Flowchart Comparison for Ladder Program Change Impact Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in efficiently evaluating the influence of changes to ladder programs on automatic assembling apparatuses, often requiring extensive manual work to specify the affected ranges.
Innovation Solution
An information processing apparatus and method that acquire difference information before and after a change in a flowchart, and output the flowchart with applied difference information, enabling easier evaluation of changes and specification of their influence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual comparison of ladder programs before and after change is performed to specify different parts, then accuracy in identifying changes is improved, but time consumption increases enormously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical comparison of ladder programs with automated computer-based flowchart generation and comparison. The system automatically converts ladder programs before and after changes into flowcharts, then compares these flowcharts to identify differences, eliminating the need for manual line-by-line program comparison while maintaining high accuracy in specifying changed parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates flowchart copies of the original ladder program and the modified ladder program. By comparing these flowchart representations rather than the raw ladder program text, the system enables automated and accurate identification of functional differences without manual intervention, significantly reducing time consumption while preserving measurement precision.
2Productivity
If only different parts of ladder program are specified without evaluating influential range, then work efficiency in identifying changes is improved, but completeness of change assessment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by using the generated flowcharts to not only identify different parts but also to trace and evaluate the influential range of changes throughout the control system. The flowchart comparison provides feedback information about how changes propagate through the control logic, enabling comprehensive assessment of change impacts while maintaining high work efficiency through automated processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the ladder program analysis into two complementary components: identification of different parts through flowchart comparison, and evaluation of influential range through flowchart traversal. This segmentation allows the system to efficiently specify changes while simultaneously assessing their complete impact scope, preventing loss of information about change propagation.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If flowchart is used to visualize algorithm for comparison and debugging, then problem detection capability is improved, but complexity of processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the system to automatically generate flowcharts from ladder programs and perform self-comparison without external intervention. The automated flowchart generation and comparison functionality allows the system to detect problems and identify changes independently, improving problem detection capability while the automation actually reduces the effective processing complexity by eliminating manual flowchart creation and analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing apparatus includes a control portion configured to acquire difference information before and after a change of a flowchart when the flowchart has been changed and to output the flowchart into which the difference information is being applied.