Robot being server and client simultaneously

peter-bo.wang

HI,

I've been doing a research on Socket Messaging issues of RAPID programing. To be more specific, I would like to use the robot to connect to a PC and other hardware(s). I've done test, based on the basic example codes frome the RAPID mannual, using Robot Studio either on robot being a sever or robot being a client. And the result is satifying, each method works well and  send\receive message correctly.

Now, here comes a few questions to disscuss:

(Sorry that I'm totally a newbie to RAPID and Robot Studio, the questions might make no sense and even have mistakes.)

1. Would it be possible for a robot to be sever and client simultaneously, in other words, to communicate with PC and other hareware(s)?

2. Assuming 1. to be possible, is it neccesary to create each component a socket respectively, for example: "socketdev pcsocket; socketdev utilsocket; "

3. If this is not the best solution, whether using a PC to be the server that controls both robot and other hardware(s) would be better or not?

4. Does anyone have any similar experience on such project, what would you do to make it.

Thank you very much for your time,

Best regards,

Peter

larstoc

1. I'm not quite sure what you try to state with the first question. You can connect it to more than one external device while being a server, but not if it acting as a client. Depending on your application it might be better to use an external pc as the server as it is easier to connect to multiple sources and then send necessary information to the robot.

2. If you want to use the robot as a server then each connection needs a socket. You bind them to the same ip, but different port.

3. Kinda answered in 1

4. I'm currently working on a project where the robot is acting as a server, however, we are only using a single socket to communicate with an external pc. The rest of our equipment is connected to the pc for convenience as well as to avoid having to put too much a load on the controller. If you would like to use many different types of equipment then it might be best to use a pc as the server and then only send the information the robot needs as said in 1. If you have any specific questions I'll try to answer.

peter-bo.wang

Thank you very much! Your answer is of great inspiration.