Remote control method

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of additive manufacturing, and relates to a remote control method, which comprises the following steps that: 1) a remote end MCS and an equipment end MCS establish a first communication connection, the remote end MCS is a client of the first communication connection, and the equipment end MCS is a server of the first communication connection; 2) the remote end MCS sends a request to the equipment end MCS through the first communication connection, wherein the request comprises an equipment data request, a file printing request and / or a remote control request; and 3) the remote end MCS receives a response message returned from the equipment end MCS, wherein the response message corresponds to the request in the step 2). The remote control method provided by the invention can improve the plant and equipment management efficiency and reduce the manpower inspection cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of additive manufacturing, and relates to a remote control method, in particular to a remote control method for additive manufacturing equipment. Background Art

[0002] At present, the remote control technology of 3D printing equipment on the market is usually based on the Web to achieve remote monitoring and management. However, due to the large number of factories and equipment, the cost of manual inspection is relatively high. The method based on the Web cannot remotely control the equipment, but only monitor the status of the equipment, resulting in low management efficiency of factory equipment. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In order to solve the above technical problems in the background art, the present invention provides a remote control method that can improve the management efficiency of factories and equipment and reduce the cost of manual inspection.

[0004] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0005] A remote control method, characterized in that: the remote control method includes the following steps:

[0006] 1) The remote MCS establishes a first communication connection with the device MCS. The remote MCS is the client of the first communication connection, and the device MCS is the server of the first communication connection;

[0007] 2) The remote MCS sends a request to the device MCS through the first communication connection. The request includes a device data request, a print file request, and / or a remote control request;

[0008] 3) The remote MCS receives a response message returned from the device MCS. The response message corresponds to the request in step 2).

[0009] When the request in step 2) is a device data request, the response message in step 3) includes device data;

[0010] When the request in step 2) is a print file request, the response message in step 3) includes a print file;

[0011] When the request in step 2) is a remote control request, the response message in step 3) is to receive remote control or reject remote control.

[0012] The above device data includes device status, printing parameters, and printing logs; the device status includes no-task standby status, task standby status, running status, manual pause status, and fault pause status; the printing parameters include powder spreading parameters, laser parameters, scanning path parameters, printing time parameters, printed part parameters, and current printing parameters; the printing logs include log files, fault information, and the printed vector of the current layer;

[0013] The printing file includes a laser scanning slice file, and the laser scanning slice file includes path planning data, laser parameters, and axis movement parameters;

[0014] The receiving of remote control is that the remote MCS takes over the device MCS, and the remote MCS monitors and controls the device.

[0015] When the request in step 2) above is a remote control request, before the remote MCS sends a remote control request to the device MCS, the remote control method further includes a step of establishing a second communication connection between the remote MCS and the device PLC. Through the second communication connection, the remote MCS monitors and controls the device.

[0016] When the response message in step 3) above is receiving remote control, the remote MCS monitors and controls the device through the device PLC using the second communication connection.

[0017] The above remote MCS monitors the device through the device PLC using the second communication connection by obtaining each variable of the device PLC; the remote MCS controls the device through the device PLC using the second communication connection includes controlling the electrical components of the device.

[0018] The above remote MCS monitors and controls the device through the device PLC using the second communication connection in a specific way of reading and writing the variables of the device PLC, controlling the start and stop of the laser through the device PLC, controlling the rotation of the mechanical axis through the device PLC, controlling the start and stop of the powder feeder through the device PLC, controlling the start and stop of the fan through the device PLC, controlling the start and stop of the filter through the device PLC, setting or modifying device parameters through the device PLC, loading the laser scanning slice file through the device PLC, and obtaining the error information of the device PLC, which is a combination of one or more of them.

[0019] The termination condition for the above remote MCS to monitor and control the device through the device PLC using the second communication connection is that the device MCS manually retrieves the device control authority or the device MCS automatically retrieves the control authority when the connection of the remote MCS is disconnected.

[0020] The above device PLC is a Beckhoff PLC.

[0021] The above second communication connection is a communication connection via the ADS communication protocol.

[0022] The above first communication connection is a communication connection via the gRPC communication protocol.

[0023] The advantages of the present invention are:

[0024] The present invention provides a remote control method, including: 1) The remote - end MCS establishes a first communication connection with the device - end MCS. The remote - end MCS is the client of the first communication connection, and the device - end MCS is the server of the first communication connection; 2) The remote - end MCS sends requests to the device - end MCS via the first communication connection. The requests include device data requests, print file requests, and / or remote control requests; 3) The remote - end MCS receives response messages returned from the device - end MCS, and the response messages correspond to the requests in step 2). Among them, the first communication connection is a communication connection via the gRPC communication protocol. The present invention creatively realizes the takeover of the device - end MCS by the remote - end MCS through the gRPC communication protocol; it can also realize the remote control of the device's electrical components by the remote - end through the ADS communication protocol. That is, the present invention combines the gRPC communication protocol and the ADS communication protocol to implement the overall solution for remote control of printing devices, which can achieve unmanned inspection and improve the management efficiency of factory equipment. At the same time, the present invention can view the printing status and device status of multiple devices through the same remote - end and control the devices, etc., reducing the labor cost of device inspection. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the process of the remote control method provided by the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0026] See Figure 1 , the core concept of the remote control method provided by the present invention is: establishing a communication connection between the remote - end and the device - end to achieve remote communication between the remote - end and the device - end, as well as remote control of the device - end by the remote - end. For example, the remote - end monitors the status of the device - end, and the remote - end manages the printing tasks of the device - end, etc.

[0027] Specifically, the remote control method provided by the present invention specifically includes the following steps:

[0028] 1) The remote - end MCS establishes a first communication connection with the device - end MCS. Exemplarily, the first communication connection is a communication connection established via the gRPC communication protocol.

[0029] The gRPC (Google Remote Procedure Call) communication protocol is a powerful RPC framework that provides high performance, high availability, and a simple user experience. It is suitable for various application scenarios, such as cloud computing, microservices architecture, and real-time data processing. This communication protocol consists of a client and a server, and only the client can initiate a request to the server actively. In this application, the MCS software installed on the printing device is called the device-side MCS, which is used to control the device, read the device status, manage printing tasks, etc.; the MCS software installed on the remote side is called the remote-side MCS, which is used to connect to the device-side MCS. When the remote-side MCS connects to the device, it connects to the device-side MCS software. Set the remote-side MCS as the gRPC client and the device-side MCS as the gRPC server. In this way, based on this protocol, only the remote-side MCS can actively send requests to the device-side MCS, so that the remote-side MCS realizes remote takeover of the device-side MCS through the gRPC communication protocol. When the remote-side MCS and the device-side MCS establish communication, only the IP and port number of the device-side MCS need to be set, and then the gRPC communication protocol will automatically establish a connection. This is a conventional setting based on the gRPC communication protocol.

[0030] 2) The remote-side MCS sends a request to the device-side MCS through the first communication connection (such as a gRPC communication connection). The remote-side MCS sending a request to the device-side MCS through the gRPC communication connection can be considered as the remote-side MCS sending a request to the device-side MCS based on the gRPC communication protocol. As previously recorded, based on the gRPC communication protocol, only the remote-side MCS can send requests to the device-side MCS. Exemplarily, the request can be a device data request, a print file request, and / or a remote control request;

[0031] 3) The remote-side MCS receives the response message returned from the device-side MCS, and the response message corresponds to the content of the request recorded above.

[0032] Among them, when the request sent by the remote MCS to the device MCS is for device data, exemplarily, the device data includes various data on the device MCS, such as device status, printing parameters, and printing logs, etc. The device status includes no-task standby status, task standby status, running status, manual pause status, and fault pause status, etc.; the printing parameters include various parameters during the printing process, such as powder spreading parameters, laser parameters, scanning path parameters, printing time parameters, printed part parameters, current printing parameters, and other printing parameters. Specifically, the printing time parameters include printing start time, elapsed time, remaining time, pause time, etc., the printed part parameters include total part height, total layer thickness, etc., the current printing parameters include the current printing layer number, current Z-axis position, etc., and other printing parameters include the number of pauses, whether to add a scanned file, whether the printing program is being executed, whether the repair program is being executed, etc.; the printing log includes log files, fault information, and the printed vector of the current layer, etc., which is used for the remote MCS to synchronize the status of the device MCS.

[0033] When the request sent by the remote MCS to the device MCS is for a printing file, exemplarily, the printing file includes a laser scanning slice file (NC file), and the laser scanning slice file includes path planning data, laser parameters, and axis movement parameters, etc. The remote MCS obtaining the laser scanning slice file of the device means synchronizing the laser scanning slice file to the remote end.

[0034] When the request sent by the remote MCS to the device MCS is a remote control request, the response message received by the remote MCS is to accept remote control or reject remote control. Among them, accepting remote control means that the remote MCS takes over the device MCS, and the remote MCS monitors and controls the device. Exemplarily, when a user plans to remotely control the printing task of a certain device, the remote MCS can send a remote control request to the device MCS, thereby realizing the takeover of the device MCS. After the takeover, the remote MCS replaces the device MCS and manages the printing task of the device, such as realizing functions like starting a printing task, pausing a printing task, and canceling a printing task. That is to say, the user can manage the printing task of the device by operating on the remote MCS, without the need for on-site operation of the device, improving the device management efficiency.

[0035] It can be understood that the device data request, the print file request, and the remote control request are usually different request messages. That is to say, the request message sent by the remote MCS to the device MCS is a combination of one or more of the foregoing requests. Generally, the remote MCS sends various requests to the device MCS through the gRPC communication protocol to achieve various control and setting purposes. For example, after the remote MCS sends a device data request and / or a print file request to the device MCS, the device MCS can directly send a response message to the remote MCS, and the remote MCS receives the response message, which includes the data content of the device data request and / or the print file request; after the remote MCS sends a remote control request to the device MCS, after the device MCS returns an acknowledgment message to the remote MCS, it can be considered that the remote MCS takes over the device MCS. It should be noted that usually whether the remote MCS sends a remote control request to the device MCS is determined by the user according to the actual situation. Whether the remote MCS takes over the device MCS or not, the remote MCS can request device data and print files from the device MCS.

[0036] In some implementations, before the remote - end MCS takes over the device - end MCS through a remote - control request, the remote - control method further includes establishing a second communication connection between the remote - end MCS and the device - end PLC. Exemplarily, the second communication connection can be a communication connection established through the ADS communication protocol. Among them, the ADS (Automation Device Specification) communication protocol is a communication method for data interaction based on UDP broadcast to find routes. ADS communication has the advantages of supporting other communication protocols such as TCP / UP, HTTP, and serial ports, and because it is based on UDP broadcast, it also has the advantage of relatively fast communication speed. The remote - end MCS establishes a connection with the device - end PLC through the ADS protocol, and then realizes remote control of the device - end by controlling the PLC. In this way, after the remote - end MCS takes over the device - end MCS, the remote - end MCS can control each electrical device by controlling the device - end PLC. For example, when the remote - end MCS manages the printing task of the device, if the printing task is to start the printing task, the remote - end MCS can control the device - end PLC to turn on the laser for printing; for another example, when starting the printing task, the remote - end MCS can also control the device - end PLC to adjust the movement of various axes (such as the Z - axis); for another example, if it is necessary to adjust the oxygen content in the forming chamber when starting the printing task, then before starting the printing task, the remote - end MCS can also control the device - end PLC to turn on the fan, etc. That is to say, after the remote - end MCS establishes a connection with the device - end PLC, when it is necessary to control each electrical device of the device during printing task management, the remote - end MCS can control the corresponding electrical device by controlling the device - end PLC, including but not limited to controlling the laser to turn on or pause, controlling the movement of various axes, controlling the powder feeder to feed powder, controlling the opening, closing, and duration of the fan, controlling the opening or closing of the filter, modifying the device laser parameters, motor parameters, powder - feeding parameters, gas parameters, and controlling the loading of NC files. In addition, after the remote - end MCS establishes an ADS connection with the device - end PLC and the remote - end MCS takes over the device - end MCS, the remote - end MCS can continuously obtain each variable on the device - end PLC through the ADS communication protocol, and then can realize remote monitoring of the device; if an abnormality occurs during monitoring, the remote - end MCS can control the corresponding electrical device of the device by controlling the device - end PLC. Exemplarily, the device - end PLC can be a Beckhoff PLC. Specifically, the remote - end MCS realizes the control of the corresponding electrical device of the device by controlling the device - end PLC, which can be that the remote - end MCS sends an instruction to the device - end PLC, and then remotely controls the device.Exemplarily, after the remote MCS establishes an ADS communication connection with the device-side PLC, the remote MCS continuously obtains various variables on the device-side PLC through ADS communication, and then monitors the device status. If an oxygen content alarm is detected, it means that gas washing is required. Then, the instruction content sent by the remote MCS to the device-side PLC can be to control the start / stop, working duration, and rotation speed of the fan, etc., to achieve remote monitoring and remote control of the device.

[0037] In this solution, the gRPC communication protocol and the ADS communication protocol work independently of each other in the present invention.

[0038] When the remote MCS takes over the device-side MCS through a remote control request, the device-side MCS cannot perform any operations at this time. The device-side MCS can manually retrieve the permission, or automatically retrieve the permission when the connection of the remote MCS is disconnected. When the device-side MCS manually retrieves the permission, the remote MCS will automatically disconnect, and at this time, the device-side MCS can continue to operate the device.

[0039] Exemplarily, taking the establishment of a gRPC communication connection and an ADS communication connection between the remote MCS and the device-side MCS as an example, the interaction (including requests and response messages corresponding to the request content) between the remote MCS and the device-side MCS is as follows:

[0040] Situation A: The remote MCS continuously requests the device status, and the device-side MCS transmits the device status back to the remote MCS through the gRPC communication protocol. The device status includes states such as no-task standby state, task standby state, running state, manual pause state, and fault pause state, etc.; and the remote MCS can monitor the hardware status of each device in real time through the ADS communication protocol;

[0041] Situation B: When the device is in the no-task standby state: At this time, the remote MCS only requests the device status from the device-side MCS; the device-side MCS transmits the device status back to the remote MCS through the gRPC communication protocol;

[0042] Situation C: When the device is in the task standby state: At this time, the remote MCS requests the laser scanning slice file loaded on the device from the device-side MCS; in this case, the device-side MCS transmits the laser scanning slice file back to the remote MCS through the gRPC communication protocol, and the remote MCS can also control the device-side PLC through the ADS communication to control the device-side MCS to cancel the printing task;

[0043] Situation D: When the device is in the running / manual pause / fault pause state: At this time, the remote MCS requests the laser scanning slice file loaded by the device, the vectors printed in the current layer, and the fault information from the device MCS; in this case, the device MCS transmits the laser scanning slice file back to the remote MCS through the gRPC communication protocol, and the remote MCS can also control the device-side PLC through ADS communication to control operations such as pausing printing and canceling printing on the device MCS.

[0044] The system designed by the present invention can remotely control multiple devices, but only one device can be controlled at the same time. Simply switching the gRPC server address and ADS server address of the connected device can successfully switch to different devices for remote control.

[0045] The present invention creatively realizes the takeover of the device MCS by the remote MCS through the gRPC communication protocol; it can also realize the remote control of the device's electrical components by the remote end through the ADS communication protocol. That is, the overall solution for remotely controlling the printing device by combining the gRPC communication protocol and the ADS communication protocol in the present invention can realize an automated production line without manual inspection. By viewing the printing status and device status of multiple devices from the same remote end and controlling the devices, etc., it improves the efficiency of plant equipment management and reduces the labor cost of equipment inspection.

Claims

1. A remote control method, characterized in that: The remote control method comprises the following steps: 1) The remote-end MCS establishes a first communication connection with the device-end MCS, wherein the remote-end MCS is a client of the first communication connection and the device-end MCS is a server of the first communication connection; 2) The remote-end MCS sends a request to the device-end MCS through the first communication connection, wherein the request includes a device data request, a print file request and / or a remote control request; 3) The remote-side MCS receives a response message returned from the device-side MCS, where the response message corresponds to the request in step 2).

2. The remote control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the request in step 2) is a device data request, the response message in step 3) includes device data; When the request in step 2) is a request for printing a file, the response message in step 3) includes the printing file; When the request in step 2) is a remote control request, the response message in step 3) is to accept the remote control or reject the remote control.

3. The remote control method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The device data includes device status, printing parameters and printing log; the device status includes no-task standby status, task standby status, running status, manual pause status and fault pause status; the printing parameters include powder laying parameters, laser parameters, scanning path parameters, printing time parameters, printing part parameters and current printing parameters; The printing log includes a log file, fault information and a printed vector of the current layer; The printing file includes a laser scanning slicing file, and the laser scanning slicing file includes path planning data, laser parameters, and axis motion parameters; The receiving remote control is that the remote-end MCS takes over the device-end MCS, and the remote-end MCS monitors and controls the device-end.

4. The remote control method according to claim 3, characterized in that: When the request in step 2) is a remote control request, before the remote-end MCS sends a remote control request to the device-end MCS, the remote control method also includes a step of establishing a second communication connection between the remote-end MCS and the device-end PLC, and through the second communication connection, the remote-end MCS monitors and controls the device end.

5. The remote control method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The response message in step 3) is when receiving remote control, the remote-end MCS uses the second communication connection to monitor and control the device end through the device-end PLC.

6. The remote control method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The remote-end MCS uses the second communication connection to monitor the device end through the device-end PLC to obtain various variables of the device-end PLC; The remote-end MCS uses the second communication connection to control the device end through the device-end PLC, including controlling the electrical components of the device end.

7. The remote control method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The remote-end MCS uses the second communication connection to monitor and control the device end through the device-end PLC, specifically by reading and writing variables of the device-end PLC, controlling the start and stop of the laser through the device-end PLC, controlling the rotation of the mechanical shaft through the device-end PLC, controlling the start and stop of the powder feeder through the device-end PLC, controlling the start and stop of the fan through the device-end PLC, controlling the start and stop of the filter through the device-end PLC, setting or modifying device parameters through the device-end PLC, loading laser scanning slicing files through the device-end PLC, and obtaining one or more combinations of error information from the device-end PLC.

8. The remote control method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The termination condition for the remote-end MCS to monitor and control the device end through the device-end PLC using the second communication connection is: the device-end MCS manually retrieves the device control authority or the remote-end MCS connection is disconnected and the device-end MCS automatically retrieves the control authority.

9. The remote control method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The second communication connection is a communication connection performed through the ADS communication protocol.

10. The remote control method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The first communication connection is a communication connection performed via the gRPC communication protocol.

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