KUKA offline programing

    Dear Colleagues;

    :help:

    I'm required to write a few offline programing capabilities from PC environment to KUKA robot (KRC 2 & 4 controllers), for that i need to select/purchase the appropriate tools.

    Since I'm completely new to kuka i need you're advice.
    My PC environment is:
    1. win7, 64bit, visual studio 2010.
    2. native c++ programing language.

    The functionality I'll need to implement on PC mainly consists of:
    1. query positions (joint & cartesian)
    2. select tools
    3. test reachability of points
    4. download a program/function to PC for manipulation.
    5. upload a program/function to KUKA robot after manipulation.

    Of course most of the development shall be done on PC so simulation & communication packages will be required.

    My question is: What is the best recommended development package? (simulators, communication components etc)

    Thank You All!

    im using Sim.Pro along with officelite. the two of those should get you just about anywhere you want, but the only problem is that your not going to get it running under windows 7. VxWorks doesnt play nicely with it. IIRC it has something to do with java.

    Yeah. I know that OfficeLite won't work with Win7, and I'm unsure about SimPro.

    It is possible to get OL to work inside a VMWare virtual machine running XP. I also had some luck doing it with VirtualBox. I haven't done SimPro inside a VM, however.

    I also haven't seen a version of OL for KRC4s yet. The latest version of OL that I'm aware of is 5.6, which represents the current highest KSS version available for KRC2 controllers.

    So wait, does this mean that we can now use officelite and simpro with win 7? I had basically quit using it two years ago due to this, but probably start again if it had been updated. IMO ABB has done a much better job keeping robotstudio up to date the simPRO...maybe I need to revisit it though, as it is good program(my IT won't support XP in general though).

    Yes, Officelite will run within VMWARE, but if if i can think correctly, you might have to have the both of them within officelite. I know that when i write plugins that talk to the officelite pc, some strange things happen and it doesnt really like it.

    I currently run OfficeLite 5.6 inside an XP virtual machine, running in VMWare Player (free) on a Windows 7 host. It gets a bit clunky at times, being essentially a VM-inside-a-VM, but it does work.

    KUKA's support for advancing the pre-KRC4 technologies really seems to have dropped off the past few years. My guess is that they decided to devote all their resources to the new generation technologies rather than "waste" time and money updating the older OL versions to run natively on Win7.

    From what MeanRobot said, it sounds like they put the work into the V8 OfficeLite.

    Quote from mookie


    im using Sim.Pro along with officelite. the two of those should get you just about anywhere you want, but the only problem is that your not going to get it running under windows 7. VxWorks doesnt play nicely with it. IIRC it has something to do with java.

    I don't worry too much about Win 7 issues, worst case i'll install Win XP + OfficeLite on a secondary PC & connect via ethernet & remote desktop.

    Currently i plan to install KUKA.Sim Pro + OfficeLite + KRL XML to communicate with the controllers (KRC 2 & 4).

    From what i understood using the above configuration i can programatically: R/W positions, convert coordinates (cartesian <=> joints), listen to robot events and check reach-ability...

    but what about:
    1. run a program from an external program
    2.1 programatically download a program or create a new one on an external program
    2.2 do some textual work on the program.
    2.3 load the program back to the robot from an external program.

    will that be possible to do via KRL XML ? :hmmm:

    Thanks


    1. What external program are you trying to run? are you trying to have it selected via plc? the program typically needs to reside in the robot.
    2. This can be done from Sim.Pro
    3. UltraEdit is my 1st choice
    4. if this is what your trying to do, are you trying to do this on the fly? because this becomes a bit more complicated using DirLoader. it might take some customization for the signals, I havent looked at it in a while but usually it is loaded upon triggering of inputs.

    Edited once, last by SkyeFire (April 16, 2012 at 6:57 PM).

    hello;

    i think 4 is the correct case.
    to clarify the architecture:
    ** Win7 x64 PC running non-Kuka application connected to Kuka KRC 2 or 4 controllers via Ethernet.

    I need to be connected to the robot in "Automatic Mode" and do my work , is this what you mean when you say on the fly? if true then my answer is Yes.

    required working sequence

    1. "create new" or "download" a program from the robot controller to my program in textual mode (*.src)
    2. parse, manipulate & save the program.
    3. upload the program (*.src) back to the Robot controller.
    4. instruct the robot controller to load the program.
    5. instruct the robot to run the robot program.


    you've mentioned before "DirLoader" is this a robot software component? is it supported in KRC 2&4?

    Thanks'

    well, let me ask this question,

    are you trying to modify these programs while the robot is running?

    if so then yes, you may potentially want to use the dirloader, You would need to talk to roboter about its capabilities as i havent used it in a couple of years.

    My documentation that im using says it is good for 5.2,5.3,5.4,5.5, and 7.0. thats for version 1.0.9

    3.0.0 tells me

    Code
    [Unsupported_KRC]
Option = KRDirLoader
KrcVersion = V1, V2, V3, V4, V5.0, V5.1, V5.3, V5.4
Error = Krc Version not supported


    but now that i look, depending on what version, they may have issues with different KSS so thats best to have a talk with them about it..


    I have included the documentation for 1.0.9

    The latest version i have is 3.0 and that was about 3 years ago.

    hello mookie;

    Correct, i need to either "modify" or "add new" program while the robot is running in auto mode.

    the programs i'll be adding/modifying are very simple and easy to define in template.
    for example (simplistic):

    DEF Func ()
    ...
    PTP POS_HOME
    PTP POS_1
    DOSOMETHING_1 (...)
    ...
    PTP POS_n
    DOSOMETHING_n (...)
    ; n-times
    PTP POS_HOME
    END

    it appears that file "Directory_Loader_10_en.pdf" upload is corrupt (0KB), could you please upload the file again.

    THX

    Hi Mookie. My robot has KRdirLoader loaded but the manual is not available. Can you please re-post the manual form the above link (I have tried to download it but it appears corrupted).

    Thanks in advance.

    If your robot has DirLoader installed, then the manual should be present on the robot's D drive. Whenever a KUKA tech package is installed on a robot, the install disk puts a copy of itself, including the installer, support files, and manuals, into a directory on the D drive. That way, even if the install CDs are lost, the robot's owner should still have a way to re-create the CD.

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