Connecting to Kuka KR210 robot

[StudentOfLife]

Hi all,

I'm hoping to read data from a robot, initially just location data, but ultimately whatever data are available from the robot. It's a Kuka KR210 with a KRC2 controller. We have an ethernet card for the controller, and I was anticipating using TCP/IP for data transfer. I've done a bit of background reading on Kuka's RSI amongst other things, and I wondered whether anyone has any experience of this kind of task with LabView. I'm leaning towards using the ImagingLabs libraries (DigiMetrix requires controller version KRC4) but would be very happy to hear anyone's thoughts on the best way to tackle the problem.

To begin with I just want to 'listen' to data from the robot, but ultimately the aim will be to provide some feedback for control purposes. We're hoping to incorporate machine vision in the future too.

Any suggestions of the best way to get started would be gratefully received! Also, if you think I'd get more help from another board or forum, that would be useful to know too.

Many thanks,

Jon.

[Sci-Vi]

Hi Jon,

I know I'm joining a bit late, but I have a need very similar to yours. Actually I plan to fully control a Kuka robot through a KRC2 controller with LabVIEW. I wondered if you have already succeeded with the ImagingLab library ? It looks like it is not listed anymore on NI website. On the other hand the DigiMetrix library is still there, and on the product page (on NI website) they state that there are both KRC4 and KRC2 versions (sold separately) - although the DigiMetrix website only mentions KRC4 compatibility. I have contacted their support directly to clarify this, but would also love to read a short update on your project in the meantime 🙂 !

Best,

Vincent

[StudentOfLife]

Hi Vincent,

Great to hear that someone else is working on the same thing.  We had a hitch with our controller's network hardware and then with lockdown the tech support guy couldn't sort it out for some time.  This is on the back burner at the moment but will probably come to the fore at some point.

I did have some good conversation with the Digimetrix support people who were really helpful.  I think it's right to say that there's a connection between them and the ImageLabs software, but I'm not 100%.  In any case, if you want to go down this route I'd definitely recommend speaking to them.

Keep us informed how you get on and I'll give an update when we get back onto this project.

Cheers.