Plc with roboguide

    Yes its possible. Ive done it with real plc, simulator plc, on the same laptop, on 2 different laptops(one roboguide, one sim plc) over network, even controlling roboguide robot program from a hmi runtime. The interconnection setups are not for the faint of heart though but ill give u a hint...OPC.

    Hi,.


    I am new in the forum and this topic take my attention.


    Please Sibrdave, could you explain a bit more about the setup configuration?
    Did you use siemens plc or other?
    Is there some documentation that you can share here?


    Thanks in advance!

    I dont know where any documentation is to point you towards, i just figured it all out myself. Yes i did it with a siemens plc simulated (but also with a logix5000) the setups are similar. Use kepware opc, its a free download but annoyingly has a runtime time limit. I dont currently have a tutorial but if u have enough time to spend and an aptitude, you can figure it out. I can help with questions if you get stuck along the way but you should see if you can get it working without a spoonfed walkthrough. Siemens plc sim, roboguide external device connection, and kepware.

    Hi Sibrdave,


    thanks for your hints.


    I downloaded KepserverEx and i was able to command a siemens plc throught a client. I tried with profibus connection and also with wifii connection to 1200 CPU and it worked well.


    I was a bit confused about the setup configuration with roboguide and kepserver.
    What driver to chose? (in my test i used siemens tcp/ip ...for fanuc robot is the same?)
    What "ID" to use? (i can guess the same that i set in roboguide workcell for the robot... Can i use every ip that i want or there is a specific ip to use for the simulation?)


    Thanks in advance for the help!!

    Use the opc da client driver in kepware then add the tags u want. I used generic tags of a 16bit datatype then remapped them on the plc and in roboguide. Once u have the driver running in kepware, it will become available in roboguide external devices with the anonymous host type. Once u have the opc conected in roboguide, add external io and you will find your opc tags in there to map to group inputs/outputs.

    Hi Sibrdave,


    thanks for your help and my apologize for questions. i am not so expert with roboguide and communication.


    "I used generic tags of a 16bit datatype then remapped them on the plc and in roboguide." ...how i can map tags in roboguide?Do you mean for example, in menu->i/o->digital->config?
    "it will become available in roboguide external devices with the anonymous host type"...what i have to set? How i can check if external device is available?


    Thanks in advance.

    Hello to everybody,
    I'm trying to connect a PLC simulator to Roboguide.


    I followed the indications collected in this forum, using KepServerEx as a connection between the two systems.
    I successfully managed to write robot DI and R, but there is no way to read properly DO or R from it.


    Do outputs need a different configuration or a different channel?

    Hi everyone, since this thread helped me slightly, I made a document explaining how to connect roboguide to an allen bradley PLC over an ethernet connection. It really isn't that hard and works really well. I tested all my new logic without any downloads in the PLC. And since we wanted to change a robot, I was able to simulate the new one in parallel of the production.

    Also, the reason why I made my ip adress static is because you can't change the ip adress of the plc module once it is created.

    i Anthony

    Welcome to the robot forum


    The documents looks nice. I just set up the robot side following your instructions but I haven't tested

    I have a question before I do the PLC


    Roboguide is running inside my laptop 192.168.1.1 and I set Roboguide 192.168.1.2

    Isn't 192.168.1.2 virtual hiding behind 192.168.1.1 ?


    How is the PLC accessing the Roboguide IP ?

    Retired but still helping

    I am also curious about this.

    To take Fabian's example, if you have:

    1. Your laptop ethernet connection set to IP address 192.168.1.1 and

    2. in Roboguide you have a robot controller configured to use 192.168.1.2


    How can 192.168.1.2 be accessible from a different device on the network such as a PLC?

    Does it require that you set laptop and Roboguide robot controller to the same IP?


    Anthony, it would be great if you could provide more details. Was this done with an actual PLC or using a PLC simulator?

    Quote from Fabian Munoz

    Roboguide is running inside my laptop 192.168.1.1 and I set Roboguide 192.168.1.2

    Isn't 192.168.1.2 virtual hiding behind 192.168.1.1 ?


    How is the PLC accessing the Roboguide IP ?

    Roboguide will use your computer's ip adress, which you can find by typing IPCONFIG in the command prompt, the default getaway is the routers ip adress and the ipv4 adress would be your computers adress which needs to be the same in roboguide.

    Maybe I did my document too quick but, ROBOGUIDE will have the same ip as your computer, that is why you need to set the ip in roboguide to be the same as your computer.

    I would assume your pc's ip adress is not 192.168.1.1 since most routers use the first ip adress by default. You really should take a look at your ip config, you also need to be on the same network as the PLC.

    When i wrote '' I was able to simulate the new one in parallel of the production'' i meant that I used the real PLC to program online all my logic and test the communication, all this while it was in use by the production line.

    Ok. I understand. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

    I used the192...... because it's the most common ip for examples.

    I'm actually using 17.10.1.23


    Never tried the Robguide setup but I think it will help for debugging the program while the machine is being built

    Retired but still helping

    One caveat, which I found when trying to use remote connections to a multi-robot RG cell: as you add robots, since all the robots are sharing your PC's IP address, RG tries to handle the potential conflicts by assigning each robot different ports (randomly? They look random).


    I've never tried connecting a PLC to a multi-robot RG cell, but when I was doing it with a Fanuc FIELD Box, I had to dig out the Services.txt file for each virtual robot, and point each FIELD connector to my PC's IP, but with the robot-specific port number.

    Hello All,
    I used AnthonyR's guide, which was great, thank you AnthonyR!


    However, I still wasn't able to connect my Roboguide virtual robot to my Allen Bradley PLC. The ADP connection in the robot's Ethernet/IP Menu stayed at the "OFFLINE" status, and my Allen Bradley PLC ethernet module had an "Invalid Segment Type" fault. I took my physical PLC to our robot lab, connected it to a real robot (which has the same configuration as my virtual robot), and it connected without issues, which ruled out that something was incorrect with the robot or PLC configuration.


    HUGE THANKS to @kwakisaki, who helped me rule out many other possibilities that I thought might have been my problem. Turns out, for me, the issue was a background program running on my PC that was part of the Allen Bradley PLC software package, called FactoryTalk Linx OPC Runtime Service. As soon as I went into task manager, and hit End Task on it, the ADP connection on my virtual robot immediately went ONLINE. I know this is a brand-specific issue, but thought I'd share in case Siemens or other PLC manufacturers have some similar software that may be inhibiting connections from Roboguide.


    Also, I also tested a robot in Roboguide with the newest FANUC V9.40 software, and it connected without issues. I had read other threads with people having issues connecting to newer robots, but you can do it.

    Has anyone been able to connect Roboguide to an Ethernet/IP device where the Roboguide robot is the EIP Scanner? The device is a Turck IO block.


    I have followed Anthony's instructions on setting the IP address of the laptop and Roboguide robot. I can ping the device from the Roboguide robot. And I'm using identical EIP settings to the ones we use on a real robot. It works on the real robot but not in Roboguide. In Roboguide the connection shows "Offline".


    I disabled the firewall on my laptop. But it still doesn't work. I am wondering if the EIP scanner functionality is not implemented in Roboguide?

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