RW 5.15 Profinet setup

Robot Controller IRC5
,
1

Hello,

I am working on setting up an old robot with Profinet comms.

Robot Specs

  • Controller: IRC5
  • Robotware version : 5.15.0005.00
  • Licenses:
    • 888-1 ProfiNet IO M/S
    • 608-1 World Zones
    • 611-1 Path Recovery
    • 613-1 Collision Detection
    • 616-1 PC Interface
    • 623-1 Multitasking
  • Profinet card : DSQC678 aka CP1616 (6GK1161-6AA01) (Firmware V2.4)

General info

The robot controller is the slave and is talking to a Beckhoff PLC (master). I am able to see the robot controller and the PLC on the network using Proneta, but I am unable to make the controller happy.

Observed issue:

The red Bf light is blinking slowly.

What have I done so far:

I’ve made the .xdb file in Step7 and placed it in the HOME folder of the rc (robot controller). The xdb file was made using 6GK1161-6AA00 (Migration) V2.4. I followed the steps mentioned in the 3HAC031975-001 Revision: J Application manual - PROFINET master/slave document, with the only difference being that I used V2.4 - 128 bytes in and out setup to match my rc setup.

Question:

Am I missing something? If you’ve setup Profinet comms for a device of this era, how’d you do it?

Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

2

The slow-blinking BF light means the PROFINET card has established a physical connection but no data exchange is happening yet — so you’re actually close. The fact that both devices show up in Proneta is a good sign.

Here are the most common causes for this with DSQC678 + Beckhoff:

  1. Device name mismatch — The PROFINET device name set on the robot controller must match exactly (case-sensitive) what the Beckhoff TwinCAT project expects. Check the device name in your .xdb and confirm TwinCAT has the same name configured for the robot slave.
  2. GSDML file on the PLC side — Make sure Beckhoff TwinCAT has the correct GSDML file for the CP1616 (V2.4) installed in the Device Library.
  3. .xdb file check — Confirm the .xdb was generated with the 6GK1161-6AA00 (Migration) V2.4 profile (not the standard 6AA01), and that the input/output sizes in the .xdb exactly match your IO system configuration in RobotStudio (128 bytes in, 128 bytes out).
  4. IP address subnet — Verify the robot’s PROFINET IP and the Beckhoff PLC are in the same subnet and there’s no IP conflict.
  5. Restart sequence — After placing the .xdb in HOME, do a P-Start (warm start with parameter reset) rather than just a regular restart, so the controller fully re-reads the PROFINET configuration.

Let us know which of these resolves it!