Mech-Interface

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Mech-Interface provides communication service with external devices for the Mech-Mind Software Suite. It receives data from external devices and sends out data from the system. It consists of two parts: Standard Interface and Adapter. This section covers the mechanism, differences between the two types of communication (Standard Interface and Adapter) of Mech-Interface, and their application scenarios.

Communication Mechanism

The two types of communication mechanism are as shown in the figure below:

mech interface architecure
  • Adapter is a Python program that is used to establish communication between external communication devices (e.g., industrial robots, upper computers, PLC) and Mech-Vision and Mech-Viz . It can not only communicate with Mech-Vision and Mech-Viz, but also communicate with external devices over any communication protocol supported by Python.

  • Standard Interface can be viewed as a complete set of Adapter programs provided by Mech-Mind. It supports a number of communication protocols and provides a powerful control command set and an error monitoring system. With these powerful functions, it can meet the requirements of most users.

Differences between Standard Interface and Adapter

Adapter and Standard Interface are both used to establish communication between external devices and Mech-Vision and Mech-Viz. Standard interface is a set of standardized Adapter programs, which does not support customized development.

For internal communication with Mech-Vision and Mech-Viz, both types of communication utilize Basic API, while specific communication protocols are used to communicate with external devices.

The differences between Standard Interface and Adapter are as shown in the table below.

Differences or Similarity Standard Interface Adapter

Internal Communication

Utilize Basic API to communicate with Mech-Vision and Mech-Viz

External Communication

Support the following communication protocols only:
- TCP/IP Socket
- UDP
- Siemens PLC Snap7
- PROFINET
- EtherNet/IP
- Modbus TCP
- Mitsubishi MC

Support any type of communication protocol supported by Python

Function

Provide vision results only

Adapter not only provides visual-related functions but also offers Python-supported functions like interface, database, and order system.

Deployment Difficulty

Easy to use, and can be deployed rapidly

Require programming with high time and labor costs

Extensibility

Do not support extension

Can be extended to support more communication protocols and functions

Application Scenarios

In real application scenarios, the selection of a specific type of Mech-Interface is based on external communication devices, the communication protocol in use, the required communication functions, etc.

The common communication devices and protocols supported by Standard Interface and Adapter are as shown in the table below.

Communication Object Communication Protocol Mech-Interface Type Description

Robot

TCP/IP Socket

Standard Interface

Mech-Interface acts as the server

UDP

Mech-Interface acts as the server

PROFINET

Mech-Interface acts as the slave device

EtherNet/IP

Mech-Interface acts as the slave device

Modbus TCP

Mech-Interface acts as the slave device

Upper Computer

HTTP

Adapter

Applicable to integrated project where the robots are master-controlled

WebSocket

TCP/IP Socket

Standard Interface

Mech-Interface acts as the server

PLC

TCP/IP Socket

Standard Interface

Mech-Interface acts as the server

Siemens PLC Snap7

Mech-Interface acts as the client

PROFINET

Mech-Interface acts as the slave device

EtherNet/IP

Mech-Interface acts as the slave device

Modbus TCP

Mech-Interface acts as the slave device

Mitsubishi MC

Mech-Interface acts as the client

  • When Mech-Interface is used to communicate with external devices, it is recommended to use Standard Interface if the project requirements can be met; when Standard Interface cannot meet all the requirements (for example, the communication protocol used by external devices is not supported, or other functions that are not supported by Standard Interface is required), Adapter should be used.

  • Please refer to Standard Interface Development Manual for functions of Standard Interface.

  • Please refer to Functions for functions of Adapter.

Please refer to the following sections for more detailed information about Standard Interface and Adapter:

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