Mech-Center 1.6.0 Release Notes

New Features

Logs Formatted as a Table

To effectively help locate issues, in Mech-Center V1.6.0, logs have been improved in the following respects:

  • Added log source information in the log panel. Log sources currently include Mech-Vision, Mech-Viz, Mech-Center, Interface, and Adapter.

  • Added the function of filtering logs by level. Log levels currently include “debug”, “info”, “warning”, and “error”.

  • The Log Viewer supports viewing logs generated by Mech-Vision, Mech-Viz, and Mech-Center.

Changes in Standard Interface Commands

The Standard Interface of Mech-Center V1.6.0 must be used with Mech-Viz V1.6.0. In Mech-Viz V1.6.0, the Step ID parameter is added to Steps. The Standard Interface also supports setting branches and indexes using Step names or Step IDs. The usages of the following commands have been modified in Mech-Center V1.6.0:

  • When command 203 is used to set the branch exit in the Mech-Viz project, the branching Step is specified by Step ID instead of Step name.

  • When using command 204 to set the move index, the move-type Step is specified by Step ID instead of Step name.

  • When using command 206 to obtain the DO signal list of suction cup blocks, the parameter “Receiver” of Step Set DO List should be set to “StandardInterface”. Besides, this command puts no constraints on the names, Step names, and numbers of Steps of Mech-Viz projects.

  • When using command 601 to receive user-defined notifications, the “notify” Step’s name no longer needs to be manually set to “Standard Interface Notify”; instead, the “Notify” Step’s parameter “Receiver” needs to be set to “StandardInterface”.

Added TCP Interface Commands

To work with Mech-Viz V1.6.0, the following TCP interface commands have been added to Mech-Center V1.6.0:

  • Command 110: used to support sending user-defined port data when the parameter “Port Type” of Step “Procedure Out” is set to “Custom”.

  • Command 210: used to get the planning results calculated by Step “visual_move” (a new feature of Mech-Viz V1.6.0).

  • Command 207: used to get Mech-Viz Step parameters from configuration files.

  • Command 208: used to set Mech-Viz Step parameters to configuration files.

Multiple TCP Client Connections to Mech-Center

Mech-Center V1.6.0 supports multiple TCP clients to connect to Mech-Center at the same time, which is convenient for multiple robot stations to communicate with the vision system simultaneously.

Built-in Python Environment in the Software

To facilitate the setup and usage of the software, Python 3.6.5 environment is built into Mech-Center V1.6.0. The software package no longer contains the environment checking tool. The built-in Python environments of Mech-Center V1.6.0 and the computer’s system are separated. If an Adapter project needs an extra Python library, please install it to the “python” directory of the file location of Mech-Center.

Tip

A Python library can be installed as follows:

  1. Open the Command Prompt or PowerShell program.

  2. Switch to the “python” directory of the Mech-Center software, such as C:\Mech-Mind\Mech-Center-1.6.x\python.

  3. Execute the following command: ./python -m pip install library_name.

Online Help Documentation

The online help documentation is available for Mech-Center V1.6.0. You can access the Mech-Center V1.6.0 online help documentation via Help ‣ User Manual. In the online help documentation, instructions on master-control programming and interface programming will be updated timely and extensive instructions on using interface examples of PLC and robots are available.

Improvements

Added Robot and PLC Example programs

Mech-Center V1.6.0 has example programs for performing simple picking through the Standard Interface for five robot brands: ABB, FANUC, KUKA, KAWASAKI, and YASKAWA. In addition, Mech-Center V1.6.0 has function block samples of various interface commands for Siemens PLC S7, which makes it easy for you to quickly build PLC projects.

Added Fanuc CRX Robot Plug-in Installation Package

Mech-Center V1.6.0 has a teach pendant plug-in for Fanuc CRX robots, which modularizes the Standard Interface functions after the smart teach pendant plug-in is installed to achieve code-free robot programming.

Added Adaptations to Doosan and Dobot Robots

Mech-Center V1.6.0 supports master control for Doosan and Dobot robots.

Support for 4K Display

Mech-Center V1.6.0 supports 4K monitors.

Resolved Issues

Fixed Pose Transmission Errors

In earlier Mech-Center versions, if the Standard Interface was called by multiple Mech-Viz projects, there would be wrong numbers of poses transmitted. This issue has been fixed in Mech-Center V1.6.0.

Fixed Kawasaki RS Robot Project Execution Issue

When a KAWASAKI RS robot was under master control by Mech-Viz, if the Mech-Viz project involved linear motion, the project might not be executed properly. This issue has been fixed in Mech-Center V1.6.0.

Fixed YASKAWA Robot Calibration Program Issues

In Mech-Center V1.6.0, the issues in the calibration program of YASKAWA robots using the Standard Interface have been fixed.

Fixed Quaternion Calculation Errors

In Mech-Center V1.6.0, the issue of quaternion calculation errors has been fixed.