BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a system control system or a method for mobile system control having at least one mobile input and/or output device. STATE OF THE ART
[0002] In industry, many automated plants are operated by a system con- troller, for example in the form of a programmable logic controller (PLC). Typically, such a control system has at least one input and/or output de- — vice to provide information about the status of the plant to the operator of the plant and to allow the input of commands to control the plant.
[0003] In larger plants, which extend over large areas, it may be neces- sary to provide local possibilities for the output of information and/or for the input of commands to control the plant or plant areas, since only one central control system does not allow sufficiently fast and flexible monitor- ing for the operator. Accordingly, it may also be useful to equip the control system hierarchically with sub-control devices for sub-areas of the plant in order to reduce the complexity of the control system.
[0004] Accordingly, in known system control systems, input and/or output devices are provided decentrally in subareas of the plant (plant areas) or in individual plant components, which enable local information about the status of the corresponding plant area or plant component and/or com- mand input for the plant area or the individual plant component.
[0005] However, the provision of corresponding locally assigned input and/or output devices or of additional sub-control devices is very costly due to the provision of the additionally required devices and, due to the fixed assignment of the input and/or output devices to the associated plant areas or plant components, is not very flexible under certain circum- stances.
[0006] In order to reduce the effort for local input and/or output devices, it is conceivable to provide mobile input and/or output devices that an oper- ator of the plant can carry with him, for example, in order to retrieve in- formation about the status of the plant and/or make command inputs at any location. However, the problem here is that incorrect assignment to the wrong plant areas can lead to incorrect operation.
[0007] DE 10 2011 085439 A1 describes a method for reading a two- dimensional pattern code of a plant component by means of a pick-up device of a mobile device and for displaying and using data by means of an output device of this device, comprising the following steps: reading and decoding the code to obtain data given by the code and related to the component on which the code is arranged, displaying the data or adapting the data according to user data and/or the mobile device, and displaying the adapted data, wherein the (adapted) data may be interactive or non- interactive.
[0008] DE 11 2010 005812 T5 describes a method and a system for con- trolling and remotely monitoring the status of technical eguipment or in- — stallations, all of which are provided with transponders or labels as an electronic identifier. The user identifies the device or machine while on site. The unigue ID, stored data on the transponder and possibly sensor data are read. A mobile device application sends a control reguest from an identified device to the automation system for approval.The reguest and data are analyzed by the central automation system for the following characteristics, whether the control reguest is allowed or approved, so that no erroneous operation is possible. If the control is allowed, the commands regarding the reguested configuration, action, and the like are sent to the central automation system or control system, which controls or forwards the commands, thereby executing the commands for the device or machine. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0009] It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a sys- tem control system or a method for system control, in which mobile input and/or output devices are used for displaying plant information and/or in- putting control commands, while at the same time ensuring that mix-ups and thus incorrect inputs due to incorrect assignment to plant areas or plant components are avoided. At the same time, a corresponding system control system should have a simple structure and also be easy to oper-
ate. TECHNICAL SOLUTION
[0010] This object is solved by a system control system with the features of claim 1 and a method for mobile system control with the features of claim 7.
[0011] Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.
[0012] The invention proposes to integrate multiple identification and lo- calization devices in the plant control system, which interact with the mo- bile input and/or output device(s) to localize the position of the mobile in- put and/or output device at the plant and identify the associated plant ar-
ea.
[0013] By means of an identification and localization device, it is possible to provide identification and localization information that can be detected by the mobile input and/or output device and thus processed in the plant control system, so that it can be ensured that the correct information about the corresponding plant area is provided via the mobile output de- vice and/or command inputs via the mobile input device are only possible for the identified plant area. In this way, misinformation and/or operating errors can be reliably ruled out in a simple manner, while at the same time allowing flexible and mobile operation of the plant.
[0014] The plurality of identification and localization devices comprise at least two different types of identification and localization devices, wherein each type of identification and localization device causes a different func- tion of the mobile input and/or output device. A first type of identification and localization device may represent an operating point at which the mobile input and/or output device enables input of control commands, and a second type of identification and localization device may represent a trigger point at which the mobile input and/or output device enables input of information.
[0015] The input of control commands at the operating point comprises all possible control commands for the corresponding selected plant area, in particular also an exchange of data, commands and information with the corresponding control device without time limit, as long as the positioning of the mobile input and/or output device in the corresponding plant area is ensured. By positioning the identification and localization device in the vicinity of a permanently mounted emergency stop switch or integrated into that of the identification and localization device, safe operation can be ensured.
[0016] The information input at the trigger point can be a release infor- mation, such as an acknowledgement signal, that, for example, a mal- function such as a jamming of a material to be transported on a conveyor system has been eliminated. Since the information is used for further op- eration, the information input represents a one-time or time-limited control command, but no further data exchange takes place.
[0017] The localization and identification information can be output by the identification and localization device to the mobile input and/or output de- vice via an identification signal, whereby the identification signal can be realized by very many different techniques. For example, the identification 5 and localization device can be a radio tag, a near-field communication device, a bar code, or a two-dimensional code, where, for example, in the case of a radio tag, the identification signal can be a change in an activa- tion signal by the radio tag that can be read by mobile input and/or output devices. In the case of a bar code or two-dimensional code, the identifica- tion signal may be given by the emission of the corresponding light pat- tern, which may be read by the input and/or output device, for example by means of a camera.
[0018] The identification signal from the identification and localization de- vice may be evaluated by the mobile input and/or output device to then transmit the corresponding identification and localization information to a control device of the plant control system. Thus, an input/output of control commands or information relating to a localized control device that has been identified by the identification and localization device, for example one or more plant components, can be directly implemented with the mo- — bile input and/or output device, since the mobile input and/or output de- vice can directly establish a connection with the associated control device using the corresponding identification and localization information. Thus, effective decentralized control of a plant can be realized. Accordingly, the control device may be a central control device for controlling the entire plant and its components and/or a sub-control device for controlling a plant area and/or its components, wherein the mobile input and/or output device may receive signals from the central control device and/or the sub- control device and/or send signals to the central control device and/or the sub-control device.
[0019] Alternatively, the identification signal may be transmitted unpro- cessed from the mobile input and/or output device to a central control de-
vice or any control device of the plant control system, so that the localiza- tion and identification information may be generated by the control device.
[0020] With the identification and localization information, the control de- vice can detect the position of the mobile input and/or output device and identify the corresponding plant area. Based on the identified plant area or a correspondingly assigned plant component, the input and/or output of the input and/or output device can be enabled and/or restricted. For ex- ample, the information about the status of the plant displayed at mobile input and/or output devices can be limited to the plant area that can be viewed from the detected position, or the command input can be enabled only for this area.
[0021] By the interaction of the mobile input and/or output device and the corresponding identification and localization device, or by receiving the corresponding identification signal, the communication between the mo- — bile input and/or output device and the control device of the plant control system can also be started automatically, so that the operation of the plant can be considerably simplified, since, for example, the information about the status of the relevant plant area can be displayed automatically and/or an input option for control commands for the relevant plant area = can be provided.
[0022] In order to ensure that the mobile input and/or output device is ac- tually positioned in the corresponding plant area of the plant, during the input and/or output with the mobile input and/or output device, a constant interaction with the associated identification and localization device may be required in order to permanently carry out the identification and/or lo- calization, for example by means of cyclical or recurring identification and/or localization. Alternatively, it is also possible that the interaction of the mobile input and/or output device with the identification and localiza- tion device is limited to a certain period of time prior to the start of the in-
put and/or output, or that interaction is only required at certain time inter- vals.
[0023] Together with the identification and localization device, an emer- gency stop switch separate from the mobile input and/or output device can be provided, which enables separate shutdown of the plant area or plant component or the entire plant in the event of an incorrect input or if a malfunction is indicated. This can further increase the safety of plant op- eration. By arranging a separate emergency switch integrated in the iden- tification and localization device or in the vicinity of the identification and localization device, in particular in the immediate vicinity of the mobile input and/or output device, which is arranged relative to the identification and localization device in such a way that constant interaction of the iden- tification and localization device and the mobile input and/or output device is possible to ensure local presence, the safety of plant operation is signif- icantly increased, since a separate emergency switch-off is possible at any time independently of the control by the mobile input and/or output device. Indeed, it is ensured that a separate and independent emergency shutdown is possible simultaneously with the operation of the plant or a plant area by the mobile input and/or output device.
[0024] In the case of a wireless signal transmission between the mobile input and/or output device and the control device, a wireless local area network (WLAN) may be used. Other wireless signal transmissions are also conceivable. However, the wireless signal transmission between mobile input and/or output device and a control device is separate and independent from the interaction of the mobile input and/or output device with an identification and localization device.
[0025] The mobile input and/or output device may be a touch-sensitive screen, a cell phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet computer or the like. It is only essential that the mobile input and/or output device, depending on the desired range of functions, enables the corre-
sponding inputs and/or outputs and can detect the identification signal of the identification and localization device and forward it wirelessly to the control device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0026] The accompanying drawings show in schematic form in
Fig. 1 an overview of a system control system according to the inven- tion,
Fig. 2 a detailed view of a part of a system control system according to the invention in accordance with a further embodiment,
Fig. 3 an enlarged view of a detail of the system control system from
Fig. 1, and in
Fig. 4 an enlarged representation of a detail from Fig. 3. EMBODIMENTS
[0027] Further advantages, characteristics and features of the present invention will become apparent in the following description of embodi- ments. However, the invention is not limited to these examples.
[0028] Figure 1 shows a system overview of a system control system ac- cording to the invention with a control device 1 in the form of a program- mable logic controller (PLC). The control device 1 is connected to compo- nents of a conveyor system via a field bus system 7 with corresponding bus lines 6. The conveyor system comprises, for example, roller convey- ors 8, 9 which are used to transport pallets or the like. However, the roller conveyors 8, 9 mentioned here are only an example, so that the applica- tion of the invention is not limited to these system components or system types. Rather, the invention can be used to control a wide variety of sys- tems, including in particular logistics systems and conveyor systems, as well as a wide variety of components of such systems, such as belt con-
veyors, cross conveyors, lifting systems, stacker cranes and the like, for which the invention is particularly advantageous, so that the application of the invention to logistics systems and handling systems is also the subject of the present application.
[0029] Via further bus lines 6 of the field bus system 7, the control device 1 can further be connected to sub-control devices 5, which control areas of a corresponding system, such as, for example, a part of the conveyor system, or individual components of the system. Via the bus line 6 of the field bus system 7, the control device 1 can communicate with the sub- control device 5 and exchange corresponding data.
[0030] In a corresponding plant area with several components of a plant or with a single component, a so-called diagnosis and operating station (diagnosis operating station DOST) in the form of a touch panel PC 4 can be provided, which is connected to the control device 1 via a local area network (LAN) in the form of a LAN Ethernet (TCP/IP). Accordingly, the touch panel PC 4 can be used to monitor and/or control a specific plant area with several components of the plant or a single plant component. For monitoring, the relevant information about the plant area is displayed on the touch panel PC 4 in a corresponding display field, so that an oper- ator is informed about the status of the plant area. In addition, entries on the touch panel PC 4 can be used to control the plant area by changing corresponding parameters of the plant area. An operator can thus obtain information about the status of a plant area or the entire plant via the touch panel PC 4 and at the same time control the entire plant or the plant area by entering corresponding commands, so that the conveyor compo- nents in the form of the roller conveyors 8, 9, for example, can be con- trolled accordingly via the field bus system 7.
[0031] Furthermore, a WLAN router 3 is connected to the control device via the local area network 2 (LAN - Ethernet (TCP/IP)), which provides a so-called wireless access point (access point of a wireless local area net-
work WLAN) or a local radio network. Via the wireless access point or the WLAN router 3, mobile input and/or output devices, such as a smartphone 10, can communicate with the control device, so that infor- mation about the status of the entire plant or a plant area can be dis- played on the smartphone 10 and command inputs can be executed. For this purpose, it is only necessary to establish a connection via the WLAN router 3 with the control device 1.
[0032] In order to ensure that the mobile input and/or output device in the form of the smartphone 10 is located in a specific plant area with one or more plant components or in the area of a specific plant component, in order to obtain precise information about this plant area or an individual plant component or to enter commands for controlling the corresponding plant area or the plant component, a localization and identification is car- ried out via an identification and localization device 11, 13 before and/or during the input and/or output via the smartphone 10.
[0033] In the system overview of Figure 1, two different identification and localization devices 11, 13 are shown, which can be used in a corre- sponding control system and are described in more detail below.
[0034] Figure 1 shows a so-called NFC tag 11 (near field communication tag), for example in the form of a radio tag or an RFID tag (radio frequen- cy identification tag). The smartphone 10 is brought into the effective range of the radio tag 11, for example by placing it on the radio tag, so that the smartphone 10 functions as a reader and can read the identifica- tion and location information of the radio tag 11. By reading the identifica- tion and localization information of the radio tag 11, a connection mode with the control device 1 can be started in the smartphone 10, so that in- puts and/or outputs via the smartphone 10 are possible for the control device 1. Reading the identification and localization information of the ra- dio tag 11 can thus initiate the connection with the control device 1. How- ever, it is also possible that the smartphone 10 is already in a connection mode with the control device 1 and the identification and localization in- formation received from the radio tag 11 is merely additionally recorded.
[0035] With the localization and identification information of the radio tag 11, which can be transmitted directly from the smartphone 10 to the con- trol device 1 via the WLAN router 3 without further processing, or by transmitting corresponding information to the control device 1 after evalu- ating the localization and identification information of the radio tag 11, the smartphone 10 can directly display the status information for the plant component 8 or the plant area provided with the radio tag 11, which has been transmitted by the control device 1. Alternatively or additionally, the smartphone 10 may be placed in an input mode that allows control com- mands to be entered for the corresponding plant area or plant component
8.
[0036] An operator can thus contact a radio tag 11 with his smartphone 10 in a corresponding plant area or at a plant component 8, so that the localization and identification information of the radio tag 11 can be pro- cessed in the smartphone 10 or directly forwarded to the control device 1, so that the smartphone 10 is enabled for operating the plant area or the plant component 8. Thus, the operator can enter operating commands for the corresponding plant area or plant component 8 through the smartphone 10, which will be processed by the control device 1 and the control device 1 will output corresponding control commands to the corre- sponding plant component 8 via the field bus system 7. Thus, via the mo- bile input and/or output device in the form of the smartphone 10, appro- priate operation of the plant component connected to the radio tag 11 can be performed. Localization and identification via the radio tag 11 ensures that the operator is in the corresponding plant area with his smartphone 10 and can obtain an overview of the actual conditions in the associated plant area by visual inspection. Since corresponding inputs for controlling the plant area or the corresponding plant component 8 can be carried out via the smartphone 10, the radio tag 11 is firmly and non-detachably con-
nected to an emergency stop switch 12, so that an immediate emergency stop can be carried out in the event of an incorrect input.
[0037] By providing a separate emergency stop switch 12, the operating level is separated from the protection level, so that a high level of safety of the system operation is ensured.
[0038] If the smartphone 10 is operated only as a display device, the cor- responding information of the associated plant area or the associated plant component 8 can be displayed on the smartphone 10 immediately without further input by reading the location and identification information of the radio tag 11.
[0039] Another possibility of a localization and identification device is pro- vided by a bar code or QR (quick response) code tag 13. Such a QR Code Tag 13 is arranged, for example, in a specific plant area or a specif- ic plant component 9, so that by reading the localization and identification information associated with the QR Code into the smartphone 10, for ex- ample by photographing the QR Code, it is also possible to localize and identify the corresponding plant area or plant component 9.
[0040] An identification and localization device in the form of a QR code tag 13 can be used in the same way as a radio tag 11 to use the smartphone 10 as an input and/or output device for the system control system.
[0041] In the embodiment shown, however, the QR code tag 13 is used in a different function, namely not to create a so-called operating point (OP) as with the radio tag 11 in the plant to be controlled, but a so-called trig- ger point (TP). The difference here is that at the operating point, the smartphone 10 can be used to enter a command to control the corre- sponding plant area or plant component 8, while at the trigger point only an acknowledgement function is to be performed with the smartphone 10. For example, a malfunction may have occurred in the conveyor system in the area of the system component 9, for example because a material to be conveyed has become jammed on the conveyor system. After the jamming of the material to be conveyed has been removed manually, the operator of the system can use his smartphone 10 to transmit corre- sponding acknowledgement information about the removal of the fault to the control device 1. For this purpose, only the QR code tag 13 has to be photographed and by means of the localization and identification infor- mation contained in the QR code, it can be confirmed to the control de- vice 1 that the malfunction has been eliminated. For this purpose, the smartphone 10 can forward the localization and identification information of the QR code directly to the control device 1 via the WLAN connection without further processing or, after internal evaluation of the identification and localization information, the smartphone 10 can also forward the in- formation about the system component 9 to the control device 1 via the — WLAN network.
[0042] Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment of a radio tag 11", in which an emergency stop switch 14 is integrated into the radio tag 11 ', so that no further separate emergency stop switch 12 needs to be provided in the corresponding plant area or plant component 8 as in the embodi- ment of Figure 1. The radio tag 11 ' can accordingly be arranged on a component 15 in the corresponding plant area or the plant component 8, whereby a direct signal line is provided between the emergency stop switch 14 and the corresponding components of the plant area in order to enable the emergency stop.
[0043] Figure 3 shows in greater detail the interaction between the smartphone 10 and the system component 9, which is provided with a OR code tag 13 as an identification and localization device.
[0044] Moreover, as can be seen from Figure 4 with the enlarged repre- sentation of the OR code tag 13, in addition to the OR code with the bina- — ry localization and identification information, the OR code tag can also contain the corresponding localization and identification information in another form, for example a normalized representation for reading by the user.
[0045] Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, it is self-evident to the person skilled in the art that the invention may be modified in such a way that individual fea- tures are omitted or different combinations of features are realized, as long as the scope of protection of the appended claims is not abandoned. In particular, the present disclosure encompasses all combinations of the individual features presented.
[0046] In the illustration of the embodiments, the radio tag 11 has been described for use at an opera-ting point, while that OR code tag 13 has been illustrated for use at a trigger point. However, a radio tag can of course also be used at a trigger point or a OR code tag can be used at an operating point. Furthermore, instead of a OR code tag, bar code tags or other two-dimensional codes can also be used. Similarly, other near-field communication devices may be used instead of the radio tag in the form of an RFID - tag.
[0047] The present invention has been described with reference to an embodiment in the field of conveyor technology with components such as roller conveyors, belt conveyors and the like. However, it is readily appar- ent to those skilled in the art that the corresponding invention is also ap- plicable to the control of other eguipment or components of eguipment. In particular, the invention can be used for logistics systems, handling and/or loading systems, for example in connection with order picking systems, with their corresponding components, such as conveyors, stacker cranes, palletizing and depalletizing systems and the like.