ABB Driver

 



Note: This tutorial assumes basic familiarity with the ABB robot controller. Consult the manufacturer's documentation for further details on any of the steps listed in this tutorial.

All files in the abbdriver/rapid (Indigo and later) directory should be copied to the robot controller. This tutorial assumes the files are copied to a 'ROS' subdirectory under the system's HOME directory (e.g. Go to Application. ABB Drive Care ABB Discrete Automation and Motion ABB Discrete Automation and Motion.

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Please ask about problems and questions regarding this tutorial on answers.ros.org. Don't forget to include in your question the link to this page, the versions of your OS & ROS, and also add appropriate tags.
Description: This tutorial walks through the steps of installing the ROS server code on the ABB robot controller and configuring the required controller settings.
Keywords: ABB, Industrial, IRC5
Tutorial Level: INTERMEDIATE
Next Tutorial: Next, you'll learn how to run and manage the ABB ROS Server Running the server

Contents

Abb
  1. Configuring Controller Settings

This tutorial has two parts: installing server code and configuring the controller with the appropriate tasks.

Prerequisites

The ABB ROS Server code is written in RAPID, using a socket interface and multiple parallel tasks. The code was originally tested on an IRC-5 controller, with an IRB-2400 robot, but other combinations should also work. The following controller options are required:

  • 623-1: Multitasking

  • 672-1: Socket Messaging (in recent RobotWare versions, this option is included with 616-1: PC Interface)

RobotWare OS version 5.13 or later is required due to the use of certain socket options. Earlier versions may work, but will require modifications to the RAPID code.

Installing Server Code

All files in the abb_driver/rapid (Indigo and later) directory should be copied to the robot controller. This tutorial assumes the files are copied to a 'ROS' subdirectory under the system's HOME directory (e.g. /<system>/HOME/ROS/*).

See the manufacturer's documentation for file-transfer methods. RobotStudio Online and USB drives are often convenient methods to transfer files to the controller.

Configuring Controller Settings

The ROS Server code requires 3 tasks. Some modules are loaded to specific tasks, and others are shared between tasks, as described below:

File Overview

  • Shared by all tasks

    • ROS_common.sys -- Global variables and data types shared by all files

    • ROS_socket.sys -- Socket handling and simple_message implementation

    • ROS_messages.sys -- Implementation of specific message types

  • Specific task modules

    • ROS_stateServer.mod -- Broadcast joint position and state data

    • ROS_motionServer.mod -- Receive robot motion commands

    • ROS_motion.mod -- Issues motion commands to the robot

Create Tasks

  1. Browse to Controller tab → Configuration Editor → Controller → Task, then right-click New Task

    (In RobotStudio 5, this is found under ABB → Control Panel → Configuration → Topics → Controller → Task)

  2. Create 3 tasks as follows:

    Name

    Type

    Trust Level

    Entry

    Motion Task

    ROS_StateServer

    SEMISTATIC

    NoSafety

    main

    NO

    ROS_MotionServer

    SEMISTATIC

    SysStop

    main

    NO

    T_ROB1

    NORMAL

    main

    YES

    It is easiest to wait until all configuration tasks are completed before rebooting the controller.

    NOTES:

    1. The T_ROB1 motion task probably already exists on your controller.

    2. If T_ROB1 has existing motion-control modules, you may need to rename the main() routine in ROS_Motion.mod to ROS_main(). In this case, set the Entry point for T_ROB1 task to ROS_main().

    3. For multi-robot controllers, specify the desired robot (e.g. rob1) for each task

    4. SEMISTATIC tasks will auto-start when controller is booted. They are visible, but cannot be easily seen for troubleshooting. For debug or development purposes, it may be desired to set both ROS_*Server tasks to Type=NORMAL.

Create Signals

  1. Browse to Controller tab → Configuration Editor → I/O System → Signal, then right-click New Signal

    (In RobotStudio 5, this is found under ABB → Control Panel → Configuration → Topics → I/O → Signal)

  2. Create 7 signals as follows:

    Name

    Type of Signal

    signalExecutionError

    Digital Output

    signalMotionPossible

    Digital Output

    signalMotorOn

    Digital Output

    signalRobotActive

    Digital Output

    signalRobotEStop

    Digital Output

    signalRobotNotMoving

    Digital Output

    signalRosMotionTaskExecuting

    Digital Output

    It is easiest to wait until all configuration tasks are completed before rebooting the controller.

Tie Signals to the System Outputs

  1. Browse to Controller tab → Configuration Editor → I/O System → System Output, then right-click New System Output

    (In RobotStudio 5, this is found under the ABB → Control Panel → Configuration → Topics → I/O → System Output)

  2. Add one entry for signal as follows:

    Signal Name

    Status

    Arg 1

    Arg 2

    Arg 3

    Arg 4

    signalExecutionError

    Execution Error

    N/A

    T_ROB1

    N/A

    N/A

    signalMotionPossible

    Runchain OK

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    signalMotorOn

    Motors On State

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    signalRobotActive

    Mechanical Unit Active

    ROB_1

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    signalRobotEStop

    Emergency Stop

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    signalRobotNotMoving

    Mechanical Unit Not Moving

    ROB_1

    N/A

    N/A

    N/A

    signalRosMotionTaskExecuting

    Task Executing

    N/A

    T_ROB1

    N/A

    N/A

Load Modules to Tasks

  1. Browse to Controller tab → Configuration Editor → Controller → Automatic Loading of Modules, then right-click New Automatic Loading of Modules

    (In RobotStudio 5, this is found under ABB → Control Panel → Configuration → Topics → Controller → Automatic Loading of Modules)

  2. Add one entry for each server file as follows:

    File

    Task

    Installed

    All Tasks

    Hidden

    HOME:/ROS/ROS_common.sys

    NO

    YES

    NO

    HOME:/ROS/ROS_socket.sys

    NO

    YES

    NO

    HOME:/ROS/ROS_messages.sys

    NO

    YES

    NO

    HOME:/ROS/ROS_stateServer.mod

    ROS_StateServer

    NO

    NO

    NO

    HOME:/ROS/ROS_motionServer.mod

    ROS_MotionServer

    NO

    NO

    NO

    HOME:/ROS/ROS_motion.mod

    T_ROB1

    NO

    NO

    NO

  3. After the last change, select YES to restart the controller and apply the changes.

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Updating Software

To update robot-server files with new code versions, use the following procedure to ensure that the changes are actually applied:

  1. Copy the new/updated files onto the robot controller, as before.

  2. Restart the controller using a P-Start

    • ABB → Restart → Advanced → P-Start → OK

    • NOTE: This will erase any existing modules that have been loaded to memory. This may cause compilation issues on restart. If this is a concern, try another method: Warm Start, manually reloading modules (may require setting SEMISTATIC tasks to NORMAL tasks), etc.

  3. After the controller reboots, the new changes should be active.
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