What are differences between RobotStudio Solutions vs. Projects vs. Stations?

rlekkerkerker

Hi there,

We are teaching RobotStudio at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and there are a few things that we cannot figure out. What are the differences/relations between 'Solutions', 'Projects' and 'Stations'. We formulated some questions:

1. Is it correct that Solutions are obsolete since RS 2022.2 and called Projects since then?
2. Are Solutions and Projects exactly the same or are there differences?
3. What are the differences between a Project and a Station?
4. Is Project a higher level container above Station or vice versa?
5. Can a Project contain multiple Stations and if so how can we switch between them?
6. Can a Station contain a Virtual Controller?
7. When a Station is packed into a Pack & Go, is it packed as a Project?
8. Is Joker: Folie à Deux really a bad movie?

Thank you in advance, Richard

Maxim Riabichev

Well hello there!

I found these questions particularly interesting (especially question 8) so I did some digging.

1. Is it correct that Solutions are obsolete since RS 2022.2 and called Projects since then?
   Yes, this is correct. Release notes as proof.
2. Are Solutions and Projects exactly the same or are there differences?
   They are not the same.
   

   In a Solution, there can be one or more Station (.rsstn) files, whereas in a Project, there can be only one .rsstnx file, along with a directory containing graphic data. A .rsstn file is a zipped file that also contains graphic data, while in a Project, this data is unpacked. This was done to facilitate version control.

   Another difference in the directory structure between Solution and Project is that in a Project, there is Controller Data which contains a backup of all controllers in the Project when it was last saved. This means that if you move a Project on disk, or download it from the internet, all controllers will be automatically recreated (you cannot move a VC, but need to recreate it). For a Solution, the only way to move it is to create a P&G and then unpack it.

3. What are the differences between a Project and a Station?
   You can review the differences in the RobotStudio manual, chapter "2.1 Understanding stations and projects".
4. Is Project a higher level container above Station or vice versa?
   Yes, it is.
5. Can a Project contain multiple Stations and if so how can we switch between them?
   No. See answer to question 2.
6. Can a Station contain a Virtual Controller?
   Yes.
7. When a Station is packed into a Pack & Go, is it packed as a Project?
   No, it is packed as a stand-alone station with a virtual controller. When unpacked it is unpacked into a Solution (which is obsolete and should not be used). The possibility to work with Stations is kept for now for backwards compatibility reasons. Stations should in general not be used either.
   Projects should be used as a default.
8. Is Joker: Folie à Deux really a bad movie?
   I've seen that The Internet has mixed feelings about this one. The main issue seems to be a lack of raison d'être for the movie.

rlekkerkerker

Wow, thank you for your fast and thorough answer. I see there are a couple of legacy and backward compatibility things going on. This probably confused me, but now the raison d'être for Projects is very clear to me