Robot programmers are rare, and the lack of specialists is further intensifying the situation. This is why a host of robot manufacturers and Siemens, as a PLC manufacturer, joined forces a few years ago to establish a standardized interface: SRCI (Standard Robot Command Interface). For three years, PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International) has been supporting the still young technology and advancing its development, standardization and international distribution.
“With the more than 115 robot functions offered by the SRCI, users can call these functions in the PLC while the robot controller reports back the required robot status information to the PLC. This simplifies day-to-day work considerably and ensures that users can get started in robotics much more easily,” explained Günes Bilgen, head of the SRCI Working Group at PI. With the SRCI, users can program robot systems from different manufacturers in a uniform way using a PLC. In the meantime, seven manufacturers have already launched products with this interface on the market—and products from even more manufacturers are expected over the coming months. A logo has also been registered as a trademark so that manufacturers and users can identify products with the new interface even faster.
The SRCI Vendor Map, which was anticipated by both users and manufacturers alike, has also been established. All the important information on released SRCI implementations is always made available at the PI website.
“The SRCI Vendor Map is the central place to go for the latest information on the SRCI. At any time, you can see which manufacturers already support the SRCI and which functions they provide and you can search for a manufacturer which supports a specific function. With a single click, you can also find out which functions are available in a specific setup of an SRCI client and interpreter,” according to Günes Bilgen.
The website is being updated continuously, and other SRCI news can be found there as well. For example, about the Get Together for Robotics Conference taking place on October 23 and 24, 2024. Robot experts, users, PLC manufacturers, startups and participants from universities are expected to attend the event in Erlangen, Germany. Over 140 participants have already registered, and online participation is possible as well. While the focus of the conference was on the cross-organizational standardization of the SRCI (Standard Robot Command Interface) data interface at the beginning of the event’s history, this year’s focus will be trends and innovations in robotics.
More information on the SRCI Vendor Map:
www.profibus.com/technologies/robotics-srci/vendor-map
Registration for the Get Together for Robotics 2024 event:
https://www.profibus.com/trainingevents/get-together-for-robotics-2024-in-erlangen-pno