Direct computer FANUC interface

[JDepot]

I am currently creating a new, customized robotic control program for a company that uses a FANUC robotic arm to assemble there product. My question / problem is that the current program transfers a int string to a separate PLC that then feeds these int values to the robot program. I want to bypass the PLC and be able to feed the values directly from the computer program to the robot control program. I have contacted FANUC, but they are very tight lipped about how i could accomplish this, offering me the current software packages they have as substitutes instead of an actual answer.

This is especial urgent now because the PLC is down and production is currently at a standstill.

Thank you for your time and your help.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Redesigning a production system while production is down is a really bad idea. You get no credit if the new design works, and if it doesn't, which is much more likely, you get blamed for production being down, even if it's not your fault. It's also possible that your fix will damage something that's now working, in which case you're double screwed.

Get the current system fixed, first, _then_ figure out what the PLC actually does, and prepare a second PC with the additional capability, so you can plug it in later.

One caution: Because of the "creative" grounding and power distribution systems one finds in industrial systems, I strongly suggest that all data connections to/from the PC be opto-isolated.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[tygerdawg]

Two things:

You give no details about which controller version you are using. This will dictate the solution, if there is one.

There's not a lot of traffic on this site concerning robots, you may also try robot-forum.com and use the Fanuc forum...it's chock full of Fanuc geeks.

Well...THREE things. Mike is correct, make sure you don't get so creative with a revenue-generating production system that you'll regret it. Prototype & test before deployment if you value your sanity.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[BillPSU]

The real problem is management doesn't have people trained to fix the PLC and understand the problems. PLC problems can usually be solved very quickly unless some strange PLC is being used and there are no service parts available in your area. It probably is not a PLC problem to begin with. It is probably a sensor problem or whomever programmed the PLC did an inferior job.