Control of the ABB robot through B&R Automation PLC - ABB's PC Software Development Kit (PC SDK)

Requirements:

Software:

ABB RobotStudio, B&R Automation Studio

Software/Package	Link
ABB RobotStudio	https://new.abb.com/products/robotics/robotstudio/downloads
B&R Automation	https://www.br-automation.com/en/downloads/#categories=Software-1344987434933

Project Description:

The project is focused on a simple demonstration of client-server communication via OPC UA, which is implemented in C# Console App. (Server - B&R Automation PLC, Client - C# Console App). The console application communicates with the ABB robot via the PC Software Development Kit (PC SDK) from ABB. The application uses performance optimization using multi-threaded programming.

Notes:

ABB's PC Software Development Kit (PC SDK) is a software tool, which enables programmers to develop customized operator interfaces for the robot controller.

ABB Developer Centre: https://developercenter.robotstudio.com

Unpacking a station (/RSPAG_File/ABB_APP_BR_UA_SDK.rspag):

1. On the File tab, click Open and then browse to the folder and select the Pack&Go file, the Unpack & Work wizard opens.
2. In the Welcome to the Unpack & Work Wizard page, click Next.
3. In the Select package page, click Browse and then select the Pack & Go file to unpack and the Target folder. Click Next.
4. In the Library handling page select the target library. Two options are available, Load files from local PC or Load files from Pack & Go. Click the option to select the location for loading the required files, and click Next.
5. In the Virtual Controller page, select the RobotWare version and then click Locations to access the RobotWare Add-in and Media pool folders. Optionally, select the check box to automatically restore backup. Click Next.
6. In the Ready to unpack page, review the information and then click Finish.

MappView (HMI):

Simulation Address
PLC_ADDRESS = localhost or 127.0.0.1

http://PLC_ADDRESS:81/index.html?visuId=abb_move

The project was realized at the Institute of Automation and Computer Science, Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (NETME Centre - Cybernetics and Robotics Division).

Appendix:

Example of a simple data processing application (OPC UA):

OPC UA B&R Automation - Data Processing

Example of a simple data processing application (Robot Web Services):

ABB Robot - Data Processing

Project Hierarchy:

Repositary [/ABB_BaR_SDK_Control/]:

/C_Sharp_App/ABB_BR_OPCUa_SKD/ -> C# Application
[ Main Program (SDK, OPCUA Client, etc. ] Program.cs

ABB RobotStudio Project
[ RobotStudio Data Format File ] /RSPAG_File/
[ Rapid Program ] /Rapid/T_ROB1/

/Automation_Studio_BaR/OPCUa_Client_ABB_SDK/ -> Automatio Studio B&R Project
[ Main Program (control of the main state machine) ] /Logical/Server_t/Main.c
[ MappView Visualization                           ] /Logical/mappView/

Application:

ABB RobotStudio:

HMI (Human-Machine Interface) - MappView:

Contact Info:

Roman.Parak@outlook.com

Citation (BibTex)

@misc{RomanParak_ABB_BaR,
  author = {Roman Parak},
  title = {System integration of the communication interface between ABB robots and the B&R Automation control system},
  year = {2020-2021},
  publisher = {GitHub},
  journal = {GitHub repository},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/rparak/ABB_BaR_SDK_Control/}}
}

License

MIT