28 User Manual for the Meca500 Industrial Robot (for rmware 10.1)
THE MECAPORTAL
6. THE MECAPORTAL
Meca500's web interface, called MecaPortal, is more or less the equivalent of the teach pendant's
interface of a traditional industrial robot. The interface is essentially an HTML 5 web page with JavaScript
and WebGL scripts. All of these files reside in the robot's controller, so you do not need to install
anything on your computer, but Google Chrome.
The interface basically translates your mouse clicks, joystick movements and keyboard entries into
proprietary commands that are sent to the robot's controller. These are primarily the same commands
described in the Programming Manual that you will eventually start sending from your own application,
written in C++, Java, Python or any other modern programming language. In addition, the web interface
displays the feedback messages received from the robot and the 3D model of the actual robot.
The MecaPortal is intended mainly for testing and writing simple programs. You must create your own
software application or program if you intend to use the robot for complex tasks, such as interacting
with inputs and outputs (in which case you also need a third-party I/O module).
The web interface is also used for updating the firmware of your robot.
The MecaPortal, introduced in firmware 9.3, is a major upgrade of the previous web interface, in terms
of aesthetics, usability and functionality. It is, however, possible to use the old web interface, but that
interface will no longer be supported. You can access the legacy web portal from the configuration menu
button, section "Help".
6.1. Updating the robot's firmware
Make sure that you have the latest firmware installed on the robot and that you read the manuals
corresponding to that firmware. Go to the Downloads section of our web site and download the latest
firmware (a zip file). Unzip it. Then, once you have followed the procedures of Section 4, Section 5.1,
and Section 5.2, and before activating the WebSocket/TCP connection and activating the robot, click
on Update in the Options menu in the web interface. A new interface will load in the same browser
tab. Click on Choose File and select the file Meca500*.update that you just extracted. Then click on the
Upload button. Wait a couple of minutes for the update to be completed. Once completed, the robot will
reboot and the new web interface will reload.
Now that you have installed the latest robot firmware, make sure to download the latest user and
programming manuals from the Downloads section of our web site and keep these manuals until you
update again your firmware.
Next time you update your robot's firmware, you must also read the PDF file that is in the zip package
(i.e., the Release Notes). That document lists of all the recent firmware changes.
If you have the MEGP 25E or MEGP 25LS electric gripper or the MPM500 pneumatic module
installed on your Meca500 during the robot's firmware update, the firmware of your end-of-
arm-tooling (EOAT) will also be updated. Otherwise, you can update the firmware of your EOAT
later, by following the same procedure but selecting the m500_exttools*.update file.
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