Fanuc ethernet/Rs-232/usb connection for getting operation info

Hi everyone,

I need to make a connection to Fanuc CNC controller (any type) and get operation datas (working status, alarm, speed etc.) live via any kind of interface (ethernet/rs-232/usb). I'll get these info directly into my own application. Normally in computer network devices there is a protocol named SNMP to get operation datas live. Is there a similar way to do this on these machines?

Thanks advance,
Semih.

Use DPRINT command.

These machines will not respond to a request for data.
Using DPRINT as above they will spit info out when that line of code gets hit.
It can be buffered on the outside so held for your query of the device.
If you want real time monitoring of what is going on you have to get in deeper than the standard outside comm port.
Old Fanucs are not gonna have a Ethernet port to talk to and the RS-232 is not very smart.
Newer stuff is more designed to flow this info.
Bob

You can output a lot of stored control parameters with DPRNT but it is simple ascii text. I have used it to output probing results and saved it in the network in specified folders using dnc software. This is a very old school approach but it was all that we needed in one of our cells so we did not use 3rd party capture software for logging the inspection data. Real capture software is a very good solution if you have a lot of parts to probe in the machine and need SPC.

As for monitoring/capturing other useful machine parameters you can use DPRNT in a simple scenario like I mentioned or you could try 3rd party machine monitoring software such as Scytech DataXchnge. That software is very capable and I recommend checking it out.

Thanks friends,

I've searched DPRINT but I couldn't find enough info about DPRINT to get machine operation info. Is there a manual or e-book about DPRINT commands, usage, samples?

Search instead for DPRNT ( no i ). There's a thread here if it will help.

If you have a Fanuc equipped with ethernet, Fanuc has a FOCAS library that allows extracting quite a bit of information out of the control. Things like current line number, feed rate, feed override, tool, program, etc. FANUC FASOPC | FANUC America

They have a few ready built applications to go to OPC and MTConnect protocols. I also understand that you can write your own software on top of their FOCAS library.

I think support starts around the time of the introduction of the i-series controls (16i, 21i, etc), and the associated 0 controls (O-B I think, maybe 0-C?).

Oh sorry, thanks beege.

semih said:

Hi everyone,

I need to make a connection to Fanuc CNC controller (any type) and get operation datas (working status, alarm, speed etc.) live via any kind of interface (ethernet/rs-232/usb). I'll get these info directly into my own application. Normally in computer network devices there is a protocol named SNMP to get operation datas live. Is there a similar way to do this on these machines?

Thanks advance,
Semih.

Click to expand...

For the level of data you want to monitor, I recommend considering a solution such as DataXchange from Scytec. You could write your own software but why?

Yes Adamm, I can connect to Fanuc controllers with ethernet interface on it and I've found out how to get operation info via this interface with Focas Library. I'm writing our company's own app for controlling CNCs. After that, connection to controllers which does not have ethernet interface is the problem. As I understand I can get some info from controller via RS-232 port with using DPRNT commands in programs while CNC operates programs. Now I'm trying to get detailed DPRNT command usage. And one other thing for me is how to send a program file to CNC controller via ethernet which's size is bigger than controllers internal memory. Because normally I can receive file from controller with FTP if the file size is small. Now I try to learn file transfer from computer to controller via RS232 or ethernet interface with drip-feeding method for esp. larger files. If you can help for this also I'll appreciate. Thanks.

Qwan said:

For the level of data you want to monitor, I recommend considering a solution such as DataXchange from Scytec. You could write your own software but why?

Click to expand...

Because we're trying to create a new app for all factory management integrated with ERP. So I need to know the operation status of all machines. This app won't have one function like exchanging data. It will have some other functions like operator login, break info etc.