JP2012032899A - Process model base automatic test system - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
In the field of process control systems, it provides a mechanism to make testing more efficient in building systems.
[Solution]
The apparatus includes a device model registration unit 250 that models process devices constituting the process control system in software and registers the software modeled device model, and a process control procedure registration unit 240 that registers the process control procedure. At the time of testing, the device model corresponding to the process control procedure is virtually operated, the operation signals from the device model are sequentially stored in the test result DB 300, and the stored data is associated with the process control procedure. The process model-based test was realized by displaying the screen on the registration / test terminal 60.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a process control system, and more particularly to a process model-based automatic test system suitable for testing without relying on an actual system during system development or adjustment.

  Conventionally, in the field of instrumentation engineers, when building a process control system, a process control system construction tool consisting of a processing device, screen, keyboard, and software is used to register the process control procedure as a major flow of work. Subsequently, in order to verify the operation of the registered process control procedure, a test method was separately examined and documented, and a part of the test was also performed using simulation (Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in addition to building a process control system, conducting tests by hand means that in addition to the enormous engineering work of system construction, the correspondence between the control procedure and the operation of the process equipment is examined in detail, and input and output are performed. As a result, a huge amount of work such as organizing the relationship was necessary, and the work was very complicated and inefficient.

JP 2006-302078 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a device that can be efficiently tested when a process control system is constructed or adjusted.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that individual process devices constituting a process control system are modeled in software and device model registration means for registering the software modeled device model, and the process A process control procedure registration means for registering a process control procedure of a control system; and at the time of testing the process control procedure, the device model corresponding to the process control procedure is virtually operated and an operation signal of the device model is By providing a logic operation means to be taken out, a test data storage means for storing operation signals from the device model, and a screen display means for displaying the storage data in association with the process control procedure, a process model base An automated test system has been realized.

  Other features and effects of the present invention will be described in detail in the embodiments of the present invention to be described later with specific examples.

  According to the present invention, the process device to be used can be registered and tested as a device model at the time of system construction or adjustment of the process control system, so that the test can be performed efficiently and the system construction. Thus, it is possible to reduce time and cost.

Configuration example of a process control system to which the present invention is applied Operation example of process model based automatic test system according to the present invention Example of mechanism of process model based automatic test system according to the present invention Example screen for device model construction according to the present invention Screen example of test result output according to the present invention Process flow example of screen / key input / output processing unit according to the present invention Example of processing flow of construction management unit according to the present invention Process flow example of process control procedure registration unit according to the present invention Process flow example of device model registration unit according to the present invention Example of processing flow of model master editing unit according to the present invention Process flow example of test management unit according to the present invention Process flow example of process control procedure read / execution unit according to the present invention Comparative example of engineering work according to the invention

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The process control system to which the present invention is applied is a system in which a large number of process devices are combined and controlled in accordance with a process control procedure, and various types of manufacturing plants are typical examples.

  In addition, as process equipment, various equipment such as tanks, reactors (reactors), heat exchangers, powder equipment (dryers), thin film evaporators, etc. are used as control target equipment depending on the plant. In one embodiment, an example of a tank will be described.

  In addition, devices such as pumps, motors, and solenoid valves are used for the drive system, pressure, temperature, flow rate, and liquid level measuring devices are used for the sensor system, and devices such as heaters, coolers, and humidifiers are used for the environmental system. However, the device models in the present invention are not limited to these devices, and the characteristics / operations of individual devices are modeled in software, and virtual responses or output signals are set according to activation or input signals. If possible, it can be widely applied.

  In FIG. 1, the process control device 10 recognizes the flow rate of two fluids flowing into a tank 20, for example, the flow rate of oil and a neutralizing agent by receiving detection signals of flow meters 22 and 24 that are sensors. When the total amount of oil flowing into the tank 20 detected by the flow meter 22 reaches a predetermined amount, a control signal is output to the process valve 26, the process valve 26 is opened, and oil flows out from the tank 20 to the tank 30. .

  The process control device 10 further controls to close the process valve 26 after a predetermined time after opening the process valve 26. Further, a flow meter 28 is also provided at the subsequent stage of the process valve 26, and the flow rate of oil flowing from the tank 20 to the tank 30 is measured and taken into the process control device 10. The process control device 12 controls the opening and closing of the process valves 32 and 34 provided in the outflow side piping of the tank 30. More specifically, as an initial state, the process valves 26, 32, and 34 are all closed.

  When the total amount of flow detected by the flow meter 22 reaches 10 t, the process valve 26 is opened and oil moves from the tank 20 to the tank 30. When 10 minutes have passed since the movement started, the process valve 26 is closed. Thereafter, by opening the process valve 32, the clean oil of the supernatant accumulated in the upper part of the tank 30 is taken out. Further, after the oil is taken out, the process valve 34 is opened, and the contaminated oil that has precipitated is discharged as a drain.

  The process control devices 10 and 12 are connected to the driving consoles 50 and 52 via the communication line 40. Therefore, the flow rate flowing into the tank 20 detected by the flow meters 22, 24, and 28 and the flow rate flowing out of the tank 20 are taken into the operator console 52 via the process control device 10, and the flow rate values are displayed on the display. Is displayed. The open / close state of the process valve 26 by the process control device 10 is also displayed on the display of the operator consoles 50 and 52 via the communication line 40. In addition, the open / close state of the process valves 32 and 34 is also displayed on the display of the operation consoles 50 and 52 via the communication line 40.

  Therefore, the operator can grasp the inflow / outflow state of the oil in the tanks 20 and 30 by monitoring the display screens of the operation consoles 50 and 52. Further, when the opening / closing control of the process valves 32, 34 is to be performed manually, the opening / closing control can be performed from the operation consoles 50, 52. The process control device 12 grasps the status of the plant connected to the subsequent stage of the tank 30 and performs manual control.

  Here, as an example of the plant, the tanks 20 and 30 and flow meters and process valves arranged in the vicinity thereof are shown. However, the actual plant is larger in scale, with a reactor with a jacket, a pump, and an opening degree. Although it is configured by a control valve that can be controlled, the illustration thereof is omitted here. The registration / test terminal 60 is connected to the communication line 40. The registration / testing terminal 60 is used to register the device model and the process control procedure, and by virtually executing the output → response operation between the process control device and the device model, the process control device 10, Twelve control operations can be virtually tested to obtain results.

  FIG. 2 shows an operation example of the process model-based automatic test system. The registration / test terminal 60 includes an entire display 100 that displays a process control procedure and a device model in pairs, a process control procedure display 110 that displays them individually, a device model display 120, and a test result display 150.

  Further, details of the entire display 100 are shown as details 130 of the entire display. The process control procedure display 110 and the device model display 120 are for displaying one of the entire displays 100 in more detail and performing detailed settings. Usually, the process control operations and tests are performed by looking at the entire display 100. The test result is obtained on the test result display 150 by instructing the start of the test.

  In the details 130 of the overall display, the process control procedure 110 in the left half and the device model 120 in the right half are configured so that the blocks are appropriately connected with arrows and the input / output relationship can be understood. In the process control procedure 110 in the left half, as the equipment and environment states in the start unit 131, the steam temperature TI110 in the tank 30 is 120.5 ° C. and the oil supply source is the tank in the block 146 of the equipment model 120. In order to select any one of A, tank B, and tank C, for example, an assumed device model is set in which random number processing is performed by the internal mechanism 121 of the registration / test terminal 60 and the tank B is supplied.

  Next, in block 132 (named step 01) of the process control procedure 110, an open signal of the valve V001 is output. In block 134 of the corresponding device model, V001 is set as an expected value of process change 10 seconds later. A device model is set that assumes an open answer signal. Subsequently, in block 136 (named step 02) of the process control procedure, it is determined whether the oil level LI303 in the tank 20 is 20 m or more. At this time, an assumed device model in which the LI 303 is 25.5 m is set in the block 138 of the corresponding device model, and in block 136 the determination is Yes and the process branches directly below.

In the following block 140 (named step 03), the flow control FIC002 is started in order to control the flow of oil to the tank 20. A change pattern on the time axis is set in the corresponding device model block 142 as an assumed value of the change in the FIC002 flow rate. When a process control operation test is actually executed on the registration / test terminal 60 using the above-described process control procedure and device model set, a test result display 150 is displayed on the screen. On this screen, devices are displayed in a row on the horizontal axis at the top row, and a bar line indicating that they are in operation corresponds to each device on the vertical axis. The transition factor is displayed on the horizontal axis according to the corresponding timing.
FIG. 3 shows a method for realizing the process control test in the registration / test terminal 60. In the figure, a driving console 52, a registration / test terminal 60, and a process control device 10 are connected by a communication line 40. The internal mechanism 200 shows an internal mechanism related to registration of a process control procedure and device model and test execution in the registration / test terminal 60. When registering a process control procedure, first, through the keyboard 212 of the registration / test terminal 60 and the monitor 210, via the screen / key input / output processing unit 230, under the jurisdiction of the construction management unit 230, the process control procedure registration The unit 240 registers the process control procedure and stores the contents in the procedure record 322 of the process control procedure DB 320.

  Subsequently, the device model registration unit 250 registers the device model in the same way as the process control device model, and the contents are stored in the procedure record 332 of the device model DB 330. In this registration, registration of dynamic characteristics for each device is also accepted, and the registration contents are stored in the characteristic record 312 of the dynamic characteristic DB 310 for each device. In addition, when a process control test is executed, the process control is performed under the jurisdiction of the test management unit 260 via the screen / key input / output processing unit 220 through the keyboard 212 and the monitor 210 of the registration / test terminal 60. The procedure reading / execution unit 270 reads the control procedure record 322 from the process control procedure DB 320 and executes a process control test according to the contents.

  At that time, for each step of the process control procedure, the device model reading / execution unit 280 is activated, the setting of the state for transitioning the control operation, and the expected operation are read from the device model DB 330 as the device record 332, and the expected value and The test values are compared, and the match / mismatch information is stored in the test result DB 300 as a result record 302. On the test operation side, the test management unit 260 controls the screen display of the entire test display 100, the process control procedure display 110, the device model display 120, and the test result display 150.

  FIG. 4 shows a device model construction screen in the registration / test terminal 60. FIG. 4 (A) shows an image of the device symbol 400, and FIG. 4 (B) shows a property screen 410. . On the property screen 410, a symbol 420 and an information group 430 for defining input / output signals and parameters are arranged, and these can be defined and modified from the screen.

  FIG. 5 shows a test result output screen on the registration / test terminal 60. In this screen, devices are displayed as 500, 510, 520, and 530, bar lines indicating that they are operating are displayed as 540, 550, 560, and 570, and Transition factors are displayed as 545, 555, 565, and 568.

  The processing flow of the screen key input / output processing unit 220 is the processing flow of the screen key input / output processing unit shown in FIG. 6. In the processing block 600, a processing request is normally awaited. It is determined whether the input is a key input or a screen display. If the input is a key, the process branches to a processing block 608.

  In processing block 608, the destination of the series key is determined. If the process control procedure / equipment model construction is established, the process branches to process block 612. If the test is executed, the process branches to process block 616. The destination of a series of keys is determined by whether the process control procedure, equipment model construction, or test execution is selected when the operator starts a key input operation, in order to link the subsequent series of key operations to the same destination. Information that is retained.

  In processing block 612, the input key content is sent to the construction management unit 230, and in processing block 616, the input key content is sent to the test management unit 260. In processing block 620, the display request content is output to the screen.

  Subsequently, the processing flow of the construction management unit 230 in FIG. 3 is the processing flow of the construction management unit in FIG. 7. In processing block 630, a processing request is normally awaited. Whether key input or screen display is determined. If key input, the process branches to processing block 638. If screen display, the process branches to processing block 650.

  In process block 638, the request process is determined, and if the process control procedure is constructed, the process branches to process block 642. If the apparatus model is constructed, the process branches to process block 646. In processing block 642, the key input content is transmitted to the process control procedure registration unit 240, and in processing block 646, the key input content is transmitted to the device model registration unit 250.

  In processing block 650, the display request range is determined. If the control procedure display request is requested, the processing block 654 is processed. If the device model display request is requested, the processing block 658 is processed. Branches to block 662 respectively. In process block 654, a screen output request for the control procedure is made, in process block 658, a screen output request for the device model is made, and in process block 662, a screen output request for a combination of the control procedure and the device model is made.

  Next, the process flow of the process control procedure registration unit 240 of FIG. 3 is the process flow of the process control procedure registration unit of FIG. First, processing block 670 normally waits for key input. When input is received, process control procedure is edited in processing block 674, screen output is requested in processing block 678, and a series of editing is completed in processing block 682. If not completed, the process returns to the process block 670. If completed, the process record 322 of the process control DB 320 is updated in the process block 686.

  Subsequently, the processing flow of the device model registration unit 250 of FIG. 3 is the device model registration unit processing flow of FIG. First, processing block 700 normally waits for key input, and when input is received, processing block 704 determines whether it is a device model registration or individual device dynamic characteristic registration. If it is a device model, it branches to processing block 708. If it is the device model master, the process branches to processing block 724. In processing block 708, the device model is edited, a screen output is requested in processing block 712, and it is determined in processing block 716 whether a series of editing processing has been completed. If completed, the process proceeds to process block 720, and if not completed, the process returns to process block 700. In processing block 720, the device model editing result is stored in the plan record 332 of the device model DB 330.

  Further, in processing block 724, the device model master is edited, screen output is requested in processing block 728, and it is determined in processing block 732 whether a series of editing processing has been completed. If completed, the process proceeds to process block 736, and if not completed, the process returns to process block 700. In a processing block 736, the editing result of the device model master is stored in the model master 312 of the model master DB 310.

  Next, details of the device model master editing of the processing block 724 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 10, first, in process block 740, the name of the device model is captured. Next, at process block 744, an icon for the device model is captured. Subsequently, in a processing block 748, parameter items in the device model are determined, and setting specifications for each item are captured.

  In subsequent processing block 752, it is determined whether there is a plurality of responses in the device model. If there are, it is determined whether a response based on contingency is requested in processing block 760. If there is a request, the processing block In 764, a flag of “There is a link to random number processing” is set in the item, and a possible state in the item is taken in. For example, with respect to the outside air temperature state in which the temperature range is 0 to 50 ° C., the set number of states such that three points can be taken, and 10 ° C., 20 ° C., and 30 ° C. are set as the three points.

  Subsequently, the processing block 772 is entered to determine the next item. This is a device model that determines whether the state is set arbitrarily by the operator or randomly using a random number, which is set when registering the process control procedure for each state item. Has been. If it is arbitrary, the process branches from the process block 752 or 760 to the process block 772, and the next item is determined.

  Next, the processing flow of the test management unit 260 of FIG. 3 is the processing flow of the test management unit of FIG. First, the processing block 800 normally waits for key input, and when input is received, the processing record 322 of the process control procedure DB 320 is called in the processing block 804 to initialize the step, that is, find the first step and start the processing. . That is, the device model read / execution unit is activated in process block 808, and then the process control procedure read / execute unit is activated in process block 812.

  Then, a request for an output method is determined in a processing block 816, and if it is a sequential output, the process branches to a processing block 832. In processing block 820, it is determined whether or not the test has been completed for a series of steps, and if completed, the process proceeds to processing block 828, where a series of result records 302 in the test result DB 300 are extracted and the test results are output to the screen. Is returned to the processing block 800, and if not completed, the step is updated in the processing block 824 and the processing block 808 is returned to.

  Further, in processing block 832, one result record 302 of the test result DB 300 is fetched and a test result is requested to be displayed on the screen. Then, in processing block 836, it is determined whether or not the test has been completed for a series of steps. If completed, the process proceeds to process block 800. If not completed, the process is updated in process block 840 and the process returns to process block 808.

  Subsequently, the process flow of the process control procedure read / execution unit 270 of FIG. 3 is the process control procedure read / execution unit process flow of FIG. First, in process block 860, the device model record 332 of the device model DB 330 is read out, information on the state of the control target device in this step is extracted, and set as the initial state in executing the test.

  Next, in processing block 864, it is determined whether or not there is a request to use a random number when setting the device operation. If there is a request, in processing block 868, according to the random number record 342 in the random number DB 340, the state of the item Is set by a random number. Next, in the process block 872, the process control procedure of the step is extracted from the procedure record 322 of the process control procedure DB 320. Then, the process control procedure is executed in the processing block 876, and finally the test result DB 300 also stores the control output value in the result record 302 at 880.

  FIG. 13 compares engineering work before and after the application of the present invention. FIG. 13 (A) shows before application of the present invention, and FIG. 13 (B) shows after application of the present invention. A simple comparison by the number of processing boxes reduces the work to 7 before application and 4 after application. Furthermore, when focusing on tests, the number is greatly reduced from 5 to 1.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the process control system field, an instrumentation engineer can register a device model at the same time as the system construction so that the test can be automatically executed. There is an effect of cost reduction.

10, 12 ... Process control device 20,30 ... Tank 35,37,39 ... Oil supply source tank 40 ... Communication line 50,52 ... Operating console 60 ... Registration / test Terminal 100 ... overall display 110 ... process control procedure 120 ... device model 121 ... internal mechanism 130 of test terminal 60 ... detailed registration of entire display 150 ... test result display 200. ..Internal mechanism

Claims (7)

  Device model registration means for modeling individual process devices constituting the process control system in software and registering the software modeled device model, and process control procedure registration for registering the process control procedure of the process control system Means, a logical operation means for virtually operating the device model associated with the process control procedure at the time of testing the process control procedure, and extracting an operation signal of the device model, and an operation signal from the device model A process model-based automatic test system comprising: test data storage means for storing data; and screen display means for displaying the stored data in association with the process control procedure.   2. The test according to claim 1, wherein when the process control procedure is tested, operation signals from the device model are stored as operation history information corresponding to the time axis of the process control procedure, and the screen display means is based on the time axis. A process model based automatic test system, characterized in that the operation history information is displayed on a screen.   3. The screen display means according to claim 2, wherein a name and a diagram for identifying each device model, operations on the time axis, and causal relationships on the time axis with other device models are displayed in a drawing. A featured process model-based automated test system.   2. The device model registration means according to claim 1, wherein a model master as a prototype is stored in advance for each type of process device, a desired model master is extracted from a plurality of model master groups, and the device model specific at the time of testing is extracted. A process model-based automatic test system characterized by having a mechanism for inputting and registering parameter values of   5. The apparatus model registration unit according to claim 4, wherein when the model master is newly created, the parameter item group representing the behavior is individually defined as a property (attribute), and the parameter item group representing the behavior of the existing model master. A process model-based automatic test system characterized by having a mechanism that can be modified.   The system according to claim 5, further comprising a mechanism for preparing a plurality of motion candidates in advance for the behavior of the model master and determining one motion from the motion candidate group by a random number when the test is executed. Process model based automatic test system.   2. The process model-based automatic test system according to claim 1, wherein the screen display means displays the process control procedure and the device model by clearly indicating a coupling relationship on the same screen.

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