Conventionally, for the purpose of automatically controlling, for example, an air conditioning facility (air conditioning system) a designer specifies the basic requirements of the air conditioning system. Generally, such basic specifications do not include the control logic or parameters that are required for setting the operation level. An automatic control system supplier (company) assembles the control logic required for the actual operation level based on the basic specification to make a control flow (operation control procedure). The control flow is executed by means of software stored in a control device (for example, a computer) or by means of a program stored in a programmable sequencer. Generally, with regard to setting parameters, such as a PID (Proportional Integral Differential) parameter, the automatic control system supplier set optimal parameters by repetitive trial and error to match the characteristics of a building at the time of completion and delivery of the facility. When the facility has been delivered, generally, an operation manager monitors the operating state of the air conditioning system using a central monitoring system.
In a conventional control system for controlling devices to be controlled, such as an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a circulating pump or a generator, an automatically controlled operation is monitored through a central monitoring system. Meanwhile, for example, the quality of the automatic control of such an air conditioning system greatly influences the quality of the indoor environment and the energy consumption. Thus, automatic control of an air conditioning system requires precise monitoring of the operation, to enable rapid and easy tracing of errors and thereby enhance the operating efficiency of the system.
However, according to conventional automatic control of air conditioning systems, the automatic control system supplier must assemble the control logic at the operation level, and the control logic is executed as a program. In addition, setting parameters are also input directly into the read-only memory (ROM) of a control device in situ, so the control logic and the setting parameters become a “black box” for an operation manager or a designer of the basic requirements. For this reason, although the operational state of the air conditioning system is monitored through a central monitoring system, a cause of a trouble caused by the control logic could not be specified. In addition, even though the control flow may be displayed on a monitor of the central monitoring system, the control flow cannot be displayed in a time sequentials, so not only is it difficult to trace the control logic, but also it is impossible to confirm the propriety of the operation control.
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation and, accordingly, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a facility control monitoring method and a facility control monitoring apparatus capable of visually tracing the control logic and easily finding a cause of an operation trouble caused by the control logic.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds