JP5636824B2 - Engineering method and apparatus for creating automatic control specifications for plant control systems - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an engineering method and apparatus that contributes to improvement in work efficiency and quality of engineering work in plant engineering, particularly in steel plant engineering. More specifically, the present invention relates to an engineering method and apparatus for creating an automatic control specification for a plant control system based on an automatic operation procedure document presented by a vendor such as a machine manufacturer.

  In the conventional steel plant engineering business, the configuration and arrangement of machines necessary to produce products in the plant, information on equipment such as sensors, motors, valves, etc. for controlling those machines, and the machines A vendor such as a machine maker presents an automatic operation procedure manual that describes the procedure for operation. The machines constituting the steel plant include a machine commonly arranged for the steel plant and a machine specific machine arranged according to a product to be produced. However, vendors will present a mixture of these pieces of machine information. In addition, the vendor creates an automatic operation procedure manual for each target plant so as to be applied to the target plant. For this reason, in the conventional engineering work, the contents of the automatic operation procedure manual presented by the vendor are examined, the excess and shortage of equipment necessary for controlling the machine are considered, and the content of the automatic operation procedure manual is actually It was necessary to create an automatic control specification for each target plant to be developed into an automatic control program.

JP-A-5-241617

  In general, an automatic control specification is created as follows.

  The vendor presents a layout diagram of machines installed in the target plant and an automatic operation procedure manual that describes how to operate each machine to produce products. In this automatic operation procedure, for example, the operation method of the motor / valve for raising / lowering or advancing / retreating the corresponding machine, and when the operation is performed, and after that operation is completed, which operation is performed next Such information is described in a flow diagram or text. Usually, in the automatic operation procedure, each method of transporting and handling products and the direction of operation of the machine (up / down / forward / backward) to realize it are described in sequence. ing. Generally, in each operation, a completion signal of an operation performed before the self-operation is used as a start signal for the self-operation. In this automatic operation procedure manual, the operation method for producing the product is often described so as to be completed with the operation of the machine and the next one flow.

  However, in order to operate the steel plant, in order to recognize that one operation has actually been completed, it is necessary to electrically recognize that the target machine has operated by a sensor. For this reason, in the automatic control specification created from the automatic operation procedure manual, it is necessary to add a description that takes in the ON or OFF signal of the sensor and thereby recognizes the completion of the operation of the target engine. In addition, for example, the operator visually confirms the position of the product and writes a request to move to the next operation in the automatic control specification. Furthermore, when the automatic operation is stopped due to some problem, when the automatic operation is resumed after the problem is solved, the state of each machine is first restored. In creating an automatic control specification, engineering is performed such as dividing a series of machine operation procedures into several automatic blocks for the purpose of facilitating recovery of the state of each machine.

  FIG. 4 is an example of an automatic operation procedure manual for extracting a rolling roll in a stand provided by a vendor regarding a steel plant. The automatic operation procedure manual shown in FIG. 4 describes how and in what order the installed machines are moved in the series of automatic operations. The author of the automatic control specification is required to decode the automatic driving contents from the automatic driving procedure manual and recognize that it is not necessary to controlly divide the series of automatic driving flows and that each operation has been completed. The automatic control specifications will be created after considering which sensor will be used.

  FIG. 5 is an example of an automatic control specification created based on the automatic operation procedure manual shown in FIG. In the automatic control specification shown in FIG. 5, a series of automatic operation flow is one automatic control flow, but a sensor for recognizing the completion of each operation is added (denoted by a diamond symbol in the figure). Has been. In addition, the automatic operation procedure manual describes that P / P CAR is moved backward with HIGH-SPEED and stopped, but it is difficult to reliably stop at the target position. For this reason, in the automatic control specifications, a method for ensuring stop accuracy by adding an operation of reducing the reverse speed to LOW-SPEED is taken.

  From the vendor, the above-mentioned automatic operation procedure manual is created and presented each time with the contents corresponding to each plant. For this reason, the creator of the automatic control specification has been required to create the automatic control specification while performing engineering every time including the examination of the automatic block classification based on the contents of the automatic operation procedure presented.

  Furthermore, the automatic operation procedure manual provided by the vendor describes the automatic operation method of the machine, but in order to develop this automatic operation method into an automatic control program for actually controlling the machine, Plant control knowledge is required. In the above-described example, it is determined that it is necessary to add an operation for decelerating the reverse speed to the reverse operation of the P / P CAR, and knowledge for adding the operation is also one of such plant control knowledge. In this way, the creation of an automatic control specification often depends on the experience and knowledge of the creator, and if the creator's experience is inferior, an error will occur in the contents of the automatic control specification, which will be used as a basis. There is also a problem that the quality of the automatic control program created in the process is affected.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and relates to the creation of an automatic control specification that describes the contents of control in automatic sequence control in a plant control system. An object of the present invention is to provide an engineering method and an engineering apparatus capable of eliminating the dependence of the quality of a control specification on the skill of the creator.

  In the engineering method of the present invention, the automatic control specifications that have been described simply in a plane according to the operation sequence so far are hierarchized.

  In the highest hierarchy, a plurality of automatic blocks obtained by blocking the control contents of the automatic sequence control for each series of automatic operation and the operation order of each automatic block are described in a flow. This is called a macro flow. In Macroflow, for example, a coil that is a base material for producing a product is inserted into a mandrel, which is a machine that rewinds the coil with a coil car used to transport the coil, and after the insertion is completed, the mandrel is rotated forward. The operation that is always performed in any plant, such as deriving the tip of the coil and welding it to the tail end of the preceding coil that has already been rewound in the plant, is described as a connection of each automatic block. In this macro flow, the actual machine operation is not described, and only the operation order of each automatic block is defined. The created macroflow can be stored in a storage medium (for example, hard disk, CD, etc.) as electronic data (document file), for example.

  In the second and subsequent layers, detailed control information of each machine, such as which machine is actually operated at which timing, is described for each automatic control block described in the macro flow. This is called micro flow. In creating this microflow, a template is prepared in which the contents of automatic control to be performed at least among automatic machine control in each automatic block are described in advance. The prepared microflow model can be stored, for example, as electronic data (document file) in a storage medium (for example, hard disk, CD, etc.). When creating a microflow model, based on the automatic operation procedure manual of the plant obtained from the vendor, add the machine and its operation specific to the plant to the microflow model read from the storage medium. The microflow is completed by correcting the read microflow template.

  As described above, according to the engineering method of the present invention, the automatic control specification is hierarchized into the macro flow and the micro flow. Macroflow can be used as standard without depending on the plant, so it is possible to eliminate the need for engineering, and even inexperienced engineers can define automatic blocks without mistakes. . In addition, it becomes easy for the creator to recognize the uniqueness of the plant, and it becomes easy to extract a portion that requires engineering. As a result, it is possible to improve the efficiency of creating automatic control specifications and to clarify the points that must be considered. In addition, by describing the machine control specifications that are judged to be the minimum necessary in advance in a micro flow model, even inexperienced creators understand the basic operation procedure of the machine that should be originally intended, It becomes possible to detect a difference from the operation content described in the automatic operation procedure manual at an early stage and confirm it with the vendor. Thereby, it can be excluded that the quality of the automatic control specification depends on the skill of the creator. For example, it is possible to put a deceleration operation of P / P CAR in advance in a microflow template for drawing a rolling roll.

  The contents of the engineering method of the present invention can be expressed in two steps. The first step is to create a macro flow that describes a plurality of automatic blocks obtained by blocking the control contents of automatic sequence control for each series of automatic operations and the operation order of each automatic block. This is a preparatory step for creating a microflow template in which the contents of automatic control to be performed at least among automatic machine controls are described in advance and storing them in a storage medium. The other step is to read the microflow template from the storage medium, add necessary control contents to the read microflow template, or modify the microflow template to complete the microflow. This is an automatic control specification creation process for completing an automatic control specification by associating a microflow with a macroflow read from a storage medium. The engineering method of the present invention is characterized by including these two steps.

The engineering apparatus provided by the present invention is an engineering apparatus suitable for carrying out the above-described engineering method. Specifically, it is an engineering device for creating an automatic control specification that describes the contents of control in automatic sequence control in a plant control system, and includes the following means.
First storage means for storing a macro flow Second storage means for storing a micro flow templateRead out the macro flow from the first storage means upon request and present it to the requester The first presentation means / microflow template is read out from the second storage means as required, and the second presentation means to be presented to the requester / added control contents are added to the read microflow template. Or input means for completing the microflow by correcting the microflow template ・ Output means for outputting the automatic control specifications by correlating the macroflow and the microflow

  The engineering apparatus of the present invention is characterized by including the above-described means. Each of the above means may be realized by an independent device, or may be realized by a common device. For example, the first storage means and the second storage means can share one storage medium, and the first presentation means and the second presentation means also share one presentation device (for example, a display). Is possible.

  According to the engineering method and the engineering apparatus of the present invention, regarding the creation of an automatic control specification that describes the control contents in the automatic sequence control in the plant control system, the efficiency of creating the automatic control specification is improved, and the automatic control specification It can be excluded that the quality depends on the skill of the creator.

It is a figure which shows the example of the macroflow of the automatic control specification produced | generated by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the microflow of the automatic control specification created by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the engineering apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of an automatic driving | operation procedure manual. It is a figure which shows the example of the automatic control specification created from the automatic driving | operation procedure manual shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the engineering method and apparatus according to the present invention are applied to create an automatic control specification for a steel plant control system.

[Description of configuration of automatic control specifications]
First, an automatic control specification created in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The automatic control specification created in this embodiment is characterized by having a hierarchical structure. The macro flow is located at the highest layer, and the micro flow is located at the second and subsequent layers.

  FIG. 1 is an example of a macro flow of an automatic control specification created in the present embodiment. The macro flow is a flow in which a plurality of automatic blocks obtained by blocking the control content of the automatic sequence control for each series of automatic operations and the operation order of each automatic block are described. The macro flow of FIG. 1 is an automatic operation in an entry section in a steel plant until a base coil is inserted into a mandrel, the coil tip is rewound and welded to the tail end of a preceding coil in the plant. Is a macro flow for Specifically, FIG. 1 illustrates a macro flow when two mandrels are arranged in the entry section.

  In the macro flow of FIG. 1, a plurality of automatic blocks indicating the contents of automatic control in the entry side section of the steel plant are defined. Among the multiple automatic blocks that make up the macro flow, the automatic blocks from EA101 to EA108 and the automatic blocks from EA201 to EA208 are used to convey the tip of the next coil to the welding machine using two mandrels. It is an automatic block. The contents of each automatic block of EA101-EA108 and EA201-EA208 are as follows.

EA101: No.1 ECC Coil Transfer automatic block
EA201: No.2ECC Coil Transfer Automatic Block This is an automatic block that conveys the next coil as the base material using the upper-pass or lower-pass coil car ECC.

EA102: No.1 ECC Coil Height Centering automatic block
EA202: No.2ECC Coil Height Centering Automatic Block This is an automatic block for aligning the center of the next coil and the mandrel in order to insert the next coil of the base material into the mandrel which is a rewinding machine.

EA103: No.1ECC Coil Width Measuring & Insertion Automatic Block
EA203: No.2ECC Coil Width Measuring & Insertion automatic block Automatic block for aligning the center of the next coil in the width direction with the center of the mandrel in the width direction.

EA104: No.1POR Coil Lead End Adjust automatic block
EA204: No.2POR Coil Lead End Adjust Automatic Block This is an automatic block for rewinding the tip of the next coil with a mandrel and transporting the tip of the next coil to a certain position.

EA105: Upper Pass Strip Lead End Thread to PRF automatic block
EA205: Lower Pass Strip Lead End Thread to PRF Automatic Block This is an automatic block that conveys the coil tip to the roll position that sandwiches the next coil tip to make it easier to convey the coil tip.

EA106: Upper Pass Strip lead End Thread to DCS automatic block
EA206: Lower Pass Strip lead End Thread to DCS automatic block To form the tip of the next coil that has been rewound so that it can be easily welded to the tail of the preceding coil that has already been rewound in the plant, it is conveyed to a cutting device called DCS. It is an automatic block.

EA107: DCS (Upper) Coil Lead End Crop Cut automatic block
EA207: DCS (Lower) Coil Lead End Crop Cut Automatic Block This is an automatic block that cuts the tip of the next coil that has been transported by a specified length.

EA108: Upper Pass Strip Lead End Thread to Welder automatic block
EA208: Lower Pass Strip Lead End Thread to Welder Automatic Block This is an automatic block that transports to the welding equipment to weld the cut and molded next coil tip to the preceding coil.

The macro flow of FIG. 1, further, EA001-EA 0 05, EA301 -EA303, the automatic block EA401-EA402 is described. The contents of these automatic blocks are as follows.

EA001: Entry Section Auto Slow Down & Stop Automatic Block To stop the tail end of the preceding coil that was previously rewound in the plant at a certain position, the tail end position in the preceding coil is detected and the rewind speed is reduced. It is an automatic block to do.

EA002: DCS DIV CUT & Tail End Thread to Welder Automatic Block Forms the tail end of the leading coil, cuts it with DCS to make it easy to weld the tip of the next coil, and transports the leading coil tail to the welding device after the cutting is completed It is an automatic block for.

EA003: WELD DIV CUT & Tail End Pull out to DCS automatic block When the tail end shape of the leading coil is relatively good, the tail end of the leading coil is cut by the cutting device of the welding device, so the tail end of the leading coil is transported to the welding device. It is an automatic block that cuts.

EA004: DCS (Upper) Coil Tail End Crop Cut Auto Block
EA005: DCS (Lower) Coil Tail End Crop Cut Automatic Block This is an automatic block that cuts to the short length to make the remaining coil remaining in the mandrel into scrap after cutting with the automatic block EA002 that cuts the tail end of the preceding coil .

EA301: Strip Welding Operation automatic block After completion of automatic operation of automatic block EA002 that transports the leading coil tail end to the welding device and automatic block EA108 or EA208 that transports the leading end of the next coil to the welding device, the leading coil tail end and the leading end of the next coil It is an automatic block that welds.

EA302: Weld Point Thread to Check Position Automatic Block This is an automatic block that conveys to the inspection position in order to confirm the welded state of the leading coil tail end and the next coil tip.

EA303: RE-WELD Thread Automatic Block This is an automatic block that performs re-welding when the operator determines that re-welding is necessary as a result of inspection.

EA401: Weld Point Thread to Notcher Position automatic block When the operator determines that the welding condition is good, the welding part is automatically transferred to a device called a notcher that cuts both ends of the welded part of the preceding coil and the next coil with different widths. It is a block.

EA402: Strip Notching Operation automatic block This is an automatic block that cuts both ends of the weld with a notch. After this automatic block is completed, the next coil is rewound at a high speed, and the production of the product is executed.

  As described above, in the entry side section in the steel plant, the main purpose is to continue production by welding the preceding coil and the next coil that have been rewound. Since this series of operations does not change in the steel plant entrance section, the macro flow itself in FIG. 1 can be standardized.

  However, in an actual steel plant, even if the automatic block is unchanged, it is installed in the plant depending on the product to be produced, the space in which the machine is installed, and the type of the upstream plant that produces the coil. Machines and their placement are often different. Also, even if the machine is the same, the order in which it operates is often different. For this reason, the automatic operation procedure manual presented by the vendor is different for each target plant. Therefore, even if standardization of the macro flow is possible, it is difficult to standardize the details of the automatic control specifications determined by the automatic operation procedure manual, specifically the details of the automatic block.

  Therefore, the micro flow located in the second and subsequent layers in the hierarchical structure of the automatic control specification is used. The micro flow is a flow in which detailed control information of each machine such as which machine is actually operated at which timing is described with respect to each automatic block described in the macro flow. Therefore, descriptions that differ from plant to plant among the descriptions in the automatic control specifications are absorbed by this microflow.

  FIG. 2 is an example of the micro flow of the automatic control specification created in the present embodiment. The microflow in FIG. 2 is a microflow in which the operation content of EA101 (No. 1 ECC Coil Transfer) is described in the automatic block described in the macroflow in FIG. Here, only a macro flow corresponding to EA 101 is illustrated as a representative, but actually, a micro flow as shown in FIG. 2 is prepared for each automatic block in the macro flow.

  The micro flow in Fig. 2 is based on the premise of a standard plant consisting only of machines installed in the entry section of the steel plant, and the control specifications for transporting and processing the preceding coil and the next coil using these machines. Is described. More specifically, the minimum automatic control contents in the automatic block EA101 are described, such as moving the coil car to the coil placement position, lifting the coil, changing the speed according to the coil car position and moving the coil to the mandrel position. ing. In addition, the microflow in FIG. 2 also describes motors and valves to be prepared for automatic control in the automatic block EA101, and sensors necessary for performing automatic control.

  That is, the microflow in FIG. 2 is a template in which the content of automatic control that is performed at least among automatic control of the machine in the automatic block EA101 is described in advance. By adding necessary control contents to the model or modifying the model as appropriate, a microflow according to the required specifications of the plant can be completed.

[Description of engineering method]
Next, the engineering method implemented in this embodiment will be described.

  In the engineering method of the present embodiment, the macroflow as described above is created in advance, and the created macroflow is stored as electronic data (document file) in a storage medium (for example, hard disk, CD, etc.). In addition, a microflow template as described above is created in advance for each automatic macroflow block, and the created microflow template is stored in a storage medium as electronic data (document file).

  The creator of the automatic control specification for the steel plant control system confirms the contents of the automatic operation procedure manual corresponding to the plant submitted by the vendor. Then, the operation sequence contents of the machine in the automatic operation procedure manual are applied to the automatic block of the macro flow, and the automatic control specification contents to be performed in each automatic block are determined.

  Next, the author of the automatic control specification compares the contents of the microflow template prepared for the automatic block in advance with the operation contents of the machine in the plant, and finds the singular point of the plant. . Then, depending on the singular point, the control content is added to the microflow template or the template is corrected. The automatic control specification for the target plant is completed by the microflow created in this way and the above-described macroflow.

  By adopting the engineering method as described above, the automatic block classification in the automatic control specifications is always kept uniform, and the detailed control specifications are also different from the prepared micro flow templates. Clarified. As a result, it is possible to increase the efficiency of creating an automatic control specification and to eliminate the dependence of the quality of the automatic control specification on the skill of the creator.

  Furthermore, a programmer who produces a control program according to this automatic control specification produces a program in consideration of the difference between the prepared microflow model and the machine and operation contents in the automatic block of the plant. It becomes possible. Until now, automatic control specifications were created from scratch based on the automatic operation procedure manuals provided by vendors, and control programs were produced accordingly. Compared to such a conventional method, according to the engineering method according to the present embodiment, since the program can be produced while being aware of the points of caution during the production of the program, a control program corresponding to the plant is provided. It becomes possible to manufacture with good quality.

  Also, a control program corresponding to each of the macro flow and the micro flow in the automatic control specification may be prepared in advance. By doing so, when the control program is created, it is only necessary to correct the corresponding program part with respect to the microflow correction part. That is, it is possible to improve the efficiency of program production.

[Description of engineering equipment]
Finally, an engineering device suitable for carrying out the above-described engineering method will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the engineering apparatus according to the present embodiment. The engineering device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a terminal device 10, storage devices 4 and 6, and a printer 8 connected via a LAN 2. The terminal device 10 includes a computer 12, a display 14, and an input terminal 16 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  The storage device 4 stores macro flow electronic data 21. The macroflow electronic data 21 stored in the storage device 4 can be read out to the computer 12 via the LAN 2 and displayed on the screen of the display 14 by the computer 12. In this case, the storage device 4 corresponds to a “first storage unit” of the engineering device of the present invention, and the computer 12 and the display 14 constitute a “first presentation unit” of the engineering device of the present invention.

  The storage device 6 stores microflow model electronic data 22 corresponding to each automatic block of macroflow. Microflow model electronic data 22 stored in the storage device 6 can be read out to the computer 12 via the LAN 2 and displayed on the screen of the display 14 by the computer 12. In this case, the storage device 6 corresponds to a “second storage unit” of the engineering device of the present invention, and the computer 12 and the display 14 constitute a “second presentation unit” of the engineering device of the present invention. Although the storage device is provided separately here, both the macro flow electronic data 21 and the micro flow model electronic data 22 can be stored in one storage device.

  The creation of the automatic control specifications can be performed by adding necessary control contents to the microflow model displayed on the display 14 or by appropriately modifying the model by operating the input terminal 16. it can. In this case, the computer 12 and the input terminal 16 constitute an “input unit” of the engineering apparatus of the present invention. The microflow created using the model can be stored in the storage device 6 or the storage device of the computer 12 in the form of electronic data.

  The created microflow can be printed on paper with the printer 8 together with the macroflow. By aligning a set of the printed macro flow 31 and micro flow 32, the automatic control specification 30 of the plant is completed. The completed automatic control specification 30 is delivered to a programmer who produces a control program. In this case, the computer 12 and the printer 8 constitute an “output unit” of the engineering apparatus of the present invention. However, if the automatic control specifications are transferred from the creator to the programmer by electronic data, the act of writing the electronic data to the storage medium and the act of transmitting the electronic data correspond to "output means". become.

[Others]
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the automatic control specification creation method has been described by taking the entry side section in the steel plant as an example, but similarly, the present invention is also applicable to the central section and the exit section of the steel plant. Is possible. In addition, the macro flow and the micro flow shown in the above-described embodiment are samples, and the contents thereof can of course be changed. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to creation of an automatic control specification in a plant other than a steel plant as long as it is an automatic control specification for a plant control system in which automatic sequence control is performed.

1: Engineering equipment 2: LAN
4: storage device 6: storage device 8: printer 10: terminal device 12: computer 14: display 16: input terminal 21: macro flow electronic data 22: micro flow model electronic data 30: automatic control specification 31: Macroflow 32: Microflow

Claims (2)

An engineering method for creating an automatic control specification describing a control content in automatic sequence control in a plant control system,
Creates a macro flow that describes a plurality of automatic blocks obtained by blocking the control content of the automatic sequence control for each series of automatic operations and the operation order of each automatic block, and includes automatic control of the machine in each automatic block. A preparation process for creating a microflow template in which the contents of automatic control to be performed at least are described in advance and storing them in a storage medium;
The template is read from the storage medium, the necessary control content is added to the read template, or the template is modified to complete the microflow, and the microflow is read from the macroflow. An automatic control specification creation step for completing the automatic control specification by associating
An engineering method characterized by comprising: An engineering device for creating an automatic control specification that describes the contents of control in automatic sequence control in a plant control system,
A first storage means for storing a macro flow in which a plurality of automatic blocks obtained by blocking the control content of the automatic sequence control for each series of automatic operation and an operation order of each automatic block are stored;
A second storage means for storing a microflow template in which the contents of automatic control to be performed at least among automatic control of the machine in each automatic block are stored;
A first presentation unit that reads the macroflow from the first storage unit in response to a request and presents the macroflow to the requester;
A second presentation means for reading out the template from the second storage means upon request and presenting it to the requester;
An input means for adding a control content necessary for the read template or correcting the template to complete a micro flow;
An output means for associating the macro flow and the micro flow with each other and outputting the automatic control specifications;
An engineering device comprising:

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