Master-Control Communication Setup (Elite CS)

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This guide shows you how to set up Master-Control communication with an Elite CS robot.

Preparation

Check Hardware and Software Versions

Controller model: ERB1C2K0
Controller Version: 2.8.0
Mech-Vision & Mech-Viz versions: 1.8.0 or above

Set up Network Connection

Plug the Ethernet cable of the IPC into the FB2 Ethernet interface of the controller.
Make sure that the IP addresses of the Elite robot and the IPC are on the same subnet. If not, change the IPC’s IP address.
Instructions
1. On the teach pendant, click the Elite robot icon in the upper right corner. Click Settings in the drop-down menu.
2. On the left “Collapse” panel, go to System Network. On the right “Network Settings” panel, view the robot’s IP address and check if it is on the same subnet as the IPC’s IP address.
3. If not, change the IPC’s IP address.

Prepare Program Files

Plug the USB flash drive into the IPC.
On the IPC, go to Mech-Center\Robot_Server\Robot_FullControl\elite\ELITE_CS from the installation directory of Mech-Vision & Mech-Viz.
Copy the following files and paste them to the root directory of the USB flash drive.
- mm.task
- mm_run.script

Load Program Files to Robot

Load Program Files

Plug the USB flash drive into the USB port of the teach pendant or the controller.
Click the File Manager on the bottom status bar.
In the File Manager window, click the USB flash drive icon in the upper right corner to enter the USB file browser. Double-click the USB flash drive that stores the program files.
Select mm.task, and click the copy icon on the operation bar.
Click the drop-down arrow button, and select the computer icon to switch to the local file browser.
Click the paste icon on the operation bar to paste mm.task to the local memory.
Click the drop-down arrow button, and select the USB flash drive icon to switch back to the USB file browser. Copy mm_run.script and paste it to the local memory by referring to Steps 4 to 6.
After pasting the two files to the local memory, you may click Cancel to exit the file manager.

Modify the Program

After loading the program files to the robot, users need to change the default IPC IP address in the program to the IP address of the IPC in use.

Click Open on the top taskbar, and then click Task in the drop-down menu.
Select mm.task and then click Open.
Click OK in the pop-up dialogue box.
Click Task on the left bar. Select Script: mm_run.script on the right panel. Click Edit on the left panel.
Find ipc_ip the second line of the File Editor, and change the value of “ipc_ip” to the used IPC’s IP address. Click Save and then click Exit.

Test Master-Control Communication

Run the Robot

After configuring the IPC’s IP address, users should to start and run the robot to later test the master-control connection between the robot and the IPC.

On the teach pendant, click the red “Power Off” icon in the upper left.
Click Power On.
Click Brakes Release.
After the brakes are released successfully, the power icon in the upper left corner turns green. Click Exit.
Click the start icon on the right bar to start operating.

Create a Mech-Viz Project

Open Mech-Viz, press Ctrl+N on the keyboard to create a new project. Select the robot model corresponding to your real robot brand and model on the interface as shown below.
Press Ctrl+S and create or select a folder to save the project.
Right-click the project name in the left panel in Mech-Viz and select Autoload Project.

Connect to the Robot

Click Master-Control Robot on the toolbar of Mech-Viz.
Input the IP address of the real robot in Robot IP address (the IP address in the picture is only an example). Click Connect the robot.

If Mech-Viz successfully connects the real robot, the current status will change to Connected. Meanwhile, the icon in the toolbar will turn from blue to green.

If the connection fails, please double-check the robot IP address.

Move the Robot

In the toolbar of Mech-Viz, change the “Vel.” (velocity) and “Acc.” (acceleration) parameters to 5%.
Click Sync Robot in the toolbar, and you can synchronize the poses of the simulated robot in the 3D simulation space with the poses of the real robot. Then click Sync Robot again to unselect it.
In the Robot tab, slightly adjust the value of “J1”, for example, from 0˚ to 3˚. This operation will move the simulated robot.
Click Move real robot and check if the real robot has moved. If the real robot has reached the JPs set for the simulated robot, the master-control communication is working.

When moving the robot, please ensure the safety of personnel. In the case of an emergency, press the emergency stop button on the teach pendant!