Universal Robots is the market leader in the collaborative robots market. UR cobots are used to automate various applications like Assembly, Machine Tending, Quality Inspection, Welding, Material Handling, etc.
Thousands of UR cobots are deployed at customer places to automate manual repetitive tasks. People access the UR cobots to update the programs, troubleshoot any issue, or collect the error log files.
To save time and increase the uptime of UR cobots, people want to manage the UR cobots from remote.
Users have different requirements when it comes to accessing UR cobots from remote:
Requirement 1: Access only UR Cobots from remote
Requirement 2: Access UR Cobots and other Industrial assets like PLC, HMI from remote
Requirement 3: Access UR Cobots, other assets and monitor their condition from remote
We need to make sure that the user gets the best experience in the solution that he uses for remote access.
Daacoworks has solutions that address the requirements mentioned above.
Requirement 1: Access only UR Cobots from remote
To access only the UR cobots, RoboMon cloud server can help. RoboMon is a UR+ product certified by Universal Robots.
Advantage of using RoboMon service:
No additional hardware is required at the cobot side
No additional software to be installed at the user side
Ability to connect to the UR cobots from anywhere simply on a web browser
Secure communication over the internet
Just connect the UR cobot to the internet as and when remote access is needed
Two-step authentication is used to connect to the UR cobot
No change in the firewall settings
Ability to download the error log files from a web browser
No need to copy the log files manually in the USB drive
Remote Access to UR cobot's polyscope screen from anywhere on a web browser
Remote Access to UR Cobot's polyscope screen from android phone
Requirement 2 : Access UR Cobots and other Industrial assets like PLC, HMI from remote
To address this requirement, Daacoworks offers a Remote Machine Connectivity Service on the cloud called Smartlinks. Using Smartlinks service, Users can connect to UR Cobot controller and other industrial assets over a Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel.
Advantage of using Smartlinks service:
Secure communication over VPN
Access UR controller and other assets like PLC, CNC, VFD, etc.
No change in the firewall settings
Configure alerts for critical IO tags to receive email/SMS notifications
DaacoX Edge software logs the IO tag data up to 10 million records in its local storage
DaacoX Edge can talk to the industrial assets over Modbus TCP, Modbus UDP, Modbus Serial, EtherNet/IP, BACNet/IP, Melsec, OMRON, OPC-UA, RTDE
Requirement 3: Access UR Cobots, other assets and monitor its condition from remote
Above mentioned two requirements help users access the UR cobots and other assets from remote on- demand. This requirement is to monitor the condition of UR cobots and other assets so that the user can take preventive action before any failures occur in the cobot and other assets.
To address this requirement, Daacoworks offers Prism as an Industrial IoT platform. Prism is an all-in- one software which provides SCADA, Data Historian, Custom Reports, Preventive Maintenance. Predictive Maintenance module is supported by integrating respective AI/ML module with Prism.
DaacoX edge software collects the following parameters from UR cobots every second and publishes them to Prism.
Parameters at UR cobot level :
Robot Current, IO Current, Main voltage, Robot voltage, Momentum, Payload,
Parameters at Joint level :
Temperature, Current, Velocity, Angle, Control Output, Voltage, Acceleration, Torque,
Parameters at Tool Center Point level :
Voltage, Current, Temperature
Prism processes these data and alerts the user if there is any anomaly found in the trend so that the user can take preventive action to avoid any unforeseen downtime in the UR cobot.
Remote Monitoring of UR cobot's condition