Installation and Commissioning

DDE Server 2.3Communication linkThe user can read the communication variable to get information about thecommunication link to the robot. It will tell the user if the robot is up and running andcommunicating with the PC. It is pre-defined in the S4 DDE Server.Addressing the DDE variablesYou may think of a DDE variable (item) as a placeholder for a variable in the S4 robotcontroller. An example: To connect a cell in an MS Excel worksheet to a digital output(ex: do1) in the S4 robot controller, you type:=ABBS4DDE|ROB1!a_digio_raplong_do1 in the formula bar in Excel, and pressenter. From now on the cell in Excel will show a “1” when do1 is on and a “0” whendo1 is off.Multiple robotsThe DDE Server can be supplied with support for one or multiple robots. For use withone robot, the robot is connected directly to the serial port in the PC.If the robots are equipped with a network option, they can be connected directly byethernet to the networked PC.For use with more than one robot with serial connections, a “terminal server” is neededin the set-up. This is a box with eight or more serial ports and an ethernet port. Therobots are connected to the serial ports and the PC (with an ethernet board) to theethernet port. The “ShivaPort” from Shiva (used to be called “SpiderPort”) is anexample of a good terminal server for this use.PC System RequirementsThe requirements for the DDE Server will depend on the size of the installation and thenumber of robots. The descriptions below are recommendations only.DDE Server for one robot486 DX-66 minimum (Pentium recommended).16 MB RAM memory or more.10 MB free harddisk space.Windows-95 or Windows/NT installed.VGA compatible display (higher resolution recommended).3.5” 1.44 MB diskette drive or CD rom.Serial port or Network board.76 Product Specification RobotWare for BaseWare OS 3.1