So, I got contracted to do a quick bit of support for an integrator that just installed a KR10R1000 on a KRC4 Compact (KSS 8.3.33). The robot had already been programmed and integrated successfully, I'm just on site to touch up a few points and be available if anything unexpected happens. The integrator has only basic knowledge of KUKAbots, and their resident KUKA "expert" is unavailable, hence me dropping in for a few days.
Now, the robot runs fine in Teach and Auto, but there's a constant warning message that just won't go away: KSS 13012 Error during ECat Stack Initialization (No network response).
I found that the WV project for this robot included several ECat I/O modules on the KEB, that didn't exist in hardware (I suspect the project was copy&pasted from an earlier, similar, system). There was no I/O mapped to these modules, which made their presence in the hardware tree harmless. So when I had a moment, I removed them from the project and re-deployed, thinking this would get rid of the nagging error.
It didn't.
Now, there's one other "nagging" message on the pendant that won't go away: PMS 18, Battery Defective (Load Test Failed). I have a ticket open with KUKA Service on this one, since the robot is brand new. I'm still waiting for a response, but I originally thought that these two errors were unrelated. Now I'm less sure.
So, why would I be getting an ECat error when I've deleted all the deletable ECAT modules from the KEB? This would imply it's an internal ECat error, but in that case, why does the robot run? I don't think I've ever seen an internal network error that wasn't fatal, or generated a safety fault of some kind. And could it be related to the Battery error?
As this is my first time hands-on with a Compact KRC4, is there anything different about the Compact (as compared to full-size KRC4s) that could be related to this?
If troubleshooting this involves opening up the controller, it's going to be a real pain -- the controller is placed deep in the guts of the machine, and getting to it will involve some major frame disassembly. Even the cabinet USB ports are unavailable -- the only way I can make backups is to use the SmartPad USB port.