Industrial Machine Control Software Redundancy for Fast Failover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial machines experience downtime due to software anomalies, leading to undesirable periods where hardware is not operational, and existing techniques do not effectively shorten this downtime during software updates or anomalies.
Innovation Solution
A control device with a memory part and control part that executes the same software twice, allowing for simultaneous processing by multiple instances, enabling quick switching between primary and secondary software in case of anomalies to maintain continuous operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If software is duplicated and switched when one stops due to anomaly, then safety is improved, but downtime of hardware operation occurs between software switching
Solution Approach 1:
The standby software instance is prepared and kept ready in advance before any anomaly occurs. This preliminary preparation ensures that when the active software fails, the standby software can immediately take over without requiring time for setup or configuration, thus eliminating downtime while maintaining safety through software redundancy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a duplicate copy of the software system with identical functionality. The standby software is a complete copy that can replace the active software instantly upon failure detection. This copying approach ensures both safety through redundancy and continuous operation without downtime, as the copy is already prepared and ready to execute
2Duration of action of stationary object
If control programs are recorded in multiple fields for switching, then hardware control continuity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the functionality of multiple control programs into a unified dual-instance software architecture. Instead of managing separate control programs in different fields, the system combines them into two instances of the same software structure, simplifying management while ensuring continuous hardware control through automatic failover capability
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is designed to improve safety in the event an anomaly occurs in software. A control device for an industrial machine includes a memory part and a control part. The memory part stores the software for controlling the industrial machine to repeat the molding operations. The control part executes the software at least twice so that a process is performed by each of a plurality of the same software.