TCP/IP Communication between Universal Robots UR3 (Server) and simple Client (C#)

Requirements:

Software:

Universal Robots Polyscope, Visual Studio (or something similar)

Software/Package	Link
Universal Robots Polyscope	https://www.universal-robots.com/download/
Visual Studio	https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/

Programming Language:

C#, Another Language (Python, C/C++ -> similar implementation as C#)

Packages:

C# (.NET Framework 4.6.1)

Project Description:

The project is focused on a simple demonstration of client-server communication via TCP / IP. In this case, it is a collaborative robot Universal Robots UR3 / UR3e (server), which communicates with the client via the C# application. An example of an application is reading (Joint / Cartesian position) and writing data (movement -> linear, joint interpolation, etc.). The application was tested on each of the robot types (UR3 -> real hardware + simulation, UR5, UR10, etc.) E and CB series (simulation using VMware <-> UR Polyscope in Windows).

Writing data is really simple, just create a variable of type STRING in accordance with certain principles, transform the data into a BYTE and send this command to the Server. Data is read using packets on the server (see the file for a description of the packet -> /Client_Data_Interfaces/).

The application uses performance optimization using multi-threaded programming. Communication (C# application) can be used in Unity3D for digital twins / augmented reality or in other relevant applications.

Sample application in the Unity3D program (Digital-Twin):

Universal Robots UR3 - Unity3D Robotics

The project was realized at the Institute of Automation and Computer Science, Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (NETME Centre - Cybernetics and Robotics Division).

Project Hierarchy:

Client (C#) - Repositary [/UR_Robot_data_processing/UR_TCPip_RW_Console_app/]:

[ Main Program (Read / Write Data) ] /Program.cs/

Client (C#) - Repositary [/UR_Robot_data_processing/UR_TCPip_Stream_Data_app/]:

[ Main Program (Collecting data and saving to file) ] /Program.cs/

Data Interfaces - Repositary [UR_Robot_data_processing/Client_Data_Interfaces/]:

[ Datasheet ] /Client_InterfacesV3.14andV5.9.xlsx/

Example of reading the position of a joint from different series of Universal Robots UR3:

Contact Info:

Roman.Parak@outlook.com

Citation (BibTex)

@misc{RomanParak_DT_UR,
  author = {Roman Parak},
  title = {Data collection from the Universal Robots control unit using the TCP/IP communication protocol},
  year = {2020-2021},
  publisher = {GitHub},
  journal = {GitHub repository},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/rparak/UR_Robot_data_processing/}}
}

License

MIT

cubicsheep/UR_Robot_data_processing