Hello, this is my first post on this forum
We have recently purchased a Kuka KR C4 with the KR 70 R2100 Robotic Arm, the goal of the project is to have an end effector with several different components (Solenoids, Motors, Sensors, Heaters, etc) the idea is that all those components will communicate with a PLC instead of an extra kuka axis (not enough axis', plus its less expensive as far as I can tell). We want the PLC to be a slave to the KR C4 however this poses a few issues. The PLC we are looking at (Automation Direct P1-550) only supports Ether/IP & Modbus TCP/RTU/ASCII but EtherIP/Modbus TCP port is already used to communicate with a motor driver on the end effector tool, so we only have Modbus RTU/ASCII left as viable ports. Meanwhile, KR C4 only supports EtherCat, Profibus, and DeviceNet. Once again we would like the PLC to be the slave to the KR C4 Master but communication differences and the fact that we are all beginners in PLC and KUKA make it very confusing. As far as I can tell I'm going to need a converter/gateway, but there are many options and I'm not too sure what make a good gateway and what make a bad one. Are there any ideas or tips on how to achieve this? Thank you for your time!