Fairino

Starting with version 15.1 igus Robot Control is able to control Fairino robot arms. This can be done without additional hardware by connecting the robot directly to the PC or via our Embedded Control module.

Important: This currently is in testing stage. Please read this article, be careful and contact us if you got feedback.

This feature requires a license. You can test it for free for 30 minutes, after which the robot is disconnected. You can start a new test period by restarting the software.

Supported Robots

Currently the following Fairino robots are supported:

• FR3

Further robots will be added in future, contact us if you need a specific one.

Behavior and Known Issues

Some important notes about the robot's behavior:

• You may not be able to drag and move the robot by hand while iRC is in control. Simply click "Disable" in iRC to allow this.
• Not all Fairino specific status/error codes are available in our software. If a cryptic error code is shown or if the information shown in iRC is not sufficient please check the Fairino web interface for the complete information.
• Not all IO states are available to iRC: You can read and set the normal base and tool IOs ("DI", "DO"), but the configurable IOs ("CI", "CO") are currently not available.
• Currently there may be situations in which iRC is not able to take control over the robot. Restart iRC and/or the robot control. Make sure there is no program running on the Fairino control box.

Set Up Guide

First pick your setup:

• PC only:
  • Easy to set up
  • The PC must be connected to the robot as long as you want to control it
  • The PC's timing may not be perfect: The robot's motion may stutter occasionally
• Embedded Control
  • You will need an embedded control module
  • Better performance
  • PC does not need to stay connected while the robot program is running

iRC on PC

1. The standard configuration is set up to connect to the Fairino's standard IP address at the Ethernet port at the e-stop (192.168.58.2). Change the IP address of your PC's Ethernet port to one in the same network (e.g. 192.168.58.100).
2. Start igus Robot Control and open the simulation selection
3. In the "Configuration" section below the projects list check "Connect to hardware"
4. Open the category "3rd-party" -> "Fairino" and select the correct robot type
5. Wait a few seconds for the robot control to connect and receive the robot's state. The hardware state box on the left to the 3D view should NOT indicate that it is a simulation or not connected.
6. Click "Enable" in the ribbon above the 3D view to take control
7. Now you can jog and use robot programs as usual.

Embedded Control

Note: This guide is incomplete.

1. Connect the embedded control to a network switch or set up the WiFi so you can connect both the robot and the PC.
2. Install the Fairino configuration using the iRC updater. In the updater find the configuration in folder "3rd-party".
3. Change the IP address of the Ethernet port or add a second IP address in the same network as the robot.
   • The following command temporarily adds a second IP address. This is reverted on power loss or restart (TODO: explain how to set a permanent IP address):

 sudo ip addr add 192.168.58.145/24 dev eth0

1. Connect iRC to the robot control and take control as explained in section "iRC on PC".

Change IP Address

Depending on the robot's configuration and the Ethernet port you use you may need to change the IP address in the iRC configuration.

To do this open the Robot Configuration File, find the following line and change the IP address in parameter "Address":

 <BusConfiguration Protocol="Fairino" Address="192.168.58.2" CycleTimeMS="10" PreciseTiming="true">