I need to implement PROFINET between UR10e cobot and Fronius welding machine (TPS 320i C Pulse / 4R / FSC)… The Fronius welding source and the UR cobot support PROFINET and I have tried to connect the two devices via PROFINET but the cobot could not recognize the PROFINET module and registers of the welding machine. so i want to know if it is possible to implement PROFINET between the cobot and the welding machine without the use of a PLC between the two systems and if that possible how can i do that.
I know that MODBUS TCP can be used directly without PLC but i really prefer to use PROFINET instead.
I hope that someone can help me by answering my question.
Hi, I believe you need a master in-order to setup the profinet connection. Both the robot and welding machine must be acting as slaves, experienced a similar problem this morning and will have to hook up a PLC to act as the master, this was pertaining to Ethernet/IP but the two should be similar.
Another option of you don’t want a PLC is something like an Anybus gateway. This allows to connect two Profinet slaves together by acting as the master for the data transfer. They are a bit easier to use since all they are doing is register assignments, there is no logic portion so you just map the registers from one machine to the registers on the other machine.
Check it out at Profinet IO | Profinet Gateways | Anybus
We used a similar system for CAN to Modbus on a project and it was pretty easy to configure.
Unless you have a specific need for Profinet, then it is easier to use a Fronius RI IO PRO/i interface.
That will give you…
28 digital Inputs
5 digital Outputs
7 analog Inputs
5 analog Outputs
Okay thank you, now i know also that i can’t use Ethernet/IP directly between the two. Do you know if MODBUS can be implemented directly between the two because i want to be sure before buying any Fronius MODBUS modules if i eventually attempt to use it?
Okay thank you for your answer, i will look into it. It may be a good solution.
Thank you for your answer, yes i have a specific need and that is reading and writing weld parameters from and to the Fronius welding machine. I prefer to use PROFINET but if it turns out that MODBUS TCP a better alternative to PROFINET that doesn’t need any extra modules then i may consider using it direclty between the two.
Hi,
We are using modbus/TCP to connect to Fronius Welding machine. It Works fine, except that the bit com. in one direction is not working. So, you have to extract some bit values (you would need “arc_stable”) in an input reg.
I think that i will use Modbus TCP so i don’t need to buy and use any extra module/PLC between the two devices. What do you exactly mean with the bit com is not working in one direction ?
Hi,
It’s only that we where not able to reed the coils (bit) from fronius modbus card. You would need coil signal (bit) “Arc_stable” before starting robot movment. There is also an output register (int32) from fronius that holds this bit value. So, you would need to use the script function “integer_to_binary_list(x)” to get that bit value from register.
Okay thank you, It is very helpful information that i will take into consideration when i will implement Modbus TCP
Hi Georges - Did you manage to implement Modbus TCP? Would you like to give some hints on starting points and how did you manage to know coils/bits for reading/writing parameters in Fronius? And what hardware I need to put on Fronius side to be able to get communication through Modbus?
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