External Control Setup for iiQKA.OS2

This document describes the necessary steps for setting up external control using the Ethernet KRL Interface (EKI) and Robot Sensor Interface (RSI) on a controller running iiQKA.OS2. To be able to start control externally or react to errors, wrappers have been implemented depending on either the Ethernet KRL Interface (EKI) or mxAutomation (mxA) option packages

Prerequisites

Before configuring the system, ensure you have the following:

  • Access to a computer with iiQWorks.Sim installed.

  • The Robot Sensor Interface option package installed in the same project.

  • The Ethernet KRL or mxAutomation option package installed in a project if using one of the wrappers

Networking Steps

During configuration and setup, connect your computer with iiQWorks.Sim installed to the controller using an Ethernet cable. To enable communication between the two systems, set the IP addresses of the relevant interfaces (KLI on the robot controller and the Ethernet interface on the computer) to be on the same subnet.

Update the IP address in the rsi_ethernet.xml file with the IP address assigned to the external control computer. This informs the controller where to send data packets during each RSI cycle.

Example network configuration

Windows computer with iiQWorks.Sim: 172.32.1.150/24 Robot controller KLI: 172.32.1.147/24 Robot controller RSI network: 172.32.2.147/24 Control PC RSI connection: 172.32.2.148/24 Control PC KLI connection: 172.32.1.148/24 (needed for EKI/mxA wrappers)

Steps within iiQWorks.Sim

There are several KUKA-specific files located in the krc_setup/iiqka_os2 directory that need to be imported into the iiQWorks.Sim project

RSI setup

  1. Import the Program/RSI/ folder to the KRC/R1/Program folder (in the Program tab in iiQWorks.Sim)

  2. Import the rsi_joint_pos.rsix file under the Context field in the Home page Devices tab under Option packages > iiQka.RobotSensorInterface

  3. Import the rsi_ethernet.xml file under Ethernet configurations field in the Home page Devices tab under Option packages > iiQka.RobotSensorInterface

For a more complex control scenario, including external axes or I/O, the context and Ethernet configuration files must be modified for the specific use case.

EKI server setup

  1. Perform steps of RSI setup

  2. Import the EkiKSSinterface.xml file under the Context field in the Home page Devices tab under Option packages > iiQka.EthernetKRL

  3. Import the Program/EKIServer/ folder to the KRC/R1/Program folder (in the Program tab in iiQWorks.Sim)

  4. Modify the KRC/STEU/Mada/$option.dat file. Change the $CHCK_MOVENA flag to FALSE to prevent the system from checking whether $MOVE_ENABLE is connected to $IN[1025]:

  5. To ensure the EKI server runs automatically, edit the KRC/R1/System/sps.sub submit interpreter file. Add a call to SPS_Init() in the USER INIT fold and a call to SPS_LoopCall() in the USER PLC fold.

mxA server setup

  1. Perform steps of RSI setup

  2. Install the mxA option package and select Protocol: Established, Device: UDP in the General Settings of the option package

  3. Click Use default I/O mapping

  4. Perform the manual file manipulation described by mxA_TechFunction.add to extend the mxA TechFunction with user defined methods that enable starting the RSI program

Once you have completed these steps, deploy the project onto the controller. After deployment, connect the KRC to the machine you wish to control it with.

Steps on the SmartHMI

To use external control with the EKI/mxA wrappers, you have to change the operation mode to EXT on the SmartHMI. For the simple RSI mode, all other operation modes are working.