Connect UR to Wandelbots NOVA

Open the home screen

Open your cloud instance via NOVA Cloud or type in your physical instance’s/virtual instance’s IP address to access the home screen. Get an overview on the home screen and its functionalities here.

Create a cell in Setup

Open Setup and go to the “Cell” tab.

Add robot to your cell

If you want to start using the Wandelbots API, do so now and add a robot via the Wandelbots NOVA API.

OR add a robot to your cell in Setup:

• Select the “Robots” tab.
• Click to add a robot to your cell.
  If the button is greyed out, your license might not support adding more robots. Please contact your administrator.
• Select the robot type Virtual.
• Name the robot
• Select UR as manufacturer.
• Select the desired robot model.
• Add the robot to the cell.

Add a TCP

To replicate a physical robot’s behavior accurately, you can define TCPs for virtual robots in the Setup app.

1. Select the TCPs tab in the robot’s settings.
2. Click to create a new TCP.
3. Name the TCP.
4. Define the TCP’s translation and rotation relative to the robot’s flange.
5. Save the TCP.

Prepare UR Admin

Install URCaps

To use Wandelbots NOVA, you need to install a custom URCaps file on the UR controller.

1. Ensure that the UR controller and the machine you’re using are connected to the same network.

2. Ping the robot controller’s IP address to check that it is reachable.
   If the ping fails, check the network connection and the robot controller’s IP address.

3. Download the custom Wandelbots URCaps file from Downloads in NOVA Cloud.

4. Upload the file to the robot controller.

   Linux Windows

   Change into the folder where the file, e.g., UniversalRobotsServer-1.6.0.jar, is located, then run:

   scp UniversalRobotsServer-1.6.0.jar root@192.168.0.72:~/.urcaps/ # replace the IP address with the robot controller's IP

   Use PuTTY to connect via SSH to the UR controller. Then use PuTTY Secure Copy Client to copy the file, e.g., UniversalRobotsServer-1.6.0.jar, onto the UR controller:

   pscp UniversalRobotsServer-1.6.0.jar root@192.168.1.1:.urcaps  # replace the IP address with the robot controller's IP

5. Reboot the UR controller.
   The URCaps file is now installed.

Configure network settings

Using the original robot control panel

1. Turn on robot controller according to the robot manufacturer’s original operating instructions.
2. Set robot to local mode.
3. Open main menu.
4. Open settings.
5. Select System > Network > “Static address”.
6. Enter the robot controller’s IP address, e.g. 192.168.1.100, into the “IP address” field. This IP address has to be within the same subnet as the IPC’s IP address but can otherwise be set as desired.
7. Enter the subnet mask 255.255.255.0.
   This ensures that the robot controller and the IPC are in the same subnet.
8. Confirm settings.

Activate remote control

Using the original robot control panel

1. Turn on robot controller according to the robot manufacturer’s original operating instructions.

2. Open main menu > system settings.

3. Select System > Remote Control.

4. Activate Remote Control.

5. Switch to Remote Control in the home screen.
   Remote Control connection will now be established. This can take a few minutes. Upon successful remote control connection, the robot controller is rebooted and URCaps installed.

   The robot controller was successfully set up for Wandelbots NOVA.

Configure payload and TCP

To enable maximum acceleration and speed in path planning, the payload and TCP have to be correctly configured on the robot controller. Configure the payload and TCP on the UR with this tutorial.

Connect IPC to robot controller Admin

1. Connect an ethernet cable to the IPC’s LAN-1 port.
2. Connect the IPC to the robot controller’s network port.
3. Turn on the IPC.

Configure IPC’s network settings

1. Open https://<ipc-ip-address>:9090, e.g. https://172.345.538.2:9090, in a browser on your personal computer.
   If the IPC is not connected to the same network as your personal computer, you can connect a keyboard, a mouse and a display to the IPC. Then open localhost:9090 in a web browser.

2. Log in with the user credentials created during the Wandelbots NOVA installation.
   The IPC’s settings are displayed. A popup prompts you to enable administrative access.

3. Enable administrative access and enter the admin password.

4. Select the Network tab in the sidebar.
   The IPC’s network settings are displayed.

5. Toggle the button next to the enp3s0 port (corresponding to the IPC’s LAN-1 port) to enable network activity.

6. Click “edit” next to the IPv4.
   The IPv4 menu opens.

7. Set the address dropdown to “Manual”.

8. Create an IP address that is in the same subnet as the robot’s IP address (255.255.255.0), e.g. 172.345.255.2.

9. Set the prefix to 255.255.255.0 (will automatically change to 24).

10. Delete the prefilled gateway value.

11. Save the settings.
    Wandelbots NOVA can now connect to the robot.

Use UR controller on NOVA

1. Type in your physical instance’s IP address to access the home screen.
2. Open Setup and go to the “Cell” tab.
3. Select the “Robots” tab.
4. Click to add a robot to your cell.
   If the button is greyed out, your license might not support adding more robots. Please contact your administrator.
5. Select the robot type Physical.
6. Name the robot
7. Select UR as manufacturer.
8. Enter the robot’s IP address or host name.
9. Click on Add.
10. Activate Motion Groups using post /cells/{cell}/motion-groups/all to set the robot as active. Can also be done in Robot Pad by using the switch in the task bar.

TCPs

To use TCPs for connected physical controllers on NOVA, you need to set them up on the robot controller first. Refer to the original Universal Robots documentation on how to set up TCPs on the robot controller.

TCPs will then be displayed in the Setup app under the TCPs tab in the robot’s settings and can be selected for path planning in Robot Pad.