Meca500 - Schneider PLC Integration

This MecaNetwork example features the Meca500 being used with Schneider M241 over Ethernet/IP.

This can be used with different Schneider PLC & other Codesys based PLC

This example features a simple Square Move pattern .

 

Components

Meca500 Robot : Go to site

Meca500 Firmware version 9.1.5 or above is required: Go to site

Schneider M241 PLC : Go to site 

 

Attachments

Mecademic v9.1.5 Schneider -SquareMoveDemo: Example Code V9.1.5

Mecademic v9.3.3 Schneider -SquareMoveDemo: Example Code V9.3.3

User guide: EcoStruxure Machine Expert and Mecademic Function Blocks instructions

Schneider PLC

Software

The purpose of this document is to guide the user in integrating a Mecademic Robot with EcoStruxure Machine Expert. This guide and the examples that are in it were done with EcoStruxure Machine Expert  version 2.0.3.1. 

Installing the EDS file

Proceed as follows:

 

1. In the Machine Expert Environnement, select the Tool Menu, then Device Repository 

 

2. Click on the Install.. button

 

 

3. Select the EDS file from the firmware package.

Prior to scanning your network in the EcoStruxure Machine Expert environnement, the following command must be send to the robot on the web interface to enable the network configuration Ethernet/IP.

 

 

To enable the EthernetIP protocol on the Schneider PLC, you need to update the Ethernet_1 network.

 

 

Once the Network has been update, you should be able to add the Industrial_Ethernet_Manager

And finally, you can add the Meca500 device.

 

 

Now, you need to configure the device by giving it a IP address and associating the Input and outputs word to the program variables.

 

 

In the Demo program, you will find the User Defined structure for the Meca500

 

 

This will permit you to declare an instance of the robot in the Global variables (GVL).

 

 

Once you have the robot instance declare, you can associate its Inputs/Outputs in the EtherNet/IP I/O Mapping tabs.

 

 

Using the Add-On Instructions

The following Add-On instructions are provided by Mecademic to simplify the usage of the Meca500 with Schneider PLCs.

These instructions will be mirroring the commands present in the TCP/IP interface to enable ease of use and standardize the programming structure between the Web Interface and in PLC programs.

 

 

 

Follow the steps below to use the Add-On Instructions in Machine Expert.

First, select the block that represents the command you want to send to your robot.

Populate the argument(s) field with the values you want to send for the selected command. The command will be sent to the robot on the first scan of the block or when one of the argument(s) values are modified.

If real-time updates are required, sending these instructions by updating the values should be the preferred method. However, it is recommended to update the values before enabling the blocks as this might give better control and prevent multiple instructions from being sent too rapidly if they are not all updated in the same scan.

Once the command has been sent, the sent bit from the block will become true and stay true until one of the arguments is modified or until the block is no longer enabled.

The buffered bit will become true when the MoveID (Internal or External) of the last command received by the robot equals the MoveID of the command sent by the block. When the Buffered bit becomes True it is an acknowledgment from the robot controller that it has received the command and added it to FIFO command buffer queue.

 

 

 

At the end of the Case..Of in the Exemple, you will find this code.

 

This code reset the Buffered and Sent Flag to False and then allow the sequence to go to the next step, when the Robot has acknowledge the command sent.

To prevent communication problems, it is imperative to send one instruction at a time to a given robot. 

We recommend to use a Grafcet like structure, where each step can only execute one instruction.

It is also recommended to only have one instance of an instruction per robot, this facilitate future program debugging.

Motion Commands and MoveID

 

The way that the robot can identify all of the different commands is with the motion command number. Each command has it’s own unique number. The internal MoveID values of the AOIs are closely related to the motion command values. Since the MoveID needs to be changed every time a new command is being sent to the robot, the add on instruction will alternate between two MoveIDs.

These two numbers will be constructed as such :

32	xx	0/1
Prefix	Motion command	Alternate between 0 and 1

 

Below are all the commands, their motion command value and their internal AOI MoveID:

Commands	Motion Command value	AOI MoveID
MoveJoints	1	32010-32011
MovePose	2	32020-32021
MoveLin	3	32030-32031
MoveLinRelTRF	4	32040-32041
MoveLinRelWRF	5	32050-32051
Delay	6	32060-32061
SetBlending	7	32070-32071
SetJointVel	8	32080-32081
SetJointAcc	9	32090-32091
SetCartAngVel	10	32100-32101
SetCartLinVel	11	32110-32111
SetCartAcc	12	32120-32121
SetTRF	13	32130-32131
SetWRF	14	32140-32141
SetConf	15	32150-32151
SetAutoConf	16	32160-32161
SetCheckpoint	17	32170-32171
Gripper	18	32180-32181
Gripper	19	32190-32191
GripperForce	20	32200-32201
MoveJointsVel	21	32210-32211
MoveLinVelWRF	22	32220-32221
MoveLinVelTRF	23	32230-32231
VelCtrlTimeout	24	32240-32241
SetConfTurn	25	32250-32251
SetAutoConfTurn	26	32260-32261
SetTorqueLimits	27	32270-32271
SetTorqueLimitsCfg	28	32280-32281
MoveJointsRel	29	32290-32291
SetValveState	30	32300-32301
SetGripperRange	31	32310-32311
MoveGripper	32	32320-32321
StartOfflineProgram	100	31900-31901

 

These unique MoveIDs are useful for troubleshooting and knowing which commands were received or not by the robot. It is also important to not use these internal MoveID when using the external MoveID feature of the AOIs.

 

External MoveID

 

The external MoveID feature can be activated by setting the ExternalStateControl value to 1. When this is enabled, the user will need to input their own MoveID in the AOI. The commands will be sent only when the external MoveID value is updated to a new value as with the internal MoveID. This feature can be useful for users who want more in-depth control of their sequence and who want to monitor the commands sent and received by the robot more closely.

It should be noted that this approach needs a careful and thorough understanding of how the MoveID is being used in the robot controller and should only be used by more advanced users. It is also important to note that the values of the external MoveID should never be the same as the internal values of the AOI. If the user tries to input the same value as an internal value the error bit will become true on the AOI.

EtherNet/IP Control Block

 

The EipControl function permits you to enable and Disable a specific EthernetIP connection.

We use this block to easily connect and disconnect the meca500 from the Schneider PLC, allowing us to connect to the web interface without having to change the ethernet cabling.

 

The Connection ID can be found in the configuration of the Meca500 device.

 

This Exemple was develop with a Schneider M241 PLC for the Meca500 v9.1.5 over EtherNet/IP