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Can one connect PC to controller via service port for socket programming, PCI 616 is not available?

hemangchawla
hemangchawla ✭
in Robot Controller
I need to develop HRI with ABB IRB 1410 with IRC5 compact controller. PC Interface option is not available with me. However upon connecting the PC with the controller via the service port I am able to access the controller and make changes to the RAPID code. I am also able to view the 

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  • hemangchawla
    hemangchawla ✭
    I need to develop HRI with ABB IRB 1410 with IRC5 compact controller. PC Interface option is not available with me. However upon connecting the PC with the controller via the service port I am able to access the controller and make changes to the RAPID code. I am also able to use the online monitor. However to be able to actively communicate with the controller, I require socket programming. With the PCI not available, SocketConnect SocketBind etc are not available. The controller returns that the PCI is not available when changes are applied. 

    I understand PCI is required to connect the controller to the PC when using the LAN port. 
    However is there a way to use socket programming when connected via the service port? 

    If not, what would be the approximate cost of PCI option in India?
  • John Wiberg
    John Wiberg ✭✭✭
    hemangchawla said:

    If not, what would be the approximate cost of PCI option in India?


    We cannot answer price questions in the forum. Please ask your local ABB representative instead. If you don't have a contact you can find one here:
    http://www.abb.com/contacts

    John
    Developer Center
  • hemangchawla
    hemangchawla ✭
    John Wiberg said:

    in the beginning of IRC5 "Socket Messaging" had its own RobotWare option. But to make things simpler a lot of options were bundled together. In that process "Socket Messaging" was bundled with the "PC Interface" option.

    Now you can use SocketBind to bind to the service port,
    http://developercenter.robotstudio.com:80/Index.aspx?DevCenter=DevCenterManualStore&OpenDocument&Url=../RapidIFDTechRefManual/doc164.html
    but I think that your robot system will still look for the "PC Interface" option. So I don't think that Socket Messaging will be your solution.

    However, what is that you want to do? Both RobotStudio and the PC SDK works without "PC Interface" if you connect it via the service port. So if you don't want your controller to be on the LAN and you are OK with having a dedicated PC connected via the service port, then I'd generally recommend using RobotStudio. And if you need some specific interface, do that in the PC SDK.

    =John

     

    John, thank you for your valuable feedback. I also referred to another post in this forum, http://forums.robotstudio.com/discussion/8119/socket-communication, where you have provided a basic C# app that scans and connects to the controllers available. However when I run that app and try to connect to the real controller which is connected to my Laptop via the service port of the controller, it returns an exception that PC Interface was not found, specifically at this point:  

    this._controller.Logon(UserInfo.DefaultUser);

    My basic aim is to have realtime communication with the robot so that the robot is able to perform action based on the environment. I will have inputs from a camera which I process using openCV in C++ and I want the robot to move according to the camera input. So I am connecting the robot via service port. Is there any solutino to my problem?
  • John Wiberg
    John Wiberg ✭✭✭

    It might simply be that it is an old sample based on an older version of PC SDK with a different  behavior. I'm out travelling today, but I will see if I have time tomorrow to connect to a real robot using the latest version of sample and PC SDK.

    =John

    John
    Developer Center
  • hemangchawla
    hemangchawla ✭
    It would be really nice if you could help me out with this one John. Also, when you get free and you send a sample code, I would appreciate if it could be in VB. But C# is no problem too. 
    Thanks again!
  • leonardolt
    leonardolt ✭
    Dear hemangchawla,

    Few years ago I build a simple LabView application to a friend that was testing socket connections on several robots. It creates a Client socket on your PC and transfers simple strings to the robot service port. On a tabsheet there is also an example os Server socket creation and binding to be implemented in your IRC5 controller. As it was build in LabView, you need to have LabView Runtime Engine (problaby 2011) on your pc. It can be downloaded from here.

    I'm am sorry because all program labels are in portugese... :(

    Hope this helps you a bit.

    Best regards,
    Leo

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