Hardware Reference
75
Digital Outputs in the Outer Link
In the Revision C and 3kg versions of the PF400 the motor interface board in the outer link can be
connected by means of a flat ribbon cable to the controller digital inputs and digital outputs, providing
support for both pneumatic and vacuum grippers where desired. The schematic for this interconnect
board can be found in the schematics section labeled Schematic: Revision C of FFC Boards.
For the 3kg version of the FFC boards, a jumper has been added to the MIDS4 power interface board
located on the vertical wall of the inner link. This jumper connects the signals in the IO cable running to
the outer link to either the IO port of the controller OR the RS485 port of the controller. When this jumper
is placed in the “IO” position the innermost connector on the IO cable should be plugged into the J4 motor
interface board in the outer link which connects the IO signals. These signals are then available to
control solenoids for both air and vacuum grippers. When the jumper is placed in the “RS485” position,
the outermost connector on the IO cable in the outer link should be plugged into the GSB gripper
controller board.
<Insert images of J4 motor interface board in 2 solenoid config and RS485 config>
Ethernet Interface
PreciseFlex robots include an Ethernet switch that implements two 10/100 Mbit Ethernet ports. This
capability was designed to permit the controller to be interfaced to multiple Ethernet devices such as
other Precise controllers or robots, remote I/O units and Ethernet cameras. The Ethernet switch
automatically detects the sense of each connection, so either straight-thru or cross-over cables can be
used to connect the controller to any other Ethernet device.
Due to limited space on the Facilities Panel, only one of the two Ethernet ports is available via an external
RJ45 connector. This external Ethernet port is typically used to interface the robot to a PC. The second
Ethernet port is only available inside the inner link of the robot. In some cases it may be used to connect
an Ethernet camera that is mounted on the robot.
In this case, a PC that is connected to the Ethernet plug on the Facilities Panel can communicate with the
robot’s controller as well as receive images from an arm-mounted camera. (For the initial release of this
robot, arm mounted cameras are not supported.)
If a camera is mounted in the workcell, an external Ethernet switch must be added to connect these
cameras and the robot to a PC.
See the Setup and Operation Quick Start Guide for instructions on setting the IP address for the
controller.
RS-232 Serial Interface
The PreciseFlex robot includes a standard RS-232 serial line equipped with hardware or software flow
control. However this port is only available on the G1400B controller in the inner link of the robot and is
not brought out to any outside connector on this robot. This port can be used to communicate to the
system serial console or can be connected to external equipment for general communication purposes.
When used for general communications, this port is referenced as device "/dev/com1" within the
Guidance Programming Language (GPL).
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