OMRON Sysmac Studio – Univeral Robots Ethernet/IP Connection Guide

This guide is intended to help walk through setting up a UR robot with Sysmac studio. Included with this
document are several files. The first being the EDS file required for mapping the UR on the Omron
software/network, the second is a Sysmac file with a small sample program that contains the data arrays
with labeling coming to and from the UR that can be copied and pasted into the required programs. The
third is a reference file that contains the EIP I/O lists of what data is available in the connection.

For initial setup to begin we need to create a CSV file with Sysmac to use in our hardware congifuration.
Included is a sample program that contains the data tag sets with labels that once uploaded into the
controller from Sysmac can be ported directly into the Network Configurator. Open the program
UR_EIP_Structures.

In this program if you go through the left dependency tree you will find under Programming>Data> Data
Types you have two structures that have been created.
You may copy these into your existing program and work from there or simply upload or build off of the
existing program as a reference point to your controller. If you expand the structures you will find all the
data that can be sent between the PLC and UR labeled and tagged.

You will also need to be sure to create a Global Variable that references these structures as such:
From this point we need to create a tag set within Sysmac. To do this we will go to the tools menu and
select Ethernet/IP Connection Settings.

From there we will see our controller in the menu.

Double clicking the PLC node will bring up the next menu of options where we will find in this program
already loaded tag sets for input and outputs with the correctly sized byte selections we noted earlier.
If you have copied the structures into your own program however you can at this stage either import a
CSV file that already has been created as a reference or select, Registration All that will populate your
variables that have structures which can be used. From there, select your variables and register them
accordingly.
The next step is to export these tags using the export function on the previous page, from there save a
CSV file labeled so you can recognize it as a tag set, in my example I have used URTagsExample

Now that we have established the PLC software side in Sysmac to associate the tags internally we need
to use Network Configurator to set the hardware end up.
To start, although Sysmac Studio has in-built ethernet connectivity modules it seems to work better to
use the stand-alone program that is installed alongside Sysmac called Network Configurator and can be
found in the start menu as follows:

There is very little documentation on this program online but this guide should be enough to get the job
done. When opened the program will look as follows:
To begin you will want to go to the EDS File tab and select install. You will then need to find the EDS file,
select and install it. You will be prompted to add an icon for the UR robot. If there is one it can be
included but otherwise it is not required.
From there you will now find the UR robot is included in the dependency tree on the left frame. From
there you may drag and drop it to the line in the center.
After that point you will need to go to the OMRON Corporation list and select your PLC from the same
selection pane that the UR was drug from. Drag and drop your selected PLC to the ethernet/IP window
on the right. In this example we will use an Omron NX1P2 PLC which is found under OMRON
Corporation->Communications Adapter along with many other OMRON products.

At this point you will now have to register in Polyscope in your install file the IP address you plan on
using. From experience I have found that you may have to play with your addressing to match closely to
the PLC. After choosing your address in Polyscope on the UR, you can modify it to match in Network
Configurator by right clicking the device on the network and selecting “Change Node Address”. It may
also be beneficial to insert a device comment to notate what function the certain device is doing on this
network for future reference or if you have multiple similar devices.

Now for some information you will need for Sysmac. In the same right click option menu on the UR if
you select property it will bring up a menu that contains information about the device that was loaded
from the EDS file as well as the I/O information that will be needed and used for configuring our
communications.

What is important to note here is the Output_112 and Input_100 Byte sizes. Output is 224 Byte and
Input is 480 Byte, also keep in mind these are in/out as looked at from the PLC software so the Output
byte size listed (Output_112) is the data size coming from the PLC to the UR and the Input bytes are
from the UR to the PLC. There is much more data we can read from the UR than we can write to, as such
the data coming from the UR (Input_100) is nearly double in size. These will need to be set up and
configured in Sysmac after we finish in Network Configurator. Close this box and we will continue to set
up our configuration.

The next step is to set up our PLC to associate tag sets with the Input and Output Bytes. Right click the
controller and under parameter, select Edit.

This will give you a pop up that contains current known tag sets if they have been loaded from the PLC
(which we will get to in just a moment!)
Going back to Network Configurator right click the PLC and select Parameter>Edit and go to the tag sets
page. From here we can select To/From File then click import from file and select our saved CSV file we
exported from Sysmac Studio.
You will then need to select yes on the two following prompts.
After which point you can then see that our tag sets are now registered within Network
Configurator.
Next we will need to set the tags to associate with the UR. Go to the Connections tab and select the UR.
Click the central left button to bring it into the Register Device List.
Next, double click the UR in the registered device list to bring up its connection settings.
At this point you will need to select the matching input and output tag sets accordingly. Since we already
imported our tags these should be in the blank drop menus of each corresponding item.
You can then click Regist at the bottom which will update the connection structure list.
Closing this will now show that in the device parameters our tag sets are now paired with the EDS file
target variables we initially loaded into Network Configurator.
At this point you may click OK which will bring us back to the programs main page. From here you can
double check your IP addresses for both nodes for accuracy and then upload these configuration
settings to the controller. We will do this by selecting Network>Connect
You will be prompted which port to connect on. After selecting and pressing OK the software should
connect to your network and PLC.
Once online you should then be able to select the Download to Device option which will save all the
information to your PLC.

After this is done also be sure to save your configurations in case you need to upload them again!

From this point all that is left to do is utilize the structures within your Sysmac Studio Program. The way
they are referenced is broken down into the title of what we are looking for within that structure. The
example here given is how to use the input and output bit registers within Sysmac. Other data types are
referenced similarly and can be found within the uploaded structures in the example program included
with this guide. Everything from joint positions, UR software revisions, bit registers, analog and integers
are all available to unleash the full capabilities of this robot when used in conjunction with a PLC. Check
the data structures to see what parts you can use in your programs!

Good luck and enjoy the power and flexibility of full Ethernet/IP communications with your UR and
Omron PLC!