KUKA robots
Robot drivers provide an alternative to Offline Programming (where a program is generated, then, transferred to the robot and executed). With robot drivers, it is possible to run a simulation directly on the robot (Online Programming). More information available in the Robot Drivers section.
You can establish a connection between RoboDK and your KUKA controller to move the robot automatically from your computer. This allows using the RoboDK Run on robot option for online programming and debugging. The connection can be established through a standard Ethernet connection (TCP/IP).
If you don’t use a recent version of the RoboDK you may be using the legacy driver (apikuka, based on the KUKAVARPROXY project). To use the current driver, make sure that the kukabridge driver is selected in the More options section of the Connection to Robot window.
Follow these steps to set up the RoboDK driver for KUKA:
1.Get the C3 Bridge installer file (c3setup executable) from this link.
2.Using the KUKA HMI, copy the c3setup.exe installer file to the desktop of your controller or a folder of the control system.
3.Connect a mouse (optional, but recommended).
It is possible to plug USB devices to the teach pendant or the controller (reboot is not required).
Alternatively, it is possible to establish a remote desktop connection.
These steps can also be accomplished using the teach pendant’s touch screen and the virtual keyboard.
4.Using the KUKA HMI application it is possible to open the main menu using the KUKA button 
, at the top left of the screen:
a.KUKA➔Configuration➔User group➔ choose Expert (password: kuka)
b.KUKA➔Start-up➔Service➔Minimize HMI (the windows screen will appear)
5.Locate the previously copied c3setup-1.6.1.exe file and run it. Follow the instructions of the installer.
6.Allow port 7000 (or another port if port 7000 is busy, see note below)for TCP/UDP communication (this step is not required on KUKA KRC2 controllers):
a.Restore the HMI.
b.KUKA➔Start-up➔Network configuration➔Advanced
c.NAT➔Add port➔Port number 7000
d.Set permitted protocols: tcp/udp
7.Launch the C3 Bridge Server from the desktop shortcut or the Start Menu item (you can skip this step in case you selected Run C3 Bridge Server at the last installation step).
8.To start C3 Bridge Server automatically at system startup, copy the application shortcut from the desktop to the Startup folder of the Start Menu.
The C3 Bridge Server is now ready. You can leave this program running. This server allows you to exchange global variable values between the KUKA control system and the remote PC, download and upload KRL programs, control the execution of KRL programs, and more.
Further configuration of the control system can be done in two ways: automatically using the interactive mode of the kukabridge driver (KRC4 only) and manually by editing the robot control system files in KUKA HMI. Let's take a look at both approaches.
The C3 Bridge Server stores its settings in the Windows Registry. Follow these steps to change the network port:
1.Terminate the C3 Bridge Server.
2.Open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\C3 Bridge Interface.
3.Change the value of the NetworkTcpPort key to a value other than 7000 (for example, 7001).
4.Start the C3 Bridge Server again and repeat step 6 of the previous section (open access to the appropriate port).
Newer versions of the C3 Bridge Server (1.7.1 and higher) support command line options. In particular, the server port can be changed by running the application with the -tcpPort parameter. For example:
c3bridge.exe -tcpPort 7001
The script KUKA_Auto_Configuration.py in the folder C:\RoboDK\Library\Scripts can be used to perform automatic configuration of the KUKA control system. In that case, the current RoboDK station must contain at least one KUKA robot with the correct IP address and port in the Connection to Robot window. The script can be called from the menu Tools➔Run Script or by the Shift+S hotkey.
Prerequisites: RoboDK version 5.5.2 or higher, Windows operating system, installation path C:\RoboDK.
1.Open command shell with START➔All programs➔ Accessories➔Command Prompt
or START➔Run➔cmd.
2.Change directory to C:\RoboDK\bin and launch kukabridge.exe by executing following commands:
c:
cd C:\RoboDK\bin
..\api\Robot\kukabridge.exe
3.Now KUKA Bridge Driver is running in interactive mode.
4.Establish a connection to the control system by entering CONNECT <robot IP address> <port> <number of robot axes>, e.g:
CONNECT 172.1.1.10 7000 6
5.If successful, you will see the following output:
SMS:Connecting
Connected
SMS:Working...
SMS:Ready
6.Request current robot joint position by typing the CJNT command:
CJNT
SMS:Working...
JNTS 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000
SMS:Ready
7.Perform automatic configuration with the CONFIGURE FORCE command:
CONFIGURE FORCE
SMS:Working...
Requesting robot program state
Current robot program state is #P_FREE
Reading current configuration ($config.dat)
Read complete, updating configuration
Adding definition of variable COM_ACTION
Adding definition of variable COM_ACTCNT
Adding definition of variable COM_ROUNDM
Adding definition of variable COM_VALUE1
Adding definition of variable COM_VALUE2
Adding definition of variable COM_VALUE3
Adding definition of variable COM_VALUE4
Adding definition of variable COM_E6AXIS
Adding definition of variable COM_FRAME
Adding definition of variable COM_POS
Adding definition of variable COM_E6POS
Configuration lines have been updated: 11 added, 0 removed, 0 updated, 659 total
Checking existence of old backup file ($config.bak)
Old backup file exists, deleting it
Creating new backup file ($config.bak)
Backup completed, writing new configuration
New configuration was successfully written
Checking existence of program file (RoboDKsync543.src)
Program file does not exists
Writing program file to robot system
Configuration is complete
SMS:Ready
8.Now your robot is ready to work, all you have to do is select and run the program RoboDKsync543.src.
The next steps are to manually set up the main program that will handle the robot movements:
1.Add the declaration of the following global variables:
To do so, locate and modify the file “KRC:\R1\SYSTEM\$CONFIG.DAT” via KUKA HMI. The folder “KRC:\R1\” can also be accessed from the C:\ drive at the following Windows path: “C:\KRC\ROBOTER\KRC\”.
INT COM_ACTION=0
INT COM_ACTCNT=0
REAL COM_ROUNDM=0
REAL COM_VALUE1=0
REAL COM_VALUE2=0
REAL COM_VALUE3=0
REAL COM_VALUE4=0
DECL E6AXIS COM_E6AXIS
DECL FRAME COM_FRAME
DECL POS COM_POS
DECL E6POS COM_E6POS
2.Copy the KUKA SRC program RoboDKsyncVER.src to the folder KRC\R1\PROGRAM. The VER suffix in the file name denotes the version of the program (for example, RoboDKsync543.src).
3.Manually start the RoboDKsyncVER.src program to make the robot listen for commands coming from the computer.
If the RoboDKsyncVER.src program is not running, RoboDK will still be able to read the robot joints if the C3 Bridge Server is running in the robot controller.