Standard Interface
When only the targets are needed and the Mech-Mind system is not needed to control the robot’s movement, the standard interface can be used to transmit the data. The standard interface only provides the most basic interface functions, such as sending vision points and task data. If more interface functions are required, please see Adapter for details. The standard interface is integrated into the Mech-Center software and no additional generation is required. The service can be started directly in the software.
Start the Standard Interface
Under , check Enable Mech-Interface, and check the interface service type as Standard Interface, as shown in Figure 1.
Interface Options, Host Address
There are two types of external services: TCP Server and Siemens PLC Client.
- Siemens PLC Client
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For Siemens PLC Client, the PLC IP, the Slot Number and the DB Block Number need to be set.
- TCP Server
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For TCP Server, the protocol format needs to be selected as ASCII or HEX. In HEX, please select Big Endian/Little Endian, i.e., “>” (big-endian) or “<” (little-endian).
For TCP Server, the port number needs to be set as appropriate, and the default port number is 50000.
Please select the valid communication format to write the interface program based on the setup of the robot.
Robot type Standard Interface example programs Industrial
ABB
HEX
FANUC
HEX
KUKA
HEX
YASKAWA
ASCII
KAWASAKI
ASCII
ROKAE
ASCII
NACHI
ASCII
Collaborative
FANUC CRX
Plugin（HEX）
UR
URCap（ASCII）
TM
Plug and Play （ASCII）
JAKA
Example programs (ASCII) and AddOn file
ELITE
ASCII
Other
No example program has been provided yet. Please write the interface program based on the robot’s support for HEX and ASCII.
The robot interface example program package and operating documents are located in
Mech-Centerunder the software installation directory. - PROFINET
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PROFINET requires setting the robot model.
- EtherNet/IP
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EtherNet/IP requires setting the robot model.
- MODBUS TCP SLAVE
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Modbus TCP Slave requires setting the slave IP, port number, device address, and byte order (you can do tests to determine the byte order).
Select a Robot
Click to select the corresponding robot brand and model.
After the setting is complete, save and restart Mech-Center. After restarting, click Start Interface on the interface to enable the standard interface.
Advanced Settings
In Advanced Settings, users can configure the maximum number of vision points to be sent in a single transmission, the timeout period for Mech-Viz data retrieval, and the timeout period for Mech-Vision data acquisition.
Example Mech-Viz Projects for Standard Interface
In the folder Mech-Center/tool/viz_project of the installation directory of the Mech-Mind system software, there are 4 example Mech-Viz projects for using Standard Interface.
check_collision
For path planning and collision detection in vision-guided picking.
outer_move
For the scenarios in which the Mech-Viz robot needs to move to a pose passed in from an external client.
suction_zone
For the scenarios in which Mech-Viz outputs the partition control signals for the suction cups equipped with partition control during multi-gripping of cartons.
vision_result_reuse
For the scenarios in which the vision result returned at a time need to be used multiple times for path planning and collision detection in vision-guided picking.