Fanuc PCDK reverse engineered for .NET

Alfred · April 12, 2021 at 10:27 AM

Hi,

I have reverse engineered the Fanuc PCDK library. I now have a pure .NET DLL (no c++ native dependencies, compatible with .NET standard, framework and Core) able to retrieve the robot position (TCP and joints), the robot state (running program, alarm state, ...), read and write registers, transfer and trigger the execution of a program.

As it is .NET, it can also be used in LabView, Matlab or other... I tested it with .NET Core and it runs on Windows, Linux and MacOS.

I need these features for one of my projects, but I wonder :

Do I have the right to retroengineer this library?
Do you find it useful to have a pure .NET lib ?
Can I legally sell this library (obfuscated version) ?

Here is an old Related thread and another here

M.Ozkan · April 12, 2021 at 11:25 AM

Are you believe cracked library to legally sell ? Or If I can buy your library, make deobfuscate and can I sell too ?

Alfred · April 12, 2021 at 2:08 PM

This is an interoperability issue. PCDK does not exist for Linux, I created it. Now I wonder if I have the right to deploy it and make it available to others.

Lemster68 · April 12, 2021 at 2:15 PM

The first thing that I would do is to apply for a copyright.

Nation · April 12, 2021 at 3:33 PM

Given Fanuc's aggressiveness in defending their copyrighted manuals, I would expect at the very least a cease and desist letter from Fanuc's lawyers.

If you wanted to continue, the court system has generally been alright with this type of reverse engineering, as long as no fraud is involved, as it reduces monopolistic behavior. I am not a lawyer, so I suggest you consult with one.

reverse_engineering.htm

Atari_Games_Corp._v._Nintendo_of_America_Inc.

Sega_v._Accolade

**SkyeFire** · April 12, 2021 at 9:08 PM

(Disclaimer: I AM NOT A LAWYER)

I have to go with Nation on this one. While I would love to see a Linux PCDK implementation, especially a 3rd-party one (and double-especially if it were open source), the legal issue seems to turn on one critical question: Did you create your interface from scratch, or by decompiling Fanuc's PCDK DLLs and translating them?

Generally, if you did it by purely "white room" means -- reverse-engineering the protocol from scratch, without any access to Fanuc's source code, it's legal. However, proving in court that you had no "insider knowledge" or reverse-compiled Fanuc's software could be difficult. And even if you're 100% legal, Fanuc might well still be willing to spend the money to tie you up in court until you go bankrupt from paying defense attorneys.

Alfred · April 14, 2021 at 10:42 PM

I just observed the frames with Wireshark and understood the principle of the protocol.

But ok, that's what it seemed to me, I don't think I'm going to dig deeper into this subject.

**SkyeFire** · April 15, 2021 at 4:24 PM

...now I'm going to have to get PCDK and break out my WireShark tap.

Limburger · April 26, 2021 at 8:19 PM

Sorry for my question. But can you share your developments with the community (if you can't sell them) please?

For example I have a similar problem to send and read registers and alarms data from robot to Linux. And I could not understood in protocol by observed the Wireshark frames.

Alfred · June 21, 2021 at 10:48 AM

I am in discussion with Fanuc, I am making progress and I think I will be able to legally market a .NET/Fanuc communication SDK

Nocu · September 16, 2021 at 2:58 PM

Quote from Alfred

I am in discussion with Fanuc, I am making progress and I think I will be able to legally market a .NET/Fanuc communication SDK

This sounds really interesting, got any news on this?

scotty · September 16, 2021 at 3:19 PM

Quote from Nocu

This sounds really interesting, got any news on this?

I hope he was not killed by a Fanuc mafia

Nation · September 16, 2021 at 3:44 PM

I would be interested in an update as well, but Mr Alfred hasn't logged in since July...

Lemster68 · September 16, 2021 at 4:25 PM

Maybe they did take him out...

Alfred · September 17, 2021 at 6:49 AM

ahah still alive

After discussion with Fanuc, PCDK is an old protocol whose sustainability in time is no longer guaranteed.

Fanuc advised me to look into "Robot Interface" instead. So I'm implementing it in .NET. There are almost the same features as in PCDK : access to I/O, remote control of the robot, access to the registry, robot status...

For your information, I just published this kind of library for Universal Robots (https://underautomation.com).

Next month, I will release the same one for Yaskawa. And then, I will industrialize the library for Fanuc. So no release before the end of this year.

rf103 · October 4, 2021 at 9:41 PM

So you're implementing a Remote Motion Interface client in C#?

Alfred · October 6, 2021 at 6:02 AM

Yes, but there is nothing to install on the robot, the goal is to implement the native communication interfaces in a fully managed .NET DLL.

rf103 · October 6, 2021 at 9:36 AM

Yes, but that is how RMI works.

Alfred · October 7, 2021 at 12:21 PM

RMI / RSI lack of features, for example it is impossible to servo on the robot, start a program by name, acknowledge errors, ...

SimonO · January 12, 2023 at 7:57 AM

Quote from Alfred

Yes, but there is nothing to install on the robot, the goal is to implement the native communication interfaces in a fully managed .NET DLL.

Was there any outcome for this, and what are the options to aquire a copy?

Thanks

Fanuc PCDK reverse engineered for .NET

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