ONE Robotics Company

FANUC created a demo a couple years ago to showcase the CR-35iB and their plugin SDK. They basically have a custom HMI with several screens telling the operator what to do for each step in the process. It probably took a developer who’s comfortable with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and the plugin SDK toolchain at least a few hours to create this. We can recreate this with HMI Forge in ~5 minutes, no code.

Operator HMIs are a constant ask on cobot cells. The plugin SDK is genuinely powerful, but it’s HTML/JS/tooling – overkill when you just need buttons, an image, and a couple of bindings for the operator. You shouldn’t need a web developer to make an operator screen.

Details are in the video above, but I created a simple TP program to move the robot around to a few different positions for the operator. At each step, I set R[1] to the current step number and turn F[1] ON to indicate that the robot is waiting for the operator to confirm the step is complete.

For the HMI, I used HMI Forge to create a new HMI:

• Setup the document with a name, theme for colors, etc.
• Imported a bunch of images from the USB stick to the controller
• Created a couple of tags that bind to robot data ({r_step} binds to R[1] and {step_confirm} binds to F[1])
• Configured the document to use the {r_step} tag to drive which screen is shown
• Added a Cycle Start button to run the BIKE_ASSY program
• Added a Confirm Step button that turns F[1] off (via {step_confirm}) and disabled it whenever {step_confirm} is off, so the operator can’t confirm before the robot’s in position
• Added some images and labels to tell the operator what’s going on
• Created a new screen for each step quickly by copying and pasting the existing controls

What would take me a few hours to build with the plugin SDK literally took 5 minutes on the tablet itself. My 9 year-old could do this (probably faster than me).

The SDK is still the right tool for complex custom plugins (reach out if you need one!), but HMI Forge is purpose-built for custom screens and operator HMIs.

HMI Forge is in early access. If you run a FANUC CRX cell and want a better interface, request a demo on your own hardware. I can work with you to build a great interface for your cell.