Cell Controller Abnormality Cause Identification

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for detecting abnormalities in manufacturing machines, such as those caused by improper settings or operations, are inefficient as they require manual comparison of internal information from functioning and malfunctioning machines, leading to prolonged identification of causes and reduced productivity.

Innovation Solution

A cell controller that acquires and compares internal information from multiple manufacturing machines, identifies differences, and determines the cause of abnormalities, enabling quick recovery and prevention of future issues through an inside information acquiring unit, comparison object selecting unit, inside information comparing unit, abnormality cause finding unit, and abnormality cause conveying unit.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If manual comparison of inside information from multiple manufacturing machines is performed to identify abnormality causes, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveabnormality cause identification accuracyVSAvoidtime for cause determination

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-diagnosis by automatically comparing inside information and identifying abnormality causes without requiring manual intervention from maintenance managers or support engineers

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

Manual information comparison operations are replaced with automated information processing systems that collect, compare, and analyze inside information electronically, eliminating the need for manual picking up and comparing of information

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Measurement precision

If detailed comparison of inside information is performed to detect improper settings or operations, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveabnormality detection capabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The cell controller performs multiple functions including normal machine control, information collection, comparison operations, and abnormality cause identification within a single integrated system

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an information collection unit and comparison operation unit as intermediaries that automatically handle the complex task of inside information comparison, simplifying the overall process

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS10203666B2Cell controller for finding cause of abnormality in manufacturing machine

Publication Date: 2019.02.12 FANUC LTD

AI summary

A cell controller includes an inside information acquiring unit for acquiring the inside information of the plurality of manufacturing machines, and an inside information comparing unit which compares, with regard to a first manufacturing machine and a second manufacturing machine, which are selected by the comparison object selecting unit, first inside information and second inside information, which are acquired, and the inside information comparing unit extracting a difference therebetween. The cell controller also includes an abnormality cause finding unit for finding a cause of an abnormality that occurs in the first manufacturing machine or the second manufacturing machine, based on the difference, and an abnormality cause conveying unit for conveying the cause of the abnormality to the outside of the cell controller.