In 2008 PLCopen released Part 4 of the Motion Control suite of specifications, dealing with coordinated motion, for example robotics. Basically, with this specification one can control a robot in the PLC or one can see it as an interface to a robotic controller, which will do the calculations and movements. Especially for this last option feedback was received from robotics companies with specific requirements, which resulted in a Corrigendum and is the basis for version 2.0 of this specification.
Also, with the release of the Standard Robot Command Interface, SRCI (within Profinet International), which is based on this document, a merger of both specifications was proposed. The current update of PLCopen Motion Control Part 4 reflects this merger. As such, the original PLCopen document is extended with new function blocks, as well as information on position, trajectories, changes in transition and buffer modes. The updated Part 4 retains the key functionalities from the SRCI but presents them in the well-known PLCopen look & feel. Retaining about 10% of the original size, while preserving 80% of the essential features.
Profinet International (PI) released version 1.3 of the Standard Robot Command Interface (SRCI) in November 2022, supported by many robot vendors. This specification is based on PLCopen Motion Control Part 4 and provides an interface to remote robot controllers. For this, our Part 4 was extended with the knowledge from the community of robot vendors, as many of them were involved.
The SRCI specification adds configuration functionalities and defines an interface to the different robot vendors. The essence of PLCopen is to incorporate these missing functionalities in the PLCopen Motion Control standard while maintaining the same Look & Feel by providing backward compatibility. Also, these functionalities need to be mapped to the defined interface and network. As such it is not restricted to Profinet as network.
The objective of the update of Part 4 is to define a set of extensions to “Part 1 - PLCopen Function Blocks for Motion Control”, focused to the coordinated multi-axes motion in 3D space, to serve most user’s application needs in this area. A key addition in this part is the kinematic model, linking the different axes to a mechanical construct and as such defining the movement of the relevant endpoint.
Implementations can include architectures with integrated solutions or remote connections to an intelligent controller like a dedicated robot-controller, which includes the kinematic model and specifics for the application like welding or moving parts. The goal is to provide a programming interface to the user that hides as much as possible these different implementations, making the development of the application software as independent as possible from the underlying architecture.
The PLCopen Motion Control Function Blocks are specified at such a level that the user quickly recognizes the functionality and that the effect of the activation and of sequencing with other function blocks is clear. Path oriented movements are programmed either with specific robot-oriented programming languages, or “G-code” (for instance cf. DIN 66025) as used in the CNC world. But without a doubt, the movements which can be described in these languages are applicable to a broader area of use. This PLCopen initiative transforms the functionalities known in the CNC and Robotic world to the PLC world. With this, an additional part is added to the range of PLCopen Motion Control specifications.
@PLCopen #PAuto #PLC #Robotics
No comments:
Post a Comment