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Overview

In ORiN2 SDK, DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model) of Microsoft Corporation is adopted as a distributed object technology. The DCOM based CAO can be used from various program languages such as C++, JAVA, and Visual Basic.

This article is meant to help to gather information on resources that can help you get started with interfacing with the CAO Engine in Visual Basic. This article is not intended to aid you with programming in Visual Basic nor how to use VB6. 

Tools and Parts needed

• ORiN 2 SDK Install
• PC running Windows OS

NOTE:
The following sample code is provided "AS IS" under the MIT License. Programming support service of Visual Basic is out of warranty. Please note that we do not provide any programming support service beyond basic setup and troubleshooting. 

Previous Steps...

Please make sure that you have reviewed the ORiN2 - Overview article and that your RC controller is properly setup. You can use the CAOTester to make sure that your PC is ready to communicate with the controller. 

Set up your controller to accept messages from your PC.	ORiN 2 - Robot Controller Setup (RC8 / RC8A / COBOTTA)
Test communication using CAO Tester application	ORiN 2 - Operation check using CAOTester (CAO Engine)
Configuring the Project to Point to the ORiN Library (CAO 1.0) Reference Section 2.2 of the ORiN2 Programmers User Guide. C:\ORiN2\CAO\Doc

Programming References

At this point, you should be ready to begin programming your application to interface with your robot controller. When connecting to the controller, you will need to specify the ORiN provider you are trying to use to establish communication. The provider differs based on the robot controller you are using. RC5, RC7, and RC7M controllers use the NetwoRC provider. RC8, RC8A, and COBOTTA controllers us the RC8 provider.

NetwoRC provider directory

C:\ORiN2\CAO\ProviderLib\DENSO\NetwoRC

RC8 provider directory

C:\ORiN2\CAO\ProviderLib\DENSO\RC8

NOTE:
Please consult the Owner's manual for information on how to program your DENSO Robot or details on specific robot commands. 

Programming using the Provider

The following samples are for performing various basic but essential operations. The samples are for connecting using the RC8 Provider.

For more information you can reference Section 4 RC8 Programming Using the Provider from the RC8 Provider User's Guide PDF document. 

Variable Sample

The sample program uses the automatically created workspace and reads/writes the variable IO150 (the 150th I/O variable). IP should be set to the value for the target controller. This sample program uses the following value. IP:192.168.0.1

For more information, reference Section 4.1 RC8 controller variable access.

Dim g_eng As CaoEngine
Dim g_ctrl As CaoController
Dim g_val As CaoVariable

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  ' Read variable
  Text1.Text = g_val.Value
End Sub

Private Sub Command2_Click()
  ' Write variable
  g_val.Value = CBool(Text2.Text)
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
  Set g_eng = New CaoEngine
  
  ' Connect RC: IP setting depends on your RC setting.
  Set g_ctrl = g_eng.Workspaces(0).AddController("RC8", "CaoProv.DENSO.RC8", "", "Server=192.168.0.1")

  ' Variable name "IO150"
  Set g_val = g_ctrl.AddVariable("IO150", "")
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
  ' Delete variable object
  g_ctrl.Variables.Clear
  Set g_val = Nothing

  ' Delete controller object
  g_eng.Workspaces(0).Controllers.Remove g_ctrl.Index
  Set g_ctrl = Nothing

  ' Delete CaoEngine
  Set g_eng = Nothing
End Sub

Dim g_eng As CaoEngine
Dim g_ctrl As CaoController
Dim g_task As CaoTask

Private Sub Command1_Click()
  ' Start task
  g_task.Start 2
End Sub

Private Sub Command2_Click()
  ' Stop task
  g_task.Stop 3
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
  Set g_eng = New CaoEngine
  
  ' Connect RC: IP setting depends on your RC setting.
  Set g_ctrl = g_eng.Workspaces(0).AddController("RC8", "caoProv.DENSO.RC8", "", "Server=192.168.0.1")
   
  ' Task name "PR01"
  Set g_task = g_ctrl.AddTask("PRO1", "")
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
  g_ctrl.Tasks.Clear
  Set g_task = Nothing
          
  g_eng.Workspaces(0).Controllers.Remove g_ctrl.Index
  Set g_ctrl = Nothing
            
  Set g_eng = Nothing
End Sub

Dim g_eng As CaoEngine
Dim g_ctrl As CaoController
Dim g_robot As CaoRobot
Dim g_robotVar As CaoVariable
Dim g_haltFlag As Boolean

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    ' Start motor if arm is stationary
    If g_robotVar.Value = False Then
        g_robot.Execute "Motor", Array(1, 0)
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub Command2_Click()
    ' Stop motor if arm is stationary
    If g_robotVar.Value = False Then
        g_robot.Execute "Motor", Array(0, 0)
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub Command3_Click()
    ' Stop robot
    g_robot.Halt

    ' Record robot stop
    g_haltFlag = True
End Sub

Private Sub Command4_Click()
    ' Do not run new operation instruction if arm is running
    If g_robotVar.Value = True Then
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    g_haltFlag = False

    ' Run robot
    g_robot.Move 1, "@P P10", "NEXT"
    
    ' Do not start next motion until previous motion is completed
    Do Until g_robotVar.Value = False
        DoEvents
    Loop

    ' Do not start next motion if robot has stopped
    If g_haltFlag = True Then
        Exit Sub
    End If

    ' Run robot
    g_robot.Move 1, "@P P11", "NEXT"
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
    Set g_eng = New CaoEngine

    ' Connect RC: IP setting depends on your RC setting.
    Set g_ctrl = g_eng.Workspaces(0).AddController("RC8", "caoProv.DENSO.RC8", "", "Server=192.168.0.1")

    ' Create CaoRobot object
    Set g_robot = g_ctrl.AddRobot("Arm")

    ' Argument used to check arm running status
    Set g_robotVar = g_robot.AddVariable("@BUSY_STATUS")

    ' Get arm control authority
    g_robot.Execute "Takearm"

    ' Start motor
    Command1_Click
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
    ' Stop motor
    Command2_Click

    ' Release arm control authority
    g_robot.Execute "Givearm"
    
    g_robot.Variables.Clear
    Set g_robotVar = Nothing
    g_ctrl.Robots.Clear
    Set g_robot = Nothing
    g_eng.Workspaces(0).Controllers.Remove g_ctrl.Index
    Set g_ctrl = Nothing
    Set g_eng = Nothing
End Sub