Developing a URCap for Robot Gripper Control via UR Arm Control Box

URCap Development
1

Hello everyone,

I am working on developing a URCap to integrate my robot gripper with a Universal Robots (UR) arm. My gripper features:

  • A Python 3 API for control and communication.
  • An RS-485 connector for hardware interfacing.

The goal is to control the gripper directly through the UR arm’s control box, leveraging the RS-485 communication. I want to enable seamless integration and control via the UR teach pendant.

  1. URCap Development:
  • What are the recommended steps or resources to get started with URCap development, particularly for RS-485 device control?
  • Are there any open-source projects or examples of similar integrations that I can refer to?
  1. Python Integration:
  • Can the URCap framework handle Python-based APIs, or will I need to rewrite my control logic in Java to fit URCap requirements?
  1. RS-485 Communication:
  • How can I establish and manage RS-485 communication through the UR control box within a URCap?
  1. Testing & Debugging:
  • What tools or methods would you recommend for testing and debugging the URCap during development?

Any guidance, documentation links, or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help!

Best regards,

2

RS 485 URCap example
I’d recommend checking this out as an example. You can use Python based daemons to handle the API commands :slight_smile:

Here are some URCap tutorials

You can also find a lot of examples within our GitHub, and the Developer Suite.