Control system, control method and extension board

• US 10,209,696 B2
• Filed: 10/14/2015
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha (Yamaha Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha (Yamaha Corporation)
• Inventors: Fujita, Takayoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Rutten, James D.
• Application Number:
  US14/882,962
• Publication Number:
  US 20160124412A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,224 Days
• Field of Search: 700 3
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0084 comprising a plurality of manipulators
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/161 Hardware, e.g. neural networks, fuzzy logic, interfaces, processor
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1682 Dual arm manipulator; Coordination of several manipulators
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/05 Programmable logic controllers, e.g. simulating logic interconnections of signals according to ladder diagrams or function charts
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4148 characterised by using several processors for different functions, distributed (real-time) systems G05B19/4141 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/1215 Master slave system
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25049 Master processor gives timing information to slaves
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25483 Synchronize several controllers using messages over data bus
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33213 Communication cpu to synchronize axis between different machines
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/34342 Matching closest patterns stored in database with actual components
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/34359 Real time based interrupt to control axis, other function
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/34397 Synchronize manipulators and machine by using a reference clock for all
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0667 Bidirectional timestamps, e.g. NTP or PTP for compensation of clock drift and for compensation of propagation delays arrangements for monitoring round trip delays in packet switching networks H04L43/0864
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40019 Details regarding a bus master
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/06 Communication with another machine

Abstract

A control system, includes a master control device configured to control a first controlled object based on time information output from a first clock unit, and a slave control device connected to the master control device via a network and configured to control a second controlled object different from the first controlled object based on control information transmitted from the master control device and time information output from a second clock unit. The time information of the first clock unit and the time information of the second clock unit are time-synchronized.

Claims

1. A control system, comprising:

a master control device configured to control a first controlled object based on time information output from a first clock unit; and

a slave control device connected to the master control device via a network and configured to control a second controlled object different from the first controlled object based on control information transmitted from the master control device and time information output from a second clock unit,

wherein the time information of the first clock unit and the time information of the second clock unit are time-synchronized,

the master control device generates and transmits the control information including an operation command relating to an operation of the second controlled object, the slave control device returns the control information transmitted from the master control device after receiving the control information and performing input and output processing to read and write data for the control information during the passage of the control information, and receives the operation command by the input and output processing,

the slave control device samples a count value of the second clock unit as the time information to perform time synchronization processing,

the master control device performs the time synchronization based on the control information returned from the slave control device,

a plurality of the slave control devices are provided,

the master control device transmits the operation command and starts an operation of the first controlled object by generating a first interrupt signal after all the slave control devices read the operation command from the control information,

the slave control device starts the operation of the second controlled object by generating a second interrupt signal in synchronization with the first interrupt signal, and

output of the first interrupt signal is prohibited until the elapse of half of one cycle in which the control information is transmitted from the master control device to the slave control device and then returned to the master control device.

2. The control system according to claim 1, wherein:

a plurality of the slave control devices are provided and the control information transmitted from the master control device passes through the slave control devices in order, is turned over and is returned to the master control device by passing through the slave control devices in a reverse order; and

one of the first and second clock units serves as a reference clock unit and the clock units other than the reference clock unit are time-synchronized with the reference clock unit.

3. The control system according to claim 2, wherein:

the reference clock unit is the first clock unit of the master control device.

4. The control system according to claim 2, wherein:

the reference clock unit is the second clock unit of the slave control device configured to first receive the control information from the master control device.

5. A control method to control a first controlled object by a master control device and control a second controlled object different from the first controlled object by a slave control device connected to the master control device via a network, comprising:

controlling the first controlled object by the master control device based on time information output from a first clock unit;

transmitting control information from the master control device;

controlling the second controlled object based on the control information transmitted from the master control device and time information output from a second clock unit; and

time-synchronizing the time information of the first clock unit and the time information of the second clock unit,

wherein

the master control device generates and transmits the control information including an operation command relating to an operation of the second controlled object, the slave control device returns the control information transmitted from the master control device after receiving the control information and performing input and output processing to read and write data for the control information during the passage of the control information, and receives the operation command by the input and output processing,

the slave control device samples a count value of the second clock unit as the time information to perform time synchronization processing,

the master control device performs the time-synchronizing based on the control information returned from the slave control device,

a plurality of the slave control devices are provided,

the master control device transmits the operation command and starts an operation of the first controlled object by generating a first interrupt signal after all the slave control devices read the operation command from the control information,

the slave control device starts the operation of the second controlled object by generating a second interrupt signal in synchronization with the first interrupt signal, and

output of the first interrupt signal is prohibited until the elapse of half of one cycle in which the control information is transmitted from the master control device to the slave control device and then returned to the master control device.

6. An extension board freely attachable to a master control device to control a first controlled object, comprising:

a first clock unit configured to output time information to control the first controlled object;

a communication unit configured to transmit control information to control a second controlled object different from the first controlled object by a slave control device connected to the master control device via a network to the slave control device; and

a time synchronization unit configured to time-synchronize the time information of the first clock unit and time information of a second clock unit provided in the slave control device and configured to output the time information to control the second controlled object,

wherein

the master control device generates, and transmits by the communication unit, the control information including an operation command relating to an operation of the second controlled object, the slave control device returns the control information transmitted from the master control device after receiving the control information and performing input and output processing to read and write data for the control information during the passage of the control information, and receives the operation command by the input and output processing,

the slave control device samples a count value of the second clock unit as the time information to perform time synchronization processing,

the master control device performs, by the time synchronization unit, the time synchronization based on the control information returned from the slave control device,

a plurality of the slave control devices are provided,

the master control device transmits the operation command and starts an operation of the first controlled object by generating a first interrupt signal after all the slave control devices read the operation command from the control information,

the slave control device starts the operation of the second controlled object by generating a second interrupt signal in synchronization with the first interrupt signal, and

output of the first interrupt signal is prohibited until the elapse of half of one cycle in which the control information is transmitted from the master control device to the slave control device and then returned to the master control device.