Machina Driver for ABB Robots

This project contains a series of server modules and utility functions written in RAPID code to allow controlling an ABB robot in real time from a remote TCP client. This modules can be used stand-alone, or in tandem with the rest of the Robot Ex Machina tools for robot programming and control.

Hello Robot!

Provided the appropriate module/s have been loaded on the real/virtual controller, and the program is running, any framework that supports TCP socketing can be used to stream string messages to this TCP server on the controller. For example, sending the following message to the server:

7 "Hello Robot!";

will display the Hello Robot! string on the device's FlexPendant (7). Similarly, the following message:

@17 1 300 350 400 0 0 1 0;

will move the robot linearly (1) to XYZ coordinates 300 350 400 in mm with WXYZ quaternion orientation of 0 0 1 0, with an optional id of 17. This id will be attached to the server's acknowledgement response whenever the motion has completed:

@17 1;

Disclaimer

Working with robots can be dangerous. Robotic actuators are very powerful machines, but for the most part extremely unaware of their environment; if it collides with something, including yourself, it will not detect it and try to keep going, posing a threat to itself and the operators surrounding it. This is particularly relevant when running in 'automatic' mode, where several security measures are bypassed for the sake of performance.

When using robots in a real-time interactive environment, please make sure:

• You have been adequately trained to use that particular machine,
• you are in good physical and mental condition,
• you are operating the robot under the utmost security measures,
• you are following the facility's and facility staff's security protocols,
• and the robot has the appropriate guarding in place, including, but not reduced to, e-stops, physical barriers, light curtains, etc.

Machina is in early stage of development. You are using this software at your own risk, no warranties are provided herewith, and unexpected results/bugs may arise during its use. Always test and simulate your applications thoroughly before running them on a real device. The author/s shall not be liable for any injuries, damages or losses consequence of using this software in any way whatsoever.

Quick Start

Requirements

You will need a:

• Real or virtual ABB six-axis robot arm with an IRC5 controller.
• The robot needs the 616-1: PC Interface option.
• Optionally, you may want to also have the 623-1: Multitasking option for better performance via multithreading.

Robot Setup

(This section needs improvement, would you like to contribute?)

This project contains two versions of the server, SingleTask and MultiTask, based on availability of 623-1: Multitasking. Use this guide as a reference on how to install them: https://github.com/robotics/open_abb/wiki/Configuring-an-ABB-Robot-for-OAD

Client Setup

Connection to the server can be established via any client that supports TCP/IP socketing, adhering to the API format. There are some samples in the folders written in node.js.

You may want to check our sibling projects that use this protocols at their core: https://github.com/RobotExMachina/Machina

API

Socket messages to the server must be sent as ASCII strings, following this protocol:

[@id ]INST_NUMBER [["StringParam" ]Param1 Param2 Param3 ... Param11];

which means:

• @id: messages may start with an optional id in the form of a @ character followed by an integer. This id will be used to signal completed actions in responses from the server.
• INST_NUMBER: a mandatory integer representing the action to be performed (see below).
• "StringParam": if the instruction requires a string parameter (write a message to the pendant, write to a signal...), the string must go first and encapsulated in double quotes.
• Param#: the message may contain up to eleven numerical parameters, representing different information depending on the instruction. Decimal positions, exponentials and negative signs are permitted. It is recommended to stick to five significant digits.
• ;: a mandatory semicolon as statement terminator.
• Ids, instructions and parameters must be separated by single white spaces.

So for example:

• @17 1 300 350 400 0 0 1 0;: move the robot linearly (1) to XYZ coordinates 300 350 400 in mm and WXYZ quaternion orientation 0 0 1 0, with id 17.
• @34 3 0 0 0 0 90 0: rotate the six robot joints axes (3) to angular values 0 0 0 0 90 0 degrees with id 34.
• @485 4 200;: set linear speed (4) to 200 mm/s with id 485.
• 7 "Hello Robot!"";: write in the FlexPendant (7) the message Hello Robot! with (no id).

This can be seen working in action here: https://youtu.be/_o0bgOYMBDY

Upon completion of the instruction, the server will respond with an acknowledgement message in the form:

@17 1;

indicating the id and the number of the completed instruction. Please note that for motion instructions, this may happen slightly before completion of the motion, as the Program Pointer always moves ahead of the Motion Pointer.

If the message was an request for information (such as 101 for INST_GET_INFO), then the response will be preceded by a > symbol and include parameters from the query. For instance, for a @234 101 2; instruction (request IP and PORT), the response would be:

>@234 101 2 "192.168.125.1" 7000;

The API can be customized via a set of constant declarations on its header, although it is advised to keep it fixed for compatibility reasons:

    ! Server data: change IP from localhost to "192.168.125.1" (typically) if working with a real robot
    CONST string SERVER_IP := "127.0.0.1";
    CONST num SERVER_PORT := 7000;

    ! A RAPID-code oriented API:
    !                                         INSTRUCTION P1 P2 P3 P4...
    CONST num INST_MOVEL := 1;              ! MoveL X Y Z QW QX QY QZ
    CONST num INST_MOVEJ := 2;              ! MoveJ X Y Z QW QX QY QZ
    CONST num INST_MOVEABSJ := 3;           ! MoveAbsJ J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 J6
    CONST num INST_SPEED := 4;              ! (setspeed V_TCP [V_ORI V_LEAX V_REAX])
    CONST num INST_ZONE := 5;               ! (setzone FINE TCP [ORI EAX ORI LEAX REAX])
    CONST num INST_WAITTIME := 6;           ! WaitTime T
    CONST num INST_TPWRITE := 7;            ! TPWrite "MSG"
    CONST num INST_TOOL := 8;               ! (settool X Y Z QW QX QY QZ KG CX CY CZ)
    CONST num INST_NOTOOL := 9;             ! (settool tool0)
    CONST num INST_SETDO := 10;             ! SetDO "NAME" ON
    CONST num INST_SETAO := 11;             ! SetAO "NAME" V

    CONST num INST_STOP_EXECUTION := 100;       ! Stops execution of the server module
    CONST num INST_GET_INFO := 101;             ! A way to retrieve state information from the server (not implemented)
    CONST num INST_SET_CONFIGURATION := 102;    ! A way to make some changes to the configuration of the server

    ! Characters used for buffer parsing
    CONST string STR_MESSAGE_END_CHAR := ";";
    CONST string STR_MESSAGE_ID_CHAR := "@";
    CONST string STR_MESSAGE_RESPONSE_CHAR := ">";

Current Limitations

• The ; character can only be used as statement terminator, nowhere else (including inside string parameters).
• Messages cannot be longer than 80 characters, including statement terminator.
• Use clean formatting: for performance, the parser does not account for preceding, trailing or double spacing in the message.

Acknowledgements

Some of the techniques used in this modules were inspired by the amazing work by Albert Nubiola on RoboDK, and open-abb both in it's original version and Humhu's fork.

License

MIT LICENSE