Simple Connect - An Overview

General Overview:

In 2018 when Yaskawa America started selling YRC1000 robots for arc welding. Those robots were enabled with a software feature called “Simple Connect”. Simple Connect consists of several layers of software that is intended to ease integration of common devices and provide a modern-day means of connecting and configuring various devices.

Yaskawa invested in Simple Connect because past generations of robot controllers had multiple challenges which made the integration difficult as various options and configurations where added. The following are some of the issues faced by engineers, manufacturing personnel, customers, and field service personnel:

• The robot’s 24 physical Users Inputs and Outputs were often not enough when large complex systems where built.
• While the robot has over 4000 virtual Inputs and Outputs but only 24 physical IO were available for customer use.
• When various options contended for the same input/output one of the two options would need to be relocated. That would mean updating electrical diagrams, ladder program, and jobs for that device.
• This caused similar systems to be slightly different based on who assembled the options and how they handled the necessary reconfiguration of devices.
• Field support of these customized cell assemblies was difficult because jobs and ladder were often unique to the system and often couldn’t be pulled from a neighboring system.
• Engineers would have to construct the system ladder using multiple levels of files for all the various options.

Simple Connect was developed with the intent of addressing the issues above and taking better advantage of the 4000+ virtual inputs and outputs available on the YRC. This was achieved by utilizing the already commonly used EtherNet/IP protocol available on the YRC1000. With Simple Connect, items that need access to IO are connected to one another via EtherNet/IP and that item’s IO is converted to EtherNet/IP at the physical device itself. That device is then seen by the robot controller as having “virtual” IO and not consuming any of the 24 physical IO. An IO-map was developed to then ensure that each of various devices do not overlap with one another. This guarantees that diagrams, ladder, jobs, and IO remain consistent across all systems that utilize that particular device. Even obscure scenarios can be addressed with ease and consistency as the IO-map was developed with four of every device in-mind.

Ease of Installation:

Configuring a robotic system based on the data contained in the tables above is painstaking and prone to error. The various addresses, sizes, and EtherNet/IP instance numbers all needed to be entered in the robot controller in order to communicate with eh various devices. The alleviate the challenges of keying-in the data above, a pendant application was developed to simplify the installation of the individual devices and ensure they are located at their assigned locations. This allows standard robot jobs and ladder programs to operate without customization. The process for installing devices is as follows:

1) Discovery:

The pendant application is able to discover/find various devices on the network by issuing a broadcast message across ethernet prompting the various device to replay with a “I’m here” response that gets captured as a device that needs to then be assigned a “function” within the system. The following is an example of a system containing 7 external devices that all reported into the robot controller when the broadcast was made.

2) Device Function Assignments:

When one of the seven devices above is highlighted and “Add Selected Device” is chosen the following screen allows the user to pick “Function” for that particular device. This is where the device is assigned a purpose within the larger system’s operation. The “MAC Address” of the Turck module is key to identifying the hardware within the system. Assembled devices used in a cell, have a sticker on them that shows the MAC address of the device within it. This MAC address is then used to select and assign a “function” the device itself.

This step is performed for each of the ”Unmapped Devices” in the system until all the devices have been assigned a function.

3) Robot to Device Assignments:

Some devices need to be paired to particular robot in the system to allow proper operation. This is done by the “… Assignments” button under each device. This allows you to specify which of the various robots in the system will be using a particular device. In some cases, you might even have multiple robots sharing a single device such as a Tip-Change Box or Reamer:

4) Ethernet/IP Configuration:

Simple Connect allows easy configuration of a number of common non-Turck based Ethernet/IP devices. Most commonly, this includes welders by Miller Electric, SKS, and OTC, and expanded IO modules by Vipa.

1. A user can select “Other Ethernet/IP Device”
2. Press “Add SelectedDevice”
3. A list of various Vipa IO configurations and EtherNet/IP enabled welders appears. Highlight the desired device.
4. To add the highlighted device, press the “Select Device” button which will cause the desired device to be added to the robot’s list of scanned devices (“scan list”).

5) Saving System Settings:

Once all the devices in the system have been assigned a function, the “Return to Pendant” button press will cause a number of things to occur to lock-in the settings and selections made for the system.

1. It will modify the EtherNet/IP scan list so that the robot connects and communicates with the device at start-up.
2. It sets the IP-address of the Turck modules to the address specified. It’s important to note that Simple Connect does not set the IP-address of Non-Turck devices. Welders and Vipa modules need to have their IP-addesses set via their appropriate means, typically through a web-interface.
3. In the case of Turck Devices, Simple Connect will push a device specific program to the device which provides advanced device diagnostics and device specific functions like flashing of an LED on an Op-Station. This program transfer is critical to proper device operation and configuration. The program resides on the USB stick in the controller and gets pushed to the device during this “Return to Pendant” button press.
4. Once the “Saving Settings” operation is completed, a system reboot in needed in order for the new settings to take effect. It’s important to note here that a complete power-down of the whole system is required in order to cycle power to the Turck modules and have their newly assigned IP-addresses take effect. This means cycling the main 100A/200A disconnect on a ArcWorld system to remove power from the devices in the cell.

5) Saving System Settings:

Once all the devices in the system have been assigned a function, the “Return to Pendant” button press will cause a number of things to occur to lock-in the settings and selections made for the system.

1. It will modify the EtherNet/IP scan list so that the robot connects and communicates with the device at start-up.
2. It sets the IP-address of the Turck modules to the address specified. It’s important to note that Simple Connect does not set the IP-address of Non-Turck devices. Welders and Vipa modules need to have their IP-addesses set via their appropriate means, typically through a web-interface.
3. In the case of Turck Devices, Simple Connect will push a device specific program to the device which provides advanced device diagnostics and device specific functions like flashing of an LED on an Op-Station. This program transfer is critical to proper device operation and configuration. The program resides on the USB stick in the controller and gets pushed to the device during this “Return to Pendant” button press.
4. Once the “Saving Settings” operation is completed, a system reboot in needed in order for the new settings to take effect. It’s important to note here that a complete power-down of the whole system is required in order to cycle power to the Turck modules and have their newly assigned IP-addresses take effect. This means cycling the main 100A/200A disconnect on a ArcWorld system to remove power from the devices in the cell.

6) Robot Option Enabling:

There are a handful of hardware options available to arc welding systems that often don’t involve EtherNet/IP but instead utilize dedicated IO or welder related functionality. Items that are shown in the following list and can be enabled per robot.

Operational Monitoring:

Once setup is complete and the system is in operation, Simple Connect is seldom used unless a problem arises or the configuration of the system needs to change. The Simple Connect application constantly monitors the health of the system and reports if any device goes off-line or the device fails to perform as expected. If a device’s Ethernet/IP communication with the robot is interrupted, a “Device Offline” alarm or message will appear depending on the criticalness of the device. Other diagnostics include loss of program within the Turck module itself, or parameter issues which may prevent communication with the device.

Details of Device Status Indicators: