Equipment data acquisition system

Abstract

When an anomaly occurs, if specific information is not retrieved from the production equipment, the lack of information before and after the anomaly makes it difficult to analyze the cause of the malfunction. [Solution] The equipment data acquisition system comprises a receiving device that receives alarm data transmitted from an alarm device installed in the equipment when an abnormality occurs in the equipment; a data processing device that, if the equipment experiencing the abnormality is equipped with a control device, instructs the control device to perform an inspection and receives inspection result data transmitted from the control device in response to the instruction; and a storage data management device that adds the contents of the inspection result data to the contents of the alarm data and stores them in a data lake.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to an equipment data acquisition system.

Background Art

[0002] In the information processing apparatus of Patent Document 1, state data indicating various events generated at regular intervals or at the time of event occurrence by production equipment is collected and accumulated in a data lake. Then, by analyzing the accumulated state data, events that occurred in the production equipment can be identified.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When an abnormality occurs, the information processing apparatus of Patent Document 1 does not go to the production equipment to obtain specific information. Therefore, when analyzing the cause of the abnormality in the production equipment, information before and after the occurrence of the abnormality is lacking, and it may be difficult to analyze the cause.

[0005] This disclosure has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an equipment data acquisition system that can be remotely operated and specific information can be acquired when an abnormality occurs in equipment.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The equipment data acquisition system of this disclosure comprises: a receiving device that receives alarm data transmitted from an alarm device installed in the equipment when an abnormality occurs in the equipment; a data processing device that, if the equipment experiencing the abnormality is equipped with a control device, instructs the control device to perform an inspection and, in response to the instruction, receives inspection result data transmitted from the control device; and a storage data management device that adds the contents of the inspection result data to the contents of the alarm data and stores them in a data lake. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to this disclosure, by acquiring alarm data from an alarm device that detects an abnormality in the equipment, instructing a control device to perform an inspection, and adding the contents of the inspection results data to the contents of the alarm data and storing it, it becomes easier to later analyze the abnormality and investigate its cause. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a configuration diagram of an equipment system having an equipment data acquisition system in Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart showing the operation of the alarm device in Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] This is a flowchart illustrating the process of receiving alarm data in the equipment data acquisition system according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 4] This is the registered equipment table registered in the equipment information storage device in Embodiment 1. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart showing the inspection instruction process in the equipment data acquisition system in Embodiment 1. [Figure 6] This flowchart shows the inspection instruction processing in the control device in Embodiment 1. [Figure 7] This is the data stored in the data lake in Embodiment 1. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of the hardware resources of the data processing device in Embodiment 1. [Figure 9]This figure shows another example of the hardware resources of the data processing device in Embodiment 1. [Figure 10] This is a flowchart showing the process of receiving alarm data in the equipment data acquisition system in Embodiment 2. [Figure 11] This is a flowchart illustrating the alarm data reception process in the equipment data acquisition system according to Embodiment 3. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The embodiments for implementing this disclosure will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations are simplified or omitted as appropriate.

[0010] Embodiment 1. Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an equipment system that includes an equipment data acquisition system 100. The equipment system in Figure 1 mainly consists of an equipment data acquisition system 100, three pieces of equipment A, B, and C, a communication terminal 300, and a communication network 400.

[0011] In Figure 1, the equipment data acquisition system 100 comprises a receiving device 101, a data processing device 102, an equipment information storage device 103, a stored data management device 104, and a data lake 105. The data processing device 102 also includes a data analysis unit 102a and a data acquisition instruction unit 102b. A data lake is a storage area that aggregates a vast amount of data from various sources and stores the data in its raw state. The equipment data acquisition system 100 is installed in monitoring centers, data centers, etc.

[0012] The receiving device 101 can communicate wirelessly or via a wired communication network 400 with the transmitting devices 201A of facility A, the transmitting devices 201B of facility B, and the transmitting devices 201C of facility C. Also, the data processing device 102 can communicate wirelessly or via a wired communication network 400 with the control devices 202A of facility A and the control devices 202B of facility B. Note that facility C does not have a control device, or even if it does, communication is not possible because the communication protocols it has are different from each other, or it cannot decrypt the information obtained through communication. Here, facility A, B, and C can be various things such as elevators, escalators, production equipment (machines), air conditioning equipment, lighting equipment, etc. However, for the following examples, mainly elevators are assumed for explanation.

[0013] The data processing device 102 can also communicate wirelessly with the communication terminal 300 held by the maintenance staff.

[0014] Next, the operations of each component in the block diagram in FIG. 1 will be described based on the flowchart. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the transmitting device 201. Note that the transmitting device 201 is a general term for the transmitting devices 201A, 201B, and 201C, and they perform the same operation.

[0015] The transmitting device 201 monitors whether an abnormality has occurred in the facility and determines whether an abnormality has been detected (step S100). If an abnormality is detected, it transmits the alarm data (step S101). Note that, for example, this alarm data includes the facility name, alarm time, alarm content, and urgency. When facility A is an elevator, the facility name = A, the alarm time = 09:00, the alarm content = door open and running, and the urgency = urgent, etc. The facility name is individually assigned so as not to overlap among all the facilities targeted by the facility data acquisition system 100.

[0016] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the transmission data reception process in the facility data acquisition system 100. First, the receiving device 101 determines whether there is transmission data among the various data it receives, that is, whether it has received the transmission data (step S200). If it has received the data, the receiving device 101 assigns the reception time to the transmission data and transfers it to the data processing device 102 (step S201).

[0017] In the data processing device 102, the data analysis unit 102a determines whether the facility with the facility name in the transmission data has a control device 202 (step S202). Figure 4 is the registered facility table 103a registered in the facility information storage device 103. In this registered facility table 103a, the facility name 103a1, the communication address 103a2 of the transmitting device 201 in that facility, and the communication address 103a3 of the control device 202 are registered in a table format. Therefore, the data analysis unit 102a reads the registered facility table 103a and determines the presence or absence of the control device based on whether there is a communication address 103a3 of the control device 202 corresponding to the facility name in the transmission data. For example, when the facility name is A, since there is a control device communication address aaa.aaa.aaa.2, it is determined that there is a control device. Also, when the facility name is C, since there is no control device communication address, it is determined that there is no control device.

[0018] If the data analysis unit 102a determines in step S202 that there is a control device, it adds the control device communication address 103a3 to the data acquisition instruction unit 102b and issues an inspection instruction (step S203), and transfers the transmission data to the storage data management device 104 (step S204). The storage data management device 104 temporarily stores the transmission data (step S205).

[0019] If in step S202 the data analysis unit 102a determines that there is no control device, it selects a maintenance staff member and requests the maintenance staff member's communication terminal 300 to go out by specifying the facility name (step S206).

[0020] Then, the dispatch request data, along with the notification data, is transferred to the data storage management device 104 (step S207). The data storage management device 104 adds the contents of the dispatch request data to the contents of the notification data, adds metadata, and stores it in the data lake 105 (step S208). The dispatch request data includes, for example, the name of the maintenance worker who made the dispatch request and the time of notification, such as 09:12.

[0021] Next, we will explain the inspection process at the control device 202 for each piece of equipment. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the inspection instruction process at the equipment data acquisition system 100. Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the inspection instruction process at the control device 202.

[0022] First, inspections include regular inspections that are conducted periodically, and emergency inspections that are carried out based on the inspection instructions in step S203 of the flowchart in Figure 3.

[0023] In Figure 5, the data acquisition instruction unit 102b determines whether the scheduled time has arrived (step S300). The scheduled time is the time to instruct the control device 202 to perform an inspection, and is set in advance as a specific time or time interval. This scheduled time may be set to be the same for all connected control devices 202, or it may be set to be different for each.

[0024] In step S300, if it is not the scheduled time, the data analysis unit 102a determines whether or not there is an inspection instruction (step S301). This inspection instruction is based on step S203 in the flowchart of Figure 3, and occurs when alarm data is received.

[0025] If it is determined in step S301 that an inspection instruction is required, an emergency inspection instruction is sent to the corresponding control device 202, i.e., the control device 202 corresponding to the equipment name in the alarm data (step S302). For example, if the equipment name in the alarm data is A, an emergency inspection instruction is sent to the control device 202A with the control device communication address aaa.aaa.aaa.2 in the registered equipment table 103a.

[0026] Subsequently, it is determined whether inspection result data has been received from the control device 202 (step S303), and this process is repeated until data is received.

[0027] In the control device 202 of each piece of equipment, as shown in the flowchart in Figure 6, first, it determines whether a periodic inspection instruction has been received (step S400), and if not, it determines whether an emergency inspection instruction has been received (step S401). If it is determined in step S401 that an emergency inspection instruction has been received, the control device 202 inspects the equipment and generates inspection result data (step S402). This inspection method is predetermined and differs for each piece of equipment. Possible methods include checking the arrangement of the equipment's components, test operation, and power-on testing of the electrical system. For example, if equipment A is an elevator, the inspection result data might include equipment name = A, inspection time = 09:03, and acceleration = 1 m / s². 2 Opening and closing a door is equivalent to "open," etc.

[0028] The control device 202 determines whether a serious malfunction occurred during the inspection in step S402 (step S403). A serious malfunction is one that requires repair by a maintenance worker and is predetermined.

[0029] If the control device 202 determines in step S403 that a serious malfunction has occurred, it adds a maintenance worker request flag to the inspection result data (step S404) and transmits the inspection result data to the data acquisition instruction unit 102b (step S405). If the control device 202 determines in step S403 that there is no serious malfunction, it transmits the inspection result data acquired in step S402 to the data acquisition instruction unit 102b in step S405. After that, the control device 202 restarts the equipment (step S406). This is done by incorporating a restart instruction after the inspection into the emergency inspection instruction.

[0030] Following step S405 in Figure 6, the inspection result data is received in step S303 according to the flowchart in Figure 5. The data acquisition instruction unit 102b passes the inspection result data to the data analysis unit 102a and determines whether a maintenance worker request flag has been added to the inspection result data (step S304). If it is determined in step S304 that the flag has not been added, the data analysis unit 102a transfers the inspection result data to the stored data management device 104 (step S305).

[0031] The data storage management device 104 adds the contents of the received inspection result data to the contents of the alarm data temporarily stored in step S205 of Figure 3, adds metadata, and stores it in the data lake 105 (step S306).

[0032] Furthermore, if it is determined in step S304 that a maintenance personnel request flag has been added to the inspection result data, a maintenance personnel is selected, and a dispatch request is sent to the communication terminal 300 of that maintenance personnel, specifying the name of the equipment (step S307).

[0033] Then, the inspection result data is transferred to the data storage management device 104 along with the dispatch request data (step S308). In the data storage management device 104, the contents of the dispatch request data and the contents of the inspection result data are added to the contents of the alarm data temporarily stored in step S205 of Figure 3, metadata is added, and it is stored in the data lake 105 (step S309).

[0034] Figure 7 shows the data stored in data lake 105. Data group 105a represents the case where an alarm was triggered in equipment A equipped with control device 202A. The contents of the alarm data are: Equipment name = A, Alarm time = 09:00, Alarm content = Door open during travel, Urgency = Emergency, Reception time when receiving device 101 received the alarm data = 09:01, Inspection result data contents are: Inspection time = 09:03, Acceleration = 1 m / s 2 This includes the action of opening and closing a door.

[0035] Data group 105b represents the case where an alarm is triggered by equipment C, which does not have a control device. The content of the alarm data is as follows: equipment name = C, alarm time = 09:10, alarm content = door open during travel, urgency = emergency, time the receiving device 101 received the alarm data = 09:11, and the content of the dispatch request data is as follows: maintenance worker who notified the dispatch request = XXX, time of notification = 09:12.

[0036] In step S300 of Figure 5, if the scheduled time arrives, a periodic inspection instruction is sent to the corresponding control device 202 (step S310). Then, it is determined whether inspection result data has been received from the control device 202 (step S311), and this process is repeated until data is received.

[0037] In the control device 202 of each piece of equipment, it is determined in step S400 of Figure 6 that a periodic inspection instruction has been received. Therefore, the control device 202 performs an inspection of the equipment and acquires inspection result data (step S407). Then, it transmits the inspection result data directly to the data acquisition instruction unit 102b (step S408).

[0038] Following step S408 in Figure 6, and as shown in the flowchart in Figure 5, the inspection result data is received in step S311. The data acquisition instruction unit 102b then transfers the inspection result data to the data storage management device 104 via the data analysis unit 102a (step S312). The data storage management device 104 adds metadata to the received inspection result data and stores it in the data lake 105 (step S313).

[0039] Furthermore, data lake 105 stores a mixture of data from various types of equipment. Later, to check the failure status, it may be possible to extract and process the data using equipment names or other key information.

[0040] Thus, in Embodiment 1, when an abnormality occurs, the system responds to the equipment's alarm data, instructs an inspection, and acquires and saves the inspection result data, making it easier to analyze the abnormality and investigate its cause.

[0041] Furthermore, by adding the contents of inspection result data from a nearby time period to the contents of the alarm data and storing it, extraction and processing become easier.

[0042] Furthermore, by adding the contents of inspection result data to the alarm data for equipment with a control device, and adding the contents of dispatch request data to the alarm data for equipment without a control device, management becomes easier by making the data format similar whether or not there is a control device.

[0043] Furthermore, emergency inspections based on the reception of alarm data, followed by restarting the equipment, can be expected to resolve some of the abnormalities.

[0044] Although the alarm device 201A of facility A, which is equipped with the control device 202A, and the alarm device 201C of facility C, which is not equipped with the control device, have the same configuration, some modifications are possible. For example, the alarm device 201C can be configured to reduce the I / F functions added for communication with the control device, or to reduce the control communication program to the control device.

[0045] Furthermore, for equipment without a control device, as shown in the data group 105b in Figure 7, in addition to adding the content of the dispatch request data to the content of the alarm data, the content of the inspection status and repair status of equipment C by the maintenance personnel may also be added. In that case, the maintenance personnel will manually input the repair data from the communication terminal 300 and transmit it to the data analysis unit 102a.

[0046] Furthermore, if the equipment is an elevator, the alarm data could include not only door-open operation, but also landing failure or entrapment.

[0047] Figure 8 shows an example of the hardware resources of the data processing device 102. The data processing device 102 includes a processor 1021, a memory 1022, and a transmit / receive circuit 1023 as hardware resources. Note that there may be multiple processors 1021, memory 1022, and transmit / receive circuits 1023.

[0048] The memory 1022 stores the program, which is read as needed and executed by the processor 1021. The transmit / receive circuit 1023 handles data transmission and reception with the control unit 202 and the communication terminal 300.

[0049] The processor 1021 is also called a CPU (Central Processing Unit), central processing unit, arithmetic unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, or DSP. The memory 1022 may be a semiconductor memory, magnetic disk, flexible disk, optical disk, compact disk, minidisc, or DVD. Possible semiconductor memories include RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM, and EEPROM.

[0050] Figure 9 shows another example of the hardware resources of the data processing device 102. In the example in Figure 9, the data processing device 102 includes a processing circuit that includes a processor 1021, memory 1022, a transmit / receive circuit 1023, and dedicated hardware 1024. Some of the functions of the data processing device 102 are realized by the dedicated hardware 1024. Alternatively, all of the functions of the data processing device 102 may be realized by the dedicated hardware 1024. The dedicated hardware 1024 can be a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof.

[0051] The hardware resources of the receiving device 101 and the data storage management device 104 are the same as those shown in Figures 8 and 9.

[0052] Embodiment 2. In Embodiment 1, when alarm data was received, step S202 in Figure 3 determined whether the equipment had a control device based on the registered equipment table 103a. In contrast, in Embodiment 2, when the alarm device 201 generates alarm data, it checks whether it has a corresponding control device 202, and if so, it includes the communication address of that device in the alarm data.

[0053] Figure 10 is a flowchart showing the alarm data reception process in the equipment data acquisition system 100 in Embodiment 2. In this case, at step S210 in Figure 10, the flow to step S203 and the flow to step S206 are separated depending on whether or not the alarm data contains information about the control device. This reduces the equipment information storage device 103, and the equipment data acquisition system 100 can be configured at a lower cost.

[0054] Embodiment 3. In step S406 of Figure 6, after restarting the equipment, we considered the possibility of the same abnormality occurring again within a short period of time, and decided not to issue an inspection instruction in the event of a recurrence.

[0055] Figure 11 is a flowchart showing the alarm data reception process in the equipment data acquisition system 100 in Embodiment 3. In this case, after determining that a control device is present in step S202 of Figure 11, it is determined whether there was any similar alarm data recently (step S211). If there was no such data, the process proceeds to step S203; if there was, the process proceeds to step S206.

[0056] In this way, if an abnormality occurs even after restarting the equipment, maintenance personnel can be dispatched to quickly address the problem.

[0057] In this case, if the data storage management device 104 stores the contents of the current alarm data in addition to the data group based on previously stored alarm data, it will be easier to analyze the anomaly and investigate its cause later on.

[0058] Although preferred embodiments have been described in detail above, the invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of disclosure.

[0059] Furthermore, when referring to the number, quantity, amount, range, etc., of each element in the embodiments, the apparatus of this disclosure is not limited to the referred number unless specifically stated or clearly defined in principle. Also, the structures, etc., described in these embodiments are not necessarily essential unless specifically stated or clearly defined in principle.

[0060] The various aspects of this disclosure are summarized below as an appendix. (Note 1) Equipment data acquisition system for receiving alarm data transmitted from an alarm device installed in equipment when an abnormality occurs in the equipment, comprising: a receiving device for receiving the alarm data; a data processing device that, if the equipment in which the abnormality occurred is equipped with a control device, instructs the control device to perform an inspection and receives inspection result data transmitted from the control device in response to the instruction; and a stored data management device that adds the contents of the inspection result data to the contents of the alarm data and stores them in a data lake. (Note 2) The equipment data acquisition system as described in Appendix 1, wherein the data processing device notifies a communication terminal to dispatch maintenance personnel if the equipment in which the abnormality has occurred does not have the control device, and the stored data management device adds the content of the dispatch request to the content of the notification data and stores it in the data lake. (Note 3) The equipment data acquisition system according to Appendix 2, having a table indicating whether the equipment is equipped with the control device, wherein the data processing device determines whether the equipment is equipped with the control device based on the table. (Note 4) The equipment data acquisition system described in Appendix 2 includes information indicating whether the equipment is equipped with the control device, and the data processing device determines whether the equipment is equipped with the control device based on the information. (Note 5) The equipment data acquisition system according to any one of the appendices 1 to 4, wherein the data processing device periodically instructs the control device to perform the inspection, receives the inspection result data transmitted from the control device in response to the instruction, and the storage data management device stores the contents of the inspection result data based on the periodic instruction in the data lake. (Note 6) The data processing device is an equipment data acquisition system according to any one of the appendices 1 to 5, which instructs the control device to restart the equipment after the inspection, along with performing the inspection. (Note 7) The equipment data acquisition system described in Appendix 6, wherein when the equipment has restarted and the equipment has received the alarm data from the alarm device, the data processing device notifies the communication terminal to dispatch a maintenance worker, and the stored data management device adds the dispatch request to the contents of the alarm data and stores it in the data lake. (Note 8) The storage data management device is an equipment data acquisition system according to any one of the appendices 1 to 7, which adds metadata and stores the data in the data lake. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 100 Equipment data acquisition system, 101 Receiving device, 102 Data processing device, 103 Equipment information storage device, 103a Registered equipment table, 104 Storage data management device, 105 Data lake, 201, 201A, 201B, 201C alarm device, 202, 202A, 202B control devices, 300 communication terminals, 400 communication networks, 1021 Processor, 1022 Memory, 1023 Transceiver circuit, 1024 Dedicated Hardware

Claims

1. In a system for acquiring equipment data that receives alarm data transmitted from an alarm device installed in the equipment when an abnormality occurs in the equipment, A system for acquiring equipment data, comprising: a receiving device for receiving the alarm data; a data processing device that, if the equipment in which the abnormality occurred is equipped with a control device, instructs the control device to perform an inspection and, in response to the instruction, receives inspection result data transmitted from the control device; and a storage data management device that adds the contents of the inspection result data to the contents of the alarm data and stores them in a data lake.

2. The equipment data acquisition system according to claim 1, wherein the data processing device notifies a communication terminal to dispatch maintenance personnel if the equipment in which the abnormality has occurred does not have the control device, and the stored data management device adds the content of the dispatch request to the content of the notification data and stores it in the data lake.

3. The equipment data acquisition system according to claim 2, wherein the equipment has a table indicating whether or not the equipment is equipped with the control device, and the data processing device determines whether or not the equipment is equipped with the control device based on the table.

4. The equipment data acquisition system according to claim 2, wherein the notification data includes information indicating whether the equipment is equipped with the control device, and the data processing device determines whether the equipment is equipped with the control device based on the information.

5. The equipment data acquisition system according to claim 1, wherein the data processing device periodically instructs the control device to perform the inspection, receives the inspection result data transmitted from the control device in response to the instruction, and the stored data management device stores the contents of the inspection result data based on the periodic instruction in the data lake.

6. The equipment data acquisition system according to claim 1, wherein the data processing device instructs the control device to restart the equipment after the inspection, along with performing the inspection.

7. The equipment data acquisition system according to claim 6, wherein when the data processing device receives the alarm data from the alarm device of the restarted equipment, the data processing device notifies the communication terminal to dispatch maintenance personnel, and the stored data management device adds the content of the dispatch request to the content of the alarm data and stores it in the data lake.

8. The equipment data acquisition system according to any one of claims 1, 2, 5, or 7, wherein the storage data management device adds metadata and stores the data in the data lake.

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