1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for automated process monitoring, and more particularly to a procedure downloading system and method which can download communication procedures automatically from a remote server to any of monitoring computers.
2. Background of the Invention
A shop floor control system is an industry standard term describing a computer-based system that provides access to all manufacturing activities that generally take place in manufacturing sites. The manufacturing activities typically include master production scheduling, process monitoring, quality control, and so on. Monitoring manufacturing processes is important for a manufacturing enterprise's success because of the high cost of various manufacturing errors. Manufacturing errors can result in wastage of raw materials, machine down time, and reworking or scrapping of defective products. The cost of a manufacturing error is minimized when the error is detected and corrected at the earliest possible time in the manufacturing process. Problems can be detected and resolved at the earliest possible time and at the lowest possible cost through real-time process monitoring.
A conventional process monitoring system comprises operations of various detection equipment and sensors, with a central monitoring device collecting various data on the process at predetermined intervals of time. When an abnormality is detected in the process, the central monitoring device notifies supervising personnel via a computer terminal display such as a CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube). Information concerning the occurrence of the abnormality is displayed on the CRT, thereby enabling the supervising personnel to remedy the abnormality appropriately and quickly. However, the process monitoring system generally uses special monitoring equipment, which is expensive.
Another process monitoring method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,352 issued on Jan. 21, 2003 and entitled Methods And Apparatus For Object-based Process Control. The patent provides a plurality of control devices that provide virtual machine environments in which Java objects, or other such software constructs, are executed to implement process control. These objects define blocks, which are the basic functional units of the control. They also define input, output and body parts from which blocks are formed, and the signals that are communicated between blocks. The objects also define nested and composite groupings of blocks used to control loops and higher-level control functions. However, the supervising personnel need to manually download communication procedures.
To overcome the foregoing problems, what is need is a system and method for automatically downloading needed communication procedures from a remote server and installing the communication procedures into corresponding monitor computers.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a system and method which can automatically download communication procedures from a remote server to monitor computers and install the communication procedures in the monitor computers thereby enabling the monitor computers to monitor operations of manufacturing sites.
To accomplish the above objective, a procedure downloading system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a web server, a database server, a video server and a plurality of monitor computers linking to the web server through a communication means. The web server comprises: an IP (Internet Protocol) address obtaining module for obtaining IP addresses from said monitor computers; an IP address determination module for determining whether each obtained IP address is already in the database server; a download request receiving module for receiving a communication procedure download request from a corresponding monitor computer if the obtained IP address is not in the database server; a procedure downloading module for downloading a communication procedure to the monitor computer according to the received communication procedure download request; and a procedure installing module for installing the downloaded communication procedure in the monitor computer.
Further, a preferred procedure downloading method according to the present invention is also provided. The method comprises the following steps: obtaining an IP (Internet Protocol) address from one of said monitor computers; determining whether the obtained IP address is already in a database server; receiving a communication procedure download request from the monitor computer if the obtained IP address is not in the database server; downloading the communication procedure to the monitor computer; and installing the downloaded communication procedure in the monitor computer.
Other objects, novel features and advantages of the present invention will be drawn from the following detailed description of the present invention with the attached drawings, in which:
The authority management module 21 is provided to receive user IDs and corresponding passwords from any monitor computer 5, determine whether any user is an authorized user, and to reject access by the user if the user is not an authorized one. The IP address obtaining module 22 is provided to obtaining IP addresses from the monitor computers 5. The IP address determination module 23 is provided to determine whether each obtained IP address exists in the database server 1. The download request receiving module 24 is provided to receive a communication procedure download request from a corresponding monitor computer 5 if the IP address obtained from that monitor computer 5 does not exist in the database server 1. The procedure downloading module 25 is provided to download the communication procedure to the monitor computer 5 according to the communication procedure download request. The procedure installing module 26 is provided to install the downloaded communication procedure in the monitor computer 5, and to store the IP address of the monitor computer 5 in the database server 1.
Otherwise, in step S320, the download request receiving module 24 receives a procedure download request from the monitor computer 5. In step S322, the procedure downloading module 25 downloads the communication procedure to the monitor computer 5 according to the received procedure download request. In step S324, the procedure installing module 26 installs the downloaded communication procedure in the monitor computer 5. In step S326, the procedure installing module 26 stores the IP address of the monitor computer 5 in the database server 1. In step S328, the monitor computer 5 runs the communication procedure in order to obtain video data from the video server 6 for monitoring of operations of the manufacturing site.
Although the present invention has been specifically described on the basis of a preferred embodiment and preferred method, the invention is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to said embodiment and method without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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092130561 | Oct 2003 | TW | national |