Robot Communications - Kuka Robot Controller - Serial

Kuka robot controllers communicate with other devices over RS-232 serial ports using a complex, but highly robust, error checking protocol. When configured for Kuka serial communications, the In-Sight vision system understands this protocol and is able to respond to the commands it receives from the Kuka controller.

Kuka Mode is an extension of In-Sight's Native Mode communications. Because Kuka Mode is based on Native Mode, an In-Sight job may be developed and tested in Native Mode, then switched to Kuka Mode only when the actual robot controller is connected to the In-Sight vision system. No other changes to the job are required.

Note:
  • The Kuka robot must be in P3964R mode to communicate with an In-Sight vision systems; Kuka must be the selected Mode for the Serial Port Setting on the vision system, as described below.
  • In-Sight vision systems are configured to use Kuka's default protocol settings (i.e., the Kuka robot is high priority, the In-Sight vision system is low-priority for transactions).
  • While serial-based robot communications are supported with the Breakout cable (In-Sight 5000 series or In-Sight 7000 series only), an I/O module is recommended for ease of setup.
  • In-Sight Micro 1000 series vision systems only support serial communication when connected to the CIO-MICRO or CIO-MICRO-CC I/O module.
  • There are two options for enabling serial communication for the In-Sight 70xx - 74xx series vision system: using the Breakout cable or using the CIO-MICRO or CIO-MICRO-CC I/O module. When connected to the Breakout cable (and there is no connection to an I/O module), the vision system allows one discrete input line and one discrete output line to be configured as Serial Receive and Serial Transmit, respectively.
  • In-Sight 8000 series vision systems only support serial communication when connected to the CIO-MICRO I/O module.
  • The CIO-WENET Ethernet I/O module does not support serial communication.

Configure an In-Sight Vision System for Kuka Communication

  1. On the Sensor menu, click Serial Port Settings.
  2. In the Serial Port Settings dialog, open the Mode drop-down list and select Kuka.

The In-Sight vision system will now default to standard Kuka controller serial port settings. However, if your controller uses different settings, make sure to configure In-Sight to use the same serial port settings as the Kuka controller.

Note: Kuka KR C2 and KR C2 Edition 2005 robot controllers are supported.

Kuka Commands

Whether sending data and commands or receiving data, the Kuka robot controller initiates all data communication between itself and an In-Sight vision system, using Native Mode commands.

The following Native Mode commands are supported in Kuka mode:

Native Mode Command Syntax Related Topics

Get Job

GJ

Get Job

Get Online

GO

Get Online

Get Value GV[EncodedLocation] Get Value: Spreadsheet View

Get Value

GV[Symbolic Name]

Get Value: Spreadsheet View

Load File

LF[Filename]

Load File

Set Event

SE[Int]

Set Event

Store File

TF[Filename]

Store File

Set Float

SF[Symbolic Name][Float Value]

Set Float: Spreadsheet View

Set Integer

SI[Symbolic Name][Integer Value]

Set Integer: Spreadsheet View

Set Job

SJ[ID]

Set Job

Set Online

SO[Integer Value]

Set Online

Set String

SS[Symbolic Name][String]

Set String