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NetworkingConfiguration.md

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Networking Configuration

This document covers various options to configure the network connection between the ROS 2 computer and the RWS server. For general driver setup instructions, see the README.

Changing the RWS port

RWS by default runs on port 80 of the RobotStudio computer. If you want to change this, (ex. if port 80 is taken by another application), you can do this by navigating to and opening this file:

C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\ABB\RobotWare\RobotWare_<VERSION NUMBER>\system\appweb.conf

There should be a line that says Listen -1 line - change the -1 to your desired port number and save the file.

To verify the port used by RWS, open Task Manager and click the Details tab. Look for RobVC.exe and note the PID. Open command prompt, and run the following command, substituting <PID_NUMBER> with the PID from earlier.

netstat -aon | findStr <PID NUMBER>

You should see something like the following - in this case, RWS is listening on port 80:

netstat

Note that if you change the RWS port, you may need to change the rws_port parameter in the robot description file to match the port you selected.

See this forum post for more detail.

Adding the local computer to the virtual controller whitelist

To access the virtual controller with RWS from a networked ROS 2 computer, you will need to whitelist the ROS 2 computer's IP on the RobotStudio computer. Without this whitelist, you will get an RAPI Unidentified Error when trying to access the controller. You can verify this if you try to navigate to <ROBOTSTUDIO_COMPUTER_IP>:80 from the ROS 2 computer. The default credentials are:

Username: Default User
Password: robotics

To whitelist the ROS 2 computer's IP, on the RobotStudio computer, navigate to:

C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Roaming\ABB Industrial IT\Robotics IT\RobVC\

Look for a file called vcconf.xml. Create it if it does not exist.

Paste the following intovcconf.xml:

<VCConfiguration>
<RemoteVCConfiguration PublicationEnabled="true" />
<hosts>
<host ip="ROS2_COMPUTER_IP"/>
</hosts>
</VCConfiguration>

Change ROS2_COMPUTER_IP to the IP of the ROS 2 computer. Up to 10 IP addresses can be whitelisted by adding additional <host ip="..."/> lines. Restart RobotStudio after the update.

See this forum post for more details.

Configuring SSH port forwarding

If you'd prefer to avoid the whitelisting solution, you can also use ssh port forwarding.

Install "OpenSSH Server" on the RobotStudio computer.

Start the SSH server by running the following command in PowerShell as an administrator:

Start-Service sshd

On the ROS 2 computer, set up the SSH port forward by typing the following command into the terminal:

ssh -L <DESTINATION_PORT>:localhost:<RWS_PORT> <ROBOTSTUDIO_USER>@<ROBOTSTUDIO_IP>

  • Change <DESTINATION_PORT> to a port of your choice. Note that sudo is required to use ports 0-1023, as they are reserved.
  • Change <RWS_PORT> to the port used for RWS on the RobotStudio machine, typically 80.
  • Change <ROBOTSTUDIO_USER> to the Windows username on the RobotStudio computer. This account must have a password.
  • Change <ROBOTSTUDIO_IP> to the IP of the RobotStudio computer.

Enter the Windows login password for the <ROBOTSTUDIO_USER> account when prompted.

This will allow you to access RWS on the ROS 2 computer on 127.0.0.1:<DESTINATION_PORT>. When launching ROS, use this value for rws_ip: 127.0.0.1. The full launch command would be:

ros2 launch abb_bringup abb_control.launch.py description_package:=abb_irb1200_support description_file:=irb1200_5_90.xacro launch_rviz:=false moveit_config_package:=abb_irb1200_5_90_moveit_config use_fake_hardware:=false rws_ip:=127.0.0.1 rws_port:=<DESTINATION_PORT>

Replace <DESTINATION_PORT> with the port you selected earlier.