RoboDK driver for KUKA

Robot drivers provide an alternative to Offline Programming (where a program is generated, then, transferred to the robot and executed). With robot drivers, it is possible to run a simulation directly on the robot (Online Programming). More information available in the Robot Drivers section.

You can establish a connection between RoboDK and your KUKA controller to move the robot automatically from your computer. This allows using the RoboDK Run on robot option for online programming and debugging. The connection can be established through a standard Ethernet connection (TCP/IP).

If you don’t use a recent version of the RoboDK you may be using the legacy driver (apikuka, based on the KUKAVARPROXY project). To use the current driver, make sure that the kukabridge driver is selected in the More options section of the Connection to Robot window.

Robots KUKA - Image 15

Follow these steps to set up the RoboDK driver for KUKA:

1.Get the C3 Bridge installer file (c3setup executable) from this link.

2.Using the KUKA HMI, copy the c3setup.exe installer file to the desktop of your controller or a folder of the control system.

3.Connect a mouse (optional, but recommended).          
It is possible to plug USB devices to the teach pendant or the controller (reboot is not required). 
Alternatively, it is possible to establish a remote desktop connection.  
These steps can also be accomplished using the teach pendant’s touch screen and the virtual keyboard.

4.Using the KUKA HMI application it is possible to open the main menu using the KUKA button Robots KUKA - Image 16, at the top left of the screen:

a.Robots KUKA - Image 17KUKAConfigurationUser group choose Expert (password: kuka)

b.Robots KUKA - Image 18KUKAStart-upServiceMinimize HMI (the windows screen will appear)

5.Locate the previously copied c3setup-1.6.1.exe file and run it. Follow the instructions of the installer.

6.Allow port 7000 (or another port if port 7000 is busy, see note below)for TCP/UDP communication (this step is not required on KUKA KRC2 controllers):

a.Restore the HMI.

b.Robots KUKA - Image 19KUKAStart-upNetwork configurationAdvanced

c.NATAdd portPort number 7000

d.Set permitted protocols: tcp/udp

Robots KUKA - Image 20Robots KUKA - Image 21 Robots KUKA - Image 22

7.Launch the C3 Bridge Server from the desktop shortcut or the Start Menu item (you can skip this step in case you selected Run C3 Bridge Server at the last installation step).

8.To start C3 Bridge Server automatically at system startup, copy the application shortcut from the desktop to the Startup folder of the Start Menu.

The C3 Bridge Server is now ready. You can leave this program running. This server allows you to exchange global variable values between the KUKA control system and the remote PC, download and upload KRL programs, control the execution of KRL programs, and more.

Further configuration of the control system can be done in two ways: automatically using the interactive mode of the kukabridge driver (KRC4 only) and manually by editing the robot control system files in KUKA HMI. Let's take a look at both approaches.

Changing the C3 Bridge Server port number

The C3 Bridge Server stores its settings in the Windows Registry. Follow these steps to change the network port:

1.Terminate the C3 Bridge Server.

2.Open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\C3 Bridge Interface.

3.Change the value of the NetworkTcpPort key to a value other than 7000 (for example, 7001).

4.Start the C3 Bridge Server again and repeat step 6 of the previous section (open access to the appropriate port).

Newer versions of the C3 Bridge Server (1.7.1 and higher) support command line options. In particular, the server port can be changed by running the application with the -tcpPort parameter. For example:

c3bridge.exe -tcpPort 7001

Automatic configuration using a script

The script KUKA_Auto_Configuration.py in the folder C:\RoboDK\Library\Scripts can be used to perform automatic configuration of the KUKA control system. In that case, the current RoboDK station must contain at least one KUKA robot with the correct IP address and port in the Connection to Robot window. The script can be called from the menu ToolsRun Script or by the Shift+S hotkey.

Robots KUKA - Image 23

Automatic configuration

Prerequisites: RoboDK version 5.5.2 or higher, Windows operating system, installation path C:\RoboDK.

1.Open command shell with STARTAll programs AccessoriesCommand Prompt        
or START
Runcmd.

2.Change directory to C:\RoboDK\bin and launch kukabridge.exe by executing following commands:

c:

cd C:\RoboDK\bin

..\api\Robot\kukabridge.exe

3.Now KUKA Bridge Driver is running in interactive mode.

4.Establish a connection to the control system by entering CONNECT <robot IP address> <port> <number of robot axes>, e.g:

CONNECT 172.1.1.10 7000 6

5.If successful, you will see the following output:

SMS:Connecting

Connected

SMS:Working...

SMS:Ready

6.Request current robot joint position by typing the CJNT command:

CJNT

SMS:Working...

JNTS 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000

SMS:Ready

7.Perform automatic configuration with the CONFIGURE FORCE command:

CONFIGURE FORCE

SMS:Working...

Requesting robot program state

Current robot program state is #P_FREE

Reading current configuration ($config.dat)

Read complete, updating configuration

Adding definition of variable COM_ACTION

Adding definition of variable COM_ACTCNT

Adding definition of variable COM_ROUNDM

Adding definition of variable COM_VALUE1

Adding definition of variable COM_VALUE2

Adding definition of variable COM_VALUE3

Adding definition of variable COM_VALUE4

Adding definition of variable COM_E6AXIS

Adding definition of variable COM_FRAME

Adding definition of variable COM_POS

Adding definition of variable COM_E6POS

Configuration lines have been updated: 11 added, 0 removed, 0 updated, 659 total

Checking existence of old backup file ($config.bak)

Old backup file exists, deleting it

Creating new backup file ($config.bak)

Backup completed, writing new configuration

New configuration was successfully written

Checking existence of program file (RoboDKsync543.src)

Program file does not exists

Writing program file to robot system

Configuration is complete

SMS:Ready

Robots KUKA - Image 24

8.Now your robot is ready to work, all you have to do is select and run the program RoboDKsync543.src.

Manual configuration

The next steps are to manually set up the main program that will handle the robot movements:

1.Add the declaration of the following global variables:        
To do so, locate and modify the file “KRC:\R1\SYSTEM\$CONFIG.DAT” via KUKA HMI. The folder “KRC:\R1\” can also be accessed from the C:\ drive at the following Windows path: “C:\KRC\ROBOTER\KRC\”.

INT COM_ACTION=0

INT COM_ACTCNT=0

REAL COM_ROUNDM=0

REAL COM_VALUE1=0

REAL COM_VALUE2=0

REAL COM_VALUE3=0

REAL COM_VALUE4=0

DECL E6AXIS COM_E6AXIS

DECL FRAME COM_FRAME

DECL POS COM_POS

DECL E6POS COM_E6POS

2.Copy the KUKA SRC program RoboDKsyncVER.src to the folder KRC\R1\PROGRAM. The VER suffix in the file name denotes the version of the program (for example, RoboDKsync543.src).

3.Manually start the RoboDKsyncVER.src program to make the robot listen for commands coming from the computer.

If the RoboDKsyncVER.src program is not running, RoboDK will still be able to read the robot joints if the C3 Bridge Server is running in the robot controller.