Connection Between Real ABB Robots and Visual Components

General Questions
1

Hello everyone, I currently have an urgent issue regarding the connection between ABB robots and VC (Visual components) that needs to be resolved.
Background: There are 4 ABB robots on-site that need to be connected to VC to achieve real-time synchronization between the physical robot movements and the simulated robots in VC (digital twin). The robots use IRC5 controllers with the “PC INTERFACE” option enabled, but the “1582-1 OPC UA Server” option is not activated, so OPC UA services cannot be used.
Current Situation: The ABB connection plugin in VC can achieve the required functionality via Ethernet, but it only supports connecting one robot at a time. This is because the connection and joint data transmission between the robot and VC are only successful when the Ethernet cable is plugged into the robot’s SERVICE port. However, we need to connect all four robots simultaneously. The SERVICE port on each controller has a fixed IP address (192.168.125.1) that cannot be modified, while other ports (e.g., LAN or WAN) fail to establish a connection.
Question: Is there a solution to connect all four ABB robots simultaneously? How should the Ethernet cables be configured?

2

I’ve connected three IRC5 robots to VC using WAN, a switch, and a tosibox (only used to establish a wireless connection to the robots). I believe you should be able to do it with just WAN and a switch, though. If you weren’t able to connect via WAN/LAN, it’s most likely a configuration issue. Can you tell us a bit more about your setup/configuration?

3

Thank you for your replay.

I attempted to connect ABB robots with VC using the following methods:

  1. Service Port Connection
  • Connected PC to controller’s Service Port via Ethernet cable
  • Configured PC IP as 192.168.125.X (Subnet: 255.255.255.0)
  • Controller-side address: 192.168.125.1
  • Successful VC-to-Controller connection established
  1. LAN Port Connection
  • Connected PC to controller’s LAN Port via Ethernet cable
  • Configured LAN Port IP as 192.168.150.1 through Teach Pendant Control Panel
  • Set PC IP to 192.168.150.X (Subnet: 255.255.255.0)
  • Successful ping to 192.168.150.1 achieved
  • Connection failure in VC’s ABB Connection Interface
  • Controller IP undetectable in VC search function

3.WAN Port Connection

  • Connected PC to controller’s WAN Port via Ethernet cable
  • Configured WAN Port IP as 192.168.150.1 through Teach Pendant Control Panel
  • Set PC IP to 192.168.150.X (Subnet: 255.255.255.0)
  • Successful ping to 192.168.150.1 achieved
  • Connection failure in VC’s ABB Connection Interface
  • Controller IP undetectable in VC device discovery

Can the WAN port be utilized to simultaneously connect four ABB robots to Visual Components? What is the specific implementation procedure? During VC device discovery, should these four robots maintain distinct IP addresses?

4

thank for your replay