board information and connection network information from the system configuration information read in step S12 (step S14), and outputs them as PLC data to the on-line network configuration information holding unit 116 ( Step S15). Then, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 selects the origin PLC as the processing target PLC (step S16 ), and executes the A1 process shown in FIG. 9-2 (step S17 ).

FIG. 9-2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the A1 process in step S17 in FIG. 9-1 . First, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 determines whether or not the A2 process shown in FIG. 9-3 has been executed for all the networks connected to the origin PLC (step S31 ). When the A2 processing is performed on all the networks connected to the target PLC (YES in step S31 ), the A1 processing is terminated, and the process returns to the flowchart of FIG. 9-1 .

Moreover, when the A2 process has not been performed on all the networks connected to the target PLC (NO in step S31 ), it is determined whether information collection can be continued for each network (step S32 ). Whether or not the network information collection process can be executed is determined based on a previously defined limit on the range in which the network information collection process can be performed. In addition, when information collection can be continued for each network (YES in step S32), one network is selected as the network to be processed from the networks that have not yet executed the A2 process in FIG. 9-3 (step S32). S33 ), for the network, execute the network information output process shown in FIG. 9-3 (step S34 ).

Then, it is determined whether there is a network that has not undergone the A2 process (step S35 ), and if there is a network that has not undergone the A2 process (Yes in step S35 ), return to step S33 and execute the above-mentioned process repeatedly. On the other hand, when there is no network that has not been subjected to the A2 process (NO in step S35 ), the A1 process ends, and the process returns to FIG. 9-1 .

In addition, in step S32, when information collection cannot be continued for each network (in the case of NO in step S32), network information is generated using the output PLC data, and is output as network data to the online network structure The information holding unit 116 (step S36). This network information is obtained by summarizing, for each network, PLCs constituting the network and information set in the PLCs.

FIG. 9-3 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the A2 process in step S34 of FIG. 9-2. In this A2 process, the online network structure information collection unit 114 first reads the item information held by the PLC of the management site (in the case of the inter-controller network) or the master site (in the case of the field network) connected to the network. Get system structure information (step S51). Then, the total number of stations is extracted from the connected network information of the read system configuration information (step S52 ).

Then, the online network configuration information collecting unit 114 reads out the system configuration information from the project information held by each PLC connected to the network (step S53 ). Next, extract the board information and connection network information from the read system configuration information (step S54), use these information to generate network information that summarizes the setting information for the PLCs that constitute the network, and send it to the on-line network as network data. The configuration information holding unit 116 outputs (step S55 ).

Next, the online network configuration information collecting unit 114 judges whether or not all the PLCs corresponding to the collected information have output data (step S56 ). When data is output corresponding to all PLCs (YES in step S56), A2 process regarding the target network is complete|finished, and it returns to A1 process of FIG. 9-2. In addition, when the data has not been output corresponding to all PLCs (in the case of No in step S56), the connection paths connected to each PLC are output to the online connection path holding unit 115 (step S57), and are sent to the online connection path holding unit 115 (step S57). The network configuration information holding unit 116 outputs the PLC data of each PLC extracted in step S54 (step S58 ).

Next, based on predetermined restrictions, it is determined whether or not information collection can be continued for each PLC with respect to the network (step S59 ). When it is possible to collect information on the network (Yes in step S59), select the PLC that has not implemented the A1 process shown in Figure 9-2 as the processing target PLC (step S60), and execute Figure 9-2 A1 processing shown (step S61). Then, it is determined whether there is a PLC that has not yet performed the A1 process (step S62 ), and if there is a PLC that has not yet performed the A1 process (YES in step S62 ), the process returns to step S60 and the above processing is repeatedly executed. Moreover, when there is no PLC which has not performed A1 process yet (it is NO in step S62), A2 process is complete|finished. In addition, also in the case where it was not possible to collect information on the network in step S59 (NO in step S59 ), the process of A2 is terminated.

Then, returning to FIG. 9-1, after the A1 process of step S17, the online network structure information collection part 114 processes the integrity of the output data (step S18). As the integration processing of this data, the following processing can be exemplified. That is, for the same network, when there are two copies of network data in the online network configuration information holding unit 116 due to restrictions, processing is performed to These two pieces of data are aggregated to form one piece of network data for the network. Thus, the network configuration information collection process is completed.

According to the processing described above, in the online connection path holding unit 115, the connection path information from the PLC connected to the control system design device 100 to each PLC in the network where information can be collected is stored, and the online network configuration information is held The unit 116 stores network configuration information including connection network information and board information about each PLC in the network where information can be collected, and network information composed of each PLC.

(2) Specific examples of processing

Since the above description describes the outline of the network configuration information collection process, the case of the control system having the configuration of FIG. 1 is taken as an example, and a specific example of this process will be described below. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of connection path information stored in an online connection path holding unit through network configuration information collection processing, and FIG. 11 is an example of network configuration information similarly stored in an online network configuration information storage unit. Example diagram. In addition, in the said FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, it shows in order of data generation. In addition, in these figures, the network is not marked with the label shown in Figure 1 but in the form of "network type + network serial number".

As shown in FIG. 10, the connection path information includes "data type" indicating the type of stored data, "name" of the destination PLC, "start point PLC", and "data 1" indicating the network or node (PLC) as the intermediate path. ", "Data 2", .... Here, n is a natural number, the network is written in the "data (2n-1)" column, and the PLC is written in the "data (2n)" column.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 11 , the network configuration information includes "data type" indicating the type of stored data, "name" indicating the target PLC, and "name" indicating the content specified for each data type for the PLC. "Data 1", "Data 2", .... As described above, the network configuration information is composed of three types of board information, connection network information, and network information, so the content of the stored data differs depending on the type of these data.

For example, when storing board information, "PLC board" is stored in the data type, and the type of the unit mounted in each slot is stored in each data column. In the case of an add-on base, the types of units mounted in the respective slots of the add-on base are also stored. In addition, when storing connection network information, "PLC network" is stored in the data category, and information related to each communication unit mounted on the PLC board shown in "Name" is stored in each data column. . Moreover, when storing network information, "network" is stored in the data category, and information about the communication unit of PLC which comprises the network shown by "name" is stored in each data column. Here, they are stored sequentially by site number.

(2-1) For the starting point PLC

In FIG. 1 , since the control system designing device 100 is connected to the PLC 10-3, first, the user designates the PLC 10-3 as the starting point PLC through the starting point PLC specifying unit 113 of the control system designing device 100 . Thereafter, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 reads out the system configuration information from the project information held by the origin PLC connected via the USB cable 30, and sends the connection path P3c connected to the origin PLC to the online connection path holding unit. 115 outputs.

Here, in the read system configuration information, the following information is included as the board information, that is, the CPU unit is mounted in the slot 1, the I/O unit 12-3 is mounted in the slot 2, and the I/O unit 12-3 is mounted in the slot 3. There is an inter-controller network unit 11 - 3 , and I/O units 12 - 3 are mounted in the slots 1 and 2 of the extension board 13 - 3 , respectively. In addition, the following information is included as connection network information, that is, the network type is inter-controller network No. 1, the inter-controller network unit 11-3 is a management station with a station number 1, and the total number of stations in the inter-controller network No. 1 for 3.

Thus, the online network structure information collection unit 114 outputs the content shown in the connection path P3c in FIG. Output to the online network configuration information storage unit 116 . In addition, PLC 10-3, which is the starting point PLC, is selected as a processing object, and A1 processing shown in Fig. 9-2 is executed.

(2-2) Network connected to PLC 10-3

In process A1 of Fig. 9-2, which targets PLC 10-3, the inter-controller network No. 1 (22A) connected to PLC 10-3 has not yet executed process A2 of Fig. 9-3. Check whether or not to continue to limit the collection of information to the network. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of restrictions on information collection from the network. Since the network connected to the PLC 10-3 in FIG. 1, that is, the inter-controller network No. 1 (22A) does not meet any of the restrictions in FIG. 12, the online network structure information collection unit 114 sets the inter-controller network No. ) Select as the object of A2 processing, and execute the A2 processing shown in Figure 9-3.

(2-3) For inter-controller network No.1

In the process A2 of Fig. 9-3 where inter-controller network No. 1 (22A) is the processing target, first, the online network structure information collection unit 114 obtains the data from PLC 10, which is a management site connected to inter-controller network No. 1. -3 From the held item information, read the system configuration information. However, here, since the PLC data P3b and P3n in FIG. 11 in the system configuration information of the PLC 10-3 have already been output, there is no need to read them out again. Thus, since the connection network information P3n in the system configuration information of the management station PLC (that is, PLC 10-3) includes information on the total number of stations of PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 1, the total number of stations is extracted "3".

Then, the on-line network configuration information collection unit 114 reads out the system configuration information from the object information held by the PLC of each station number through the path of "PLC 10-3→inter-controller network No. 1→each station". That is, here, the information of PLC 10-4 and PLC 10-1 is newly collected.

Then, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 generates network information based on the extracted information, and outputs it to the online network configuration information storage unit 116 as network data M1. That is, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 uses the information related to the communication unit 11-3 of the PLC 10-3 stored in the online network configuration information holding unit 116 and the extracted information related to the PLC 10-4, 10-1 The information related to the communication units 11-1A and 11-4B of the controller generates the network information for the inter-controller network No. 1 shown in the network data M1 of FIG. 11 .

Then, the online network structure information collection unit 114 outputs the data to the online connection path holding unit 115 or the online network structure information holding unit 116 for all the newly collected data related to the PLC 10-4, 10-1. data to judge. Here, none of the data of the PLCs 10-4, 10-1 has been output to the online connection path storage unit 115 and the online network configuration information storage unit 116 yet. As a result, the paths for reading out the PLCs 10-4 and 10-1 are respectively output as connection paths P4c and P1c to the online connection path holding unit 115, and the PLC data of the respective PLCs 10-4 and 10-1 are respectively It is output to the online network configuration information holding unit 116 as the board information P4b, P1b and the connection network information P4n, P1n.

Then, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 judges whether or not the PLC 10-4, 10-1 after the information collection can continue to collect information on the network. In addition, here, the PLCs that judge whether or not to continue collecting information on the network are PLC 10-4 (station number 2) and PLC 10-1 (station number 3), and it does not matter which PLC starts the process. That is, there is no priority of processing. In this example, processing is performed in the order of the station numbers, and after the processing for the PLC 10-4 of the station number 2 is completed, the processing for the PLC 10-1 of the station number 3 is performed.

(2-4) PLC 10-4

First, for PLC 10-4, confirm whether information collection can continue for the network according to the restrictions shown in Fig. 12. Since PLC 10-4 does not comply with the restrictions in Figure 12, PLC 10-4 is selected as the processing object, and A1 processing in Figure 9-2 is performed.

(2-4-1) A1 treatment

In the A1 process with PLC 10-4 as the processing target, in the network connected to PLC 10-4, the data of inter-controller network No. 1 has already been output to the online network configuration information holding unit 116 as network data M1, And the A2 processing is executed, but the A2 processing has not been executed for the field network 23 . Thereby, the online network structure information collection unit 114 confirms whether or not it is possible to continue to restrict information collection for the on-site network 23 using FIG. 12 . Here, since the limitation is not met, the field network 23 is selected as the processing target, and the processing of A2 in FIG. 9-3 is executed.

(2-4-2) A2 treatment

Then, in the A2 processing which takes the field network 23 as the processing object, the system configuration information is read out from the project information held by the PLC 10-4 which is the master station PLC connected to the field network 23. However, in the system configuration information of PLC 10-4, the data of the board information P4b and the connection network information P4n have already been output, so there is no need to read them out again. Thereby, the total station number "2" of PLCs connected to the field network 23 is extracted from the outputted connection network information P4n of the system configuration information of the master station PLC 10-4.

Then, the on-line network configuration information collection unit 114 collects the item information held by the PLC of each site number through the path of "PLC 10-3→inter-controller network No. 1→PLC 10-4→field network 23→each station". Read out the system structure information. That is, here, the information of PLC 10-5 is newly collected.

(2－4－3) Field network 23→PLC 10－5

In the newly read system configuration information of PLC 10-5, the following information is included as board information, that is, there is a CPU unit in slot 1, there is an I/O unit 12-5 in slot 2, and there is an I/O unit 12-5 in slot 3. There is a communication unit 11 - 5A for communication via the field network 23 , and a communication unit 11 - 5B for communication via the inter-controller network 22B is provided in the slot 4 . In addition, the connection network information includes information such as the field network 23 and the local station 1, and information such as the inter-controller network No. 2, the station number 3, and the normal station. And, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 generates network information related to the field network 23 based on the extracted system configuration information and the outputted system configuration information related to the PLC 10-4, as the network data C shown in FIG. 11 Output to the online network configuration information storage unit 116 .

Next, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 determines whether or not data has been output to the online connection path storage unit 115 or the online network configuration information storage unit 116 with respect to the PLC 10 - 5 in which new information has been collected. Here, since the data of the PLC 10-5 has not yet been output, the path that has been read is output to the online connection path holding unit 115 as the connection path P5c, and the PLC data is sent to the on-line network structure as the board information P5b and the connection network information P5n. The information holding unit 116 outputs.

Then, the online network structure information collection part 114 confirms whether information collection can be continued with respect to a network based on the limitation of FIG. 12 about PLC10-5 which has collected information. Here, since the restriction B is satisfied, the processing of A2 which makes the on-site network 23 the processing target ends. In addition, the processing of A1 with the PLC 10-4 as the processing target in (2-4) is completed.

(2-5) PLC 10-1

Next, regarding PLC 10-1, it is confirmed whether or not information collection can be continued with respect to the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . For PLC 10-1, because it does not meet the restrictions in Figure 12, PLC 10-1 is selected as the processing object, and A1 processing in Figure 9-2 is executed.

In the A1 process with the PLC 10-1 as the processing target, the A2 process has not yet been executed in the inter-controller network No. 2 and the information system network No. 3 in the network connected to the PLC 10-1. Thereby, the online network structure information collection part 114 selects the PLC which becomes a processing object based on the priority set by predetermined reference|standard, and performs processing. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of priorities in network information output processing. In this example, the inter-controller networks 22A and 22B with the highest possibility of being connected to the PLC are set as the highest processing priority, and the processing priority is lowered in the order of the field network 23 and the information system network 21 .

(2-6) Network between controllers No.2

The online network configuration information collection unit 114 selects the inter-controller network No. 2 according to the priority in FIG. 13 , and checks whether or not it is possible to continue the limitation of information collection for the network using FIG. 12 . Here, since the restriction is not met, the inter-controller network No. 2 is set as the processing object, and the A2 processing in Fig. 9-3 is executed.

In the A2 process in which the inter-controller network No. 2 is the processing target, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 acquires, from the item information held by PLC 10-2, which is a management site connected to the inter-controller network No. 2, Read system structure information. Since the connection network information in the system configuration information includes information on the total number of stations of PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 2, the total number of stations "3" is extracted.

Thereafter, the on-line network configuration information collection unit 114 collects data from the PLCs of each station number through the path of "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 → PLC 10-1 → inter-controller network No. 2 → each station" Read the system configuration information from the held project information. That is, here, the information of PLC 10-2, 10-5 is collected.

In the newly read system configuration information of PLC 10-2, the following information is included as the board information, that is, there is a CPU unit in slot 1, and there is a CPU unit in slot 3 for communication via inter-controller network No. 2. The communication unit 11 - 2A in the slot 2 has a communication unit 11 - 2B for communicating via the information system network No. 3 . In addition, the connection network information includes information such as inter-controller network No. 2, site number 1, and management site, and information such as information system network No. 3, site number 2, and IP address.

In addition, in the system configuration information of PLC 10-5, the following information is included as board information, that is, there is a CPU unit in slot 1, there is an I/O unit 12-5 in slot 2, and there is an I/O unit 12-5 in slot 3. The communication unit 11 - 5A for communicating via the field network 23 has a communication unit 11 - 5B for communicating via the inter-controller network No. 2 in the slot 4 . In addition, as connection network information, information such as field network and local station 1, and information such as inter-controller network No. 2, station number 3, and normal stations are stored.

In addition, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 generates the network information for inter-controller network No. The network information is output to the online network configuration information storage unit 116 as the network information M2.

Next, in the system structure information newly obtained through information collection, the data of PLC 10-5 has been outputted, but the data of PLC 10-2 has not been outputted yet. Thus, the path read by the PLC 10-2 is output to the online connection path holding unit 115 as the connection path P2c, and the PLC data is output to the on-line network structure information holding unit 116 as the board information P2b and the connection network information P2n. output.

(2-7) PLC 10-2

Thereafter, with regard to the PLC 10-2, it is confirmed whether or not information collection can be continued with respect to the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Since PLC 10-2 does not comply with the restrictions in Figure 12, PLC 10-2 is selected as the processing object, and A1 processing in Figure 9-2 is executed.

In the A1 process with the PLC 10-2 as the processing target, the A2 process has not yet been executed for the information system network No. 3 in the network to which the PLC 10-2 is connected. Thereby, the online network configuration information collection unit 114 checks whether or not information collection can be continued on the network based on the restrictions in FIG. 12 . Here, since constraint C is met, there is no network where information collection can take place. Thus, using the PLC data of the PLC 10-2, network information is generated within the range that can be generated for the information system network No. 3, and is output to the online network configuration information holding unit 116 as network data E3-2. Thereby, the A1 processing which makes PLC 10-2 the processing object ends. In addition, the A2 processing of (2-6) which makes the inter-controller network No. 2 the processing object ends.

(2－8) Information system network No.3

Next, for information system network No. 3, it is checked whether information collection can be continued for the network based on the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Since the information system network 21 complies with the restriction C, the network information is generated within the range that can be generated for the information system network No. 3, and is output to the online network configuration information storage unit 116 as network data E3-1. Thereby, the A2 process which makes PLC 10-1 the processing object of (2-5) ends. In addition, the processing of A1 with the PLC 10-3 as the processing target in (2-2) is completed.

Thereafter, the online network structure information collection unit 114 processes the integrity of the output data. In this example, the network data related to information system network No. 3 is shown in Figure 11 as network data E3-1 and E3-2 through the restriction C in Figure 12 of whether the network can continue to collect information. output. Thereby, the processing which aggregates these and forms network data E3 is performed. Thus, the collection and processing of the network structure information is completed.

(PLC grid configuration processing)

(1) Outline of processing

14-1 to 14-5 are flowcharts showing an example of a display object coordinate calculation processing procedure. In addition, in the following description, coordinate calculation processing of a display object is performed using the above-mentioned lattice model.

The outline of the display object coordinate calculation processing procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 14-1 . First, the network grid configuration function module 1172 of the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 uses the network information stored in the online network structure information storage unit 116 on the grid model to execute the network grid configuration process according to a predetermined rule (step S111).

Next, the PLC grid configuration function module 1173 uses the board information stored in the online network structure information holding unit 116 on the grid model, and executes the PLC grid configuration process of configuring the PLC grid and the wiring grid according to a predetermined rule. (step S112). In this PLC cell arrangement process, the PLC cell and the wiring cell are arranged for the network cell arranged in step S111. These results of the network grid configuration processing of step S111 and the PLC grid configuration processing of step S112 are stored in the grid model holding function module 1171 .

Thereafter, the sash size calculation function module 1174 calculates the size of each sash based on the substrate information and a predetermined rule for arranging the sash, and stores the result in the sash model holding function module 1171 (step S113 ). In addition, the grid coordinate calculation function module 1175 calculates the coordinates for displaying the grid on the display unit 112 based on the grid size stored in the grid model holding function module 1171 (step S114 ), and the display object coordinate calculation process is completed.

Next, details of processing in each step shown in FIG. 14-1 will be described. FIG. 14-2 is a flow chart showing an example of a network grid arrangement processing procedure. First, the network grid layout function module 1172 of the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 refers to the network data in the online network configuration information storage unit 116 to extract a network (step S131 ).

Next, the extracted networks are sorted from the top according to the network serial numbers (step S132 ), and the on-site networks without network serial numbers are sorted to the lower order (step S133 ). Then, configure the network grids according to the order of sorting (step S134 ), store the result in the grid model keeping function module 1171 , and complete the network grid configuration process.

FIG. 14-3 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process. The PLC grid configuration function module 1173 extracts PLC from the board information of the online network configuration information holding unit 116 (step S151 ). Next, the network arranged at the lowest level in the network grid arrangement process in step S111 is selected from the extracted PLCs (step S152 ). Then, PLCs connected to the selected network are selected (step S153 ), and the PLC with the smallest site number is selected among them (step S154 ). Then, from the lower left pane of the network pane selected in step S152 , the selected PLC pane and the wiring pane are sequentially and continuously arranged (step S155 ). At this time, the wiring grid is arranged between the PLC grid and the network grid. In addition, when the PLC grid is connected to not only the network selected in step S152 but also another network, the wiring grid is arranged upward until it reaches the network.

Thereafter, it is determined whether there is another PLC among the PLCs connected to the network selected in step S152 (step S156 ). When there are other PLCs (yes in step S156), select the PLC with the second smallest station number (step S157), return to step S155, before all the PLCs connected to the network selected in step S152 are configured, Repeat the same treatment.

In addition, when there is no other PLC in step S156 (in the case of NO in step S156), it is determined whether or not there is another network (step S158). If there are other networks (YES in step S158), select the next lower network in the network grid layout process in step S111 (step S159), return to step S153, and place the highest Repeat the above process until the PLC grid and the wiring grid are configured in the network. In addition, when there is no other network (No in step S158), the configuration results of the PLC grid and the wiring grid are stored in the grid model holding function module 1171 (step S160), and the PLC grid The grid configuration process is complete.

FIG. 14-4 is a flowchart showing an example of a cell size calculation processing procedure. First, the cell size calculation function module 1174 selects one PLC cell from the cell models stored in the cell model holding function module 1171 (step S171 ). Next, for the PLC corresponding to the selected PLC grid, the board information is read from the online network structure information storage unit 116, and the vertical and horizontal dimensions necessary for displaying the PLC grid including the extension board information are calculated. size (step S172). Here, one unit with the smallest size mounted on the board is represented as a standard unit, and the units mounted on the board and extension boards are calculated as multiples of the standard unit. For example, if the dimension in the up-and-down direction (hereinafter referred to as vertical) of the reference unit is set to 10, and the dimension in the left-right direction (hereinafter referred to as horizontal) is set to 10, then when three units are mounted on the board, the vertical dimension is 10, and the horizontal dimension becomes 30. In addition, in the case where an extension board is mounted, the vertical dimension extends to 20 because it is stacked and drawn in the vertical direction.

Thereafter, the sash size calculation function module 1174 determines whether or not there is another PLC sash in the sash model stored in the sash model holding function module 1171 (step S173 ). When there are other PLC panes (YES in step S173), the process returns to step S171, and the above processing is repeated until there is no unselected PLC pane.

In addition, when there is no other PLC grid (No in step S173), the grid size calculation function module 1174 selects one wiring grid stored in the grid model holding function module 1171 (step S173). S174). The vertical size and horizontal size are calculated for the selected wiring grid (step S175 ). Here, the vertical size of the wiring grid is set to a predetermined value, and the horizontal size is made to match the horizontal size of the PLC grid arranged at the lower part of the wiring grid.

Thereafter, the cell size calculation function module 1174 determines whether or not there is another wiring cell in the cell model stored in the cell model holding function module 1171 (step S176 ). If there are other wiring cells (YES in step S176 ), the process returns to step S174 and the above processing is repeated until there is no unselected wiring cell.

In addition, when there is no other wiring grid (No in step S176), the grid size calculation function module 1174 selects one network grid stored in the grid model holding function module 1171 (step S176). S177). The vertical size and horizontal size are calculated for the selected network grid (step S178 ). Here, the vertical size of the network grid is set to a predetermined value, and the horizontal size is set to a size including the wiring grid arranged below it.

Thereafter, the grid size calculation function module 1174 determines whether there are other network elements in the grid model stored in the grid model storage function module 1171 (step S179 ). If there are other network panes (YES in step S179 ), the process returns to step S177 and the above processing is repeated until there is no unselected network pane.

In addition, when there are no other network cells (No in step S179), the cell size calculation function module 1174 stores the cell model including the cell size calculated above in the cell In the model holding function module 1171 (step S180 ), the grid size calculation process is completed.

FIG. 14-5 is a flowchart showing an example of a grid coordinate calculation processing procedure. The sash coordinate calculation function module 1175 reads the sash model with the sash size stored in the sash model holding function module 1171 (step S191), and adds the sash size sequentially from the upper left side of the sash model to Calculate grid coordinates (step S192). Thus, the grid coordinate calculation process is completed.

(2) Specific examples of processing

In the above description, the outline of the display object coordinate calculation processing has been described, so a specific example of the processing will be described below by taking the case of the control system having the configuration of FIG. 1 as an example. In addition, here, coordinate calculation processing of a display object is performed using the connection path information in FIG. 10 and the network configuration information in FIG. 11 .

(2-1) Network frame configuration processing

First, refer to the network data M1, M2, C, and E3 whose data type is "network", and extract the inter-controller network No. 1, controller Inter-network No.2, field network, and information system network No.3.

Then, the extracted networks are sorted according to the sequence number of the networks. In this case, starting from the network arranged at the top, it becomes "inter-controller network No. 1 (22A) → inter-controller network No. 2 (22B) → information system network No. 3 (21) → site Network (23) (numbers in brackets are labels in Figure 1)". Then, configure the network panes in the order in which the sorting is done. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the result of network grid arrangement processing. In the state shown in the figure, only the vertical arrangement relationship is determined, and the left-right arrangement relationship is not determined.

(2-2) PLC frame configuration processing

FIGS. 16-1 to 16-5 are diagrams showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process. Next, the placement process of the PLC grid will be described with reference to these FIGS. 16-1 to 16-5 .

First, the PLC grid layout function module 1173 of the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 extracts the connection network information P3n, P1n, P4n, P2n, P5n whose data type is “PLC network” from the online network structure information holding unit 116 in FIG. .

Next, from the extracted connection network information, the PLC connected to the field network which is the lowest network arranged in FIG. 15 is acquired. Here, PLC 10-4 (network connection information P4n) and PLC 10-5 (network connection information P5n) are obtained. Among these PLC 10-4 (main station) and PLC 10-5 (local station 1), processing starts from the PLC with a smaller station number, but here, since it is an on-site network, the main station is processed first, and then Process according to the order of the site sequence number of the local site. Thus, processing starts from PLC 10-4.

The PLC 10-4 grid and the wiring grid are continuously arranged at the lower left of the field network grid in Fig. 15 . In addition, as shown in the connection network information P4n in Fig. 11, since PLC 10-4 is also connected to inter-controller network No. Wiring frame a. At this time, make the PLC 10-4 grid, each network grid and each wiring grid a have the same width. The result is shown in Figure 16-1.

Next, processing of the PLC 10-5 as the local station is performed. Arrange PLC 10-5 grid and wiring grid b consecutively at the lower left of the field network grid in Figure 16-1. In addition, as shown in the connection network information P5n in Fig. 11, since PLC 10-5 is also connected to inter-controller network No. Wireframe b. At this time, the horizontal width of the upper network grid located in the field network is extended so as to include the PLC 10-4 grid and the PLC 10-5 grid. The result is shown in Figure 16-2. Since the PLCs connected to the field network have come to this point, the configuration process of the PLC grid and the wiring grid in the field network is completed.

Next, the information system network No. 3 is selected as the upper network arranged on the field network, and the PLC (PLC 10-1, 10-2) connected to the information system network No. 3 is acquired. Here, for the PLC 10-1 (connection network information P1n, station number 1) and PLC 10-2 (connection network information P2n, station number 2) that have not yet been configured, the configuration process of the PLC grid is performed. Here, processing is performed in ascending order of station numbers, that is, in the order of PLC 10-1→PLC 10-2.

First, the PLC 10-1 grid and the wiring grid c are continuously arranged at the lower left of the information system network No. 3 grid in Fig. 16-2. Since the configuration frames a and b of PLC 10-4 and PLC 10-5 have been configured at the lower part of the information system network No.3, the PLC 10-1 frame is configured on the right side of PLC 10-5 and wiring grid c.

Here, the condition is set that the arrangement is prioritized in the order of the station numbers in the lower network, and the arrangement relationship of the lower PLC grid is not divided. At this time, since the wiring to the higher-level network is also performed at the same time, the network may not be arranged in the order of station numbers depending on the status of the already-placed network.

In addition, as shown in the connection network information P1n in Fig. 11, since PLC 10-1 is also connected to inter-controller networks No. Grid and controller inter-network No.1 grid configuration wiring grid c. The results are shown in Figure 16-3.

Next, the configuration processing of the PLC 10-2 grid with the second smallest serial number is carried out. The PLC10-2 grid and the wiring grid d are continuously arranged on the lower left side of the information system network No. 3 grid in FIG. 16-3. At this time, wiring grids a, b, and c of PLC 10-4 grid, PLC 10-5 grid, and PLC 10-1 grid are already arranged in information system network No. 3. Therefore, under the above restrictions, the PLC 10-2 grid and the wiring grid d are arranged on the right side of the PLC 10-1. In addition, as shown in the connection network information P2n in Fig. 11, since PLC 10-2 is also connected to inter-controller network No. wireframe d. The result is shown in Figure 16-4. Since the PLC connected to the information system network No. 3 ends here, the arrangement process of the PLC grid and the wiring grid in the information system network No. 3 is completed.

Next, select the inter-controller network No. 2 as the upper network arranged on the information system network No. 3, but the PLC (PLC 10-2, 10-1, 10 -5), there is no unconfigured PLC. In this way, the inter-controller network No. 1 arranged at the upper level is continuously selected. Among the PLCs (PLC 10-3, 10-1, and 10-4) connected to the inter-controller network No. 1, the unconfigured PLC is PLC 10-3 (connection network information P3n). As a result, configuration processing of the PLC pane and the configuration pane e is performed for the PLC 10-3. In the case of a controller-to-controller network, it is usually possible to process in order of station numbers (in order from the PLC with the smaller station number) irrespective of the management station and normal stations. However, in this example, since there is only one PLC which is the processing target which is connected to the inter-controller network No. 1 and has not yet been configured, only the configuration processing of PLC 10 - 3 is performed here.

Arrange the PLC 10-3 grid and the wiring grid e continuously on the lower left of the No.1 grid of the inter-controller network in Figure 16-4. At this time, the wiring grids a and c of PLC 10-4 and 10-1 have already been placed in the inter-controller network No. The case where the PLC 10-3 grid and the wiring grid e are placed in the spare grid. The results are shown in Figure 16-5.

Since the PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 1 ends here, the arrangement process of the PLC grid and the wiring grid in the inter-controller network No. 1 is completed. In addition, since the inter-controller network No. 1 is the highest network, the arrangement process of the above PLC grid is completed.

(2-3) Sash size calculation processing

The grid size calculation function module 1174 of the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 calculates the size of each grid with respect to the grid arrangement result in FIG. 16-5 . In particular, for the PLC grid, the size required to display the PLC is calculated using the board information of the online network configuration information storage unit 116 .

First, the grid size calculation function module 1174 calculates the size of the PLC grid. For the calculation of the PLC grid, the order of processing from which PLC is not limited. In this example, the size calculation of each PLC grid is performed in the order of PLC 10-1 to PLC 10-5.

The grid size calculation function module 1174 refers to the board information P1b of the PLC 10-1 in the online network structure information holding unit 116 of FIG. At the same time, the information that the number of grooves of the substrate is "4" is extracted from the substrate information P1b, and the lateral size of the grid is calculated as 40.

Similarly for PLC 10-2, the information that no board is added is extracted from the board information P2b, and the vertical dimension of the sash is calculated as 30. In addition, the information that the number of grooves of the substrate is "3" is extracted from the substrate information P2b, and the horizontal size of the grid is calculated as 30.

For PLC 10-3, the information that there is an additional board is extracted from the board information P3b, and the vertical dimension of the sash is calculated as 60. At the same time, the information that the number of slots of the board is "3" and the number of slots of the additional board is "2" is extracted from the board information P3b, and the horizontal size of the grid is matched with the larger board to calculate as 30.

For PLC 10-4, the information that no board is added is extracted from the board information P4b, and the vertical dimension of the grid is calculated as 30. In addition, the information that the number of grooves of the board is "4" is extracted from the board information P4b, and the lateral size of the grid is calculated as 40.

Similarly for PLC 10-5, the information that no board is added is extracted from the board information P5b, and the vertical dimension of the sash is calculated as 30. At the same time, the information that the number of grooves of the substrate is "4" is extracted from the substrate information P5b, and the horizontal size of the grid is calculated as 40.

Afterwards, the PLC sash paralleled in the vertical direction (wiring direction) (PLC sash sharing the same horizontal size in terms of configuration relationship) is extracted, and the horizontal size of the PLC sash is unified into a larger PLC sash the horizontal size of the . Here, since the PLC 10-3 sash with a horizontal dimension of 30 and the PLC 10-5 sash with a horizontal dimension of 40 are juxtaposed in the vertical direction (wiring direction), change the horizontal dimension of the PLC 10-3 sash to The horizontal dimension of the PLC 10-5 sash is 40, so that they share the same horizontal dimension.

Next, the grid size calculation function module 1174 calculates the size of the wiring grid. At this time, the vertical size of the wiring grid is set to a fixed value of 10, but the horizontal size reflects the horizontal size of the PLC grid arranged under each wiring grid. In addition, when arranging the PLC grid and the wiring grid in the horizontal direction of the wiring grid, the amount corresponding to the total size of the vertical dimensions of the PLC grid and the wiring grid in the vertical direction Make an extension.

In addition, the cell size calculation function module 1174 performs network cell size calculation. For the calculation of the size of the network grid, the order of processing from which network is not limited. In this example, size calculations are performed sequentially from the upper network grid.

First, for inter-controller network No. 1, set the vertical dimension to a fixed value of 10, and for the horizontal dimension, there are wiring grids connected to PLCs 10-4, 10-3, and 10-1 below it. a, e, c, so form dimensions including them. That is, since the horizontal dimensions of the PLC 10-4 grid, PLC 10-3 grid, and PLC 10-1 grid are 40, 40, and 40 respectively, the horizontal size of the No. 1 grid in the inter-controller network is 120 ( =40+40+40).

In addition, for inter-controller network No. 2, the vertical dimension is set to a fixed value of 10 in the same way. As for the horizontal dimension, since the devices connected to PLCs 10-5, 10-1, and 10-2 are placed below it, Wireframe grids b, c, d, so form dimensions that include them. That is, since the horizontal dimensions of the PLC 10-5 grid, PLC 10-1 grid, and PLC 10-2 grid are 40, 40, and 30 respectively, the horizontal size of the No. 2 grid in the inter-controller network is 110 ( =40+40+30).

Also, for information system network No. 3, the vertical dimension is set to a fixed value of 10, and since the horizontal dimension is arranged below it, wiring grids c and d respectively connected to 10-1 and 10-2 , so form dimensions that include them. That is, since the horizontal dimensions of the grid of PLC 10-1 and the grid of PLC 10-2 are 40 and 30, respectively, the horizontal dimension of the grid of information system network No. 3 is 70 (=40+30).

In addition, for the field network, the vertical dimension is set to a fixed value of 10 in the same way, and the horizontal dimension is arranged below the wiring grids a and b respectively connected to 10-4 and 10-5, so the formation includes their included dimensions. That is, since the horizontal dimensions of the PLC 10-4 grid and the PLC 10-5 grid are 40 and 40, respectively, the horizontal dimension of the field network grid is 80 (=40+40).

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the calculation result of the cell size. This FIG. 17 is obtained by writing the above-mentioned results into the result of grid arrangement in FIG. 16-5. The result is stored in the grid model holding function module 1171. The calculation process of the above frame size is completed.

(2-4) Grid coordinate calculation processing

The object coordinate calculation function module 1175 of the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 performs a process of reading the grid model including the calculation result of the grid size stored in the grid model storage function module 1171 to obtain Add the grid size sequentially from the upper left to calculate the grid coordinates.

Specifically, the grid coordinate calculation function module 1175 sets the read coordinates of the upper left corner of the grid model in FIG. The coordinates of the grid. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of grid coordinate calculation results. This FIG. 18 is obtained by setting the coordinates of the upper left corner in the grid model of FIG. 17 to (0, 0), and adding the dimensions of each grid. In addition, in this figure, the right direction from the origin is defined as the positive direction of the x-axis, and the downward direction from the origin is defined as the positive direction of the y-axis.

(system structure display processing)

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of a system configuration display processing procedure. First, the system configuration display unit 118 extracts a network grid from the grid model having the grid coordinates calculated by the display target coordinate calculation unit 117 , and displays each network based on its coordinate position (step S211 ). Here, a predetermined position in the area where the system configuration is displayed on the display unit 112 is associated with the origin (0, 0) of the lattice model, and the network is drawn based on the lattice coordinates of the lattice model from this point. Networks are depicted by lines. Also, for each network, its name is displayed.

Next, the PLC grid is extracted from the grid model, and each PLC grid is displayed based on its coordinate position (step S212 ). The PLC grid is formed by arranging rectangular-shaped objects based on coordinate information (or size information) included in the grid model. In addition, at this time, based on the board information of each PLC, the units mounted in the respective slots of the board are divided and displayed, and the name of the unit is displayed in the divided area.

Then, the wiring which is the line which connects each PLC and a network is displayed (step S213). This processing is performed by connecting the communication unit of each PLC and the network connected to the communication unit using lines based on the board information in the on-line network configuration information holding unit 116 . Thus, the system configuration display process is completed. In addition, the system configuration information generated by the system configuration display unit 118 is displayed on the display unit 112 .

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of system configuration information displayed on a display unit by system configuration display processing. In the example in Figure 20, the header text and network number of the network category, the station number in the network, and whether it is a management station (master station) or a normal station (local station) are displayed on the communication units of each PLC in character strings site), making it easy to confirm network parameters.

In addition, when reading out the item information held by each PLC, if the status (operating status or diagnostic information) is read out, they can be superimposed and displayed on the system configuration display in FIG. 20 .

According to the first embodiment, since the network configuration information collected from the actual PLCs constituting the control system is used to automatically display the connection relationship of the network and the arrangement relationship of the PLC within the analyzable range, it is possible to use The man-hours required to create the screen of the system configuration diagram of the network are reduced. In addition, there is an effect that it is easy to grasp the overall system configuration of the network and PLC constituting the control system of the production equipment and the like. In addition, since the wiring must be arranged upward from the PLC, it is possible to easily determine to what extent the PLC belongs to which network, and to grasp the overall system structure of the network constituting the control system and the PLC. , And the grasp of the status has become easier.

In addition, in the above description, the control system design device 100 composed of a personal computer and the like is connected to the PLC 10 of the control system, but the functional modules of the control system design device 100 may be mounted on a programmable controller connected , on the display for setting the operating status of the control system and the control system. With this configuration, the entire system configuration of the network and PLC constituting the control system can be displayed on the screen of the monitor.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a display having the function of a control system design device. The display 150 is configured such that a bus 157 on the display 150 is connected with: a display unit 151 for displaying a predetermined screen; an input unit 152 composed of touch keys and the like; a communication port 153 for communicating with the PLC 10; Storage part 154, it is made up of hard disk device etc., stores the data (that is display screen program) that is set by this display 150; processing of displaying a predetermined screen by executing a display screen program, and processing of setting and managing a system configuration); and a data storage memory 156 for storing temporary data accompanying the processing. Furthermore, when the input unit 152 is a touch panel screen, the input unit 152 and the display unit 151 are integrated.

Thereby, without separately preparing an information processing terminal for operating the control system design device 100 and connecting it to the PLC 10 , the configuration and status of the entire system can be easily grasped on the display 150 constituting the control system.

Embodiment 2

In Embodiment 1, the network cells are arranged sequentially according to the serial numbers assigned to the network, and the PLC cells are arranged sequentially starting from the cells with the smaller station numbers in the selected network. However, in Embodiment 2, for The control system design device and control system design method will be described below, which can automatically calculate and display the overall system configuration of the network and PLC constituting the control system without simply following the numerical order.

Fig. 22-1 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional structure of the network grid configuration functional module of the control system design device according to the present invention, and Fig. 22-2 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional structure of the PLC grid configuration functional module similarly .

As shown in Figure 22-1, the network grid configuration function module 1172 has: other network connection PLC extracting unit 11721, which extracts PLCs connected to other networks among PLCs connected to the network; and network category sorting unit 11722, which The network with a higher degree of connection with the field network is arranged at the bottom, and the network with a higher degree of connection with the information system network 21 is arranged at the top, so as to arrange the best configuration for easy grasp of the overall structure of the control system.

Here, the degree of association with the field network means that among the PLCs belonging to the network, the greater the number (or ratio) of PLCs also belonging to the field network, the higher the degree of association with the field network. In addition, the so-called degree of association with the information system network means that among the PLCs belonging to the network, the greater the number (or ratio) of PLCs also subordinate to the information system network, the higher the degree of association with the information system network.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 22-2 , the PLC grid configuration function module 1173 includes a PLC grid configuration candidate extraction unit 11731 for extracting PLCs that are not placed in a network that is lower than the selected network. The configuration candidates separated by the configuration relationship; and the PLC grid configuration candidate selection unit 11732, which selects the best configuration that is the nearest neighbor and most follows the sequence of the station number from the candidates. In addition, since the other components are the same as those in Embodiment 1, description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the processing procedure of Embodiment 2 will be described. In the control system design process of the second embodiment, until the data (PLC data) of the network configuration information collected by the online network configuration information collection unit 114 is stored in the online network configuration information storage unit 116, the same as that of the first embodiment same. However, in Embodiment 2, the display target coordinate calculation unit 117 differs from Embodiment 1 in that it performs the processing of FIG. The processing of Figure 14-3. Therefore, the network cell arrangement process and the PLC cell arrangement process will be described below, and the descriptions for other processes are the same, so they will be omitted.

(1) Outline of processing

(1-1) Network frame configuration processing

In the second embodiment, the purpose is to minimize the intersection of network wiring in the generated (displayed) system configuration information. Thus, it is characterized in that the arrangement of the network grid and the PLC grid is prioritized in accordance with the order of the following rules A to D.

A. In the system structure of the network and PLC constituting the control system, the purpose of use of the information system network such as Ethernet (registered trademark), inter-controller network, and field network is clear. That is, the information system network is located at the upper level of the system, the inter-controller network is located at the middle level of the system, and the field network is located at the lower level of the system. Therefore, in Embodiment 2, the network is arranged in the order described above.

B． PLCs connected to the same network are placed adjacent to each other. Especially in the lower-level network, since one network often constitutes one unit group, PLCs connected to the same lower-level network are arranged adjacent to each other. Here, the unit group refers to, for example, a PLC group when the processing in the control system is classified by function. For example, when the control system is divided into each process such as a painting process, an exposure process, a cleaning process, .

C． Since most of the PLCs connected to the upper network function as unit group controllers, it is not necessary to arrange them adjacent to each other.

D． Configure according to the sequence of network serial number and site serial number.

FIG. 23-1 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of network grid layout processing according to the second embodiment. First, the network grid arrangement function module 1172 refers to the network data in the online network configuration information holding unit 116 to extract a network (step S231 ). Then, according to the above-mentioned rule A, the extracted networks are sorted from the top into categories of information system network, inter-controller network, and field network (step S232 ).

Next, one network category is selected from the sorted network categories (step S233 ). Then, the other network connection PLC extracting unit 11721 extracts PLCs connected to each network in the selected network category (step S234 ).

Thereafter, the network type sorting unit 11722 counts the number of PLCs connected to other field networks for each network, and arranges the networks with more PLCs connected to other field networks downward (step S235 ).

Next, the network classification unit 11722 counts the number of PLCs connected to other information system networks for each network, and arranges the network with more PLCs connected to other information system networks upward (step S236 ).

Finally, the network classification unit 11722 counts the number of PLCs connected to other inter-controller networks for each network, and arranges the network with a larger number of PLCs connected to other inter-controller networks to the upper side (step S237 ). As described above, sorting processing among the networks in one network category is performed.

Thereafter, it is determined whether there are other network types that have not been selected (step S238 ). If there are other network categories that have not been selected (YES in step S238 ), return to step S233 and repeat the above processing until there are no other network categories that have not been selected.

In addition, when there is no other network category that has not been selected (No in step S238), the network grid configuration function module 1172 configures the network grids in the order after sorting (step S239), and The result is stored in the grid model keeping function module 1171, and the network grid configuration process is completed.

(1-2) PLC frame configuration processing

FIGS. 23-2 to 23-3 are flowcharts showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process according to the second embodiment. The PLC grid arrangement function module 1173 extracts PLC from the board information of the online network configuration information storage unit 116 (step S251 ). Next, the network placed at the lowest level in the network grid arrangement process of FIG. 23-1 is selected (step S252 ). Then, PLCs connected to the selected network are selected (step S253 ), and the PLC with the smallest site number is selected among them (step S254 ).

The PLC grid configuration function module 1173 determines whether the PLC connected to the selected network has already been configured (step S255 ). If there is no PLC connected to the network (No in step S255), the PLC grid configuration candidate selection unit 11732 sequentially selects the extracted PLCs from the grid on the lower left side of the network. Ground the wiring grid and the PLC grid (step S260).

In addition, in step S255, when the PLC connected to the network has already been placed (YES in step S255), the PLC grid placement candidate extraction unit 11731 determines whether it is possible to extract Placement candidates in which the arrangement relationship of the PLCs in the lower network than the network is divided (step S256 ).

When it is not possible to extract a placement candidate that does not separate the placement relationship of PLCs already placed in a network that is lower than the network (in the case of No in step S256), PLC grid placement candidate selection The unit 11732 successively arranges the wiring grid and the PLC grid sequentially from the lower left grid of the network (step S260 ).

In addition, in step S256, when it is possible to extract a placement candidate that does not separate the placement relationship of PLCs already placed in a network lower than the network (YES in step S256) Then, the PLC grid configuration candidate extracting unit 11731 judges whether or not it is possible to extract a configuration candidate configured as the nearest neighbor to a PLC already configured in the network from the candidates (step S257 ).

In the case where it is not possible to extract a configuration candidate that is placed in the nearest neighbor to a PLC already deployed in the network (NO in step S257), the PLC grid configuration candidate selection unit 11732 selects from the frame on the lower left side of the network. The wiring grid and the PLC grid are sequentially and continuously arranged starting from the grid (step S260 ).

In addition, in step S257, when it is possible to extract a placement candidate placed in the nearest neighbor to a PLC already placed in the network (YES in step S257), the PLC grid placement candidate extraction unit 11731 performs It is judged whether or not the placement candidate that follows the order of the station numbers most closely among the PLCs already placed in the network can be extracted from the placement candidates (step S258 ).

If it is impossible to extract the configuration candidate that follows the order of station numbers among the PLCs that have already been configured in the network (No in step S258), the PLC grid configuration candidate selection unit 11732 selects from the lower left side of the network. The wiring grids and the PLC grids are sequentially and continuously arranged from the grids (step S260 ).

In addition, in step S258, in the case where it is possible to extract the configuration candidate that most follows the order of station numbers among the PLCs already configured in the network (YES in step S258), the configuration candidate is selected, and the PLC frame The grid layout candidate selection unit 11732 arranges the wiring grid and the PLC grid according to the layout candidate (step S259 ).

Then, after step S260 , it is determined whether or not there is another PLC in the PLC connected to the network selected in step S252 (step S261 ). When there are other PLCs (in the case of yes in step S261), select the PLC with the second smallest station number (step S262), return to step S255, and repeat the same process until there are no other PLCs with the selected one in step S252. Network connected PLC.

In addition, when there is no other PLC in step 261 (in the case of NO in step S261 ), it is determined whether or not there is another network (step S263 ). If there are other networks (Yes in step S263), select the next lower network configured in the network grid configuration process (step S264), return to step S253, and configure Repeat the above process until the PLC grid and wiring grid are completed. In addition, when there is no other network (No in step S263), the configuration results of the PLC grid and the wiring grid are stored in the grid model holding function module 1171 (step S265), and the PLC grid The grid configuration process is complete.

(2) Specific examples of processing

In the above description, the outline of the arrangement process of the network pane and the PLC pane has been described, so a specific example of the process will be described below by taking the case of the control system having the configuration of FIG. 1 as an example. Note that, here, grid arrangement processing is performed using the connection path information in FIG. 10 and the network configuration information in FIG. 11 .

(2-1) Network frame configuration processing

First, based on the network configuration information in FIG. 11 stored in the online network configuration information holding unit 116, the inter-controller network No. 1, inter-controller network No. 2, field network, and information system whose data type is "network" are extracted. Network data M1, M2, C, E3 of network No. 3.

Then, according to the above rules, the extracted networks are sorted by network category. That is, they are sorted in the order of information system network No. 3, inter-controller network No. 1, inter-controller network No. 2, and field network. In addition, since there are only two networks, inter-controller network No. 1 and inter-controller network No. 2, in the inter-controller network, they are sorted here in order of network numbers, and then the order of the inter-controller networks is further sorted. Sort.

First, the other network connection PLC extracting unit 11721 refers to the network data M1 of the online network configuration information holding unit 116, and extracts the PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 1. As a result, PLC 10-3, 10-1, and 10-4 were obtained. Similarly, PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 2 are extracted, and as a result, PLCs 10-2, 10-1, and 10-5 are obtained.

Here, among the extracted PLCs, the number of PLCs connected to another field network is counted. Among the extracted PLCs, PLCs still connected to the field network are PLC10-4 and PLC10-5. Therefore, the number of PLCs connected to another field network is one PLC 10-4 for inter-controller network No. 1, and one PLC 10-5 for inter-controller network No. 2. The network type sorting unit 11722 sorts the networks with a large number of PLCs connected to other field networks 23 to the lower side. However, on this basis, since the numbers of both are the same, it is impossible to sort the networks No. 1 and PLC between controllers. Network No.2 between controllers is sorted.

Next, count the number of PLCs that are still connected to other information system networks among the extracted PLCs. Among the extracted PLCs, the PLCs still connected to the information system network are PLCs 10-1 and 10-2. Therefore, the number of PLCs connected to other information system networks is one PLC 10-1 for inter-controller network No. 1, and PLC 10-1 and 10-2 for inter-controller network No. 2 2. As a result, the network sorting section 11722 sorts the network with a large number of PLCs connected to other information system networks upward, and ranks the inter-controller network No. 2 to the inter-controller network No. 1 based on this criterion. above.

Thereby, since the sorting is completed, there is no need to sort by the number of PLCs connected to the network between other controllers.

Then, the network grid configuration function module 1172 configures the network grids in the sequence after sorting, and stores them in the network grid storage function module 1171 . FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the result of the network grid layout process according to the second embodiment.

(2-2) PLC frame configuration processing

25-1 to 25-5 are diagrams showing an example of the procedure of the PLC grid arrangement process according to the second embodiment. Next, with reference to the aforementioned FIGS. 25-1 to 25-5 , the arrangement process of the PLC grid will be described.

First, the PLC grid layout function module 1173 of the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 extracts the connection network information P3n, P1n, P4n, P2n, P5n whose data type is “PLC network” from the online network structure information holding unit 116 in FIG. .

Next, from the extracted connection network information, the PLC connected to the field network which is the lowest network arranged in FIG. 24 is acquired. Here, PLC 10-4 (network connection information P4n) and PLC 10-5 (network connection information P5n) are acquired. Among these PLC 10-4 (main station) and PLC 10-5 (local station 1), the processing starts from the PLC with the smaller station number, but here, since it is a field network, the main station is processed first, and then follows Local stations are processed in station sequence order. Thus, processing is performed in the order of PLC10-4→PLC10-5.

The PLC 10-4 grid and the wiring grid a are arranged consecutively at the lower left of the field network grid in FIG. 24 . In addition, as shown in the connection network information P4n in Fig. 11, since PLC 10-4 is also connected to inter-controller network No. Wiring frame a. At this time, make the PLC 10-4 grid, each network grid and each wiring grid have the same width. The result is shown in Fig. 25-1.

Next, the processing of the local station, that is, the PLC 10-5 is performed. Place the PLC 10-5 grid and the wiring grid b continuously on the lower left of the field network grid in Figure 25-1. At this time, the wiring frame a of PLC 10-4 has been configured on the field network frame, and there are "left side of PLC 10-4" and "right side of PLC 10-4" as configuration candidates for PLC 10-5. ", this configuration candidate will not disconnect the configuration relationship of PLCs that have already been configured in the lower-level network of this network. All of the above configurations are configuration candidates for the nearest neighbor configuration of the PLC 10-4 connected to the field network. And, since PLC 10-4 is the main station, PLC 10-5 is the local station and its station number is 1, so the configuration following the order of the station numbers is "the right side of PLC 10-4". Therefore, configure the PLC 10-5 grid and the wiring grid b at this position.

In addition, as shown in the connection network information in Fig. 11, since PLC 10-5 is also connected to inter-controller network No. Wiring frame b. At this time, the horizontal width of the upper network grid on the field network extends to include the PLC 10-4 grid and the PLC 10-5 grid. The result is shown in Figure 25-2. Since the PLCs connected to the field network have come to this point, the configuration process of the PLC grid and the wiring grid in the field network 23 is completed.

Next, according to FIG. 24 ( FIG. 25 - 2 ), an inter-controller network No. 1 is selected as a higher-level network arranged on the field network. The PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No.1 are PLC 10-1 (station number 2), PLC 10-3 (station number 1), and PLC 10-4 (station number 3), among which PLC 10- 1 and PLC 10-3. Accordingly, the configuration processing of the PLC grid is performed for these PLCs 10-1 and 10-3. Here, process according to the order of the station serial number from small to large, that is, according to the order of PLC 10-3→PLC 10-1.

First, the PLC 10-3 grid and the wiring grid c are continuously arranged on the lower left of the grid No. 1 of the inter-controller network in Fig. 25-2. At this time, PLC 10-4 and PLC 10-5 wiring frames a and b have been placed on the inter-controller network No. 1, and "PLC 10-4's left side " and "the right side of PLC 10-5", where the configuration candidate does not change the configuration of the PLC 10-4 grid and the PLC 10-5 grid that have been configured in the network (field network) located below the network The relationship is severed. Among them, the placement candidate for the nearest neighbor of PLC 10-4 connected to the inter-controller network No. 1 is "the left side of PLC 10-4". Therefore, the PLC 10-3 grid and the wiring grid c are arranged at this position. The result is shown in Figure 25-3.

Next, the configuration processing of the PLC 10-1 grid with the second highest station number is performed. The PLC10-1 grid and the wiring grid d are continuously arranged on the lower left of the grid No. 1 of the inter-controller network in Fig. 25-3. At this time, the wiring frames c, a, and b of PLC 10-3, 10-4, and 10-5 have been configured on the inter-controller network No. 1, and "PLC 10 -3's left side", "PLC 10-3's right side (=PLC 10-4's left side)" and "PLC 10-5's right side", wherein, this configuration candidate will not The configuration relationship between the PLC 10-4 grid and the PLC 10-5 grid in the lower network (field network) is disconnected. Among them, the PLC 10-3 and 10-4 connected to the inter-controller network No. ) and PLC 10-4 (station number 3) is the configuration that most follows the serial number order is "the right side of PLC 10-3". Therefore, the PLC 10-1 grid and the wiring grid d are arranged at this position.

In addition, as shown in the connection network information P1n in Fig. 11, since the PLC 10-1 is also connected to the inter-controller network No. 2 and the information system network No. 3, the network No. .2 sash and information system network No. 3 sash is also equipped with wiring sash d. The result is shown in Figure 25-4. Since the PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 1 grid ends here, the arrangement process of the PLC grid and the wiring grid in the inter-controller network No. 1 is completed.

Next, an inter-controller network No. 2 is selected as a network arranged on a higher level than the inter-controller network No. 1 based on FIG. 24 ( FIG. 25 - 4 ). The PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 2 are PLC 10-1 (station number 2), PLC 10-2 (station number 1), PLC10-5 (station number 3), among which the one that has not been configured is PLC 10- 2. Accordingly, the arrangement processing of the PLC grid and the wiring grid is performed for the PLC 10-2. Here, when there are a plurality of unplaced PLCs, the processing is performed starting from the PLC with the smaller station number. In addition, in the case of an inter-controller network, processing is performed in order of station numbers regardless of management stations and normal stations.

Arrange the PLC 10-2 grid and the wiring grid e continuously at the lower left of the No. 2 grid of the inter-controller network in Figure 25-4. At this time, the wiring grids d and b of PLC 10-1 and 10-5 have been configured on the inter-controller network No. Wiring d connected to PLC 10-1 in the left empty frame", "Wiring d connected to PLC 10-1 under inter-controller network No. 2 and wiring connected to PLC 10-5 b" and "the right side of wiring b connected to PLC 10-5 under inter-controller network No. The configuration relationships of PLCs 10-3, 10-1, 10-4, and 10-5 in the network (inter-controller network No.1 and field network) are disconnected. Among them, the placement candidate for the nearest neighbor to PLC 10-1 connected to inter-controller network No. 2 is "the wiring d connected to PLC 10-1 under inter-controller network No. - Empty sash between wiring b connected to -5". In addition, here, from the above-mentioned candidates, it is impossible to extract the most compliant station for PLC 10-1 (station number 2) and PLC 10-5 (station number 3) already configured in inter-controller network No. 2 As for the placement candidates in the order of serial numbers, select the above-mentioned "empty frame between the wiring d connected to PLC 10-1 and the wiring b connected to PLC 10-5 under inter-controller network No. 2". Therefore, the PLC 10-2 grid and the wiring grid e are arranged at this position. The result is shown in Figure 25-5.

Then, according to Fig. 24 (Fig. 25-5), the information system network No. 3 is selected as the upper network arranged on the inter-controller network No. 1. In 10-2, there is no unconfigured PLC. And, since this information system network 21 is the highest-level network, the PLC grid arrangement process is completed.

Thereafter, as described in Embodiment 1, for the results in Fig. 25-5, the size of each grid is calculated by the grid size calculation function module 1174 (in particular, for the PLC grid, it is based on the PLC PCB information to calculate the size required to display the PLC) to calculate the grid size calculation process, and add the grid size sequentially from the upper left to perform the grid coordinate calculation process to calculate the grid coordinates. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the result of calculation of the grid size and grid coordinates for the results of FIG. 25-5 .

Then, the system configuration display unit 118 reads the grid model to which the grid coordinates obtained by the above processing are added, and displays the system configuration information on the display unit 112 . FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of system configuration information displayed by system configuration display processing. This display screen is displayed in a state close to the network configuration diagram of the control system manually generated, that is, the information system network is displayed at the upper level, the inter-controller network is displayed at the middle level, and the field network is displayed at the lower level. Compared with the case of the first embodiment, there is an effect that the user can easily grasp the configuration of the control system from the network configuration.

According to Embodiment 2, since the collected network configuration information is displayed in a network order that is easy for the user to understand, there is an effect that the overall system configuration of the network and PLC constituting the control system can be easily grasped.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the control system. This FIG. 28 is compared with FIG. 1 showing an example of the overall system configuration of the network and PLCs constituting the control system described in Embodiment 1, and a complex control system is constituted by a large number of PLCs. The case where the system configuration information of the control system shown in FIG. 28 is displayed by the method of Embodiment 1 is compared with the case where it is displayed by the method of Embodiment 2. FIG.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a system configuration for displaying the control system in FIG. 28 by the method of the first embodiment. In addition, FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a grid model generated by the method of Embodiment 2 for the control system of FIG. 28 , and FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the control system of FIG. 28 displayed based on the grid model of FIG. 30 .

Compared with the display screen of the system configuration of FIG. 29 displayed by the method of Embodiment 1, the display screen of the system configuration of FIG. On the top of the screen, the network of the lower field system that constitutes the system is displayed on the bottom, and PLCs connected to the same network are displayed together, so it is easier to understand. That is, compared with the display screen of the system configuration of FIG. 29 displayed by the method of Embodiment 1, the expression form of FIG. 31 displayed by the method of Embodiment 2 is closer to a manually drawn diagram that is easily understood by the user. 28 system configuration diagram. That is, according to Embodiment 2, it is possible to automatically display system configuration information whose expression form is closer to a manually drawn system configuration diagram that is easy for humans to understand.

Embodiment 3

In this third embodiment, a control system design device and a control system design method will be described, which can display a specific connection path through which path to connect to the target PLC in the first and second embodiments. In addition, in the following description, the result of Embodiment 1 is used and demonstrated.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 3 of the control system design device according to the present invention. In addition to FIG. 3 of the first embodiment, the present control system design device 100 further includes a connection path display unit 120, which is based on the data including the coordinates calculated by the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 and the data stored in the on-line connection path. The connection path held by the unit 115 is displayed on the display unit 112 as the connection path from the origin PLC to the destination PLC. The connection path display section 120 corresponds to a connection path display unit in the claims. In addition, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected to the same component as Embodiment 1, and description is abbreviate|omitted.

Next, the display process of the connection path from a starting point PLC to a target PLC in the control system design apparatus 100 which has the said structure is demonstrated. Fig. 33 is a flow chart showing an example of a connection path display processing procedure. In addition, FIGS. 34-1 to 34-5 are diagrams showing an example of a procedure of connection path display processing on the system configuration information display screen. In addition, this processing is executed in the state where the display processing of the system configuration information is performed in Embodiments 1 and 2.

First, the connection path display unit 120 acquires the position of the object of the starting point PLC on the display unit 112 from the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 , and highlights the entire object of the starting point PLC (step S271 , FIG. 34-1 ).

Next, the specified or one piece of connection path information is selected from the connection paths stored in the online connection path holding unit 115 (step S272 ). The wiring from the starting point PLC in the selected connection path information to the network described in the data 1 is selected (step S273 ). Then, the position on the display unit 112 corresponding to the wiring is acquired from the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 , and is highlighted and drawn (step S274 , FIG. 34 - 2 ).

Then, the connection path display part 120 selects the wiring which connects the network described in the data 1 in connection path information, and the PLC described in the data 2 (step S275). Then, the position on the display unit 112 corresponding to the wiring is acquired from the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 , and is highlighted and drawn (step S276 , FIG. 34 - 3 ).

Next, the connection path display unit 120 highlights and draws the network portion between the two highlighted lines (step S277 , FIG. 34 - 4 ). Then, it is determined whether or not the PLC described in the data 2 is the PLC (destination PLC) in the name column of the connection path information (step S278 ).

When the PLC described in the data 2 is not the destination PLC (No in step S278), the connection path display unit 120 sets n=1, m=2 (step S279), and selects the connection path information Wiring for connecting the PLC described in the data 2n and the network described in the data 2n+1 (step S280). Then, the position on the display unit 112 corresponding to the wiring is acquired from the display object coordinate calculation unit, and is highlighted and drawn (step S281 ).

Next, the connection path display part 120 selects the wiring which connects the network described in the data 2m-1 in connection path information, and the PLC described in 2m (step S282). Then, the position on the display unit 112 corresponding to the wiring is acquired from the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 , and drawn in a highlighted manner (step S283 ). Then, the connection path display unit 120 highlights and draws the network portion between the highlighted two wires (step S284 ).

Then, it is determined whether or not the PLC described in the data 2m is the PLC (end point PLC) in the name column of the connection path information (step S285 ). When the PLC described in the data 2m is not the destination PLC (No in step S285), the connection path display unit 120 returns to step S280 after setting n=n+1, m=m+1 (step S286), The above processing is repeatedly performed.

In addition, in step S278, in the case where the PLC described in the data 2 is the destination PLC (YES in step S278), or in step S285, when the PLC described in the data 2m is the destination PLC In the case (YES in step S285 ), the display process of the connection path from the start point PLC to the target end point PLC is completed ( FIG. 34 - 5 ).

According to the third embodiment, there is an effect that the connection path from the start point PLC to the end point PLC can be easily confirmed in the network constituting the control system.

Embodiment 4

In Embodiments 1 to 3, the control system design device is connected to the PLC constituting the actual control system, and information on the network configuration of the control system and the system configuration of the PLC is obtained online via the PLC to display the system configuration information. On the other hand, in the fourth embodiment, a control system design device and a control system design method will be described, which can determine a reachable PLC from a system configuration diagram obtained by editing in an offline state, and in which When there are multiple connection paths, the optimal path is automatically selected with reference to the communication throughput.

FIG. 35 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 4 of the control system design device according to the present invention. This control system design device 100 has a communication unit 111, a display unit 112, a starting point PLC specifying unit 113, a system configuration editing unit 121, an off-line network configuration information holding unit 122, a connection path analysis selection unit 123, a throughput model holding unit 124, The off-line connection path holding unit 125, the display target coordinate calculation unit 117, the system configuration display unit 118, the connection path display unit 120, and the control unit 119 controlling the above-mentioned respective processing units.

The system configuration editing unit 121 provides the user with a screen for setting the overall system configuration of the network and PLC constituting the control system of the production equipment and the like on the control system design device 100 in an off-line state, and provides the user with The set content is managed. The system configuration editing unit 121 corresponds to a system configuration editing unit in the claims.

The off-line network configuration information holding unit 122 holds connection network information and network configuration information, wherein the connection network information is directly set by the user from the system configuration editing unit 121, and represents the connection between the PLC and the network constituting the control system. Status, the network configuration information includes board information indicating the PLC system configuration (the configuration of units mounted on the board). The network configuration information including connection network information and network configuration information held in the off-line network configuration information storage unit 122 does not automatically collect system configuration information and generate network information, but is obtained by the user directly inputting (in an offline state) the system structure information and network information for the existing control system to the control system design device 100, so it is also referred to as an offline network below. structural information. The off-line network configuration information holding unit 122 corresponds to an off-line network configuration information holding unit in the claims.

The connection path analysis selection unit 123 analyzes the connection path connected to each PLC in the network configuration set by the system configuration editing unit 121 using the PLC set by the starting point PLC specifying unit 113 as a starting point. In addition, it also has a function of selecting an optimal path by referring to the network communication throughput database of the throughput model holding unit 124 when there are a plurality of connection paths. The connection path analysis and selection unit 123 corresponds to a connection path analysis and selection unit in the claims.

The throughput model holding unit 124 holds, as a database, a throughput model when calculating the communication throughput in each connection path of the control system. The throughput model holding unit 124 corresponds to a throughput model holding unit in the claims.

The offline connection path holding unit 125 holds the connection paths connected to the respective PLCs analyzed and selected by the connection path analysis and selection unit 123 (hereinafter also referred to as offline connection paths). This offline connection path is characterized in that the data structure of the connection path information in FIG. 10 in the first embodiment further includes a throughput evaluation value. The off-line connection path holding unit 125 corresponds to an off-line connection path holding unit in the claims.

In addition, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected to the same component as Embodiment 1-3, and description is abbreviate|omitted. However, in Embodiment 4, the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 calculates the coordinates of the display object displayed on the display unit 112 using the network configuration information held by the offline network configuration information storage unit 122 .

Next, in the control system design apparatus 100 having the above configuration, the control system configuration processing in the offline state to the connection path display processing in the offline state will be described sequentially.

(control system structure processing in offline state)

In the system structure editing part 121, the whole system structure of the network which comprises a control system and PLC which is input by a user is set by drag-and-drop and wizard (Wizard) on a graphical user interface.

The system configuration data (hereinafter referred to as offline network configuration information) set by the system configuration editing unit 121 is held by the offline network configuration information holding unit 122 . This data format is the same as that of the network configuration information held by the online network configuration information holding unit 116 described in the first embodiment. For example, when an operation of adding one element (network or PLC) is performed, the data of the element is added to the offline network configuration information held by the offline network configuration information holding unit 122 . Next, the display object coordinate calculation unit 117 performs a process of calculating coordinates for the entire system configuration data after the element data is added, and displays the system configuration on the display unit 112 . Thus, in the case of expressing the same system structure, although the order of data generated is different according to the order of data addition operations, the content of the data (meaning expressed by the data) is the same.

In addition, in this Embodiment 4, the control system structure similar to FIG. 1 of Embodiment 1 is constructed in an off-line state by the following procedure. First, add PLC 10-3, and then, after adding inter-controller network No.1 (22A), add PLC 10-1 and PLC 10-4 sequentially. Then, inter-controller network No. 2 (22B) is added, and PLC 10-2 and PLC 10-5 are added sequentially. Then, after adding the field network ( 23 ), an information network No. 3 ( 21 ) is added.

As a result, the data content of the offline network configuration information held by the offline network configuration information holding unit 122 is the same as in FIG. 11, and the display of the system configuration is also the same as in FIG. . Hereinafter, the screen of the system configuration displayed on the display unit 112 such as FIG. 20 or FIG. 27 is referred to as a system configuration diagram.

(Offline connection path analysis processing)

(1) Outline of processing

With respect to the system configuration diagram edited in the offline state, the PLC (to which PLC the control system design apparatus 100 is connected) as the starting point is specified by the starting point PLC specifying unit 113 . Then, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 analyzes the connection paths connected to each PLC in the network configuration set by the system configuration editing unit 121 starting from the PLC set by the starting point PLC specifying unit 113 . The details of this processing will be described below.

36-1 to 36-3 are flowcharts showing an example of an offline connection path analysis processing procedure. First, when the connection target PLC (origin PLC) connected to the control system design device 100 is designated by the origin PLC designation unit 113 (step S311), the connection path analysis selection unit 123 selects the connection path up to the designated origin PLC. The paths are connected for output (step S312). Then, the designated starting point PLC is selected as the processing target PLC (step S313 ), and the B1 processing shown in FIG. 36-2 is executed for the selected PLC (step S314 ), and the offline connection path analysis processing is completed.

FIG. 36-2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the B1 process in step S314. First, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 collects the networks to which the PLC to be processed is connected (step S331 ). More specifically, the connection network information of the PLC to be processed is collected from the offline network configuration information storage unit 122 . Then, it is determined whether or not the connection paths connected to the respective networks for which the information is collected constitute a loop (step S332 ). Here, the determination of whether it is a loop is as follows, and it is determined that it is a loop when a plurality of identical elements are included in the connection path, and it is determined that it is not a loop in other cases.

When the connection path is not a loop (NO in step S332 ), it is determined whether information collection can be continued with respect to the network under the restrictions in FIG. 12 (step S333 ). If the network can continue to collect information (Yes in step S333), select the network as the target network for processing (step S334), and execute the B2 process shown in Figure 36-3 (step S335 ). In addition, in step S333, in the case of conforming to the restriction in FIG. 12 and continuing to collect information on the network (No in step S333), or in step S332, the connection path is a loop (in step S332) (YES in S332), the process of B1 is terminated, and the process returns to the process of FIG. 35 .

FIG. 36-3 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the B2 process in step S335 of FIG. 36-2. In the B2 process, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 first collects PLCs connected to the network to be processed (step S351 ). Specifically, the network information of the network to be processed is acquired from the offline network configuration information holding unit 122, and PLCs connected to the network to be processed are collected from the network information. Then, it is determined whether or not the connection path to each PLC for which the information is collected constitutes a loop (step S352 ).

When the connection path does not constitute a loop (NO in step S352 ), it is determined whether or not it is an optimal connection path (step S353 ). Whether or not it is an optimal connection path is determined as follows. When there are a plurality of connection paths, it is determined whether or not it is a connection path with better communication throughput by referring to the communication throughput information held by the throughput model holding unit 124 . As a result, if the connection path is not the optimum one (NO in step S353 ), the B1 process is ended without outputting the connection path, and the process returns to the process in FIG. 36-2 .

In addition, if it is an optimal connection path (YES in step S353), the connection path is output to the offline connection path holding unit 125 (step S354), and whether it is possible to The network connected to the PLC continues to collect information for judgment (step S355 ). When it is impossible to continue collecting information on the network (NO in step S355), the process of B2 is completed, and the process returns to the process of FIG. 36-2. In addition, in the case where information collection can be continued on the network connected to the PLC (YES in step S355), the PLC is selected as the processing target (step S356), and the B1 process of FIG. 36-2 is executed ( Step S357).

In addition, in step S352, when the connection path connected to PLC constitutes a loop (YES in step S352), the B1 process is complete|finished without outputting this connection path, and it returns to the process of FIG. 36-2.

(2) Specific examples of processing

In the above description, the outline of the offline connection path analysis process has been described, so a specific example of the process will be described below by taking the case of the control system having the configuration of FIG. 1 as an example. 37-1 to 37-5 are diagrams showing examples of connection path holding information held in the offline connection path holding unit as a result of the connection path analysis selection process. In addition, here, the offline network configuration information holding unit 122 holds the network configuration information in FIG. 11 . The data shown in these Fig. 11 and Fig. 37-1 to Fig. 37-5 are shown in the order of data generation. In addition, the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 are applied here as restrictions.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing an example of a throughput model according to the fourth embodiment. In Embodiment 4, the throughput of the PLC is 1 Mbps, the throughput of the field network is 0.1 Mbps, the throughput of the inter-controller network is 10 Mbps, and the throughput of the information system network is 100 Mbps. In addition, the calculation method of the evaluation value of the overall throughput of the connection path is obtained by summing the reciprocals of the throughput values of the elements included in the connection path, and the evaluation value of the overall throughput of the connection path is smaller. Connection paths with better throughput.

(2-1) PLC 10-3

First, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 outputs the connection path P3g of the PLC 10-3 specified by the origin PLC specification unit 113. This connection path is a connection path in which both the terminal PLC and the starting point PLC are PLC 10-3. In addition, when the throughput evaluation value is calculated with reference to the conditions in FIG. 38 of the throughput model holding unit 124, the throughput evaluation value is 0 because the PLC 10-3 is the origin PLC. The result is shown in Fig. 37-1. In addition, the process B1 in FIG. 36-2 is executed for the PLC 10-3 which is the starting point PLC.

(2-2) Network connected to PLC 10-3

In the B1 process in which the PLC 10-3 is the processing target, the network to which the PLC 10-3 is connected is collected. Specifically, a process of reading the connection network information P3n in the offline network configuration information holding unit 122 of FIG. 11 is performed. Here, inter-controller network No. 1 is collected. Then, a connection path to the collected network (inter-controller network No. 1) is created, and it is checked whether or not the connection path is a loop. In this case, since the connection path is "PLC 10-3 → Inter-controller network No. 1 (22A)", there are no multiple identical PLCs, so it is not a loop. Thereby, it is checked whether or not information collection can be continued on the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Here, since the restriction is not met, it is possible to continue collecting information on the network, and execute the B2 process in Fig. 36-3 with inter-controller network No. 1 as the processing object.

(2-3) PLC connected to controller network No.1

In the network information output process for which inter-controller network No. 1 is the processing target, PLCs connected to inter-controller network No. 1 are collected. Specifically, the PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 1 is searched and extracted from the network data M1 in the offline network configuration information holding unit 122 of FIG. 11 . Here, PLCs 10-3, 10-4, and 10-1 are collected as PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 1. Then, a connection path to the collected PLCs is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path to each PLC is a loop. There is no priority in this PLC processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-4) Network between controllers No.1→PLC 10-3

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-3 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-3", multiple identical PLCs appear, so it becomes a loop. Accordingly, the connection path is not output, and the processing for the PLC 10-3 ends.

(2-5) Network between controllers No.1→PLC 10-4

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-4 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-4", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Thereby, the above-mentioned connection path P4g is output as an optimum connection path. Here, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 calculates the throughput of the connection path. Referring to Figure 38, the throughput evaluation value up to the connection to PLC 10-4 is

(1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) = 2.1,

So enter that throughput value on output. Then, according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 , it is confirmed whether information collection can be continued for the network. Here, since the restriction is not met, information collection on the network can be continued, and the process B1 in FIG. 36-2 can be executed with the PLC 10-4 as the processing target.

(2-6) Network connected to PLC 10-4

In the B1 process in which the PLC 10-4 is the processing target, the network to which the PLC 10-4 is connected is collected. Specifically, a process of reading out the network stored in the connected network information P4n in the offline network configuration information in FIG. 11 is performed. Here, as a network connected to PLC 10-4, field network and inter-controller network No.1 are collected. Then, a connection path leading to the collected network is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path is a loop. In addition, there is no priority in this network processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-7) PLC 10-4 → field network

Since the connection path to the field network 23 is "PLC 10-3→inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-4→field network", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. From this, it is checked whether or not information collection can be continued on the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Here, since the restriction is not met, the information collection on the network can be continued, and the on-site network is selected as the processing object, and the B2 processing in Fig. 36-3 is executed.

(2-8) PLC connected to the field network

In the B2 process that makes the field network the processing target, PLCs connected to the field network are collected. Specifically, PLCs connected to the field network are retrieved and extracted from the network data C in the offline network configuration information of FIG. 11 . Here, PLCs 10-4 and 10-5 are collected as PLCs connected to the field network. Then, a connection path to the collected PLCs is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path to each PLC is a loop. There is no priority in this PLC processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-9) On-site network → PLC 10-4

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-4 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-4→Field network→PLC 10-4", multiple identical PLCs appear, so it is a loop road. Accordingly, the connection path is not output, and the processing for the PLC 10-4 ends.

(2-10) Field network → PLC 10-5

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-5 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-4→Field network→PLC 10-5", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not loop. Thereby, the said connection path P5g-1 is output as an optimal connection path. Here, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 calculates the throughput of the connection path. Referring to Figure 38, the throughput evaluation value up to the connection to PLC 10-5 is

(1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) + (1/0.1) + (1/1) = 13.1,

So enter that throughput value on output. The result is shown in Figure 37-3. Then, according to the restrictions shown in Figure 12, check whether information collection can continue for the network. Here, since the constraint B is met, the B1 process in FIG. 36-2 is not executed. Thereby, the B2 process of (2-8) which makes an on-site network the processing target is completed.

(2-11) PLC connected to the controller network No.1

The connection path up to the inter-controller network No. 1 collected as one of the networks connected to PLC 10-4 in (2-6) is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 →PLC 10－4→Network No.1 between controllers, there are multiple identical networks, so it is a loop. Therefore, the B2 process of FIG. 36-3 is not performed. Thereby, the B1 process of (2-6) which makes PLC 10-4 the process target is completed.

(2-12) For PLC 10-1

The connection path up to PLC 10-1 collected as one of the PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 1 in (2-3) is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 →PLC 10-1", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Thereby, the above-mentioned connection path P1g is output as the optimal connection path. Here, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 calculates the throughput of the connection path. Referring to Fig. 38, the throughput evaluation value up to the connection to PLC 10-1 is

(1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) = 2.1,

So enter that throughput value on output. The result is shown in Figure 37-4. Then, according to the restrictions shown in Figure 12, check whether information collection can continue for the network. Here, since the restriction is not met, information collection on the network can be continued, and the process B1 in FIG. 36-2 can be executed with the PLC 10-1 as the processing target.

(2-13) Network connected to PLC 10-1

In the process B1 in which the PLC 10-1 is processed, the network to which the PLC 10-1 is connected is collected. Specifically, a process of reading out the network information in the connection network information P1n stored in the offline network configuration information in FIG. 11 is performed. Here, inter-controller network No. 1, inter-controller network No. 2, and information system network No. 3 are collected as networks connected to PLC 10 - 1 . Then, a connection path leading to the collected network is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path is a loop. In addition, there is no priority in this network processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-14) PLC 10-1→Network between controllers No.1

Since the connection route to the inter-controller network No.1 is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 → PLC 10-1 → inter-controller network No. 1", multiple identical networks appear, So for the loop. Therefore, the B2 process of FIG. 36-3 is not performed.

(2-15) PLC 10-1→Network between controllers No.2

Since the connection path up to the inter-controller network No. 2 is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 → PLC 10-1 → inter-controller network No. 2", multiple identical elements do not appear , so it is not a loop. Thereby, it is checked whether or not information collection can be continued on the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Here, since the restriction is not met, information collection can be continued on the network, and inter-controller network No. 2 is selected as the processing object, and B2 processing in Fig. 36-3 is executed.

(2-16) PLC connected to the network No. 2 between controllers

In the B2 process that makes the inter-controller network No. 2 the processing target, PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 2 are collected. Specifically, the PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 2 is retrieved and extracted from the network data M2 in the offline network configuration information of FIG. 11 . Here, PLCs 10-2, 10-1, and 10-5 are collected as PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 2. Then, a connection path to the collected PLCs is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path to each PLC is a loop. There is no priority in this PLC processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-17) Network between controllers No.2→PLC 10-2

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-2 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Inter-controller network No.2→PLC 10-2", multiple identical PLC, so it is not a loop. Thereby, the said connection path P2g-1 is output as an optimum connection path. Here, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 calculates the throughput of the connection path. Referring to Fig. 38, the throughput evaluation value up to the connection to PLC 10-2 is

(1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) = 3.2,

So enter that throughput value on output. The result is shown in Figure 37-5. Then, according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12, it is confirmed whether information collection can be continued for the network connected to PLC 10-2. Here, since the restriction is not met, the process B1 in Fig. 36-2 is executed with the PLC 10-2 as the process target.

(2-18) Network connected to PLC 10-2

In the B1 process in which the PLC 10-2 is the processing target, the network to which the PLC 10-2 is connected is collected. Specifically, a process of reading out the network stored in the connected network information P2n in the offline network configuration information in FIG. 11 is performed. Here, the inter-controller network No. 2 and the information system network No. 3 are collected as networks connected to the PLC 10-2. Then, a connection path leading to the collected network is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path is a loop. In addition, there is no priority in this network processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-19) PLC 10-2→Network between controllers No.2

Since the connection route up to the inter-controller network No. 2 is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 → PLC 10-1 → inter-controller network No. 2 → PLC 10-2 → inter-controller Network No.2", there are multiple identical networks, so it is a loop. Therefore, the B2 process of FIG. 36-3 is not performed.

(2－20) PLC 10－2→Information System Network No.3

Since the connection path up to the information system network No.3 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Inter-controller network No.2→PLC 10-2→Information system network No. .3", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Thereby, it is checked whether or not information collection can be continued on the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Here, since it does not comply with the restriction, the information system network No. 3 is selected as the processing object, and the B2 process in Fig. 36-3 is executed.

(2-21) PLC connected to information system network No.3

In the B2 process which makes the information system network No. 3 the processing object, the PLC connected to the information system network No. 3 is collected. Specifically, in the network data E3 stored in the offline network configuration information of FIG. 11, the PLC connected to the information system network No. 3 is searched and extracted. Here, PLC10-1 and 10-2 are collected as PLC connected to information system network No. 3. Then, a connection path to the collected PLCs is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path to each PLC is a loop. In addition, there is no priority in this PLC process, and processes are performed sequentially.

(2-22) Information system network No.3→PLC 10-1

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-1 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Controller inter-network No.2→PLC 10-2→Information system network No.3 →PLC 10-1", there are multiple identical PLCs, so it is a loop. Therefore, the connection path is not output.

(2-23) Information system network No.3→PLC 10-2

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-2 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Inter-controller network No.2→PLC 10-2→Information system network No.3 →PLC 10-2", there are multiple identical PLCs, so it is a loop. Therefore, the connection path is not output. Thereby, the B2 process which made the information system network No. 3 of (2-20) the process object completes. In addition, the B1 processing of (2-17) with PLC 10-2 as the processing target is completed.

(2-24) Network between controllers No.2→PLC 10-1

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-1 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Inter-controller network No.2→PLC 10-1", multiple identical PLC, so it is a loop. Thus, the B1 process shown in FIG. 36-2 is not executed.

(2-25) Network between controllers No.2→PLC 10-5

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-5 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Inter-controller network No.2→PLC 10-5", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Here, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 calculates the throughput of the connection path. Referring to Figure 38, the throughput evaluation value up to the connection to PLC10-5 is

(1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) = 3.2.

However, for the path connected to PLC 10-5, the connection path P5g-1 is already output as shown in Fig. 37-3. Since the throughput value of the connection path P5g-1 is 13.1, the throughput value of the connection path calculated this time is better. In this way, instead of the already output connection path, the connection path calculated this time with better throughput is output as the optimal connection path P5g. The result is shown in Figure 37-3. In this FIG. 37-3 , adding a strikethrough to the data content of the connection path P37 - 3 means to delete and rewrite the data below it. Then, according to the restrictions shown in Figure 12, check whether information collection can continue for the network. Here, since it does not comply with a restriction, B1 process of FIG. 36-2 is performed making PLC10-5 a process object.

(2-26) Network connected with PLC 10-5

In the B1 process in which the PLC 10-5 is the processing target, the network to which the PLC 10-5 is connected is collected. Specifically, a process of reading out the network stored in the connected network information P5n in the offline network configuration information in FIG. 11 is performed. Here, as a network connected to PLC 10-5, field network and inter-controller network No. 2 are collected. Then, connection paths leading to the collected networks are generated, and whether or not each connection path is a loop is checked. In addition, there is no priority in this network processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-27) PLC 10-5 → field network

Since the connection path up to the field network is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 → PLC 10-1 → inter-controller network No. 2 → PLC 10-5 → field network", multiple The same elements, so not a loop. Thereby, it is checked whether or not information collection can be continued on the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Here, since the restriction is not met, the field network selection is set as the processing object, and the B2 processing in Fig. 36-3 is executed.

(2-28) PLC connected to the field network

In the B2 process which makes the on-site network the processing target, PLC information connected to the on-site network is collected. Specifically, in the network data C of the off-line network configuration information in FIG. 11, PLCs connected to the on-site network are retrieved and extracted. Here, PLCs 10-4 and 10-5 are collected as PLCs connected to the field network. Then, a connection path to the collected PLCs is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path to each PLC is a loop. There is no priority in this PLC processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-29) Field network → PLC 10-4

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-4 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Inter-controller network No.2→PLC 10-5→Field network→PLC 10- 4", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Here, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 calculates the throughput of the connection path. Referring to Fig. 38, the throughput evaluation value until connecting to PLC 10-4 is

(1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) + (1/0.1) + (1/1) = 14.2.

However, for the path connected to PLC 10-4, the connection path P4g is already output as shown in Fig. 37-2. Since the throughput value of the connection path P4g is 2.1, the throughput value of the existing connection path is better than the connection path calculated this time. Thus, the output connection path with better throughput is taken as the optimal connection path (Fig. 37-2).

(2-30) Field network → PLC 10-5

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-5 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Inter-controller network No.2→PLC 10-5→Field network→PLC 10- 5", there are multiple identical PLCs, so it is a loop. Thus, the connection path is not output. Thereby, the B2 process of (2-28) which makes an on-site network the processing target is completed.

(2-31) PLC 10-5→Network between controllers No.2

Since the connection route to the inter-controller network No. 2 is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 → PLC 10-1 → inter-controller network No. 2 → PLC 10-5 → inter-controller Network No.2", there are multiple identical networks, so it is a loop. Therefore, the B2 process of FIG. 36-3 is not performed. As a result, the B1 processing of (2-26) which targets PLC 10-5 is completed. In addition, the B2 process of FIG. 36-3 which made the inter-controller network No. 2 of (2-16) the processing target is completed.

(2-32) PLC connected to information system network No.3

The connection path up to the information system network No. 3 collected as one of the networks connected to PLC 10-1 in (2-13) is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Information system network No.3", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Thereby, it is checked whether or not information collection can be continued on the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Here, since the restriction is not met, the network can continue to collect information, select the information system network No. 3 as the processing object, and execute the B2 processing in Figure 36-3.

In the B2 process which makes the information system network No. 3 the processing object, the PLC connected to the information system network No. 3 is collected. Specifically, from the network data E3 stored in the offline network configuration information of FIG. 11, the PLC connected to the information system network No. 3 is retrieved and extracted. Here, PLC10-1 and 10-2 are collected as PLC connected to information system network No. 3. Then, a connection path to the collected PLCs is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path to each PLC is a loop. There is no priority in this PLC processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-33) Information system network No.3→PLC 10-1

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-1 is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 → PLC 10-1 → information system network No. 3 → PLC 10-1", multiple identical PLCs appear , so it is a loop. Therefore, the connection path is not output.

(2-34) Information system network No.3→PLC 10-2

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-2 is "PLC 10-3→inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→information system network No.3→PLC 10-2", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Here, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 calculates the throughput of the connection path. Referring to Fig. 38, the throughput evaluation value up to the connection to PLC10-2 is

(1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) + (1/100) + (1/1) = 3.11.

However, for the path connected to PLC 10-2, the connection path P2g-1 is already output as shown in Fig. 37-5. Since the throughput value of the connection path P2g-1 is 3.2, the throughput value of the connection path calculated this time is better. As a result, instead of the already output connection path P2g-1, the connection path calculated this time with better throughput is output as the optimum connection path P2g. The result is shown in Figure 37-5. Then, according to the restrictions shown in Figure 12, check whether information collection can continue for the network. Here, since the restriction is not met, the process B1 in Fig. 36-2 is executed with the PLC 10-2 as the process target.

(2-35) Network connected to PLC 10-2

In the B1 process in which the PLC 10-2 is the processing target, the network to which the PLC 10-2 is connected is collected. Specifically, a process of reading out the network stored in the connected network information P2n in the offline network configuration information in FIG. 11 is performed. Here, as the network connected to PLC 10-2, inter-controller network No. 2 and information system network No. 3 are collected. Then, connection paths leading to the collected networks are generated, and whether or not each connection path is a loop is checked. In addition, there is no priority in the processing of this network, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-36) PLC 10-2→Network between controllers No.2

Since the connection route up to the inter-controller network No. 2 is "PLC 10-3 → inter-controller network No. 1 → PLC 10-1 → information system network No. 3 → PLC 10-2 → inter-controller network No.2", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Thereby, it is checked whether or not information collection can be continued on the network according to the restrictions shown in FIG. 12 . Here, since the restriction is not met, inter-controller network No. 2 is selected as the processing object, and B2 processing in FIG. 36-3 is executed.

(2-37) PLC connected to the network No.2 between controllers

In the B2 process which makes the inter-controller network No. 2 the processing object, PLC information connected to the inter-controller network No. 2 is collected. Specifically, the PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 2 is searched and extracted from the network data M2 stored in the offline network configuration information of FIG. 11 . Here, PLCs 10-2, 10-1, and 10-5 are collected as PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 2. Then, a connection path to the collected PLCs is generated, and it is checked whether or not the connection path to each PLC is a loop. There is no priority in this PLC processing, and processing is performed sequentially.

(2-38) Network between controllers No.2→PLC 10-2

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-2 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Information system network No.3→PLC 10-2→Inter-controller network No.2 →PLC 10-2", there are multiple identical PLCs, so it is a loop. Thus, the connection path is not output.

(2-39) Network between controllers No.2→PLC 10-1

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-1 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Information system network No.3→PLC 10-2→Inter-controller network No.2 →PLC 10-1", there are multiple identical PLCs, so it is a loop. Thus, the connection path is not output.

(2-40) Network between controllers No.2→PLC 10-5

Since the connection path up to PLC 10-5 is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10-1→Information system network No.3→PLC 10-2→Inter-controller network No.2 →PLC 10-5", there are no multiple identical elements, so it is not a loop. Here, the connection path analysis selection unit 123 calculates the throughput of the connection path. Referring to Fig. 38, the throughput evaluation value until connecting to PLC 10-5 is

(1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) + (1/100) + (1/1) + (1/10) + (1/1) = 4.21.

However, for the path connected to PLC 10-5, the connection path P5g is already output as shown in Fig. 37-3. Since the throughput value of the connection path P5g is 3.2, the throughput value of the existing connection path is better than that calculated this time. Therefore, the output connection path with better throughput is taken as the optimal connection path (Figure 37-3). Thereby, the B2 process of (2-37) which made the inter-controller network No. 2 the processing target is completed.

(2-41) PLC connected to information system network No.3

The connection route up to the information system network No. 3 collected as one of the networks connected to PLC 10-2 in (2-35) is "PLC 10-3→Inter-controller network No.1→PLC 10－1→Information system network No.3→PLC 10－2→Information system network No.3", there are multiple identical networks, so it is a loop. Therefore, the B2 process of FIG. 36-3 is not performed. As a result, the processing of B1 in FIG. 36-2 in (2-35) that targets PLC 10-2 is completed. In addition, the B2 process of (2-32) which made the information system network No. 3 the process object completed. In addition, the B1 process of (2-13) which made PLC 10-1 the process target is completed. In addition, the B2 process of (2-11) which made the inter-controller network No. 1 the processing target is completed. In addition, the B1 process of (2-2) which made PLC 10-3 the process target is completed. Thus, the connection path analysis processing is completed.

(Connection path display processing)

37-1 to 37-5 are stored in the offline connection path holding unit 125 through the above-mentioned offline connection path analysis process, the connection path display unit 120 displays the Connecting pathways are highlighted at 112 .

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an offline connection path. As shown in this figure, it is easy to grasp the connection path to each PLC. Here, as described above, a path with better communication throughput is selected.

In addition, it is also possible to prominently display accessible PLCs and inaccessible PLCs. By displaying in this way, it is possible to easily understand the PLCs accessible from the origin PLC (the inaccessible PLCs can be easily understood).

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an offline connection path. In this figure, for the PLCs that can be accessed from the starting point PLC according to the restrictions in Fig. 12, "○" marks are set around them, and for the PLCs that cannot be accessed from the starting point PLC according to the restrictions in Fig. 12, "×" is set near them marked. Thereby, it is possible to immediately recognize PLCs accessible from the origin PLC and PLCs inaccessible. In the example shown in FIG. 40, PLC 10-9 is connected to the front end of PLC 10-5 via information system network No. 4. However, since this PLC 10-9 can only be accessed via the PLC 10-5 which is the local station of the field network, it complies with the restriction B of FIG. 12 . Therefore, PLC 10-9 cannot be accessed.

According to the fourth embodiment, there is an effect that in the network diagram of the control system generated offline, it is possible to easily grasp the PLCs that can be accessed from the starting point PLC, and it is possible to know in advance the connection status in this case. Connection path to each PLC. In addition, there is also an effect that, when there are a plurality of connection paths from the starting point PLC, an optimal connection path selected based on a predetermined criterion is automatically selected.

Embodiment 5

However, since the network constituting the control system has connection restrictions as shown in FIG. 12 described above, the control system design device cannot access all PLCs in the system no matter where it is connected. Therefore, when there is a PLC that cannot be accessed, it is necessary to temporarily disconnect the connection cable between the control system design device and the PLC, and reconnect to the target PLC. In addition, depending on the location where the control system design device is connected, the communication speed may be slowed down.

Therefore, in the fifth embodiment, the control system design device and control system design method that can automatically calculate the control system design device that can automatically calculate The PLC (starting point PLC) of the connection port can be connected to all PLCs and can perform high-speed communication (becoming the best path for throughput in terms of comprehensiveness).

FIG. 41 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 5 of the control system design device according to the present invention. This control system design device 100 is characterized in that, in addition to FIG. 35 of the fourth embodiment, the starting point PLC specifying unit 113 is deleted, and an optimal connection path calculating unit 126 is included.

The optimal connection path calculation unit 126 has a function of sequentially performing connection path analysis and selection processing by the connection path analysis selection unit 123 for all candidates for the connection port (start point PLC) of the control system design device 100, and then only Candidates that can be connected to all PLCs are extracted, and among them, a connection path that is generally better in communication throughput to each PLC is extracted as an optimal connection path. The optimum connection path calculation unit 126 corresponds to the optimum connection path calculation means in the claims.

Next, the processing of the control system design device having the configuration of the fifth embodiment will be described. Fig. 42 is a flow chart showing an example of an optimal connection path calculation processing procedure. In addition, here, the optimal connection route calculation process in the control system which has the structure of FIG. 1 is demonstrated as an example. First, the optimal connection path calculation unit 126 extracts candidate PLCs as the starting point PLC (step S371 ). Specifically, all PLCs stored in the offline network configuration information of FIG. 11 are extracted. Here, five PLCs of PLCs 10-1 to 10-5 are extracted.

Next, the offline connection path analysis processing shown in FIGS. 36-1 to 36-3 is executed with each of the extracted PLCs as the origin PLC (step S372 ). The connection path data obtained as a result of executing the off-line connection path analysis process with the PLC 10-3 as the starting point PLC is the same as the results shown in FIGS. 37-1 to 37-5 of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 43-1 to Fig. 43-5 are diagrams showing connection path data in the case of performing connection path analysis processing with PLC 10-1 as the starting point PLC, and Fig. 44-1 to Fig. 44-5 are diagrams showing that PLC 10- 2 Diagrams of the connection path data when the connection path analysis process is performed as the starting point PLC, and Figs. 46-1 to 46-5 are diagrams showing connection path data in the case of performing connection path analysis processing with the PLC 10-5 as the starting point PLC.

Then, it is checked whether or not all PLCs can be connected to each of the results obtained by executing the connection path analysis process (step S373 ). Here, depending on the selection method of the starting point PLC, there may be PLCs that cannot be connected due to the restrictions in FIG. 12 . Therefore, it is checked whether or not it conflicts with the restrictions in FIG. 12 . Here, if any one PLC is used as the start PLC, it can be connected to all PLCs.

Then, the throughput evaluation values (total throughput evaluation values) of the entire system configuration are compared with each of the results obtained after executing the connection path analysis processing (step S374 ). The throughput model used here is the same as the throughput model shown in FIG. 38 used in the fourth embodiment. Next, throughput evaluation values and their total values when each PLC is used as a starting point are shown.

(When using PLC 10-1 as the starting point PLC)

PLC 10－1 (P1g1)＝0

PLC 10-2 (P2g1) = 2.01

PLC 10-3 (P3g1) = 2.1

PLC 10-4 (P4g1) = 2.1

PLC 10-5 (P5g1) = 2.1

Total throughput evaluation value = 8.31

(When using PLC 10-2 as the starting point PLC)

PLC 10-1 (P1g2) = 2.01

PLC 10－2 (P2g2)＝0

PLC 10-3 (P3g2) = 3.2

PLC 10-4 (P4g2) = 3.2

PLC 10-5 (P5g2) = 2.1

Total throughput evaluation value = 10.51

(When using PLC 10-3 as the starting point PLC)

PLC 10-1 (P1g) = 2.1

PLC 10-2 (P2g) = 3.11

PLC 10-3 (P3g) = 0

PLC 10-4 (P4g) = 2.1

PLC 10-5 (P5g) = 3.2

Total throughput evaluation value = 10.51

(When using PLC 10-4 as the starting point PLC)

PLC 10-1 (P1g4) = 2.1

PLC 10-2 (P2g4) = 3.11

PLC 10-3 (P3g4) = 2.1

PLC 10-4 (P4g4) = 0

PLC 10-5 (P5g4) = 3.2

Total throughput evaluation value = 10.51

(When using PLC 10-5 as the starting point PLC)

PLC 10-1 (P1g5) = 2.1

PLC 10-2 (P2g5) = 2.1

PLC 10-3 (P3g5) = 3.2

PLC 10-4 (P4g5) = 3.2

PLC 10－5 (P5g5)＝0

Total throughput evaluation value = 10.6

Then, the optimal connection path calculation unit 126 extracts the one with the best throughput of the entire system configuration from the total throughput evaluation values calculated above with each PLC as a starting point (step S375), and uses it as the optimal connection path to go offline. The connection path holding unit 125 outputs (step S376 ). Since the throughput model used in the fourth embodiment is used, here, the connection path whose total throughput evaluation value is small is optimal. Based on the above results, since the total throughput evaluation value of the connection path data is the smallest when PLC 10-1 is used as the starting point, the optimal connection paths shown in Fig. 43-1 to Fig. 43-5 are taken as the optimum connection paths , is output to the offline connection path holding unit 125 . Thus, the optimal connection path calculation process is completed.

Then, the optimal connection path is displayed on the offline system configuration diagram by the connection path display unit 120 based on the optimal connection path calculated by the optimal connection path calculation unit 126 . FIG. 47 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an optimal connection path. This figure displays the connection path by using the connection path display process of Embodiment 3 based on the optimal connection path shown in FIG. 43-1. From this, the user of the control system design device 100 can understand that just by connecting the control system design device 100 to the PLC 10-1, it can be connected to all the PLCs constituting the control system, and data transmission can be performed at a high throughput.

According to Embodiment 5, with respect to the network of the control system constructed in an off-line state, it is possible to calculate a position where all the PLCs in the control system can be accessed and high-speed communication is possible. As a result, there is an effect that, by connecting the control system design device 100 to this position, the time required for downloading and uploading of setting data can be reduced.

Embodiment 6

In Embodiment 6, a control system design device and a control system design method will be described, that is, for a PLC in the middle of the connection path from the starting point PLC to each PLC, the Perform routing to reach the routing parameters of the target PLC and set them. Here, first, the routing parameters in the control system will be briefly described, and then the contents of the embodiment will be described.

As a routing function in the control system, in a system composed of multiple networks, it is a function to instantaneously transmit data across multiple networks to stations with serial numbers on other networks. In order to implement the routing function, it is necessary to set the routing parameters, and correspond between the network serial number of the request target and the PLC that realizes the bridging function.

In addition, routing parameters need to be set in the request source and the relay station of the transient transmission. Here, the relay station refers to a PLC connected to a plurality of networks. In addition, it is usually necessary to set two routing parameters for sending from the request source to the request destination (outward trip) and routing parameters for sending from the request destination to the request source (return trip) at the relay site. Also, there is no need to set routing parameters in the request target.

Fig. 48 is a diagram showing an example of routing parameters set in the control system. In addition, in this FIG. 48, the communication unit is shown in the rectangle box which shows each PLC. For example, in the case of station 1 of network No. 1, the indication of the communication unit is "1Ns1". In addition, a plurality of network units are installed in a PLC connected to a plurality of networks.

In this example, the control system is configured by connecting three networks, network No. 1 to network No. 3. Six PLCs, PLCs 10-1 to 10-6, are connected to network No. 1, and PLC 10-4 at station 4 is also connected to neighboring network No. 2. That is, PLC 10-4 has: communication unit 1Ns4 which communicates with network No. 1; and communication unit 2Ns1 which communicates with network No. 2. In addition, network No. 2 is connected to four PLCs 10-4, 10-7, 10-8, and 10-13. Among them, the PLC 10-4 of the station 1 in the network No. 2 is also connected to the adjacent network No. 1, and the PLC 10-13 of the station 4 is also connected to the adjacent network No. 3. That is, PLC 10-13 has: communication unit 2Ns4 which communicates with network No. 2; and communication unit 3Ns5 which communicates with network No. 3. In addition, five PLCs 10-9 to 10-13 are connected to the network No. 3. Among them, the PLC 10-13 of the station 5 in the network No. 3 is also connected to the adjacent network No. 2.

Here, a case where data is instantaneously transmitted from PLC 10-3 of network No. 1 to PLC 10-12 of network No. 3 will be described as an example. In this case, PLC 10-3 of network No. 1 that requests transient transmission, PLC 10-4 that realizes the bridging function between network No. 1 and network No. .3 Set the routing parameters in the PLC 10-13 of the bridging function. Next, the setting of routing parameters for each site will be described.

(1) PLC 10-3 of network No.1

In this PLC 10-3, the transmission destination network number (3), the communication unit (1Ns4) of the relay station, and the relay network number (1) connected to the relay station are set as routing parameters.

(2) PLC 10-4 of network No.1

In this PLC 10-4, the transmission destination network number (3), the communication unit (2Ns4) of the relay station, and the relay network number (2) connected to the relay station are set as routing parameters. In addition, since the routing parameters for data transmission from network No. 2 to network No. 1 are set in PLC 10-13 in (3) described below, no return routing is required in this PLC 10-4. parameter.

(3) PLC 10-13 of network No.2

In this PLC 10-13, for the setting of the transfer destination, since the transfer destination network No. 3 is reached after the own station, there is no need to set the routing parameters for the outbound route. However, as the routing parameter for the return trip, set the transfer destination network number as the transfer source network number (1), set the network unit (2Ns1) of the relay station used for the return trip, and the relay network number connected to the relay station ( 2).

By setting routing parameters in each station as described above, data can be transmitted from PLC 10-3 of network No. 1 to PLC 10-12 of network No. 3.

Next, the procedure for data transmission using the routing parameters set as described above will be briefly described. First, the PLC 10-3 of the network No. 1 transmits the data to be transmitted to the PLC 10-13 of the network No. 3 based on the routing parameter. That is, the data is transmitted according to setting parameters such that the transfer destination network number is "3", the relay destination network is "1", and the relay destination station number is "4". Thus, data from PLC 10-3 is transmitted to PLC 10-4 (PLC having communication unit 1Ns4 as station 4 in network No. 1) via network No. 1.

If the communication unit 1Ns4 of the PLC 10-4 receives the data, since the transmission destination is the PLC 10-12 of the network No. 3, referring to the routing parameters, the data is transmitted to the relay destination network No. The sequence number 4 of the relay target station of .2 is sent by PLC 10-13. In PLC 10-13, since the received data is data sent to PLC 10-12 of network No. 3, it is sent to PLC 10-12 via communication unit 3Ns5 and network No. 3. Thus, the outbound data transmission is completed.

Next, the case where the PLC 10-12 of the network No. 3 serving as the request destination transmits data to the PLC 10-3 of the network No. 1 serving as the request source, that is, the case of returning data will be described. In this case, the PLC 10-12 of the network No. 3 transmits data to the PLC 10-3 of the network No. 1 as the transfer destination. The data reaches PLC 10-13 via network No.3. In PLC 10-13, since the transfer destination of the data is PLC 10-3 of the transfer destination network No.1, referring to the routing parameters, the relay destination network is "network No. 2" and the relay destination station number is PLC 10-4 of network No. 2 of "1" transmits data.

Since the PLC 10-4 of the network No. 2 receives the data whose transmission destination is the PLC 10-3 of the network No. 1, it transmits to the PLC 10-3 of the network No. 1 via the communication unit 1Ns4 mounted on the same board and the network No. 1. The target is sent by PLC 10-3. Then, PLC 10-3 receives data from PLC 10-12 of network No.3. Thus, the data transfer of the return trip is completed.

In the configuration shown above, data transmission is performed while straddling a plurality of networks in the control system. Next, the setting process of the network parameters of the PLC in the above-mentioned control system will be described.

FIG. 49 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 6 of the control system design device according to the present invention. In addition to FIG. 35 of Embodiment 4, this control system design device 100 further includes a routing parameter calculation unit 127 that reads out the connection path from the starting point PLC to each PLC held in the offline connection path holding unit 125, for The PLC that needs to set the routing parameters in each connection path calculates the routing parameters. The routing parameter calculation unit 127 corresponds to a routing parameter calculation unit in the claims. In addition, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same constituent elements as those in FIG. 35 of Embodiment 4, and description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 50 is a block diagram schematically showing a more detailed functional configuration of a routing parameter calculation unit. As shown in the figure, the routing parameter calculation unit 127 has a connection path inversion function module 1271 , a transfer destination network number extraction function module 1272 , a relay destination network number extraction function module 1273 , and a relay destination station number extraction function module 1274 .

The connection path inversion function module 1271 extracts the connection path stored in the offline connection path storage unit 125, and generates a reverse connection path in which the data is reversed.

The transfer destination network number extraction function module 1272 extracts the transfer destination network number in the routing parameter from the connection path stored in the offline connection path storage unit 125 and the reverse connection path generated by the connection path inversion function module 1271 .

The relay destination network number extraction unit extracts the relay destination network number in the routing parameters from the connection path stored in the offline connection path storage unit 125 and the reverse connection path generated by the connection path inversion function module 1271 .

The relay destination station number extraction unit extracts the relay destination station number in the routing parameter from the connection path stored in the offline connection path storage unit 125 and the reverse connection path generated by the connection path inversion function module 1271 .

(1) Outline of processing

Next, calculation processing of routing parameters in the control system design apparatus 100 having the above configuration will be described. 51-1 to 51-2 are flowcharts showing an example of routing parameter calculation processing procedures. First, the request source PLC for instantaneous transmission is designated by the user through the origination PLC designation unit 113 (step S411 ). Hereinafter, this request source PLC is called origin PLC.

Then, the origin PLC specified by the origin PLC specifying unit 113 is selected as a processing target, the B2 process shown in FIG. 36-2 of Embodiment 4 is executed (step S412 ), and a connection path is acquired (step S413 ).

One connection path is selected from the obtained connection paths (step S414 ). Then, the starting point PLC in the connection path is selected as a processing target, and the C1 processing is executed (step S415 ).

As shown in FIG. 51-2 , in the C1 process, first, it is determined whether there are two or more different networks from the process target PLC to the destination PLC (step S431 ). When there are no two or more different networks (NO in step S431 ), the process of C1 is terminated, and the process returns to the process of FIG. 51-1 . In addition, when there is a different network (YES in step S431), in the selected connection path, the network number described in the data of the previous item of the destination PLC is output as the transfer destination network number (step S432).

Then, in the selected connection path, the network number described in the data of the next item of the processing target PLC is output as the relay target network number (step S433), and the data of the next item of the processing target PLC The PLC described in , outputs the station number in the relay destination network output in step S433 as the relay destination station number (step S434 ).

Then, the PLC described in the data of the next item under the processing target PLC is selected as the processing target (step S435 ), and the process returns to step S431 to repeat the above-mentioned processing.

If the C1 process is completed, return to FIG. 51-1 , and generate an inverse connection path obtained by inverting the data of the selected connection path through the connection path inversion function module 1271 (step S416 ). That is, the start point PLC of the selected connection path becomes the end point PLC, and the end point PLC becomes the start point PLC.

Then, the PLC described in the data of the next item below the starting point PLC in the data of the reversed connection path after the reverse sequence is selected as a processing target (step S417 ), and C1 processing is performed (step S418 ).

After the C1 processing of the reverse connection path is completed, it is confirmed whether all the connection paths obtained in step S413 have been processed (step S419), and if there is a connection path that has not been processed (in the case of No in step S419), ), return to step S414, and execute the above processing repeatedly. In addition, when all the connection paths have been processed (YES in step S419 ), the routing parameter calculation processing is completed.

(2) Specific examples of processing

In the above description, the outline of the routing parameter calculation processing has been described, so a specific example of this processing will be described below by taking the case of the control system having the configuration of FIG. 28 as an example. The control system shown in FIG. 28 is used as an object, and the off-line connection path analysis process shown in FIGS. 36-1 to 36-3 of Embodiment 4 is performed with PLCπ as a starting point PLC. Fig. 52 is a diagram showing an example of a connection path to each PLC in the control system of Fig. 28 . In addition, FIGS. 53-1 to 53-4 are routing parameters set in each PLC obtained through routing parameter calculation processing.

(2-1) Connection path acquisition processing

First, the connection path shown in FIG. 52 is obtained by performing the off-line connection path analysis processing shown in FIGS. Pαg～Pψg.

(2-2) Connecting pathway Pαg

From the connection paths in FIG. 52 , first, the connection path Pαg is selected, and the following processing is performed on the connection path Pαg.

(2-2-1) PLCπ of connection path

The process C1 shown in FIG. 51-2 is executed with PLCπ, which is the starting point PLC in the connection path Pαg, as the processing target PLC. In the C1 process with PLCπ as the processing target, there are no more than two different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pαg, so the C1 process with PLCπ as the processing target PLC is terminated.

(2-2-2) PLCπ of reverse junction pathway

Then, the connection path data "PLCπ→inter-controller network No. 1→PLCα" of the connection path Pαg is desequenced "PLCα→inter-controller network No. 1→PLCπ" as the reverse connection path Pαg'. Then, PLCπ, which is the PLC described in the data of the next item below PLCα, which is the starting point PLC, in the reverse connection path Pαg' is selected as the processing target PLC, and the C1 process is executed. However, in the C1 process with PLCπ as the processing target, there are no more than two different networks up to the destination PLC for the reverse connection path Pαg', so the C1 process with PLC π as the processing target PLC is terminated.

(2-3) Connecting pathway Pεg

If the connection path Pεg is selected from the connection paths in FIG. 52 and the connection path Pεg is processed, the same result as the connection path Pαg of (2-2) is obtained, and there is no calculated routing parameter.

(2-4) Connection pathway Pβg

The connection path Pβg is selected from the connection paths in FIG. 52, and the following processing is performed on the connection path Pβg.

(2-4-1) Connection path

The process C1 shown in FIG. 51-2 is executed with PLCπ, which is the starting point PLC in the connection path Pβg, as the processing target PLC. In the C1 processing for which PLCπ is the processing target, there are two or more different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pβg. Thereby, the network number "5" of the information system network No. 5 described in the data (data 3) of the previous item of PLCβ which is the destination PLC is output as the transfer destination network number.

In addition, the network number "1" of the inter-controller network No. 1 described in the next item of data (data 1) of the processing target PLCπ is output as the relay destination network number. And, the station number "1" of the PLC α in the inter-controller network No. 1, which is the PLC described in the data (data 2) of the next item below the processing target PLC π, is acquired from the offline network configuration information holding unit 122, and is used as the middle Output following the target station number.

Then, PLCα described in the data (data 2 ) below the processing target PLCπ is selected as the processing target, and the C1 process is executed. In the C1 process targeting PLCα, there are no more than two different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pβg, so the C1 process targeting the connection path PLCα is terminated. The result is shown in line 501 of Figure 53-1.

(2-4-2) Reverse junction pathway

Then, the connection path data "PLCπ→inter-controller network No.1→PLCα→information system network No.5→PLCβ" of the connection path Pβg is reversed to "PLCβ→information system network No.5→PLCα→control Inter-device network No.1→PLCπ" as the reverse connection path Pβg'. Then, PLCα described in the data of the lower item of PLCβ which is the starting point PLC in the reverse connection path Pβg' is selected as the processing target, and the C1 processing is executed. However, in the C1 process with PLCα as the processing target, there are no more than two different networks up to the destination PLC for the reverse connection path Pβg', so the C1 process with PLCα as the processing target PLC is terminated.

(2-5) Connecting pathway Pμg

If the connection path Pμg is selected from the connection paths in FIG. 52 and the connection path Pμg is processed, the same result as that of the connection path Pβg in (2-4) is obtained. That is, the calculated routing parameters are the same, and there are no new output routing parameters.

(2-6) Connecting pathway Pθg

A connection path Pθg is selected from the connection paths in FIG. 52, and the following processing is performed on the connection path Pθg.

(2-6-1) Connection path

The process C1 shown in FIG. 51-2 is performed with PLCπ, which is the starting point PLC in the connection path Pθg, as the processing target PLC. In the C1 process which makes PLCπ the processing object, there exist two or more different networks up to the destination PLC with respect to the connection path Pθg. As a result, the network number "2" of the inter-controller network No. 2 described in the data (data 5) of the previous item of PLCθ, which is the destination PLC, is output as the transfer destination network number.

In addition, the network number "1" of the inter-controller network No. 1 described in the next item of data (data 1) of the processing target PLCπ is output as the relay destination network number. In addition, the station number "1" of the PLC α in the inter-controller network No. 1 of the PLC α described in the data (data 2) under the next item of the processing target PLC π is obtained from the off-line network configuration information holding unit 122 as a relay The target station serial number is output. The result is shown in line 502 of Figure 53-1.

Then, PLCα described in the data (data 2 ) below the processing target PLCπ is selected as the processing target, and the C1 process is executed. In the C1 process for which PLCα is the processing target, there are two or more different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pθg. As a result, the network number "2" of the inter-controller network 22B described in the data (data 5 ) of the previous item of PLCθ, which is the destination PLC, is output as the transfer destination network number.

In addition, the network number "5" of the information system network No. 5 described in the next item of data (data 3) of the processing target PLCα is output as the relay destination network number. In addition, the station number "2" of the PLC β in the information system network No. 5, which is the PLC described in the data (data 4) under the next item of the processing target PLCα, is acquired from the offline network structure information holding unit 122, as the relay destination The station number is output. The result is shown in line 504 of Figure 53-2.

Then, the process C1 is performed with the PLC β described in the data under the subparagraph of the processing target PLC α as the processing target PLC. In the C1 process targeting PLCβ, there are no more than two different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pθg, so the C1 process targeting PLCβ is terminated.

(2-6-2) Reverse junction pathway

Next, the connection path data "PLCπ→inter-controller network No.1→PLCα→information system network No.5→PLCβ→inter-controller network No.2→PLCθ" of the connection path Pθg is reversed to "PLCθ→ Inter-controller network No. 2→PLCβ→information system network No.5→PLCα→inter-controller network No.1→PLCπ” as the reverse connection path Pθg′. Then, the PLCβ described in the data under the next item of PLCθ, which is the starting point PLC in the reverse connection path Pθg', is selected as the processing target, and the C1 processing is executed.

In the C1 process that targets PLCβ, there are two or more different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pθg'. As a result, the network number "1" of the inter-controller network No. 1 described in the data of the previous item of PLCπ, which is the destination PLC, is output as the transfer destination network number. In addition, the network number "5" of the information system network No. 5 described in the next item of data (data 3) of the processing target PLCβ is output as the relay destination network number. In addition, the station number "1" of the PLC α in the information system network No. 5, which is the PLC α described in the data (data 4) under the next item of the processing target PLC β, is obtained from the off-line network structure information holding unit 122 as a relay The target station serial number is output. The result is shown in line 506 of Figure 53-3.

Then, the PLCα described in the data under the subparagraph of the processing object PLCβ is selected as the processing object, and the C1 processing is executed. In the C1 process targeting PLCα, there are no more than two different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pθg', so the C1 process targeting the connection path PLCα is terminated.

(2-7) Connection pathway Pκg

If the connection path Pκg is selected from the connection paths in FIG. 52 and the connection path Pκg is processed, the same result as that of the connection path Pθg in (2-6) is obtained. That is, the calculated routing parameters are the same, and there are no new output routing parameters.

(2-8) Connecting pathway Pωg

A connection path Pωg is selected from the connection paths in FIG. 52 , and the following processing is performed on the connection path Pωg.

(2-8-1) Connection path

The process C1 shown in FIG. 51-2 is performed with PLCπ, which is the starting point PLC in the connection path Pωg, as the processing target PLC. In the C1 processing for which PLCπ is the processing target, there are two or more different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pωg. Thereby, the network number "3" of the inter-controller network No. 3 described in the data (data 5) of the previous item of PLCω which is the destination PLC is output as the transfer destination network number.

In addition, the network number "1" of the inter-controller network No. 1 described in the next item of data (data 1) of the processing target PLCπ is output as the relay destination network number. In addition, the station number "1" of the PLC α in the inter-controller network No. 1, which is described in the data (data 2) of the next item under the processing target PLCπ, is obtained from the offline network structure information as the relay destination The station number is output. The result is shown in line 503 of Figure 53-1.

Then, PLCα described in the data (data 2 ) below the processing target PLCπ is selected as the processing target, and the C1 process is executed. In the C1 process for which PLCα is the processing target, there are two or more different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pωg. As a result, the network number "3" of the inter-controller network No. 3 described in the data (data 5) of the previous item of PLCω as the destination PLC is output as the transfer destination network number.

In addition, the network number "5" of the information system network No. 5 described in the next item of data (data 3) of the processing target PLCα is output as the relay destination network number. In addition, the station number "3" of the PLC μ in the information system network No. 5, which is the PLC described in the data (data 4) under the next item of the processing target PLCα, is obtained from the off-line network configuration information holding unit 122 as the relay destination. The station number is output. The result is shown in line 505 of Figure 53-2.

Then, the process C1 is executed with the PLC μ, which is the PLC described in the data of the next item under the process target PLCα, as the process target. In the C1 process with PLCμ as the processing target, there are no more than two different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pωg, so the C1 process with PLCβ as the processing target ends.

(2-8-2) Reverse junction pathway

Next, "PLCω→ Inter-controller network No. 3→PLCμ→information system network No.5→PLCα→inter-controller network No.1→PLCπ” as the reverse connection path Pωg′. Then, the PLCμ described in the data of the lower item of PLCω, which is the starting point PLC in the reverse connection path Pωg', is selected as the processing target, and the C1 processing is executed.

In the C1 process with PLCμ as the processing target, there are two or more different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pωg'. Thereby, the network number "1" of the inter-controller network No. 1 described in the data of the previous item of PLCπ, which is the destination PLC, is output as the transfer destination network number. In addition, the network number "5" of the information system network No. 5 described in the data of the next item of the processing target PLCμ is output as the relay destination network number. In addition, the site number "1" of the PLC α in the information system network No. 5, which is the PLC α described in the data of the next item below the processing target PLC μ, is obtained from the off-line network structure information holding unit 122, and is output as the relay destination site number . The result is shown in line 507 of Figure 53-4.

Then, the PLCα described in the data of the next item under the processing object PLCμ is selected as the processing object, and the C1 processing is executed. In the C1 process targeting PLCα, there are no more than two different networks up to the destination PLC for the connection path Pωg', so the C1 process targeting the connection path PLCα ends.

(2-9) Connecting pathway Pψg

If the connection path Pψg is selected from the connection paths in FIG. 52 and the connection path Pψg is processed, the same result as the connection path Pωg of (2-8) is obtained. That is, the calculated routing parameters are the same, and there are no new output routing parameters.

Set the routing parameters in Fig. 53-1 to Fig. 53-4 obtained as described above to the PLCs shown in the respective name columns. That is, Figure 53-1 shows the routing parameters set in PLCπ, Figure 53-2 shows the routing parameters set in PLCα, Figure 53-3 shows the routing parameters set in PLCβ, and Figure 53-4 shows the routing parameters set in PLCα. Routing parameters set in PLCμ.

According to Embodiment 6, since the control system design apparatus 100 can execute the processing originally calculated manually, there is an effect of saving man-hours for calculating routing parameters. It also has the effect that it is possible to easily set network parameters including routing parameters for PLCs when making additional changes to the structure of an existing control system or when building a new control system. . In addition, since the connection path is displayed, there is also an effect that it is possible to easily confirm for which connection path the calculated routing parameters of each PLC are used.

Embodiment 7

In Embodiment 7, a control system design device and a control system design method that can automatically include network parameters of a control system that is already in operation when changing Rewrite the network parameters of each PLC including the change of routing parameters.

FIG. 54 is a block diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of Embodiment 7 of the control system design device according to the present invention. This control system design device 100 has a communication unit 111, a display unit 112, a starting point PLC specifying unit 113, an online network configuration information collection unit 114, an online connection path storage unit 115, an online network configuration information storage unit 116, and a display object coordinate calculation unit 117. , a system configuration display unit 118, a system configuration editing unit 121, an off-line network configuration information holding unit 122, a connection path analysis selection unit 123, an off-line connection path holding unit 125, a connection path display unit 120, a centralized parameter rewriting unit 128, and The control part 119 which controls each processing part mentioned above. More specifically, the control system design apparatus 100 has a configuration in which the throughput model holding unit 124 is deleted and a parameter centralized rewriting unit 128 is further provided in addition to the configurations of the first embodiment and the configuration of the sixth embodiment. .

The centralized parameter rewriting unit 128 automatically changes network parameters including routing parameters for the control system. At this time, network parameters are rewritten in such an order that access to the PLC constituting the control system will not be disabled due to parameter changes. The centralized network parameter rewriting unit 128 corresponds to a centralized parameter rewriting unit in the claims. In addition, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same constituent elements as those described in the above-mentioned embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

(1) Outline of processing

FIGS. 55-1 to 55-2 are flowcharts showing an example of the procedure of collective parameter rewriting processing. First, the control system design device 100 connected to one of the PLCs constituting the control system acquires network configuration information from the operating control system by the method described in Embodiment 1 (step S451 ). Hereinafter, this network configuration information is referred to as online network configuration information.

Then, for the acquired online network configuration information, edit parameters in an offline state (step S452 ), and generate offline network configuration information. At this time, it is assumed that the network parameters of one network are changed. Then, based on the offline network structure information edited in the offline state, route parameters are calculated (step S453 ).

Next, compare the online network structure information with the edited offline network structure information, and extract the network whose parameters have been changed (step S454 ). And the parameter rewriting process shown to FIG. 55-2 is performed about each PLC of the extracted network (step S455).

Moving to FIG. 55-2 , among the PLCs connected to the extracted network, the parameters of the normal station PLC with the largest station number are rewritten into new parameters (step S471 ). Then, rewriting processing is performed to subtract one from the total number of stations of the network parameters held by the management station PLC of the network (step S472 ).

Then, it is determined whether or not the total number of stations in the network parameters of the management station PLC of the network is 1 (step S473 ). If the total number of stations in the network parameters of the management station PLC is not 1 (No in step S473), return to step S471 and repeat the above process until the total number of stations in the network parameters of the management station PLC becomes 1.

In addition, when the total number of stations in the network parameters of the management station PLC is 1 (in the case of YES in step S473), the parameters of the management station PLC of the network are rewritten into new parameters (step S474), and the parameter rewriting process Finished, the process returns to Figure 55-1.

Returning to FIG. 55-1 , the routing parameters associated with the network selected in step S454 are rewritten (step S456 ), and the centralized parameter rewriting process is completed.

(2) Specific examples of processing

In the above description, the outline of the parameter collective rewriting process has been described, so a specific example of this process will be described in detail below. Here, a case will be described in which the inter-controller network is connected to the control system shown in FIG. 28 that operates based on the routing parameters in FIGS. No.3 is changed to inter-controller network No.10.

First, according to the method described in Embodiment 1, the online network configuration information of the operating control system shown in FIG. 28 is acquired and stored in the online network configuration information holding unit 116 .

Then, according to the method described in Embodiment 4, the system configuration editing unit 121 creates an offline network in which inter-controller network No. 3 is changed to inter-controller network No. 10 in an offline state with respect to the online network configuration information. The structure information is stored in the off-line network structure information holding unit 122. In addition, according to the method described in Embodiment 6, calculation of routing parameters is performed based on the changed offline network configuration information. 56-1 to 56-4 are diagrams showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed. In the 513th line of Figure 56-1 and the 515th line of Figure 56-2, the part where the transfer destination network number is "3" in 503 of Figure 53-1 and 505 of Figure 53-2 is changed to "10" form.

Then, the online network structure information is compared with the offline network structure information, and the network with changed parameters is extracted. Here, it is extracted that the part of the inter-controller network No. 3 in the online network configuration information is changed to the inter-controller network No. 10 in the offline network configuration information.

Then, the rewriting process of each PLC parameter shown in FIG. 55-2 is performed with respect to the inter-controller network No. 3 which was changed. First, in the operating control system, among the PLCs connected to the inter-controller network No. 3, the parameters of PLCψ (station number 3), which is the normal station PLC with the highest station number, are rewritten to new parameters. That is, rewriting processing is performed from "the station number 3 of the normal station of the inter-controller network No. 3" to "the station number 3 of the normal station of the inter-controller network No. 10".

Then, rewriting is performed in the operating control system, and the total number of stations in the network parameters of PLCμ, which is the management station PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 3, is subtracted by one. That is, the total number of stations in the inter-controller network No. 3 is rewritten from "3" to "2". Therefore, at this point in time, the inter-controller network No. 3 operates while being connected to PLCμ and PLCω, but PLCψ is physically connected, but it is not a station of the inter-controller network No. 3. The state in which the action is performed.

Then, since the total number of stations in the network parameters of the management station PLC connected to inter-controller network No. The parameters of the common station PLC with the largest station serial number in the PLC ie PLCω (station serial number 2) are rewritten as new parameters. That is, rewriting processing is performed from "the station number 2 of the normal station of the inter-controller network No. 3" to "the station number 2 of the normal station of the inter-controller network No. 10".

Then, one is subtracted from the total number of stations in the network parameters of the PLCμ which is the management station PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 3 . That is, the total station number of inter-controller network No. 3 is rewritten from "2" to "1". Therefore, at this point in time, inter-controller network No. 3 operates in a state connected only to PLCμ, and although PLCω and PLCψ are physically connected, they operate at a station that is not inter-controller network No. 3 status.

Then, since the total number of stations is "1" in the network parameters of the PLCμ which is the management station PLC connected to the inter-controller network No. 3, the parameters of the PLCμ of the management station are rewritten to new parameters. That is, it is rewritten from "the station number 1 of the management station of the inter-controller network No. 3" to "the station number 1 of the management station of the inter-controller network No. 10". Accordingly, at this timing, the inter-controller network No. 3 is changed to the inter-controller network No. 10, and the inter-controller network No. 10 operates while being connected to PLCμ, PLCω, and PLCψ. This completes the parameter rewriting process for each PLC in FIG. 55-2.

Then, a process of rewriting the routing parameters associated with the changed inter-controller network No. 3 is performed. Here, since inter-controller network No. 3 is changed to inter-controller network No. 10, in connection with this situation, in the routing parameters shown in Fig. 56-1 to Fig. Routing parameters associated with inter-controller network No.10. That is, for PLCπ, a new routing parameter Pπq shown in FIG. 56-1 is written, and for PLCα, a new routing parameter Pαq shown in FIG. 56-2 is written. In addition, since there are only changed networks, the parameter intensive rewriting process is completed.

According to the seventh embodiment, there is an effect that, when network parameters are changed, changes in network parameters including routing parameters can be automatically written to the PLC in which the changes have occurred. In the prior art, when network parameters are changed, it is very cumbersome to connect the control system design device 100 to each PLC to be changed and write new settings respectively. The effect of changing the network parameters of each PLC.

Embodiment 8

Embodiment 7 is an effective method for changing parameters for one network in an already operating system. In Embodiment 8, a case where parameters are changed for a plurality of networks will be described.

Even when parameters are changed for a plurality of networks, by sequentially applying Embodiment 7 to each change, the network parameters of each PLC including a change of routing parameters can be automatically rewritten. However, since there may be PLCs that need to rewrite the routing parameters multiple times, the rewriting work is performed automatically, but the efficiency is low. Therefore, in this eighth embodiment, a control system design device and a control system design method that collectively perform the above-mentioned rewriting work will be described.

The configuration of the control system design device used in the eighth embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 54 of the seventh embodiment. However, the centralized parameter rewriting unit 128 has a function of updating network parameters excluding routing parameters sequentially from the network farthest from the origin PLC toward the origin PLC, and then updating network parameters from the network closest to the origin PLC. The PLC starts to update the routing parameters sequentially toward the PLCs of the farther network. Thereby, it is possible to avoid a state where communication cannot be performed during network parameter update.

(1) Outline of processing

FIGS. 57-1 to 57-2 are flowcharts showing an example of a procedure for collectively rewriting parameters of a plurality of networks. First, the control system design device 100 connected to one of the PLCs constituting the control system acquires online network configuration information from the operating control system (step S511 ). The result is stored in the online network configuration information storage unit 116 .

Then, the acquired online network configuration information is edited offline for parameter changes (step S512 ), and the result is stored in the offline network configuration information holding unit 122 as offline network configuration information. At this time, it is assumed that network parameters of two or more networks are changed. Then, calculation processing of routing parameters is performed based on the offline network structure information edited in the offline state (step S513 ).

Then, compare the online network structure information obtained in step S511 with the offline network structure information edited in step S512, and extract the network whose parameters have changed (step S514).

Then, from the extracted networks, refer to the offline connection path information stored in the offline connection path holding unit 125, select a network that is farthest from the connection path of the starting point PLC (step S515), and execute the process shown in Figure 55-2. The shown parameter rewriting process for each PLC in the selected network (step S516 ). In addition, since this PLC parameter rewriting process has already been demonstrated in Embodiment 7, this description is abbreviate|omitted.

When the PLC parameter rewriting process of FIG. 55-2 is completed for the network selected in step S515, it is determined whether all the networks whose parameters extracted in step S514 have been changed have been selected (step S517). When not all the changed networks have been selected (NO in step S517 ), one of the extracted networks is selected which is next farthest from the starting point PLC (step S518 ). Then, return to step S516, and execute the above-mentioned processing repeatedly until all the networks that have been changed are selected according to the order of distance from the connection path to the starting point PLC. In addition, when all the changed networks are selected (YES in step S517), the routing parameter rewriting process of FIG. 57-2 is performed (step S519).

Transfer to FIG. 57-2, and extract the PLC which needs to rewrite the routing parameter from the PLC associated with the network which performed the network parameter rewriting process (step S531). Among the extracted PLCs, routing parameters are rewritten sequentially from PLCs with shorter connection paths held in the offline connection path holding unit 125 (step S532 ). Thus, the routing parameter rewriting process is completed, and the parameter collective rewriting process is completed.

(2) Specific examples of processing

In the above description, the outline of the collective rewriting process of parameters of a plurality of networks has been described, so a specific example of this process will be described in detail below. Here, a case will be described in which, for the control system shown in FIG. 28 that operates with the routing parameters in FIGS. No. 1 is changed to inter-controller network No. 9, and inter-controller network No. 3 is changed to inter-controller network No. 10.

First, according to the method described in Embodiment 1, the online network configuration information of the operating control system shown in FIG. 28 is acquired and stored in the online network configuration information holding unit 116 .

Then, according to the method described in Embodiment 4, the system configuration editing unit 121 changes the inter-controller network No. 1 to the inter-controller network No. 9 and the inter-controller network No. 3 is changed to the off-line network configuration information of inter-controller network No. 10, and is stored in the off-line network configuration information holding unit 122. In addition, according to the method described in Embodiment 6, calculation of routing parameters is performed based on the changed offline network configuration information. 58-1 to 58-4 are diagrams showing routing parameters after the configuration of the control system is changed.

Then, the online network structure information is compared with the offline network structure information, and the network with changed parameters is extracted. Here, it is extracted that the parts of the inter-controller networks No. 1 and No. 3 in the online network configuration information are respectively changed to inter-controller networks No. 9 and No. 10 in the offline network configuration information.

Then, the parameter rewriting process of each PLC shown in FIG. 55-2 is performed with respect to each inter-controller network which changed. That is, first, the parameter rewriting process of each PLC is performed with respect to the inter-controller network No. 1 in which the change occurred, and then the parameter rewriting process of each PLC is performed with respect to the inter-controller network No. 3 with the change.

Then, as follows, rewriting processing of the routing parameters associated with the changed inter-controller networks No. 1 and No. 3 shown in FIG. 57-2 is carried out.

First, extract the PLC whose routing parameters need to be rewritten among the recalculated routing parameters in Fig. 58-1 to Fig. 58-4. Here, since inter-controller network No.1 is changed to inter-controller network No.9, and inter-controller network No.3 is changed to inter-controller network No.10, the currently used Figure 53- 1 to all routing parameters shown in Figure 53-4. That is, it is necessary to write the new routing parameters shown in Figure 58-1 to PLCπ, write the new routing parameters shown in Figure 58-2 to PLCα, write the new routing parameters shown in Figure 58-3 to PLCβ, and write the new routing parameters shown in Figure 58-3 to PLCμ. Write the new routing parameter Pμq shown in Figure 58-4.

When performing the above-mentioned writing process of the routing parameters, among these PLCs, the routing parameters are rewritten in order from the PLC with the shorter connection path held in the offline connection path holding unit 125 . Here, the offline connection path held in the offline connection path holding unit 125 is a connection path used when calculating routing parameters for the network system configuration edited in the offline state. Here, since the connection path of directly connected PLCπ is the shortest, the new routing parameters in Figure 58-1 are first written to PLCπ.

Then, referring to the offline connection path holding unit 125, the PLC with the shortest connection path among them is extracted. Among them, the PLC with the shortest connection path is PLCα. Thus, next, the new routing parameters in Fig. 58-2 are written to PLCα.

Similarly, the PLCs with the next shortest connection paths are PLCβ and PLCμ, and the new routing parameters of FIG. 58-3 are written to PLCβ, and the new routing parameters of FIG. 58-4 are written to PLCμ. Thus, the rewriting process of the routing parameters and the collective rewriting process of the parameters of a plurality of networks are completed.

Here, when the method of Embodiment 7 is sequentially applied to the PLCs that rewrite the network parameters, the network parameters of each PLC including the change of the routing parameters can be automatically rewritten, but there may be times when the routing parameters need to be rewritten PLC. That is, after writing the routing parameters reflecting the change of the inter-controller network No. 1 to the inter-controller network No. Routing parameters of inter-controller network No.10. However, by using the method described above, these routing parameters can be collectively written, and the work of writing the routing parameter change related to the network parameter change to each PLC can be made more efficient.

According to the eighth embodiment, when the network parameters of two or more networks constituting the control system are changed in the offline state, only the For the network parameters, the route parameters are changed sequentially starting from the connection path closer to the starting point PLC, so there is an effect that rewriting of the network parameters can be performed intensively.

In addition, in the above-mentioned Embodiments 1 to 8, the case where a programmable controller was used as a control system connected to a network as a control device was exemplified and described, but the gist of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, in addition to a programmable controller, it can be similarly applied to a control system in which a control device such as a numerical control device, a motion controller, or a robot controller is connected to a network.

In addition, the control system design method described above can be realized by a method in which a program in which processing steps are written is executed by a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation having a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In this case, the CPU (control unit) of the computer executes each processing procedure of the above-described program generation support method according to a program. These programs are stored on hard disk, flexible (floppy) (registered trademark) disk, CD (Compact Disk)-ROM (Read Only Memory), MO (Magneto-Optical disk), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk or Digital Video Disk), etc. In the storage medium readable by the computer, the computer reads and executes the storage medium from the storage medium. In addition, these programs may be distributed via a network (communication line) such as the Internet.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the control system design device according to the present invention is effective in grasping the system configuration and connection paths of a control system installed in production equipment and the like.

Claims (3)

1. A control system design device, characterized in that it has: a communication unit connected to one control device in a control system in which a plurality of control devices are connected via a network; an origin control device specifying unit that designates the control device connected to the communication unit as an origin control device; an on-line network configuration information collection unit that transmits information from a control device constituting the control system to an on-line network including a control device configuration of the control device and a network to which the control device is connected via the communication unit Structural information is collected; A system structure editing unit, which edits the online network structure information collected by the online network structure information collection unit in an offline state to generate offline network structure information; A connection path analysis and selection unit, which analyzes and selects offline connection paths from the origin control device to each control device included in the offline network structure information; A routing parameter calculation unit, which calculates, for each offline connection path selected by the connection path analysis and selection unit, when two or more networks are connected from the starting point control device to the terminal point control device, from the starting point Routing parameters required for data transmission from the control device to the terminal control device, the routing parameters are set for the control device that connects multiple networks on the offline connection path; and a centralized parameter rewriting unit that compares the online network structure information with the offline network structure information to extract a network whose parameters have changed, and sequentially changes the network corresponding to the parameter changed via the communication unit. After setting the parameters of the connected control devices, among the control devices with routing parameters set, the routing parameters associated with the network whose parameters have been changed are rewritten into the routing parameters calculated by the routing parameter calculation unit. 2. The control system design device according to claim 1, wherein: The parameter centralized rewriting unit changes the parameters of the control devices of the common sites of the network whose parameters are changed, starting from the control device with a large site number, and finally changes the parameters of the control device of the management site, and then performs routing Rewrite processing of parameters. 3. The control system design device according to claim 1, wherein: When there are a plurality of networks whose parameters are changed, the centralized parameter rewriting unit starts from the control device of the network farthest from the starting point control device toward the network whose parameters are changed. The direction of the starting point control device is changed sequentially, and the routing parameters are changed sequentially from the control device closest to the starting point control device toward the direction away from the starting point control device.

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