MELFA Standard Interface Communication Configuration

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This section describes how to burn the robot standard interface program into a MELFA robot and complete the standard interface communication configuration between the Mech-Mind vision system and the robot.

Burning the standard interface program means importing the robot standard interface program and configuration files into the robot system, so that standard interface communication between the vision system and the robot can be established.

Preparations Before Burning

Check Hardware and Software Versions

Software version: RT ToolBox3 Pro Version 2.50C

Controller versions:

  • CR500: K9q

  • CR700: R7x, S7x

  • CR800: E1

The procedure for checking version information is as follows:

  1. Start RT ToolBox3 software (abbreviated as "ToolBox3").

  2. Click the Help menu and select Version Information.

Establish a Network Connection

Set the IP Address

To establish a network connection through ToolBox3, follow these steps:

  • Check the robot IP address from the teach pendant:

    1. In the main menu of the teach pendant, find PARAM and click EXE to confirm.

    2. Enter the PARAM page on the teach pendant, enter NETIP in the NAME field, and then click EXE to confirm.

    3. As shown in the figure, the DATA area displays the robot IP address.

Note: If the teach pendant cannot be used or the robot IP address cannot be confirmed, you can directly connect to the robot with a USB cable with a mini B connector, as shown below.

  • Create a robot project in ToolBox3:

    1. Start ToolBox3, click Workspace to open the main menu, and click New.

    2. In the pop-up window, select the path for the new workspace, edit the workspace name, and then click OK to finish creation.

    3. After the workspace is created, the Summary step of the Add Project window pops up. Enter the project name and click Next.

    4. In the Robot Model step, fill in the options according to the actual robot information, and then click Next.

    5. In the Communication Settings step, modify the IP address (viewed through the teach pendant in [melfa-check-ip-address]) and the TCP server port number, and then click Next.

    6. In the Language step, select Robot Language and Regional Language 2 according to the project requirements, and then click Finish to create the project.

Hardware Connection

Use an Ethernet cable to connect the LAN port of the robot controller to a port on the switch. The operating system where the robot software is installed and the operating system where the vision software is installed must be connected to the same switch through Ethernet cables, as shown below:

Controller Communication Connection

  1. Under Workspace/Online/Parameters/Communication Parameters, find and open Ethernet Settings. In the Menu area of the settings page, select Device-Port to enter Device List.

  2. Select the OPT device to be used as the communication device, and click Settings to open the Device Parameter Settings window. Configure the device parameters according to the following rules:

    • Mode: Client

    • IP address: IPC IP address

    • Port number: Must be consistent with the port number on the vision side

    • Protocol: Data connection

    • End code: 0: CR

    • Assignment: COM7

      Note: In the Assignment option, only COM7 supports the scenario where the controller communicates with the robot.

Back Up Robot Files

  1. In the left pane of the ToolBox3 interface, under Workspace/Project Name/Robot Name/Backup, right-click the Backup folder and click Online Project Backup.

  2. On the Online Project Backup page, confirm that Backup Information is All, add Comments and modify the Folder Name if needed, and then click OK.

  3. ToolBox3 pops up a backup completion message, indicating that the backup is successful.

  4. The saved backup files can be found in the Backup folder of the project files. If the backup Folder Name is not edited, the default backup folder is named after the operation date and time.

Set Robot Communication Configuration

  1. Open Mech-Vision. You may enter different interfaces. Create a new solution according to the instructions below.

    • If you have entered the Welcome interface, click New blank solution.

    create solution 1

    • If you have entered the main interface, click File  New Solution on the menu bar.

    create solution 2

  2. Click Robot Communication Configuration on the toolbar of Mech-Vision.

  3. In the Robot Communication Configuration window, complete the following configurations.

    1. Click the Select robot drop-down menu, and select Listed robot. Click Select robot model, and select the robot model that you use. Then, click Next.

    2. It is recommended to set the port number to 50000 or above. Ensure that the port number is not occupied by another program.

    3. (Optional) Select Auto enable interface service when opening the solution.

    4. Click Apply.

  1. On the main interface of Mech-Vision, make sure that the Robot Communication Configuration switch on the toolbar is flipped and has turned blue.

    interface service

Prepare Files for Burning

  1. The burning program folder can also be found under Communication Component/Robot_Interface/MELFA in the installation directory of Mech-Vision and Mech-Viz.

  2. Copy the following files to any folder. The example below uses Desktop/MELFA.

    • MMAUTOCALIB.prg

    • MMCOMTEST.prg

    • MMMODULE.prg

    • MMS1VisBasic.prg

    • MMS2VizBasic.prg

    • MMS3VisBasic.prg

    • MMS4VISUser.prg

    • MMS5VIZUSER.prg

Burn Files into the Robot

  1. Start ToolBox3. In the left pane, under Workspace/Project Name/Robot Name/Simulation, find Program, right-click it to open the menu, and click Program Management.

  2. On the Program Management page, select Project in the Transfer Source area, click …​ to select the path where the burning files are stored, and confirm the file list in the File List area.

  3. After confirming that everything is correct, select (Select All) to choose all burning files in the list, click Copy in the middle of the page to open a pop-up window, confirm the copy target again, and click OK to complete burning.

  4. Confirm that the burning files have been imported under Workspace/Project Name/Robot Name/Simulation/Program.

Test Standard Interface Communication

  1. On the robot control panel, click Select to open the Select Program pop-up window in ToolBox3.

  2. In the Select Program pop-up window of ToolBox3, select program MMCOMTEST and click OK.

  3. The test program runs automatically, and Mech-Vision returns the corresponding status information.

  4. When the connection is successful, the status information returned by Mech-Vision is shown below:

    vision center log

The connection test is for testing purposes only. Once the connection is established successfully, it disconnects automatically. You can see the logs Client connected and Client disconnected on the Console tab of the Mech-Vision log window.

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