JPH1185258A - Process data gathering method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily set gathering start conditions and to enable accurate data analyzing operation by setting a data gathering period around a trigger generation point of time. SOLUTION: This gathering method for process data samples a physical value which varies with time at specific time intervals of time and stores it in a process data storage means while converting the value into a digital value. Trigger generation is not regarded merely as a start point of time for data gathering, but a data gathering period is set around it to easily set gathering start conditions and also enable an accurate data analysis. Further, the data gathering condition setting can be done on a window where a trend graph is displayed. Namely, a cursor 66 for trigger position setting and two cursors 68a and 68b for gathering period setting are displayed and moved to the right and left by operating a mouse or keyboard to set the data gathering conditions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for collecting process data, and more particularly to a method for selectively collecting data within a preset period.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of data collection method, there has been proposed a method of performing a control operation for starting or stopping data collection by a trigger generated when a preset condition is satisfied. .

[0003]

However, in the method of controlling the data collection timing by simply satisfying the conditions as described above, it is extremely difficult to set the conditions for trigger generation accurately, and it is difficult to set the conditions. There was an inconvenience that required data was not collected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above inconvenience, and the trigger generation is not limited to the start point of data collection, but is set to a data collection period before and after the start of data collection. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of collecting process data which can easily perform the data analysis and perform an accurate data analysis operation.

[0005]

According to the method of collecting process data according to the present invention, a physical value that changes with the passage of time is sampled at predetermined time intervals and converted into a digital value while a physical value such as a hard disk is converted. This is stored in the process data storage unit 21.

[0006] Further, while a condition serving as a reference for data collection and a data collection period consisting of a first half and a second half centered on the time when the condition is satisfied are set in advance,
At least data for the time corresponding to the collection period of the first half described above is accumulated while updating to the latest data with the passage of time, and when the above condition is satisfied, the data of the first half is fixed. It is characterized in that data collection is continued until the collection period of a part elapses, and then held as a series of data.

As shown in FIG. 8, the above series of data can be displayed as a graph over time on a display screen 24 of a predetermined data processing apparatus. Is preferably settable by designating the display position of the graph on the display screen 24.

As shown in FIG. 1, the data processing device is connected to a predetermined external device 10 via a communication path 12 and communicates with the state data storage means 17 via the communication path 12, for example. A data communication unit 14 for enabling data transfer with the 10 side, an event data storage unit 16 for storing a plurality of processing instruction words including reference information for specifying operation contents to be processed, and the event data storage unit The control unit 18 decodes the processing instruction words provided in the processing instruction unit 16 and performs a control operation corresponding to information referred to by each processing instruction word, and performs a predetermined display operation in conjunction with a signal input from the control unit 18. A programmable display device 22 including the display means 20 can be provided.

It is possible to collect and display data corresponding to the control state in the external device 10, and to set the data collection criterion to a preset alarm occurrence time in the programmable display device 22. it can.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention, by setting the data collection period before and after the trigger occurrence time as a center, it is possible to easily set the collection start condition and to perform an accurate data analysis operation. .

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A method of displaying a trend graph according to the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG.
The operation of the display device 30 and the program type display device 22 used as a display panel will be described in detail based on an example. However, a general-purpose O / O device using a dedicated device or a general-purpose personal computer device specialized in collecting process data and displaying a trend graph based on the data is used.
The configuration of the device that implements the display method, such as that configured by an application program running on S, is not limited. Furthermore, the configuration itself of the program type display device 22 is also an example, and it is needless to say that the configuration can be appropriately changed and implemented.

The programmable display device 22 includes a PLC 30
Along with this, it is integrated into an operation console or the like of the target system 28, or is provided independently, and is used as an operation and display panel for the target system 28. A setting or control operation is performed.

PLC for controlling target system 28
The circuit 30 has a function achieved as a whole in the PLC 30 in which a circuit is unitized for each required function such as a CPU unit and a memory unit, and the units are connected in parallel so as to be able to increase or decrease as necessary. The configuration is substantially the same as that of the related art that can be changed.

The storage location of various information input / output to / from the target system 28 is controlled by passive components such as level gauges and limit switches provided on the target system 28 to be controlled or displayed, or relays and motors. A word device is specified for word data whose input / output data is numerical values, and a bit device is specified for bit data such as motor on / off information. In addition, by setting a device-specific device name such as “D100” in advance for each device, necessary data is stored in the memory unit so that the storage location can be specified by designating the device name. .

Therefore, by simply accessing the arbitrary word device or bit device in the memory unit by designating the device name from inside or outside of the PLC 30, without knowing the actual address in the PLC 30,
The corresponding position of the target system 28 is controlled or various process data relating to the operation state can be individually taken out.

The programmable display device 22 has substantially the same configuration as the personal computer device, and has a display control circuit 32 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the front surface of the display screen 24 of the display 34 is covered with a transparent touch panel 36 in close contact with the touch panel 36.
Then, the coordinates are analyzed through the interface, and various manual operations can be performed by a fingertip at the time of a test, at the time of initial setting before the operation of the entire system is started, or during the operation.

Here, in the programmable display device 22, there is no need to change the display contents such as the nameplate.
0 and a functional component graphic 42 such as a switch graphic for changing the shape, blinking or changing the color on the base screen 40
Is designated and stored for each required display unit.

On the other hand, the processing instruction word W illustrated in FIG. 4A stored in advance in the event data memory 58 is read out intermittently every minute time, and the event name N of each processing instruction word W is read.
Are sequentially executed by referring to the data taken out from the PLC 30 through the communication controller 44 into the state data memory 46, thereby changing the contents of the bit device or the word device of the PLC 30. In response, the display operation in which the shape of the functional component graphic 42 changes is performed.

That is, the basic structure of the processing instruction word W is as follows.
It consists of a file number F of the base screen 40 on which the display control operation is to be executed, an event name N specifying the operation content to be executed on the base screen 40, and one or a plurality of data referred to for each execution event. Reference information r is provided as one set.

For example, the processing instruction word WG shown in FIG.
Opens a window 48 on the base screen 40 as shown in FIG. 3 and allows the trend graph 26 to be displayed in the window 48. The file number F1 of the base screen 40 and the display of the trend graph 26 are specified. For example, G
, The display coordinate range D1 of the graph, the device name D2 for specifying the storage location of the data to be displayed in the graph, and whether the device is a bit device consisting of on / off information or a word device such as a temperature change. , A graph information D4 for specifying the line type and color of the displayed graph, and a time interval D5 for sampling data as reference information r.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, during the process control of the plant provided as the target system 28, the PLC 30 monitors the on / off timing of the level gauge 52, the liquid temperature gauge 54 and the pump 56 in the tank 50. If it is carried out in the trend graph 2
6, one processing instruction word WG is set for each of the three contents whose process data is to be monitored, as shown in FIG.

That is, for the three devices on which the trend graph 26 is to be displayed, the processing instruction words WG1 to WG3 whose display coordinate ranges D1 are matched are stored in the event data memory 5.
8 is stored. On the other hand, the tank level is word data at address A in the state data memory 46, the liquid temperature is word data at address B, and the on / off state of the pump 56 is a bit device at address C. Update processing is performed with a slight time delay due to data transfer.

Therefore, from each processing instruction word WG1 to WG3,
By specifying the corresponding devices A to C by using the device names of the display data, the data values are read from the state data memory 46 at a predetermined sampling time interval D5, and the window set on the display screen 24 is set. Within 48, it is displayed as a trend graph 26 composed of a plurality of pen charts 60.

The present invention has the above-mentioned structure, and further enables automatically collecting data generated within a predetermined period before and after the occurrence of the condition by using a preset condition as a trigger. It is characterized in that it is possible to compare and display the obtained data.

The processing instruction word WS for data collection is one unit or a plurality of types displayed in the window 48 in units of one window 48 set with the processing instruction word WG on the base screen 40 as described above. 4C, it is possible to collect the process data at the same time. As shown in FIG. 4C, in addition to the file number F1 of the base screen 40, the event name N2 starting with, for example, "S" for specifying the process data collection. Further, a data acquisition coordinate range D6 to be collected, a data collection start condition D7, and a data collection time range D8 are provided as reference information r.

Here, the data collection start condition D7 is as shown in FIG.
Instead of saving all the data on the trend graph 26 continuously displayed on the window 48 as shown in FIG. 6, it was confirmed that the preset condition D7 was satisfied as shown in FIG. Thereafter, by selectively storing data generated in the first half period and the second half period of the time point ts, only data having a value to be stored can be collected.

That is, when the processing instruction word WS is set, the data storage area 64 having a size capable of temporarily storing at least the data of the first half period is stored in the RAM as shown in FIG.
It is set on a high-speed memory such as 66. In particular,
The data storage area 64 has substantially the same function as the shift register. As shown in FIG. 7A, a storage capacity corresponding to the data collection time range D8 is secured, and the system is driven during the operation. While the current data is sequentially written into the data storage area 64, the old data is overwritten and erased by new data that is successively taken in, so that data for a preset data collection time range is constantly stored in the data storage area 64. I try to keep it.

Even after the trigger condition is satisfied in such a state, when the writing of the current data is completed while the data is further shifted by the second half period of the collection time range, FIG.
As shown in (b), all data in the data storage area 64 is specified and copied into a data storage memory such as the hard disk 62, thereby completing one-time data collection.

The data collection start condition D7 can be arbitrarily set as long as the time can be uniquely specified, such as when the value of a predetermined word device exceeds a set value or when a bit device is turned on or off. Can be set. The number of times of collection can be set arbitrarily.

In this embodiment, the data collection start condition D7 is made to match the display condition of the error message on the programmable display device 22, so that the data is automatically collected before and after the occurrence of the error. It is composed.

Further, the data automatically collected before and after the occurrence of the error as described above can be compared and displayed with the reference data and data of similar contents collected in the past while the program type display device 22 is offline. Is visually recognized on the trend graph 26.

That is, after the program type display device 22 is set to the off-line state and the comparison display mode of the trend graph 26 is selected, when data to be displayed is selected, FIG.
As shown in (a), for example, one reference window 48a is opened at the upper part of the display screen 24, and the trend graph 26 including one or a plurality of pen charts 60 collected by the automatic collection described above is displayed.

In the window 48a, the process data collected as described above is displayed as the trend graph 26 which does not change with time. Further, the amplitude value or the vertical direction is displayed for each pen chart 60. The position can be changed and the time axis can be shifted in the front-back direction or the time axis can be expanded / contracted, so that a plurality of pen charts 60 in one window 48 can be clearly distinguished and displayed. ing.

Next, when another data group to be compared and displayed with the graph displayed in the reference window 48a is selected and the display is selected, for example, the reference window 48a is displayed.
A window 48b for comparison is opened below, and the data group is displayed as the trend graph 26 in the same manner as in the reference window 48a.

In the trend graph 26 displayed in the two windows 48a and 48b, it is highly likely that not only the data collection time but also the data collection conditions such as the data sampling interval are different from each other. Therefore, when one or a plurality of pen charts 60b to be combined are selected in the comparison window 48b and then a graph combination is instructed, the display conditions of both are automatically matched, and the corresponding pen charts in the comparison window 48b are matched. FIG.
The image is copied to the reference window 48a as shown in FIG.

When the pen chart 60b copied in the window 48a is adjusted in the amplitude value or the time axis direction in the copy source window 48b, the change is reflected in the copy destination window 48a. The superimposed display is performed based on the same display criteria as the pen chart 60a previously displayed in the reference window 48a, and the two are compared.

When the pen chart 60a copied in the windows 48a and 48b in this manner is adjusted in its amplitude value or time axis direction in the copy source window 48b, the changed contents are displayed in the copy destination window. 48b, the superimposed display is performed based on the same display standard as the trend graph 26 previously displayed in the reference window 48a, and the two are compared. For this comparison, 2
An arithmetic operation for calculating a difference between the two pen charts 60a and 60b and expressing the difference as another graph is also included.

As described above, by composing a plurality of pen charts 60 on the same window 48 and displaying them, and performing necessary arithmetic processing, it is possible to easily analyze and determine an error occurrence condition.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the data collection start condition can be set on the window 48 on which the trend graph 26 is displayed before or after the pen chart 60 is synthesized.

That is, when this function is selected, as shown in FIG. 9, one cursor 66 for setting the trigger position and two cursors 68a and 68b for setting the collection time are displayed on the left and right of the cursor 66. Is done. The three cursors can be individually moved by dragging left and right by operating a pointing device such as a mouse or a keyboard in a state where one pen chart 60c for which a trigger condition is to be set is selected.

When the deciding process is selected after positioning in this manner, the value of the cursor position in the selected pen chart 60c is read, and the value is used as the data collection start condition D7 as the reference information r of the processing instruction word WS. It is automatically written in.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the present invention is applied to a program type display device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electric circuit in the programmable display device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of displaying a trend graph on a display screen.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a processing instruction word,
(A) shows a basic configuration of a processing instruction word, (b) shows a configuration of a processing instruction word for displaying a trend graph, and (c) shows a configuration of a processing instruction word for collecting process data.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a data collection state in a target system.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a collection range of process data.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of collecting process data.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of synthesizing collected data.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying a data collection condition setting screen;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 external device 12 communication path 14 data communication means 16 event data storage means 18 control means 20 display means 22 programmable display device 24 display screen 26 trend graph 28 target system 30 PLC 32 display control circuit 34 display 36 touch panel 38 touch panel controller 40 base Screen 42 Functional parts graphic 44 Communication controller 46 Status data memory 48 Window 50 Tank 52 Level gauge 54 Liquid temperature gauge 56 Pump 58 Event data memory 60 Pen chart 62 Hard disk 64 Data storage area 66 Trigger position setting cursor 68 Data collection period Setting cursor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method of collecting process data in which a physical value that changes with the passage of time is sampled at predetermined time intervals, converted into a digital value and stored, wherein a condition serving as a reference for data collection is While the data collection period consisting of the first half and the second half is set in advance around the time point when the condition is satisfied, at least the data for the time corresponding to the collection period of the first half described above, with time, When the above conditions are satisfied, the data in the first half is fixed, while data collection is continued until the collection period in the second half has elapsed. A process data collection method, characterized in that the process data is stored as a process data. 2. A series of data as described above, which can be displayed as a graph over time on a display screen (24) in a predetermined data processing apparatus, wherein the data collection criterion and the collection period Is the display screen (2
4) The process data collection method according to claim 1, wherein a setting can be made by designating a display position of the above graph. 3. The data processing device is connected to a predetermined external device (10) via a communication path (12), and can exchange data with the external device (10) via the communication path (12). Data communication means (14)
And an event data storage means (16) capable of storing a plurality of processing instructions including reference information for specifying an operation content to be processed.
A control unit (18) for decoding a processing instruction word provided in the event data storage unit (16) and performing a control operation corresponding to information referred to by each processing instruction word; A display device (22) having a display means (20) for performing a predetermined display operation in conjunction with a signal input of the external device (10). The process data collection method according to claim 2, wherein display is enabled. 4. The process data collection method according to claim 3, wherein the data collection criterion is a preset alarm occurrence time in the programmable display device (22).