Actuator remote adjustment system, actuator remote adjustment method, and actuator remote adjustment program

Abstract

To provide an actuator remote adjustment system capable of remotely and safely adjusting an actuator even when a suitable adjuster cannot be secured at the site where the actuator is installed.SOLUTION: An actuator remote adjustment system 200 includes a communication status monitoring unit 233 that when air actuators 120, 130 in an actuator system 220 are remotely adjusted by a remote adjustment device 210, monitors a communication status between the actuator system 220 and the remote adjustment device 210, and a drive suppression unit 234 that suppresses driving of a stage 110 by the air actuators 120, 130 if an abnormality is detected in the communication status. The actuator system 220 includes an adjustment intermediary device 230 capable of communicating with the air actuators 120, 130 and the remote adjustment device 210, and the communication status monitoring unit 233 and the drive suppression unit 234 are provided in the adjustment intermediary device 230.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an actuator remote adjustment system, etc. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a stage device in an exposure device used in semiconductor manufacturing as an actuator. This stage device is equipped with a compensation calculator that performs PID control (drive control) based on the deviation between a target position of the stage as a driven object and the current position. Each control gain in the compensation calculator is automatically calculated based on the characteristics of the stage identified by a model identifier.

[0003] In this way, in Patent Document 1, the control gain in the control unit (compensation calculator) that controls the driving of the stage in the stage device serving as an actuator is automatically adjusted or set. However, such adjustment of the actuator is often performed manually by an adjuster on-site (i.e., the place where the actuator is installed) or at the actual location. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-227768 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The success and accuracy of manual adjustment of actuators depends on the skill of the adjuster. Recently, the number of highly skilled technicians with such adjustment skills has been decreasing worldwide, so there is a possibility that suitable adjusters cannot be secured locally.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to provide an actuator remote adjustment system, etc., that can adjust an actuator safely from a remote location even when a suitable adjuster cannot be secured at the site where the actuator is installed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, an actuator remote adjustment system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a communication status monitoring unit that monitors the communication status between the actuator system and a remote adjustment device when an actuator in the actuator system is remotely adjusted by the remote adjustment device capable of communicating with the actuator system, and a drive suppression unit that suppresses driving of a driven object by the actuator if an abnormality is detected in the communication status.

[0008] According to this aspect, if an abnormality is found in the communication state between the actuator system and the remote adjustment device, the actuator is prevented from driving the driven object. Therefore, even when adjustment work is performed remotely from a remote adjustment device that is not at the actuator installation site, runaway of the driven object can be appropriately prevented and sufficient safety can be ensured.

[0009] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a method for remotely adjusting an actuator, the method comprising the steps of: monitoring a communication state between an actuator system and a remote adjustment device capable of communicating with the actuator system when an actuator in the actuator system is remotely adjusted by the remote adjustment device; and, if an abnormality is detected in the communication state, suppressing driving of a driven object by the actuator.

[0010] Any combination of the above components, or any conversion of these components into a method, device, system, recording medium, computer program, or the like, is also encompassed by the present disclosure. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present disclosure, even if a suitable adjuster cannot be secured at the site where the actuator is installed, the actuator can be adjusted safely from a remote location. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the air stage. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the air actuator. [Diagram 3] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control unit of the air actuator. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram of an actuator remote adjustment system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] In the following, a form for carrying out the present disclosure (hereinafter, also referred to as an embodiment) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description and / or drawings, identical or equivalent components, members, processes, etc. will be given the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted. The scale and shape of each part shown in the drawings are set for convenience in order to simplify the description, and are not to be interpreted as being limiting unless otherwise specified. The embodiment is an example, and does not limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. All features and their combinations presented in the embodiment are not necessarily essential to the present disclosure. The embodiment is presented for convenience, decomposed into components for each function and / or each functional group that realizes it. However, one component in the embodiment may actually be realized by a combination of multiple components as separate entities, and multiple components in the embodiment may actually be realized by one component as an integrated entity.

[0014] The actuator remote adjustment system according to the present disclosure can be applied to the remote adjustment of any type of actuator based on any principle (e.g., magnetism or electricity). For example, the actuator may be a linear motor or a motor provided in a joint of a robot. In this embodiment, a fluid actuator or an air actuator that drives a driven object by a working fluid such as air will be described as an example.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air stage 100 to which the fluid actuator according to this embodiment is applied. The air stage 100 includes a base plate 102, a vibration isolation table 104, a vibration isolation device 106, a stage 110, an X-axis air actuator 120, and two Y-axis air actuators 130A and 130B (hereinafter collectively referred to as Y-axis air actuators 130). The base plate 102 is supported by the vibration isolation table 104. The air stage 100 is formed in an H-shape in top view by the X-axis air actuator 120 as an upper axis and the two Y-axis air actuators 130A and 130B as a lower axis. The vibration isolation device 106 suppresses the propagation of vibration from a floor or the like on which the air stage 100 is placed to the base plate 102.

[0016] The X-axis air actuator 120 and the Y-axis air actuator 130 are fluid actuators that use air as a working fluid to drive the stage 110, which is a driven object, along the X-axis and Y-axis. An object to be processed (not shown), such as a semiconductor wafer, is placed on the stage 110. The X-axis air actuator 120 has a guide 122 (square shaft), a slider 124, a servo valve 126 (not shown), and a pipe 128 (not shown). Similarly, the Y-axis air actuator 130 has a guide 132, a slider 134, a servo valve 136, and a pipe 138. The stage 110 is provided on the slider 124. Both ends of the guide 122 are supported by the slider 134 of the Y-axis air actuator 130.

[0017] The sliders 124, 134 constitute a drive unit that drives the stage 110 as a driven object along the X-axis and Y-axis. The servo valves 126, 136 constitute a working fluid supply unit that supplies air to the sliders 124, 134 based on an intake / exhaust volume, which is an air working volume calculated by a control unit described later. The pipes 128, 138 allow air to circulate between the drive unit and the working fluid supply unit. The position sensor 140 detects the position of the stage 110 in the X-axis direction, and the position sensor 142 detects the position of the stage 110 in the Y-axis direction.

[0018] 2 is a cross-sectional view of the air actuator. X-axis air actuator 120 includes guide 122, slider 124, servo valve 126 (spool valve), and piping 128. Pressurized air is supplied between the outer circumferential surface of guide 122 and the inner circumferential surface of slider 124 to form a hydrostatic bearing. Slider 124 floats from guide 122 by the pressurized air and can move smoothly in the X-axis direction without contacting guide 122. Slider 124 is provided with servo chamber 150, which is an internal space. Servo chamber 150 is partitioned into positive chamber 152 and negative chamber 154 by pressure-receiving plate 123 formed integrally with guide 122.

[0019] The slider 124 is driven by a servo valve 126. The servo valve 126 controls the amount of intake and exhaust of the control port depending on the position of the spool. The air actuators 120 and 130 of each axis are equipped with a pair of servo valves 126P and 126N arranged on the positive and negative sides. The control port of the positive side servo valve 126P communicates with the positive side chamber 152 via the positive side piping 128P. The control port of the negative side servo valve 126N communicates with the negative side chamber 154 via the negative side piping 128N. The position of the slider 124 relative to the guide 122 (pressure plate 123) is controlled by the pressure difference generated between the positive side chamber 152 and the negative side chamber 154 depending on the spool positions of the servo valves 126P and 126N. The X-axis air actuator 120 has been mainly described above, but the Y-axis air actuator 130 can also be configured in the same manner as the X-axis air actuator 120.

[0020] 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a control unit 300 for the air actuators 120, 130. The control unit 300 is responsible for drive control of the stage 110 as the driven object in the air actuators 120, 130. The control unit 300 includes an FB control unit 310 that performs feedback control and an FF control unit 360 that performs feedforward control. The calculation result u output by the output unit 302 of the control unit 300 is a valve command that determines the intake and exhaust amounts of the servo valves 126, 136, and the position of the stage 110 is controlled by the resulting differential pressure. The position Pos of the stage 110 detected by the position sensors 140, 142 is fb is used for feedback control in the FB control unit 310.

[0021] The FF control unit 360 includes three pairs of differentiators 364, 366, 368 and proportional compensators 370, 372, 374 arranged from the input unit 301 to the output unit 302 of the control unit 300. The first-stage differentiator 364 receives the position command Pos ref is differentiated to convert it into a velocity, and the first stage proportional compensator 370 uses a proportional gain K ffv The velocity command for the stage 110 is calculated by multiplying the velocity by the amount of position compensation calculated by the FB control unit 310 and calculating the velocity command for the stage 110. The second-stage differentiator 366 differentiates the velocity from the differentiator 364 and converts it into acceleration, and the second-stage proportional compensator 372 calculates a proportional gain K ffa The acceleration command for the stage 110 is calculated by multiplying the acceleration by the velocity compensation amount calculated by the FB control unit 310 and the acceleration command for the stage 110 is calculated by the velocity compensation amount calculated by the FB control unit 310. The third-stage differentiator 368 differentiates the acceleration from the differentiator 366, and the third-stage proportional compensator 374 calculates the proportional gain K ffj This is multiplied by the acceleration compensation amount calculated by the FB control unit 310 to calculate a provisional calculation result u'.

[0022] The FB control unit 310 is a PDD 2(Proportional-Differential-2nd Derivative) compensator. Specifically, the FB control unit 310 controls the position of the stage 110 with a major loop (outer loop), and controls the speed and acceleration of the stage 110 with a minor loop (inner loop). Of the two minor loops, the outer speed loop is also referred to as a mid loop, and the inner acceleration loop is simply referred to as an inner loop. The measured position Pos fb is differentiated by a differentiator 330 to obtain the measured velocity of the stage 110, which is further differentiated by a differentiator 332 to obtain the measured acceleration of the stage 110.

[0023] The FB control unit 310 includes four subtractors 312, 314, 316, and 352 arranged in series from the input unit 301 to the output unit 302. The subtractor 312 subtracts the position command Pos ref and the measurement position Pos of the stage 110 fb The subtractor 314 is a velocity deviation calculation unit that calculates a velocity deviation that is the difference between a velocity command obtained based on a calculation described later and the measured velocity of the stage 110 output by the differentiator 330. The subtractor 316 is an acceleration deviation calculation unit that calculates an acceleration deviation that is the difference between an acceleration command obtained based on a calculation described later and the measured acceleration of the stage 110 output by the differentiator 332. The subtractor 352 is a disturbance removal unit that removes disturbances from the provisional calculation result u' obtained based on a calculation described later.

[0024] Between the subtractor 312 that calculates the position error and the subtractor 314 that calculates the velocity error, a position proportional compensator 320 is provided as a position compensation element that compensates for the position of the stage 110. The position proportional compensator 320 applies a proportional gain K p This is multiplied by the input from the proportional compensator 370 of the FF control unit 360 to form a speed command calculation unit that calculates a speed command for the stage 110.

[0025] A velocity proportional compensator 322 is provided between the subtractor 314 that calculates the velocity deviation and the subtractor 316 that calculates the acceleration deviation as a velocity compensation element that compensates for the velocity of the stage 110. The velocity proportional compensator 322 applies a proportional gain K v This is multiplied by the proportional compensator 372 of the FF control unit 360 to form an acceleration command calculation unit that calculates an acceleration command for the stage 110.

[0026] Between the subtractor 316 that calculates the acceleration deviation and the subtractor 352 that removes disturbances, an acceleration proportional compensator 324 is provided as an acceleration compensation element that compensates for the acceleration of the stage 110. The acceleration proportional compensator 324 applies a proportional gain K a This is multiplied by the input from the proportional compensator 374 of the FF control unit 360 to obtain a provisional calculation result u′.

[0027] The FB control unit 310 includes a notch filter 340 and a disturbance observer 350 in addition to the above configuration.

[0028] The notch filter 340 has a notch frequency ω no The notch frequency is a band-stop filter having a narrow stop band centered on the notch frequency ω. The band-stop filter is composed of two filter elements 340A and 340B provided before and after the subtractor 352. For example, no is set to a value close to the pipe resonance frequency ω0 in order to eliminate the pipe resonance.

[0029] Disturbance observer 350 (DOB) as a disturbance estimator is a state observer that estimates disturbance to the position of stage 110 based on provisional calculation result u′ and the measured velocity and acceleration of stage 110. The measured quantities supplied to disturbance observer 350 are not limited to velocity and acceleration, and may be any combination of drive quantities of stage 110 including position.

[0030] As described above, in the air actuators 120 and 130 as actuators, various control gains are set in the control unit 300 which is responsible for driving control of the stage 110 as the driven object. ffv , the proportional gain K in the proportional compensator 372 ffa , the proportional gain K in the proportional compensator 374 ffj , the proportional gain K in the position proportional compensator 320 p , the proportional gain K in the speed proportional compensator 322 v , the proportional gain K in the acceleration proportional compensator 324 a Typically, various control gains such as those mentioned above should be appropriately adjusted or set before the air actuators 120, 130 are actually used in the manufacture of semiconductors or the like.

[0031] Such adjustment or setting of the control gains and other pre-adjustment of the actuators are often performed manually by an adjuster on-site (i.e., the location where the air stage 100 including the air actuators 120 and 130 is installed) or at the actual site. However, since there is a recent global trend of fewer skilled technicians with sufficient adjustment skills, there are cases where it is not possible to secure an appropriate adjuster at the actual site.

[0032] In such cases, typically, engineers from the company that manufactures or sells the actuator are dispatched to the site to assist or guide the adjustment work by the local adjuster, or to carry out the adjustment work in place of the local person. However, due to the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the associated changes in the working environment, it is expected that there will be cases where dispatching engineers to the site is not realistic.

[0033] Therefore, in this embodiment, a remote actuator adjustment system is proposed that can adjust the actuator safely from a remote location even when a suitable adjuster cannot be secured at the site where the actuator is installed or when a skilled technician with high adjustment skills cannot be dispatched to the site.

[0034] In the following example, there is no adjuster or worker at the site where the actuator is installed (i.e., the site is substantially unmanned), and a remote skilled adjuster performs remote adjustment work of the actuator substantially alone via a remote adjustment device. However, the present disclosure is also applicable to a case where an adjuster is present at the site where the actuator is installed, and the remote skilled adjuster cooperates with the on-site adjuster via the remote adjustment device to jointly perform remote adjustment work of the actuator. The present disclosure is also applicable to a case where a remote skilled adjuster remotely instructs and supervises an adjuster at the site where the actuator is installed via the remote adjustment device, but the adjustment work itself is performed substantially alone by the on-site adjuster.

[0035] 4 is a schematic functional block diagram of an actuator remote adjustment system 200 according to this embodiment. The actuator remote adjustment system 200 includes a remote adjustment device 210 and an actuator system 220. The remote adjustment device 210 may include an adjustment input unit 211, a communication unit 212, a communication state monitoring unit 233, and a drive suppression unit 234. The actuator system 220 may include controllers of the air actuators 120 and 130 (hereinafter, for convenience, also referred to as air actuator controllers 120 and 130) and an adjustment intermediary device 230. The adjustment intermediary device 230 may include a communication unit 232, a communication state monitoring unit 233, a drive suppression unit 234, and a drive information collection unit 235.

[0036] As long as the actuator remote adjustment system 200 can achieve at least some of the actions and / or effects described below, some of these functional blocks may be omitted. These functional blocks may be realized by the cooperation of hardware resources such as a central processing unit of a computer, a memory, an input device, an output device, and peripheral devices connected to the computer, and software executed using them. Regardless of the type of computer or the installation location, each of the above functional blocks may be realized by the hardware resources of a single computer, or may be realized by combining hardware resources distributed among multiple computers. As described later, the communication state monitoring unit 233 and the drive suppression unit 234 are preferably provided on the actuator system 220 side, for example, on the adjustment intermediary device 230 or the air actuator controllers 120 and 130, but as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 4, some or all of the functions of the communication state monitoring unit 233 and the drive suppression unit 234 may be provided on the remote adjustment device 210 side.

[0037] The remote adjustment device 210 is capable of communicating with the actuator system 220, and is a device that remotely adjusts the air actuators 120, 130 in the actuator system 220. That is, the remote adjustment device 210 is installed in a location (remote location) different from a location (on-site) where the actuator system 220 or the air actuators 120, 130 are installed. The remote adjustment device 210 remotely performs adjustment work of the air actuators 120, 130 (for example, adjustment work or setting work of the control gain in the control unit 300) while communicating with the actuator system 220. The remote adjustment device 210 may be capable of performing remote adjustment work of the air actuators 120, 130 autonomously or automatically (i.e., substantially unmanned), but in the following example, it is assumed that a remote adjuster (human) operates the remote adjustment device 210 to manually perform remote adjustment work of the air actuators 120, 130.

[0038] A remote adjuster who is the subject of remote adjustment of air actuators 120, 130 inputs various information for adjusting air actuators 120, 130 through adjustment input unit 211 of remote adjustment device 210. For example, in the adjustment of the control gain in control unit 300, the remote adjuster inputs various control gains (for example, the above-mentioned K ffv , K ffa , K ffj , K p , K v , K a In order for the remote adjuster or remote adjustment device 210 to determine whether the adjusted control gain is appropriate, an adjustment drive command for causing the air actuator controllers 120, 130 to actually use the control gain to drive the stage 110 on a trial basis (hereinafter, also referred to as adjustment drive) may be transmitted from the remote adjustment device 210 to the actuator system 220 together with information input to the adjustment input unit 211.

[0039] The communication unit 212 performs one-way communication or preferably two-way communication with the actuator system 220. For example, the communication unit 212 transmits the adjustment information input to the adjustment input unit 211 and the associated adjustment drive commands for the air actuators 120 and 130 to the actuator system 220. The communication unit 212 may also receive various feedback from the actuator system 220 (for example, a report that the adjustment value of the control gain has been reflected in the control unit 300, and a report of the result of the adjustment drive based on the adjustment value). In this case, the remote adjuster can efficiently perform further remote adjustment work while checking the feedback from the actuator system 220 on a monitor (display device) (not shown) of the remote adjustment device 210 or the like.

[0040] The communication state monitoring unit 233 and the drive suppressing unit 234 that may be provided in the remote adjustment device 210 will be described later in relation to the actuator system 220 (adjustment intermediary device 230).

[0041] The adjustment intermediary device 230 is a device that mediates between the air actuator controllers 120 and 130 and the remote adjustment work of the air actuators 120 and 130 performed by the remote adjustment device 210. The adjustment intermediary device 230 is typically available at the site where the air actuators 120 and 130 are installed. For example, the adjustment intermediary device 230 is a computer in which an adjustment tool is installed that is connected to the air actuator controllers 120 and 130 during or at all times during the adjustment work of the air actuators 120 and 130. Note that some or all of the functions of the adjustment intermediary device 230 may be provided in the air actuator controllers 120 and 130 or the air stage 100. For example, when all of the functions of the adjustment intermediary device 230 are provided in the air stage 100, the air stage 100 alone constitutes the actuator system 220 (the adjustment intermediary device 230 does not exist as an independent device). In this case, the remote adjustment device 210 (communication section 212) performs the remote adjustment work while directly communicating with the air stage 100 or the air actuators 120, 130 themselves as the object of remote adjustment.

[0042] The adjustment intermediary device 230 may be used by an on-site adjuster at the site where the air actuators 120, 130 are installed to perform the adjustment work of the air actuators 120, 130. In this case, an on-site adjuster with sufficiently high adjustment skills can operate the adjustment intermediary device 230, which is, for example, a computer in which an adjustment tool is installed, and perform the on-site adjustment work of the air actuators 120, 130 independently without support from a remote adjuster or the remote adjustment device 210. On the other hand, if the on-site adjuster does not have high adjustment skills or if there is no on-site adjuster, the remote adjuster remotely participates in the adjustment work of the air actuators 120, 130 through the remote adjustment device 210.

[0043] The adjustment intermediary device 230 is capable of communicating with the air actuators 120, 130 as targets of remote adjustment, and the remote adjustment device 210 as a subject of remote adjustment. Specifically, a communication unit 232 in the adjustment intermediary device 230 performs one-way communication or preferably two-way communication with communication units (not shown) in the air actuator controllers 120, 130. In addition, the communication unit 232 in the adjustment intermediary device 230 performs one-way communication or preferably two-way communication with the communication unit 212 in the remote adjustment device 210.

[0044] Here, the mode or form of communication between the communication unit 212 in the remote adjustment device 210 and the communication unit 232 in the adjustment intermediary device 230 is arbitrary, and may be realized entirely as wired communication, but it is preferable that at least a part of it is realized as wireless communication. For example, the access part for the remote adjustment device 210 (communication unit 212) to connect to the Internet, etc. (or a "VPN" virtually configured therein, described later) and the access part for the adjustment intermediary device 230 (communication unit 232) to connect to the Internet, etc. are wirelessly connected by wireless LAN, etc., so that the portability or portability of the remote adjustment device 210 and the adjustment intermediary device 230 is not hindered (for example, portability is not hindered like a cable in the case of a wired connection).

[0045] Similarly, the mode or form of communication between communication unit 232 in adjustment intermediary device 230 and communication units (not shown) in air actuator controllers 120, 130 is arbitrary and may be realized, for example, as wireless communication, but is preferably realized as wired communication. As described above, when adjustment intermediary device 230 is provided at the site where air actuators 120, 130 are installed, excellent security, speed, stability, quality, etc. can be realized by connecting the two via a wired LAN or the like.

[0046] For example, communication unit 232 in adjustment intermediary device 230 receives, from communication unit 212 in remote adjustment device 210, the adjustment information input to adjustment input unit 211 and the associated adjustment drive commands for air actuators 120, 130. Then, communication unit 232 transmits or transfers the adjustment information and adjustment drive commands received from communication unit 212 to air actuator controllers 120, 130. As a result, the control gains and the like in control units 300 of air actuator controllers 120, 130 are remotely adjusted based on the adjustment information input to adjustment input unit 211. Furthermore, air actuator controllers 120, 130 adjust and drive stage 110 as the driven object based on the adjusted control gains and the like in response to the received adjustment drive commands. In addition, the communication unit 232 in the adjustment intermediary device 230 may report to the communication unit 212 in the remote adjustment device 210 that adjustment of the control gain, etc. based on the received adjustment information has been completed before the start of adjustment driving of the stage 110 or in parallel with the adjustment driving of the stage 110.

[0047] Various types of drive information relating to the drive state of the stage 110 during (or before or after) this adjustment drive may be collected by the drive information collecting unit 235. Here, the drive information of the stage 110 may be physical drive quantities such as the position, speed, and acceleration of the stage 110 itself, or any physical quantity directly or indirectly involved in the drive of the stage 110 (for example, any parameter representing the control state by the control unit 300, any parameter representing the state of the servo valves 126 and 136, the air pressure and temperature in the pipes 128 and 138 and the servo chamber 150, etc., and the temperature and humidity of the place where the air stage 100 is installed). The drive information collected in this way regarding the adjustment drive indicates the success or failure of the adjustment drive (i.e., the suitability of the control gain after adjustment, etc.).

[0048] The drive information collecting unit 235 may transmit such adjustment drive results and at least a part of the collected drive information to the communication unit 212 in the remote adjustment device 210 through the communication unit 232 in the adjustment intermediary device 230. In this case, the drive information collecting unit 235 and the communication unit 232 constitute a drive status transmitting unit that transmits the drive status of the stage 110 during adjustment of the air actuators 120, 130 from the actuator system 220 to the remote adjustment device 210. As described above, the remote adjustment device 210 or the remote adjuster who receives various feedbacks from the communication unit 232 (actuator system 220) in the adjustment intermediary device 230 via the communication unit 212 can efficiently carry out further remote adjustment work while checking these feedbacks.

[0049] The communication between the remote adjustment device 210 (communication unit 212) and the actuator system 220 (communication unit 232 in the adjustment intermediary device 230) described above is preferably performed on a private network. Here, the private network may be a so-called Virtual Private Network (VPN) that is virtually configured within a public network such as the Internet. A private network such as a VPN can ensure higher security than a public network, and is therefore suitable for remote adjustment work of actuators for industrial applications such as the air actuators 120, 130, which require high security.

[0050] On the other hand, in a private network such as a VPN, the communication speed, stability, quality, etc. may be inferior to a public network. For this reason, it is important to monitor the communication state between the communication unit 212 and the communication unit 232 by the communication state monitoring unit 233 described next.

[0051] The communication status monitoring unit 233 monitors the communication status between the actuator system 220 and the remote adjustment device 210 when the air actuators 120, 130 in the actuator system 220 are remotely adjusted by the remote adjustment device 210 capable of communicating with the actuator system 220. In the illustrated example, the communication status monitoring unit 233 monitors the communication status in the VPN connection between the communication unit 232 in the adjustment intermediary device 230 and the communication unit 212 in the remote adjustment device 210. Here, the communication status monitored by the communication status monitoring unit 233 in the actuator system 220 and / or the remote adjustment device 210 may be any of the following specific examples, or may be any parameter that directly or indirectly indicates the speed, stability, quality, etc. of communication.

[0052] The communication status monitoring unit 233 detects an abnormality in the communication status between the actuator system 220 being monitored and the remote adjustment device 210. If an abnormality is found in the communication status (i.e., if an abnormality in the communication status is detected by the communication status monitoring unit 233), the drive suppression unit 234 suppresses the driving of the stage 110 by the air actuator controllers 120, 130. Preferably, if an abnormality is found in the communication status, the drive suppression unit 234 stops the driving of the stage 110 by the air actuator controllers 120, 130.

[0053] As described above, in the remote adjustment work by the remote adjustment device 210, adjustment drive is performed based on the control gain during adjustment, etc. For example, if there is no adjuster or worker at the site (i.e., if the site is substantially unmanned), and if the stage 110 goes out of control during adjustment drive, it may become difficult to control the stage 110 through the remote adjustment device 210 if the communication state remains unstable. Therefore, if an abnormality (or a symptom thereof) is found in the communication state between the actuator system 220 and the remote adjustment device 210, the drive suppression unit 234 immediately suppresses or stops the drive of the stage 110, thereby ensuring safety as a top priority.

[0054] As described above, the abnormality in the communication state that triggers the operation of the drive suppression unit 234 may be any of the specific examples given below, or may be a parameter related to communication speed, stability, quality, etc. falling below a predetermined reference value. Furthermore, the drive suppression unit 234 may determine whether to suppress or stop the drive of the stage 110, taking into consideration not only signs of an abnormality in the communication state detected by the communication state monitoring unit 233, but also drive information of the stage 110 collected by the drive information collection unit 235.

[0055] For example, even if there are slight signs of an abnormality in the communication state, if the risk related to the driving state of the stage 110 is low (for example, if the position of the stage 110 is away from the end of the movable range, if the speed or acceleration of the stage 110 is small, or if no abnormal vibration is observed in the stage 110), it may be possible to determine that the risk related to safety is low. In such a case, the drive suppression unit 234 may continue the adjustment drive without stopping the drive of the stage 110.

[0056] Conversely, even if there are only slight signs of anomaly in the communication state, if there is a high risk related to the driving state of the stage 110 (for example, if the position of the stage 110 is close to the end of the movable range, if the speed or acceleration of the stage 110 is high, or if abnormal vibrations are observed in the stage 110), it may be determined that there is a high risk to safety. In such cases, it is preferable for the drive suppression unit 234 to immediately stop the adjustment drive of the stage 110.

[0057] As described above, it is preferable that the operation of the drive inhibiting unit 234 is judged based on a comprehensive consideration of the signs of abnormality in the communication state detected by the communication state monitoring unit 233 and the drive information of the stage 110 collected by the drive information collecting unit 235. It is generally the case that the air actuator controllers 120 and 130 are provided with a safety function that performs an emergency stop of the stage 110 when runaway or the like of the stage 110 is detected during actual operation (i.e., during non-adjustment). In contrast, it is preferable to set a low standard for the drive state (drive information) in judging whether the drive inhibiting unit 234 can operate (to make the drive inhibiting unit 234 easier to operate). In other words, it is preferable to allow the operation of the drive inhibiting unit 234 during remote adjustment even in a drive state in which the safety function is not activated during actual operation. This is because, during actual operation, substantially only the drive state is a safety risk factor, whereas during remote adjustment, in addition to the drive state, the communication state is also a safety risk factor. In this way, by setting a conservative (low) standard for the drive state during remote adjustment, the overall safety risk combined with the communication state can be effectively reduced.

[0058] As described above, the communication state monitoring unit 233 and the drive suppression unit 234, whose main purpose is to ensure safety during remote adjustment (suppressing runaway of the stage 110, etc.), are preferably provided on the actuator system 220 side (for example, the adjustment intermediary device 230) so as not to be affected by the communication state (the object to be monitored itself) which may become unstable. However, at least a part of the communication state monitoring unit 233 and the drive suppression unit 234 may be provided on the remote adjustment device 210 side.

[0059] In addition to or instead of the above conceptually explained abnormalities in the communication state that trigger the operation of the drive inhibiting unit 234, the following are exemplified.

[0060] As a first specific example, the communication state monitoring unit 233 may determine that an abnormality has been found in the communication state when communication between the actuator system 220 (communication unit 232) and the remote adjustment device 210 (communication unit 212) is not performed for a predetermined time. For example, when communication between the actuator system 220 (communication unit 232) and the remote adjustment device 210 (communication unit 212) is cut off for a predetermined time, the communication state monitoring unit 233 determines that an abnormality has been found in the communication state, and the drive suppression unit 234 suppresses or stops the drive of the stage 110.

[0061] As a second specific example, the communication state monitoring unit 233 may determine that an abnormality has been found in the communication state when the adjustment contents by the remote adjustment device 210 are not reflected in the air actuator controllers 120 and 130 within a predetermined time. For example, when the control state by the control unit 300 is detected to have become unstable (e.g., an oscillation state) based on the drive information collected by the drive information collecting unit 235 after the control gain or the like is changed, and the control gain or the like is not updated (a new control gain or the like is not set) within a predetermined time, it is highly likely that the communication state abnormality has not informed the communication unit 212 in the remote adjustment device 210 that the control state by the control unit 300 has become unstable, or that the control gain or the like newly specified by the remote adjustment device 210 has not reached the communication unit 232 in the adjustment intermediary device 230. Therefore, the drive suppression unit 234 suppresses or stops the drive of the stage 110 for safety.

[0062] As a third specific example, when the communication unit 232 does not normally transmit and / or the communication unit 212 receives the drive information collected by the drive information collection unit 235, the communication status monitoring unit 233 may determine that an abnormality has been found in the communication status. For example, when the communication unit 232 transmits drive information to the communication unit 212 but does not receive a proper reception confirmation from the communication unit 212 within a predetermined time, there is a high possibility that an abnormality exists in the communication status between the communication units 212 and 232, and therefore the drive suppression unit 234 suppresses or stops the drive of the stage 110.

[0063] The present disclosure has been described above based on the embodiments. Various modifications are possible to the combinations of the components and processes in the exemplary embodiments, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such modifications are included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0064] The configuration, action, and function of each device and method described in the embodiments can be realized by hardware resources or software resources, or by the cooperation of hardware resources and software resources. For example, a processor, ROM, RAM, and various integrated circuits can be used as hardware resources. For example, programs such as an operating system and applications can be used as software resources. [Explanation of symbols]

[0065] 100 air stage, 110 stage, 120 X-axis air actuator, 130 Y-axis air actuator, 200 actuator remote adjustment system, 210 remote adjustment device, 211 adjustment input unit, 212 communication unit, 220 actuator system, 230 adjustment intermediary device, 232 communication unit, 233 communication status monitoring unit, 234 drive suppression unit, 235 drive information collection unit, 300 control unit.

Claims

1. a communication status monitoring unit that monitors a communication status between the actuator system and a remote adjustment device when an actuator in the actuator system is remotely adjusted by the remote adjustment device capable of communicating with the actuator system; a drive suppression unit that suppresses the actuator from driving a driven object when an abnormality is detected in the communication state; An actuator remote adjustment system comprising:

2. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1 , wherein the communication status monitoring unit and the drive inhibiting unit are provided in the actuator system.

3. The actuator system includes the actuator and an adjustment intermediary device capable of communicating with the actuator and the remote adjustment device, The communication state monitoring unit and the drive suppression unit are provided in the adjustment intermediary device.

3. The actuator remote adjustment system of claim 2.

4. 4. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1, wherein the communication state monitoring unit determines that an abnormality has been found in the communication state when adjustment contents made by the remote adjustment device are not reflected in the actuator within a predetermined time.

5. 4. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1, wherein the communication state monitoring unit determines that an abnormality has been detected in the communication state when communication between the actuator system and the remote adjustment device has not been performed for a predetermined time.

6. 4. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1, further comprising a drive status transmission unit that transmits a drive status of the driven object during adjustment of the actuator from the actuator system to the remote adjustment device.

7. 7. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 6, wherein, when the transmission of the driving status by the driving status transmission unit and / or the reception of the driving status by the remote adjustment device is not performed normally, the communication status monitoring unit determines that an abnormality has been found in the communication status.

8. 4. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1, wherein the remote adjustment device remotely adjusts a control gain in a control unit that is responsible for driving control of the driven object in the actuator.

9. 4. An actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1, wherein communication between the actuator system and the remote adjustment device is performed over a private network.

10. 4. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1, wherein the drive inhibiting unit inhibits the actuator from driving the driven object when an abnormality is detected in the communication state.

11. 4. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1, wherein the actuator drives a stage as the driven object on which an object to be processed is placed.

12. 4. The actuator remote adjustment system according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is a fluid actuator that drives the driven object by a hydraulic fluid.

13. When an actuator in an actuator system is remotely adjusted by a remote adjustment device capable of communicating with the actuator system, monitoring a communication state between the actuator system and the remote adjustment device; When an abnormality is detected in the communication state, suppressing the driving of the driven object by the actuator; To perform the actuator remote adjustment method.

14. When an actuator in an actuator system is remotely adjusted by a remote adjustment device capable of communicating with the actuator system, monitoring a communication state between the actuator system and the remote adjustment device; When an abnormality is detected in the communication state, suppressing the driving of the driven object by the actuator; An actuator remote adjustment program that causes a computer to execute the above.

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