Mobile terminal for industrial human-machine interface and method of using the same

Abstract

The present application relates to a mobile terminal for an industrial human-machine interface and a method for using the same. The terminal comprises: a short-range communication module, configured to communicate with an identity tag deployed at a predetermined workstation within a predetermined range to obtain a workstation number located at the predetermined workstation; an operating environment, configured to load engineering configuration software; and an interactive interface, configured to provide a control interface for the engineering configuration software according to the workstation number, wherein the control interface provides operating authority only when the short-range communication module maintains a communication connection with the identity tag.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of industrial human-machine interface, and in particular, to a mobile terminal for industrial human-machine interface and a method for using the same. Background Art

[0002] Industrial Human-machine Interface (HMI) is an intelligent terminal that can be used on automobile manufacturing production lines to realize functions such as information interaction between operators and line equipment, including equipment status / fault information display, equipment operation command input, etc.

[0003] Traditional industrial HMI requires corresponding configuration software for visual graphic programming. At the same time, the executable engineering program after configuration can only run on the supporting industrial HMI because its operating environment is integrated with the hardware. This is a complete set of closed, integrated software and hardware binding ecosystems, which will lead to a small range of choices and high costs when designing industrial HMI products and selecting software and hardware. Especially in the context of chip shortages in the industrial control field, the procurement cycle of industrial HMI hardware products is long, making it difficult to ensure the completion of production line projects on schedule.

[0004] In addition, the current industrial HMI is generally installed on the electrical control cabinet panel beside the automobile manufacturing production line, that is, it is arranged along the flow of the production line and as close as possible to the location of the related equipment. However, the disadvantage of fixed placement is that it is impossible to take into account all equipment in a clear field of vision, resulting in blind spots when using industrial HMI to operate equipment, which poses a safety hazard. On the other hand, the automation rate of automobile manufacturing production lines is as high as over 80%, and even up to 100% in welding workshops. In fact, the utilization rate of industrial HMIs on the line is relatively low. After mass production, they are generally only consulted and operated by maintenance engineers when troubleshooting when a fault occurs on the line. The traditional method of fixed placement of industrial HMIs on the line has the problem of low resource utilization and waste of investment.

[0005] In view of this, it is necessary to propose an improved industrial human-machine interface. Summary of the invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a mobile terminal for an industrial human-machine interface and a method for using the same. The mobile terminal can be applicable to automobile manufacturing production lines, etc., meeting technical requirements such as ecological openness and software and hardware decoupling; and can improve utilization and take into account applications in all scenarios.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present application, a mobile terminal for industrial human-machine interface is provided. The terminal includes: a short-range communication module, which is configured to communicate with an identity tag deployed at a predetermined workstation within a predetermined range to obtain the workstation number located at the predetermined workstation; an operating environment, which is configured to load engineering configuration software; and an interactive interface, which is configured to provide a control interface for the engineering configuration software according to the workstation number, wherein the control interface provides operation authority only when the short-range communication module maintains a communication connection with the identity tag.

[0008] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the short-range communication module operates based on the NFC protocol, and the identity tag is an NFC tag.

[0009] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the terminal further includes: a login module configured to determine whether the login account has the operation authority at the predetermined workstation.

[0010] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the short-range communication module is configured to send an operation permission request to the identity tag and receive permission information regarding the operation permission request from the identity tag when the login module determines that the login account has the operation permission at the predetermined workstation.

[0011] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the interactive interface is configured to provide the control interface based on the permission information.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the operating environment is configured to revoke the operating authority of the engineering configuration software after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the control interface includes virtual buttons.

[0014] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the operating environment is built on a general operating system.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present application, a method for using an industrial human-machine interface mobile terminal is provided. The method includes: placing the mobile terminal close to an identity tag deployed at a predetermined workstation for communication, so as to obtain a workstation number located at the predetermined workstation based on a short-range communication protocol; loading engineering configuration software; and providing a control interface for the engineering configuration software according to the workstation number, wherein the control interface provides operation authority only when the mobile terminal maintains a communication connection with the identity tag.

[0016] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the short range communication protocol is an NFC protocol, and the identity tag is an NFC tag.

[0017] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, providing a control interface for the engineering configuration software based on the workstation number includes: determining whether the login account has operating authority at the predetermined workstation, and sending an operating authority request to the identity tag if it is determined that the operating authority is available; receiving permission information regarding the operating authority request from the identity tag; and providing the control interface based on the permission information.

[0018] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the method further includes: revoking the operation authority of the engineering configuration software after a predetermined time has arrived.

[0019] In some embodiments of the present application, optionally, the control interface includes virtual buttons.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and wherein when the instructions are executed by a processor, the processor is caused to execute any one of the methods described above.

[0021] According to the mobile terminal for industrial human-computer interaction and the use method thereof described in some embodiments of the present application, not only can the human-computer interaction functions of the traditional fixed HMI be realized, but also the application and security-related requirements required under the new attributes of mobile operation and maintenance can be met. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The above and other objects and advantages of the present application will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar elements are represented by the same reference numerals.

[0023] Figure 1 shows a pipeline and an in-line HMI device according to some examples;

[0024] Figure 2 A mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0025] Figure 3 A mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0026] Figure 4 A method for using an industrial human-machine interface mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] For the purpose of brevity and illustration, the principles of the present application are described herein mainly with reference to its exemplary embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the same principles are equally applicable to all types of mobile terminals for industrial human-machine interfaces and methods of use thereof, and that these same or similar principles may be implemented therein, and any such changes do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the present application.

[0028] Figure 1 An HMI device 104 (also referred to as "industrial HMI" in the art) used in the prior art is shown, wherein the industrial HMI 104 is fixedly installed in the industrial HMI operation station 102 to monitor and control the equipment near the fixed points 1011, 1012 and 1013 on the assembly line 101. The industrial HMI operation station 102 has the structural shape shown in the figure. Generally speaking, the operation station 102 can have a cavity for accommodating the industrial HMI 104, and can also include a column that can be fixed near the points 1011, 1012 and 1013. As shown in the figure, the industrial HMI 104 can include a screen with a touch function, and the screen can present monitoring information and controls (for example, virtual buttons, etc.) so that the operator can monitor and control the equipment associated with the point. In addition, the industrial HMI operation station 102 also includes a physical emergency stop button 103. Once a fault occurs, the operator can trigger the emergency stop button 103 to shut down the equipment associated with the point, thereby preventing the fault or damage from spreading throughout the entire production line.

[0029] However, the general ecology of this type of traditional industrial HMI is relatively closed, and the software and hardware are generally bound. Its openness and functional scalability can no longer keep up with the general trend of intelligent manufacturing IOT integration. On the other hand, due to the deep binding of software and hardware, there are many restrictions in the selection of software and hardware, and the cost remains high. In addition, the fixed placement of traditional industrial HMIs on the line determines that its field of view is limited and its compatibility is poor, and there may be equipment safety risks during operation. Due to its low frequency of use, the utilization rate of a large number of industrial HMIs arranged on the production line is very low, and there is also a waste of resources.

[0030] According to one aspect of the present application, a mobile terminal for industrial human-machine interface is provided. Figure 2The use scenarios of the mobile terminal 202 (also referred to as "mobile HMI" in this application) according to some examples of the present invention are shown. As shown in the figure, the mobile HMI 202 will no longer be fixed to a fixed point, nor will it be coupled to a fixed operation station. The operator on the production line 201 can carry the mobile HMI 202 to patrol between multiple points 2011, 2012, and 2013 (each point has an NFC tag) of the production line 201, and the mobile HMI 202 can communicate with the identity tags of the points 2011, 2012, and 2013 through a near field communication solution such as NFC.

[0031] In some examples, the mobile HMI 202 can select a mobile terminal device based on universal hardware as the hardware carrier of the HMI configuration program, for example, it can be based on a movable tablet computer (hereinafter referred to as "mobile tablet"). The mobile HMI 202 can adopt a configuration operation system that can be independently installed or run on a mobile tablet system (for example, Linux operating system, Windows operating system, Android operating system, etc.), so that the configuration program can run on the mobile tablet, thereby realizing the decoupling of software and hardware. This solution abandons the closed ecology of traditional HMI industrial control equipment that requires the binding of software and hardware, and utilizes the software and hardware resources provided by the open ecology of the mobile tablet, making the functions richer and the expansion more flexible.

[0032] Since the mobile HMI 202 uses a mobile tablet as a display device, mobile operation and maintenance can be performed according to the location distribution of the operation object and the field of view requirements, making the use more flexible and convenient.

[0033] On the other hand, since industrial HMI is used to achieve human-machine interaction and equipment operation, it is still necessary to fully consider the relevant specifications of mechanical electrical safety in mobile operations. According to the relevant technical specifications of ISO 13850:2006 "Principles of Design for Safety Emergency Stops in Machinery", the emergency stop device should be located at each operator control position, as well as other locations determined by risk assessment, and its location configuration should be easily accessible. Figure 1 As shown, the traditional industrial HMI 104 is generally embedded and installed on the panel of the electrical control cabinet, and an emergency stop button 103 is configured below or around it, and its function is to operate the equipment when the operator operates the equipment. Once an emergency occurs, the emergency stop button 103 can be pressed in time to cut off the power supply of the equipment to stop the equipment. However, when a mobile terminal is used for operation, there may be a situation where the emergency stop button 103 is not within the reach of the operator, which poses a safety hazard. For this reason, a non-contact position detection solution is adopted in some embodiments of the present application to ensure that the operator has the right to operate each page of the mobile terminal only when the safety assessment determines that there is no risk and the emergency stop button 103 is in an easily accessible position, otherwise the operator only has the right to view.

[0034] Specifically, if Figure 3 As shown, the mobile terminal 30 includes a short-range communication module 301, an operating environment 302, and an interactive interface 303. Through the above components, the mobile terminal 30 can move between multiple points on the production line, and can monitor and control the equipment near the points.

[0035] The short-range communication module 301 of the mobile terminal 30 is configured to communicate with the identity tag deployed at the predetermined workstation within a predetermined range to obtain the workstation number located at the predetermined workstation. In some embodiments of the present application, the short-range communication module 301 works based on the NFC protocol, and the identity tag is an NFC tag. The purpose of integrating the NFC near-field wireless communication function in the selection of the mobile terminal 30 is to realize the use position detection, and to complete the configuration program call of the corresponding area position accordingly, and then allocate the operation authority according to the authority management strategy to meet the safety application specifications of the industrial HMI. In addition, another reason for using NFC technology is that its sensing distance is small (within 10cm), which meets the limit requirements of the mobile application safety distance, and accurately controls the operable range in the risk-free area. In addition, compared with other wireless technologies, NFC technology has strong connection stability, low power consumption, high confidentiality and security, and is more suitable for industrial scene applications of mobile HMI. Of course, in some other examples, Bluetooth, ZigBee and other similar methods can also be used to achieve short-range communication. Accordingly, in order to meet the communication within the predetermined range, the transmission power at the mobile terminal 30 can be appropriately adjusted. When Bluetooth, ZigBee or the like is used, the identity tag may be a low power consumption communication module rather than a passive electronic tag that is activated only by a signal transmitted from the mobile terminal 30 .

[0036] The operating environment 302 of the mobile terminal 30 is configured to load the corresponding engineering configuration software. The process of the operating environment 302 loading the engineering configuration software does not require manual intervention, so it will be imperceptible to the operation and maintenance personnel. In some embodiments of the present application, the operating environment 302 is built on a general operating system. For example, in some examples of the present application, the HMI terminal screen bound to the traditional configuration operating environment and hardware is abandoned. Taking Siemens WINCC configuration software as an example, Wincc Basic and Wincc Comfort configuration software can configure all industrial panels of Siemens, that is, the engineering software and industrial HMI we traditionally use. When selecting the two configuration softwares Wincc Advanced and Wincc Professional, the corresponding PC-based operating systems Wincc Runtime Advanced and Wincc Runtime Professional are matched, that is, they can be run on a mobile tablet of the Windows operating system, and the traditional industrial panel is replaced by a universal mobile terminal. In some other examples, other configuration software environments that can run on operating systems such as Windows can also be used.

[0037] The interactive interface 303 of the mobile terminal 30 is configured to provide a control interface for the engineering configuration software according to the workstation number. The control interface is applicable to the current workstation (point) and can have various GUI display units and controls. Since the control interface provides operation permissions only when the short-range communication module 301 maintains a communication connection with the identity tag, it can ensure that the operation and maintenance personnel can control various types of equipment in a "quasi-local" manner rather than "remote" remote control.

[0038] As mentioned above, NFC smart tags are deployed at appropriate locations that have been risk-assessed and within the reach of the emergency stop button. Because NFC smart tags are passive, their deployment only requires mechanical installation, without the need for additional electrical and energy investment. The data in the NFC smart tag contains information about the number of the location (station or area). Because the configuration program of a traditional fixed HMI corresponds one-to-one to the area where it is located, that is, a single fixed industrial HMI can only run a fixed configuration program. When a mobile terminal 30 is used, the corresponding access range of the mobile HMI will be extended to the entire line, that is, a single mobile HMI needs to be able to deploy multiple configuration programs, and the control interface to be opened must be identified according to the location, so as to avoid misoperation when manually calling the program. It can be seen that in some examples of the present application, by reading the location number information in the NFC tag, the control interface of the corresponding configuration program can be automatically called by the mobile tablet.

[0039] In addition, NFC smart tags can contain information on enabling operation permissions. Only when the NFC terminal device, that is, the mobile tablet, is within the sensing range of the NFC smart tag, is it allowed to obtain permission for operation permissions, that is, it can perform corresponding operations on the equipment in the configuration program, and the location is confirmed by the security risk assessment and the emergency stop button is within the reach. Since the mobile tablet can only obtain operation permissions within the communication range of NFC, once a certain operation causes an abnormality in any part of the production line, the production line can be immediately stopped by pressing the emergency stop button not far from the current position of the mobile tablet to prevent the abnormality from spreading to other locations of the production line.

[0040] It can be seen that in this application, short-range (field) communications such as NFC will simultaneously undertake two tasks: one is to realize the positioning of the mobile tablet in order to trigger related control functions; the other is to limit the operable range of the mobile tablet to a certain range, thereby meeting the requirements of safety regulations.

[0041] Continue to refer Figure 3 In some embodiments of the present application, the mobile terminal 30 further includes a login module 304, which is configured to determine whether the login account has the operation authority at the predetermined workstation. In some examples, the operation and maintenance personnel need to log in to the account first, and then the login module 304 can confirm the type, authority and other information of the account. For example, if it is determined that the account does not have the operation authority, the operation authority will not be granted.

[0042] In some examples, the short-range communication module 301 is configured to send an operation permission request to the identity tag and receive permission information about the operation permission request from the identity tag when the login module determines that the login account has the operation permission at the predetermined workstation. In some examples, the interactive interface 303 is configured to provide a control interface based on the permission information. In some examples, the operating environment 302 can also revoke the operation permission of the engineering configuration software after the predetermined time is reached.

[0043] In some embodiments of the present application, the control interface provided by the interactive interface 303 may include various types of virtual buttons. In some examples, in addition to the emergency stop button arranged near the fixed point, an additional physical emergency stop button may be arranged on the mobile terminal 30.

[0044] According to another aspect of the present application, a method for using an industrial human-machine interface mobile terminal is provided. Figure 4As shown, method 40 (hereinafter referred to as method 40) using an industrial human-machine interface mobile terminal includes the following steps: in step S402, the mobile terminal is brought close to the identity tag deployed at the predetermined workstation to communicate, so as to obtain the workstation number located at the predetermined workstation based on the short-range communication protocol; in step S404, the corresponding engineering configuration software is loaded; and in step S406, a control interface for the engineering configuration software is provided according to the workstation number, wherein the control interface only provides operation authority when the mobile terminal maintains a communication connection with the identity tag. Through the above steps of method 40, the mobile terminal can move between multiple points on the production line, and can monitor and control the equipment near the points. The specific steps performed by method 40 can also be carried out with reference to the specific embodiment of the mobile terminal 30 described above, and the relevant records are cited here together. Due to space limitations, this article will not repeat them here.

[0045] In some embodiments of the present application, the short range communication protocol is an NFC protocol, and the identity tag is an NFC tag.

[0046] In some embodiments of the present application, providing a control interface for the engineering configuration software according to the workstation number in step S406 includes the following steps: determining whether the login account has the operating authority at the predetermined workstation, and sending an operating authority request to the identity tag if it is determined that the operating authority is available; receiving permission information regarding the operating authority request from the identity tag; and providing the control interface based on the permission information.

[0047] In some embodiments of the present application, the method 40 further includes the following step: revoking the operation authority of the engineering configuration software after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0048] In some embodiments of the present application, the control interface may include various types of virtual buttons. In some examples, in addition to the emergency stop button arranged near the fixed point, an additional physical emergency stop button may be arranged on the mobile terminal.

[0049] According to another aspect of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes any one of the methods for using an industrial human-machine interface mobile terminal as described above. The computer-readable medium referred to in the present application includes various types of computer storage media, which can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. For example, the computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc. 2PROM, register, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or can be used to carry or store the desired program code unit in the form of instruction or data structure and can be accessed by general or special computer, or general or special processor. As used herein, the disk usually copies data magnetically, while the dish uses laser to optically copy data. The above combination should also be included in the protection scope of computer-readable medium. Exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative solution, the storage medium can be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in the ASIC. The ASIC can reside in the user terminal. In an alternative solution, the processor and the storage medium can reside in the user terminal as discrete components.

[0050] The mobile terminal for industrial human-computer interaction and its use method described in some of the above embodiments of the present application can not only realize the human-computer interaction function of the traditional fixed HMI, but also meet the application and security-related requirements required under the new attributes of mobile operation and maintenance. The above is only a specific implementation method of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited to this. Those skilled in the art can think of other feasible changes or substitutions based on the technical scope disclosed in this application, and such changes or substitutions are all included in the scope of protection of this application. In the absence of conflict, the implementation methods of the present application and the features in the implementation methods can also be combined with each other. The scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the records of the claims.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal for industrial human-machine interface, characterized in that: The terminal comprises: a short-range communication module configured to communicate with an identity tag deployed at a predetermined workstation within an operable range of the short-range communication module to obtain a workstation number located at the predetermined workstation, wherein the operable range of the short-range communication module is set such that when the short-range communication module maintains a communication connection with the identity tag deployed at the predetermined workstation, an operator of the mobile terminal can touch an emergency stop button set for the equipment at the predetermined workstation; an operating environment configured to load engineering configuration software; and An interactive interface is configured to provide a control interface for the engineering configuration software according to the workstation number, wherein the control interface provides operation authority only when the short-range communication module maintains a communication connection with the identity tag.

2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein: The short-range communication module operates based on the NFC protocol, and the identity tag is an NFC tag.

3. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein: The terminal further includes: The login module is configured to determine whether the login account has the operation authority at the predetermined workstation.

4. The terminal according to claim 3, wherein: The short-range communication module is configured to send an operation permission request to the identity tag and receive permission information about the operation permission request from the identity tag when the login module determines that the login account has the operation permission at the predetermined workstation.

5. The terminal according to claim 4, wherein: The interactive interface is configured to provide the control interface based on the permission information. The terminal according to claim 5, wherein: The operating environment is configured to revoke the operation authority of the engineering configuration software after a predetermined time has elapsed.

7. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein: The control interface includes virtual buttons.

8. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein: The operating environment is built on a general operating system.

9. A method for using an industrial human-machine interface mobile terminal, characterized in that: The method comprises: When the identity tag deployed at the predetermined workstation is within the operable range of the short-range communication module, communicate with the identity tag to obtain the workstation number located at the predetermined workstation based on the short-range communication protocol, wherein the operable range of the short-range communication module is set such that when the short-range communication module maintains a communication connection with the identity tag deployed at the predetermined workstation, the operator of the mobile terminal can touch the emergency stop button set for the equipment at the predetermined workstation; Loading engineering software; and A control interface for the engineering configuration software is provided according to the workstation number, wherein the control interface provides operation authority only when the mobile terminal maintains a communication connection with the identity tag.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The short range communication protocol is an NFC protocol, and the identity tag is an NFC tag.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Providing a control interface for the engineering configuration software according to the station number includes: Determining whether the login account has the operation authority at the predetermined workstation, and sending an operation authority request to the identity tag if it is determined that the login account has the operation authority; receiving permission information regarding the operation permission request from the identity tag; and The control interface is provided based on the permission information.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The method further comprises: revoking the operation authority of the engineering configuration software after a predetermined time has arrived.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The control interface includes virtual buttons.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: When the instructions are executed by a processor, the processor is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 9 to 13.

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