Controller not being recognized by ABB OPC Server

Robot Controller
1

I am trying to have an IRC5 controller to be recognized by the ABB OPC server. The ABB OPC Server is installed according to the manual (version 6.08.01).
We are trying to connect the controller to the company machine network, but fail to “find” the controller in the ABB OPC server software.
The network is connected via the WAN port on the controller, and via the network I am able to “ping” the controller.
The PC-Interface option (616-1) is available on the controller.
We have set the Network LAN settings to the settings of the Company machine network.

Anybody any experience with connecting IRC5 controller to the ABB OPC Server?

2

I’m also interested in this topic. Facing the same issue. Any support here?

3

Are you able to connect to the controller via RobotStudio?

If yes, try to search for the controller in OPC Server after having launched RobotStudio.

Please let me know the results.

Thanks.

4

Hi @Maxim ,

Thank you for your answer. I was able to find the network controller after having launched RS!

However, all the network controller tags return a status code “BadOutOfService”.

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It doesn’t happen when browsing the virtual controller tags using both dataFEED and UAExpert OPC UA clients.

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Am I missing something here?

5

What RW version are you running?
Do you have all the necessary options on it?

6

Hi @Maxim ,

RW 5.15.8017.08 and 616-1 PC Interface option installed. By the way I’m using the new “IoT Gateway” if this matters.

7

Juan,

Please review the manual for IoT Gateway. I believe it states that you need RW6.x for IoTGateway to function.

8

Hi @Maxim

Follow below the information that I have from ABB Brazil (and they got it from Sweden):

Q - For each robot / version of RobotWare, which version of OPC Server is compatible - classic / UA / both?

A – "Well both classic and UA are compatible so it is a personal choice. I will give you my thoughts on this.

The old IRC5 OPC is good and already established product so to speak and having in mind that the customer do have older robots maybe it is good to go with the “ Classic ” since I guess all the major bugs are fixed but on the other hand OPC is not a complex product.

The new OPC UA is really the old one with some new features and compatibility for the RW7 and above but maybe could have some bugs, I’m not sure.

So both OPCs are good and there is no really wrong answer here."

My understanding is IoT Gateway englobes OPC UA Server. So, the info above about OPC UA Server could be applied to IoT Gateway. Could you please confirm that?

Also, I was wondering if a different than the controller IoT Gateway User ID info (User name and Password) could cause that issue.

9

Hello Juan,

“My understanding is IoT Gateway englobes OPC UA Server. So, the info above about OPC UA Server could be applied to IoT Gateway. Could you please confirm that?”
I’d rather not confirm nor deny this assumption, as I don’t see how it’d help.

Instead, I would like to recommend (as I did in my previous post) to read the manuals for OPC “Classic” Server, the OPC UA Server, and the IoT Gateway products respectively, and look for information regarding supported RobotWare.

For example, I saw in the OP UA Server manual (available here: Link) that it requires RW6:

And in the IoT Gateway manual (available in the same thread as the previous manual) this can be read:

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The same section in the OPC Server manual (also available via thread mentioned previously) does not state any specific RobotWare requirements, thus it most likely supports RW5.x and up.

Furthermore, the OPC Server “Classic” was/is based on OPC Classic specification (OPC Data Access - Wikipedia), while the OPC UA & IoT Gateway are based on OPC UA protocol (OPC Unified Architecture - Wikipedia).

So the statement “The new OPC UA is really the old one with some new features and compatibility for the RW7 and above […]” is unfortunate.

Finally, I’d like to urge you, once more, to first and foremost refer to the existing application manuals rather than chasing down peoples’ opinions/thoughts. ABB provides application manuals for all their software products as far as I know.

Oh, I almost forgot your last question: “Also, I was wondering if a different than the controller IoT Gateway User ID info (User name and Password) could cause that issue.”
First, make sure you’re using the OPC Server software that supports RW5.15.

10

The fact that I’ve already read the application manuals took me to request confirmation from ABB in regards to the OPC classic/UA compatibility. And, for my surprise, the answer that I received was the OPC UA would be compatible with RW5 too. This info came from ABB Sweden even though the application manual says different.

So, I’ll reformulate my question: have you or someone else from ABB already tested the OPC UA Server with RW5? The final conclusion about connecting RW5 with OPC UA Server is “it’s not possible”, “it’s possible” or “I don’t know”?

11

Hello Juan,

According to the OPC UA Server and IoT Gateway manuals, these products support RW6.x and up.

Best regards,
Maxim