Icon-Based Teaching Interface for Visualizing Program Relationships
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Solution Overview
Problem
In programming devices using icons, operators struggle to visually confirm relationships between icons, which hinders efficient program creation.
Innovation Solution
A teaching device that includes a screen display creation unit for generating a program creation screen with a predetermined region for arranging icons and a relationship display creation unit to visually highlight relationships between icons based on shared data or hardware usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If icons are displayed in a completed manner with one icon each, then the program creation screen remains simple and clean, but the operator cannot visually confirm relationships between icons
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes by displaying icons in different colors based on their relationships. Icons that share data or hardware resources are shown in the same color, while unrelated icons have different colors. This allows operators to visually identify relationships between icons through color coding without adding complex visual elements, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining display simplicity and conveying relationship information.
2Reliability
If the operator arranges many icons in the program creation region, then the control program becomes comprehensive, but it becomes difficult to recognize mutual connections between icons
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color coding to group related icons together visually. When multiple icons are arranged in the program creation region, icons that share data or hardware resources are displayed in the same color, enabling operators to quickly identify mutual connections and data flows even when many icons are present. This maintains program completeness while improving visual recognition ease.
3Productivity
If no visual indication of icon relationships is provided, then the display remains simple, but programming efficiency decreases due to difficulty in understanding icon connections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a color-based visual indication system that enhances programming efficiency by allowing operators to instantly recognize icon relationships through color coding. Icons with relationships are displayed in matching colors, providing immediate visual feedback about data and hardware connections. This simple yet effective approach improves productivity without significantly increasing display complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A teaching device for creating a program using icons representing functions that form a control program for an industrial machine, the teaching device being provided with: a screen display generation unit that generates a program creation screen which has a predetermined region for arranging multiple icons to create a control program; and a relationship display generation unit that, on the basis of information related to multiple icons, extracts two or more icons which are related to each other in terms of processing contents from among the multiple icons arranged on the predetermined region, and displays the relationships between the extracted two or more icons so as to be visibly recognized.