A logistics system simulation test platform

Abstract

The application provides a logistics system simulation test platform, which comprises a simulation test system, a simulation lower computer, a simulation upper computer and a PLC controller of a logistics system, wherein the simulation lower computer is used for receiving control instructions sent by the simulation upper computer and the PLC controller of the logistics system, and feeding back photoelectric signals generated by the control instructions to the PLC controller and a motion controller of the logistics system; the simulation lower computer is also used for obtaining feedback data of the PLC controller and an encoder of the logistics system to calculate photoelectric states of a cargo position, a translation part and a lifting part of the logistics system, and feeding back the photoelectric states to the simulation upper computer; and the simulation upper computer is used for displaying environmental information according to the photoelectric states, and adjusting and modifying parameter information of the photoelectric states. The logistics system is simulated by the simulation test system, so that the test efficiency is improved and the test cost is reduced.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of logistics system simulation test, in particular to a logistics system simulation test platform. BACKGROUND

[0002] The logistics system needs to be tested to ensure normal operation of the system under long-term on-site debugging by multiple engineers, there are different use sites and customized needs, the test environment is not clear and sufficient, which greatly increases the subsequent maintenance cycle and cost. In order to facilitate engineers to simulate test and debug the logistics system according to the abnormal situation on site, save the cost of on-site test and debugging, it is necessary to propose a logistics system simulation test platform. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application provides a logistics system simulation test platform, which comprises a simulation test system for simulating test of the logistics system; the logistics system is regarded as a system under test. It is known that the logistics system is an existing logistics system for sorting goods, which comprises a lifting part and a translation part, a PC terminal host computer, a motion controller, a PLC controller, and an HMI human-computer interaction terminal. An operator interacts with the HMI human-computer interaction terminal, and the interaction information is uploaded to the PLC controller. The PLC controller controls the operation of the lifting part and the translation part through the motion controller according to the interaction information. The motion controller is a STEP controller. The lifting part comprises a lift with a car. The translation part comprises an external conveyor of the lift and an internal conveyor of the lift car. The car of the lift moves up and down in the shaft, and the internal conveyor of the lift car is arranged in the car of the lift and can be connected with the external conveyor of the lift to convey goods. The number of external conveyors of the lift is multiple, and the multiple external conveyors of the lift are connected to form an external conveyor group for conveying goods.

[0004] The simulation test system comprises a simulation host computer and a simulation slave computer. The simulation slave computer is used for receiving control instructions sent by the simulation host computer and the PLC controller of the logistics system, and feeding back photoelectric signals generated by the control instructions to the PLC controller and the motion controller of the logistics system. The simulation slave computer is also used for obtaining feedback data of the PLC controller and the encoder of the logistics system to calculate the position of the goods, the photoelectric state of the translation part and the lifting part of the logistics system, and feeding back the photoelectric state to the simulation host computer. The simulation host computer is used for displaying environmental information according to the photoelectric state, and adjusting and modifying parameter information of the photoelectric state.

[0005] In one specific implementation, the lifting part comprises a lift with a car; the translation part comprises an external conveyor of the lift and an internal conveyor of the lift car; the car of the lift moves up and down in the shaft, and the internal conveyor of the lift car is arranged in the car of the lift and can be connected to the external conveyor of the lift to convey goods.

[0006] In one specific implementation, the photoelectric state comprises a photoelectric state of the car of the lift in the shaft and a photoelectric state of the external conveyor of the lift and the internal conveyor of the lift car.

[0007] In one specific implementation, the environmental information displayed by the simulation host computer comprises running state information of the lift, the external conveyor of the lift and the internal conveyor of the lift car.

[0008] In one specific implementation, the simulation host computer is a host computer that can adaptively adjust the display interface.

[0009] In one specific implementation, the motion controller obtains feedback data from the encoder, and the feedback data obtained is consistent with the feedback data obtained by the simulation slave computer from the encoder.

[0010] In one specific implementation, the simulation slave computer communicates with the PLC controller through the Profinet communication protocol.

[0011] In one specific implementation, the number of external conveyors of the lift is multiple, and the multiple external conveyors of the lift are connected to form an external conveyor group for conveying goods.

[0012] In one specific implementation, the car of the lift is a double-door car.

[0013] In one specific implementation, the logistics system further comprises an HMI human-computer interaction terminal for issuing operation instructions to the PLC controller.

[0014] As can be seen from the above description, the logistics system is simulated by the simulation test system, which can efficiently and at low cost realize the simulation of goods transmission; the logic of goods is calculated in real time, the input and output of simulated physical signal points are realized through communication, and the simulation test system can be disturbed by human forced signal points to ensure the stability of the simulation test system, so that some difficult tests can be realized and the test efficiency is improved.

[0015] The application solves the simulation control and signal feedback of the external conveyor group, solves the photoelectric limit state output of the internal conveyor of the elevator car, and solves the simulation operation required by the loading and unloading of goods, which helps to reduce the time for on-site debugging and testing, reduce the travel cost, improve the efficiency, accelerate the maturation of the modularization of the hoist control system, minimize the logistics system, save the cost of the test bench peripheral equipment, and therefore the application can improve the test efficiency and reduce the test cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 The schematic diagram of the architecture of the logistics system simulation test platform provided by the embodiment of the application is shown in FIG. 1.

[0017] Figure 2 The photoelectric distribution schematic diagram of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 2.

[0018] Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the running information of the conveyor displayed on the simulation upper computer is shown in FIG. 3.

[0019] Figure 4 The schematic diagram of the running parameter of the conveyor set on the simulation upper computer is shown in FIG. 4.

[0020] Figure 5 The schematic diagram of the normal running state of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 5.

[0021] Figure 6 The schematic diagram of the selection of the forced function of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 6.

[0022] Figure 7 The schematic diagram of the selection of the forced function 1 of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 7.

[0023] Figure 8 The schematic diagram of the phenomenon of the selection of the forced function 1 of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 8.

[0024] Figure 9 The schematic diagram of the selection of the forced function 0 of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 9.

[0025] Figure 10 The schematic diagram of the phenomenon of the selection of the forced function 0 of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 10.

[0026] Figure 11 The schematic diagram of the cancellation of the forced function of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 11.

[0027] Figure 12 The schematic diagram of the phenomenon of the cancellation of the forced function of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 12.

[0028] Figures 13-20 The schematic diagram of the use of the forced loading and unloading function of the conveyor is shown in FIG. 13. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0030] In order to facilitate understanding of the logistics system simulation test platform provided by the embodiments of the present application, first of all, the application scenario of the logistics system simulation test platform will be described. The logistics system simulation test platform refers to Figure 1 The architecture diagram of the logistics system simulation test platform is shown. The logistics system simulation test platform includes a simulation test system 2, which is used for simulating the test of a logistics system 1; the logistics system 1 is a system to be tested. As known, the logistics system 1 is an existing logistics system for sorting goods, which includes a lifting part and a translation part, as well as a PC terminal host computer 11, a motion controller 12, a PLC controller 13, and an HMI human-computer interaction terminal 14. An operator interacts with the HMI human-computer interaction terminal 14, sends interactive information of operation instructions to the PLC controller 13 through the HMI human-computer interaction terminal 14, uploads the interactive information to the PLC controller 13, and the PLC controller 13 controls the lifting part and the translation part to run through the motion controller 12 according to the interactive information.

[0031] In the embodiments of the present application, the lifting part includes a lift with a car, and the car of the lift is a double-door car; the translation part includes an external conveyor of the lift and an internal conveyor of the lift car; the car of the lift moves up and down in the shaft, and the internal conveyor of the lift car is arranged in the car of the lift and can be connected with the external conveyor of the lift to convey goods. The number of the external conveyors of the lift is multiple, and the multiple external conveyors of the lift are connected with each other to form an external conveyor group for conveying goods.

[0032] Continuing to refer to Figure 1 , the simulation test system 2 includes a simulation host computer 21 and a simulation slave computer 22. The simulation slave computer 22 is used for receiving control instructions sent by the simulation host computer 21 and the PLC controller 13 of the logistics system 1, and feeding back photoelectric signals generated by the control instructions to the PLC controller 13 and the motion controller 12 of the logistics system 1. The simulation slave computer 22 is also used for obtaining feedback data of the PLC controller 13 and the encoder of the logistics system 1 to calculate the position of the goods, the photoelectric state of the translation part and the lifting part of the logistics system 1, and feed back the photoelectric state to the simulation host computer 21. The simulation host computer 21 is used for displaying environmental information according to the photoelectric state, and for adjusting and modifying parameter information of the photoelectric state. The simulation slave computer 22 communicates and interacts information with the PLC controller 13 of the logistics system 1 through the Profinet communication protocol.

[0033] In the embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned photoelectric state includes the photoelectric state of the car of the lift in the shaft, and the photoelectric state of the external conveyor of the lift and the internal conveyor of the lift car. Referring to Figure 2, the photoelectric of the elevator, the photoelectric of the outside conveyor of the elevator and the photoelectric of the inside conveyor of the elevator can be classified into many types, and can be roughly classified into the photoelectric in the shaft of the elevator, the photoelectric in the car of the elevator and the detection and protection photoelectric of the outside conveyor of the elevator according to the physical position.

[0034] Specifically, the photoelectric in the shaft of the elevator can be classified into the upper and lower stop photoelectric, the deceleration photoelectric, the stop photoelectric of the upper level protection, the floor photoelectric used by the floor. The photoelectric in the car of the elevator can be classified into the stop photoelectric used for the feedback signal of the control of the goods in the car, the collapse photoelectric used for ensuring that the position of the goods does not affect the operation of the elevator. The detection and protection photoelectric of the outside conveyor of the elevator can be classified into the forklift photoelectric used for the detection of the goods on the forklift, the stop photoelectric used for distinguishing the position of the stop of the positive / negative transportation, the intrusion photoelectric used for preventing the stop position of the goods from being too close to the shaft, and the shape detection photoelectric used for preventing the goods from exceeding the volume of the car of the elevator. Figure 2

[0035] In the embodiment of the present application, the environmental information displayed by the simulation host computer 21 includes the running state information of the elevator, the outside conveyor of the elevator and the inside conveyor of the car of the elevator. The simulation host computer 21 is a host computer which can self-adaptively adjust the display interface. When the simulation host computer 21 displays the environmental information according to the photoelectric state, it is also used for adjusting and modifying the parameter information of the photoelectric state. For details, please refer to Figure 4 Through the simulation host computer 21, the translation parameter information of the conveyor of the logistics system 1 (the conveyor includes the outside conveyor of the elevator and the inside conveyor of the car of the elevator) and the lifting parameter information of the elevator can be modified and set. The translation parameter of the conveyor of the logistics system 1 (the conveyor includes the outside conveyor of the elevator and the inside conveyor of the car of the elevator) includes the length of the goods, the translation speed, the number of conveyors, the length of the conveyor, the distance between the photoelectric and the edge and other parameter information. The lifting parameter of the elevator of the logistics system 1 includes the total height of the floor, the number of floors, the distance between floors, the length of the deceleration baffle, the length of other baffles, the deceleration ratio, the number of millimeters per circle and other parameter information.

[0036] In the embodiment of the present application, the motion controller 12 obtains the feedback data from the encoder, and the feedback data obtained is consistent with the feedback data obtained by the simulation host computer 22 from the encoder. For details, please refer to Figure 1 ​, the feedback data acquired by the simulation lower computer 22 from the encoder is the pulse signal sent by the encoder, and the cumulative pulse value can be forcibly calibrated under the multiplexing specific condition that the encoder simultaneously sends a pulse signal to the motion controller 12. Specifically, referring to Figures 5-12 , the forced calibration of the encoder cumulative pulse value includes the forced function of 1 or 0, and the forced yellow marker will be lit. Referring to Figures 13-20 , the forced calibration of the encoder cumulative pulse value also includes the forced loading and unloading functions, which can support the internal conveyor of the elevator car and any external conveyor of the elevator to quickly clear the residual cargo data in the logistics system 1 under abnormal operating conditions.

[0037] In the embodiment of the present application, the HMI human-computer interaction terminal 14 of the logistics system 1 is used as a user operation terminal, and the user completes the task allocation before the goods enter the logistics system 1 through the HMI human-computer interaction terminal 14, confirms the departure point and arrival point of the goods, and issues a task to the PLC controller 13 of the logistics system 1. The PLC controller 13 controls the operation of the elevator and the external conveyor group, interacts with the HMI human-computer interaction terminal 14 to obtain user requirements (transportation of goods, handling of abnormal conditions, etc.), interacts with the motion controller 12 of the logistics system 1 to achieve control of the goods entering and leaving the elevator car, and interacts with the simulation lower computer 22 to obtain simulation information of the external conveyor group in the logistics system 1 (mainly the physical calculation-based photoelectric limit state of each external conveyor group), and controls the operation of the simulated peripheral conveyor group of the simulation lower computer 22 to obtain the data basis of the physical calculation, and the translation operation state of the motion controller 12 is also provided to the simulation lower computer 22 to obtain the horizontal movement data in the shaft.

[0038] The motion controller 12 and the PLC controller 13 interact with each other to achieve stable operation of the logistics system 1. For example, the motion controller 12 is used to confirm whether the task given by the PLC controller 13 is legal, and only reasonable tasks can be responded to (task data is abnormal, the task cannot reach the corresponding position under known conditions, etc.), otherwise an exception identifier is returned to the PLC controller 13; the motion controller 12 controls the operation of the elevator and the internal conveyor of the elevator car; the motion controller 12 interacts with the PC terminal upper computer 11 of the logistics system 1 to achieve the purpose that professional personnel can debug important data related to the field machine; the motion controller 12 also acquires data feedback from the encoder, which is consistent with the feedback data acquired by the simulation lower computer 22 from the encoder. The motion controller 12 is the main test object, and the test strategy adopted is to simulate the missing parts (shaft, external conveyor group) according to the field configuration to ensure that the motion controller 12 can be tested using the program version used in the field, thereby avoiding the cost brought by program maintenance.

[0039] The PC host computer 11 is a professional debugging terminal, used to control the motion controller 12 to run and obtain the state data of the motion controller 12. The PC host computer 11 and the HMI human-computer interaction terminal 14 have the same functions, but have more permissions to optimize the system, and are only used by professionals before the terminal is delivered on site. The external conveyor group is simulated by the simulation slave computer 22 to perfect the structure of the entire logistics system 1, and to test the program of the PLC controller 13 under the premise of cooperating with the test motion controller 12. The test motion controller 12 must have an external conveyor group to perform cargo relay, so it is inevitable to consider how to simulate the demand of the external conveyor group. The external conveyor group is simulated by the simulation slave computer 22, which displays the physical phenomena that should exist in the logistics system 1 through physical calculation, covering the photoelectric information of the entire logistics system 1.

[0040] In the embodiment of the present application, the simulation test system 2 includes a simulation slave computer 22 and a simulation host computer 21. The simulation slave computer 22 simulates the physical structure of the entire logistics system 1, including the hoist, the external conveyor group, and all photoelectric limit states in the shaft where the hoist is located. The simulation host computer 21 obtains the simulation environment information calculated based on the simulation slave computer 22 and displays it, and is also used to adjust the parameter information of the simulation test system 2 and can manually intervene in the states of each photoelectric limit and the goods on the hoist and the external conveyor group.

[0041] Specifically, the simulation slave computer 22 communicates with the PLC controller 13 to obtain the running states of the external conveyor group and the internal conveyor of the hoist car, to calculate the position of the goods and the photoelectric state of the system translation part, and to feed back the photoelectric state of the external conveyor group to the PLC controller 13 to adapt to the photoelectric limit logic required by the PLC controller 13. The simulation slave computer 22 also obtains the data feedback consistent with that obtained by the motion controller 12 from the encoder to calculate the position of the hoist car in the shaft (including the function of forcibly resetting the cumulative values of both encoders) and the photoelectric state in the hoist part of the shaft, and to transmit the photoelectric limit information in the shaft to the corresponding digital (physical) input end of the motion controller 12 through its own digital (physical) output end to adapt to the actual on-site use.

[0042] In addition, the simulation lower computer 22 communicates with the simulation upper computer 21, uploads simulation parameters, goods information and positions in the simulation environment, and the simulation upper computer 21 is used to visually display the simulation calculated environment and goods state. The simulation lower computer 22 also receives the simulation upper computer 21 for the configuration modification request of the simulation lower computer 22 simulation environment, receives the simulation upper computer 21 for the forced operation of the photoelectric limit, and also receives the simulation upper computer 21 for the forced operation of the goods (the goods can be stripped out of the logistics system 1 under any condition, and the photoelectric change logic caused by the integrated outermost conveyor side forklift loading and unloading is used to complement the real physical environment in the logistics system 1.

[0043] The simulation upper computer 21 obtains the simulation environment information calculated based on the simulation lower computer 22, displays it, adjusts various parameter information of the simulation test system 2, and can manually intervene in the state of each photoelectric limit and the goods on the group of elevators and external conveyors. The simulation upper computer 21 complements all manual operations in the logistics system 1 except the task functions possessed by the HMI human-computer interaction terminal 14. By visually displaying the simulation calculated environment and goods state on the simulation upper computer 21, some abnormal conditions that are difficult to occur in the field can be considered, so as to test the stability of the logistics system 1.

[0044] From the above description, it can be seen that the simulation test system 2 can efficiently and low-costly realize the simulation of goods transmission, real-time calculation of goods logic, input and output of simulation physical signal points through communication, and disturbance of the simulation test system 2 through the way of human forced signal points to ensure the stability of the simulation test system 2, so as to realize some difficult tests and improve the test efficiency.

[0045] The application adopts a digital twin design concept, simulates the logistics system 1 through the simulation test system 2, maps various properties of physical equipment to a virtual space, forms a digital mirror that can be disassembled, copied, transferred, modified, deleted, and repeatedly operated, greatly accelerates the understanding of physical entities by operators, and can make many operations that were originally limited by physical conditions and had to rely on real physical entities, such as simulation and simulation, become tools within reach. At present, it is difficult to accurately predict the logistics system 1, but by adopting the digital twin concept, the data collection of the Internet of Things, the processing of big data, and the modeling analysis of artificial intelligence can be combined to realize the evaluation of the current state, the diagnosis of past problems, and the prediction of future trends, and provide analysis results, simulate various possibilities, and provide more comprehensive decision support. Moreover, for various fault characteristics of large equipment (such as hoists and external conveyor groups) of the logistics system 1 during operation, historical data of sensors can be trained through machine learning to form digital feature models for different fault phenomena, and combined with expert processing records, they can be used as a basis for accurate decision-making on future equipment fault states, and can enrich and update the feature library for different new forms of faults, and ultimately form autonomous intelligent diagnosis and decision-making.

[0046] The application simulates the logistics system through the simulation test system, solves the simulation control and signal feedback of the external conveyor group, solves the photoelectric limit state output of the internal conveyor in the hoist car, and solves the simulation operation required for loading and unloading goods, which helps to reduce the time for on-site debugging and testing, reduce travel costs, improve efficiency, accelerate the maturation of the hoist control system module, ensure that the key mechanisms on site remain unchanged, minimize the logistics system, save the cost of test bench peripheral equipment, and therefore the application can improve test efficiency and reduce test cost.

[0047] The above is only a specific embodiment of the application, but the protection scope of the application is not limited thereto, and any skilled person in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the application. Therefore, the protection scope of the application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A logistics system simulation test platform, characterized in that, The simulation test system comprises a simulation host computer and a simulation slave computer. The simulation slave computer is configured to receive control instructions sent by the simulation host computer and a PLC controller of the logistics system, and feed back photoelectric signals generated by the control instructions to the PLC controller and a motion controller of the logistics system. The simulation slave computer is further configured to acquire feedback data of the PLC controller and an encoder of the logistics system to physically calculate positions of cargos, photoelectric states of a translation part and a lifting part of the logistics system, and feed back the photoelectric states to the simulation host computer. The lifting part comprises a lift with a car. The translation part comprises an external conveyor of the lift and an internal conveyor of the lift car. The car of the lift moves up and down in a shaft.

2. The logistics system simulation test platform according to claim 1, characterized in that, The internal conveyor of the lift car is arranged in the car of the lift and can be connected to the external conveyor to convey cargos.

3. The logistics system simulation test platform according to claim 2, characterized in that, The photoelectric states comprise photoelectric states of the car of the lift in the shaft, and photoelectric states of the external conveyor of the lift and the internal conveyor of the lift car.

4. The logistic system simulation test platform according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The simulation slave computer is further configured to receive forced operations of cargos by the simulation host computer.

5. The logistic system simulation test platform according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The forced operations comprise forced loading and forced unloading.

6. The logistics system simulation test platform according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The simulation host computer displays operation state information of the lift, the external conveyor of the lift and the internal conveyor of the lift car.

7. The logistics system simulation test platform according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The simulation host computer is an upper computer capable of self-adaptively adjusting a display interface.

8. The logistics system simulation test platform according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The motion controller acquires feedback data from the encoder, which is consistent with feedback data acquired by the simulation slave computer from the encoder. The simulation slave computer communicates with the PLC controller through a Profinet communication protocol. The external conveyor of the lift comprises a plurality of external conveyors connected to each other to form a group of external conveyors for conveying cargos. The car of the lift is a double-door car. The logistics system further comprises an HMI human-machine interaction terminal configured to send operation instructions to the PLC controller.

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