Test with the Staubli Robotics Suite emulator

This page explains how to develop with the Staubli SDK without a real robot, with the CS8 or CS9 controller emulator of Staubli Robotics Suite (SRS). The emulator runs the controller software on your PC, and the SDK connects to it like to a real controller.

Prerequisites

• Staubli Robotics Suite, installed on a Windows PC. It is a Staubli product, with its own license: ask your Staubli contact.
• A cell in SRS with a controller and a robot. Use the controller generation (CS8 or CS9) and the arm of your real cell.
• The emulator of this controller, started from SRS.

Connect to the emulator

When the emulator runs on the same PC as your program, its address is 127.0.0.1. From another PC, use the address of the PC that runs SRS, and allow the SOAP port in its firewall.

static void Main()
{
// The emulator runs on this PC
var parameters = new ConnectionParameters("127.0.0.1");

// Port of the SOAP server of the emulated controller
parameters.Soap.Port = 851;

var controller = new StaubliController();
controller.Connect(parameters);

foreach (Robot robot in controller.Soap.GetRobots())
    Console.WriteLine($"{robot.Arm} ({robot.Kinematic})");

controller.Disconnect();
}
}

The user and the password are the ones of the emulated controller. The SDK uses default and default when you do not set them.

If the connection fails:

1. Check that the emulator is started in SRS, and that SRS itself can connect to it.
2. Check the SOAP port of the emulated controller in SRS. The SDK uses 851 by default. When several emulators run on one PC, they cannot all listen on the same port.
3. Set PingBeforeConnect to false if the ping is blocked.

What works on the emulator

Every function of the SDK sends the same requests to the emulator and to a real controller:

• the robots, the controller parameters, the DH parameters and the joint ranges;
• the position and the kinematics;
• the power and the motion commands, on the emulated arm;
• the VAL 3 applications and their tasks;
• the I/O of the emulated controller.

Use the emulator to write and test your application, then run the same code on the real controller with its address.

Differences with a real controller

• The emulated controller has the I/O boards of its configuration in SRS. Your real cell can have other boards, so the I/O names can differ. Read them with GetAllPhysicalIos() on each system.
• Power and motion need the remote mode on the emulated controller too. Set its operating mode in SRS.
• Timings are not the timings of the real controller: do not measure cycle times on the emulator.

What to read next

• Connect to your robot: all the connection parameters and errors.
• Demo application: try the emulator without writing code.
• Move the robot from a PC: test the motion on the emulator first.