Posted to News on 31st Jul 2024, 14:00
Beckhoff makes it simple to integrate robots into the wider ecosystem
Beckhoff has introduced TcRobot, a generic software library providing robot functionality to PLC users. It simplifies integration of any robotic arm into the Beckhoff ecosystem by providing a common set of functionalities to PLC developers which decreases integration time of new robotic arms.
(See Beckhoff at MachineBuilding.Live, 2 October 2024, on stand 43)
Beckhoff's philosophy has always been to shift control functionality from specific hardware modules into software modules to integrate the likes of PLCs, motion control, robotics and vision into a PC software solution running in a real time kernel.
"We bought this concept to the market 35 years ago," says Bradley McEwan, business development manager at Beckhoff UK. "It was a real revolution at the time, and it immediately led to a significant reduction of complexity and costs while increasing performance."
Beckhoff now wants to use this philosophy to further simplify the integration of robotics, which it has identified as a barrier to robot adoption, particularly in the UK which has the lowest robot density of all the G7 nations. "A key issue is that retroactively deploying robotic arms to existing equipment leads to 'islands of automation' within a plant, which can be difficult to connect into the wider ecosystem," says McEwan.
Beckhoff aims to address this issue with TcRobot. Designed to be familiar to users of Beckhoff's PLC Motion library, TcRobot is an open-source library, available on an MIT license, meaning it can be used and modified without consent or attribution. Features include:
Uniform Command Set: Simplifies development with standardised interactions.
Leverage the power of wider Beckhoff ecosystem: Any TcRobot interface with existing Beckhoff technologies can be reused for all robotic assets.
Code Reusability and Maintenance: Reduces repetitive coding and simplifies updates.
Accelerated Deployment: Streamlines the integration process, shortening development cycles.
Enhanced Scalability: Facilitates simplified addition and integration of new robots.
Focus on Innovation: Frees resources to improve and innovate on robotic functionalities
This brings a number of advantages for Beckhoff users. Robots becoming interchangeable: robot integration is simplified through the ability to control different types of robots using the same generic TcRobot API.
The abstraction Layer and common interface reducing the learning curve for different robot APIs, and TcRobot removes the need for refactoring existing code to work with other robots.
The TcRobot implementation reduces the learning curve for PLC programmers and lowers the barrier to entry for TwinCAT developers. And TcRobot provides a full suite of tests against the interface, which manufacturers and SIs can leverage to ensure correctness of their implementation.
