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Ah, the old backup game. What could be more fun than taking backups for a dozen, a hundred, or a thousand robots? If you’re reading this, you probably know that there is something that’s a lot less fun than managing backups: not having a backup when you need one. Reprogramming a production robot from scratch – now that sounds like a pain. In this post, we’ll look at how to backup and restore a Fanuc R-30iB controller.

Contents of this post:

• Types Of Fanuc Backups
• MD Backup and Restore Process on Fanuc R-30iB
• IMG Backup and Restore Process on Fanuc R-30iB

Types Of Fanuc Backups

Like many electronic controllers, the Fanuc R-30iB offers more than one possible backup method. The two common Fanuc backup solutions are referred to as “MD backups” and “image backups” (or “IMG backups”).

Fanuc MD Backups

MD backups preserve the “user-editable” portions of the controller. To be specific, MD backups record the contents of SRAM, which consists of the following:

• Teach Pendant programs
• Frames
• Variables
• Mastering
• Menu settings
• I/O configuration
• and more

MD backups are not a complete controller backup.If you lose a main board or FROM/SRAM module, or otherwise have to completely reload your robot controller, an MD backup will not get you up and running by itself.

With that said, it would certainly be better than nothing. If you had a similar robot nearby, you could backup and restore an image from that robot. After doing so, you could restore your MD backup on top of the image. You would have a lot of work to do before you’d be out of the woods, and would be reteaching a lot of positions, but at least you’d have all of your programs.

When would you use a Fanuc MD backup?

While MD backups won’t fully restore a controller, they do have their distinct uses. I would say MD backups are most useful for two purposes:

• Development and debug
• Quickly restoring a single (or a few) teach pendant program(s)

In the shop where I work, a common use for MD backups is as reference material for debug and development. Robot programs that are stored in your MD backups can be viewed in a text editor, if you’ve saved your ASCII programs, or converted to readable forms with Fanuc utilities. If you’ve consolidated your backups onto one computer, you can use them to compare logic from similar applications or to borrow logic for new robot programs.

Additionally, MD backups can come in handy big-time if you have to revert to an earlier robot program.

For instance, let’s say the integrator on the previous shift moves a position to try to improve cycle time. During your shift, you find that the new position causes a portion of the robot dress to contact the part. If you have a copy of the MD backup on a thumb drive (or in PC File Services), you can quickly load your backed up version of just that one program.

Fanuc IMG Backups

An image backup is a complete image of the robot controller’s contents – both FROM and SRAM. If you have an image, you can fully restore the robot in the event of FROM/SRAM module or main board failure. An image stores everything that an MD backup stores, plus the robot’s core software, patches, and any software customizations that have been loaded for your facility.

Image backups are obviously the more complete backup solution. There’s no doubt about it – it is an absolute necessity to maintain an image backup for each and every robot, especially for production robots.

With that said, IMG backups do have one major drawback. Their contents are not easily read. As a result, they don’t offer the same value in reference and simplicity that’s found with MD backups. Images are all or nothing – their only use is to completely restore the controller.

A Final Thought On Fanuc Backup Types

You have to have images. There’s no getting around it unless you want to be teaching every point and doing a ton of config whenever you lose a main board or controller.

If you’re already visiting every robot in your facility to take image backups, it’s only a few more minutes per controller to take MD’s as well. You might as well perform both backup processes at each robot. You’ll get the images you need, plus the MD’s, which might just come in handy for development, debug, and partial restorations.

MD Backup and Restore Process on Fanuc R-30iB

How To Perform a Fanuc MD Backup

1. Obtain a thumb drive with plenty of room available:
   • A typical MD backup is around 10 MB, depending on your robot programs and other content
2. Insert the thumb drive into either the USB port in the black door on the controller (UD1:) or the USB port on the right side of the teach pendant (UT1:)
3. On the TP, press the MENU button then select File -> File
4. On the FILE menu, press F5 [UTIL]. If [UTIL] is not shown above F5, press NEXT until [UTIL] is shown and then press F5
5. Select Set Device
6. Select either USB Disk (UD1:) or USB on TP (UT1:), depending on where you inserted your thumb drive
7. Press F5 [UTIL] again and select Make DIR
8. Enter a new directory name that will help you remember which robot you’ve backed up. I like to use the Upper Case input method (like my old Nokia flip phone)
9. Once you have made your new directory, you should be taken there. The directory listed on the top line should be UT1: (or UD1:) {YOUR-NEW-DIR}*.*
10. Press F4 [BACKUP]
11. Select All of above
12. You will be prompted to “Delete UT1: (or UD1:) {YOUR-NEW-DIR} and backup all files?”. Press F4 YES
13. The MD backup will commence. Typical backup time is ~2-3 minutes, depending on the contents of your robot

Backing Up ASCII Programs

If you would like to save the ASCII (human-readable) versions of the robot programs as well, then, without leaving your thumb drive directory in the FILE menu:

1. Press F4 [BACKUP]
2. Select ASCII programs
3. You will be prompted to “Save UT1: (or UD1:) {YOUR-NEW-DIR}{PROGRAM-NAME}.LS?”. Press F3 ALL
4. The ASCII program backup will commence. Typical backup time is ~2 minutes, depending on the contents of your robot programs

How To Restore From a Fanuc MD Backup

1. Obtain a thumb drive with a previous MD backup for the robot you’re working on
2. Insert the thumb drive into either the USB port in the black door on the controller (UD1:) or the USB port on the right side of the teach pendant (UT1:)
3. Perform a Controlled Start:
   1. Cycle power to the controller
   2. As soon as the robot starts to power back up, hold PREV and NEXT on the teach pendant to be taken to the Configuration Menu
   3. Type 3 and press ENTER to initiate a Controlled Start
4. Once the teach pendant boots back up, press the MENU button then select File -> File
5. On the FILE menu, press F5 [UTIL]. If [UTIL] is not shown above F5, press NEXT until [UTIL] is shown and then press F5
6. Select Set Device
7. Select either USB Disk (UD1:) or USB on TP (UT1:), depending on where you inserted your thumb drive
8. Navigate to the directory in which your MD backup is stored. If no files or directories are shown, you will have to press ENTER on (* * (all files)) to see the thumb drive’s contents
9. If [RESTOR] is not shown above F4, press FCTN, then select RESTORE/BACKUP to toggle between restore and backup
10. Press F4 [RESTOR]
11. Select the type of restore action that you want:
    1. System files (system variables, servo parameter data, and mastering data)
    2. TP programs (.TP, .DF, and .MN files)
    3. Application (“Non-program application files”. If you know what this means, let me know in the comments.)
    4. Applic.-TP (All of the above, except system files)
    5. Vision data
    6. All of above
12. You will be prompted with “Restore from UT1: (or UD1:) (OVERWRT)?”. Press F4 YES
13. The TP will show “Accessing device. PREV to exit.” for about 30-60 seconds, then the restore will commence. Once it begins, typical restore time is ~2-6 minutes, depending on the contents of your robot
14. As many files as possible will be restored. Once the restore is complete, you will need to perform a Cold Start:
    1. Press FCTN
    2. Select START (COLD)

Restoring a Single Robot Program From a Fanuc MD Backup

1. Make sure that the file you want to restore is not currently being edited
2. Obtain a thumb drive with a previous MD backup for the robot you’re working on
3. Insert the thumb drive into either the USB port in the black door on the controller (UD1:) or the USB port on the right side of the teach pendant (UT1:)
4. On the TP, press the MENU button then select File -> File
5. On the FILE menu, press F5 [UTIL]. If [UTIL] is not shown above F5, press NEXT until [UTIL] is shown and then press F5
6. Select Set Device
7. Select either USB Disk (UD1:) or USB on TP (UT1:), depending on where you inserted your thumb drive
8. Navigate to the directory in which your MD backup is stored. If no files or directories are shown, you will have to press ENTER on (* * (all files)) to see the thumb drive’s contents.
9. Find the {PROGRAM-NAME}.TP program that you would like to restore. Scroll down so that the name of that program is highlighted.
10. With the program name highlighted, press F3 LOAD
11. Press F4 YES
12. If it’s an existing program, you will be prompted with “UT1: (or UD1:) {YOUR-BACKUP-DIR}{PROGRAM-NAME}.TP already exists”. Press F3 OVERWRITE
13. The restore will commence. Once it does, it should only take a few seconds, and you should see “Loaded UT1: (or UD1:) {YOUR-BACKUP-DIR}{PROGRAM-NAME}.TP” when the restore is complete.

IMG Backup and Restore Process on Fanuc R-30iB

How To Make An IMG Backup

1. Obtain a thumb drive with plenty of room available:
   • A typical IMG is around 64 or 128 MB, depending on your robot model
2. Insert the thumb drive into either the USB port in the black door on the controller (UD1:) or the USB port on the right side of the teach pendant (UT1:)
3. On the TP, press the MENU button then select File -> File
4. On the FILE menu, press F5 [UTIL]. If [UTIL] is not shown above F5, press NEXT until [UTIL] is shown and then press F5
5. Select Set Device
6. Select either USB Disk (UD1:) or USB on TP (UT1:), depending on where you inserted your thumb drive
7. Press F5 [UTIL] again and select Make DIR
8. Enter a new directory name that will help you remember which robot you’ve backed up. I like to use the Upper Case input method (like my old Nokia flip phone)
9. Once you have made your new directory, you should be taken there. The directory listed on the top line should be UT1: (or UD1:) {YOUR-NEW-DIR}*.*
10. Place the robot in Teach
11. Once in Teach, press F4 [BACKUP]. Hit the right arrow button to go to the second menu page and select Image backup
12. On the Desination device menu that pops up, select Current Directory
13. You will be prompted to “Cycle power?”. Press F4 OK
14. The robot will restart and the image backup will begin
15. The Fanuc image backup process takes about 4-5 minutes and then the robot will start back up
16. If you’re taking backups of many robots, it goes a lot quicker if you get about 5 thumb drives per person and perform multiple backups at the same time

How To Restore An IMG Backup

1. Obtain a thumb drive with a previous IMG backup for the robot you’re working on
2. Insert the thumb drive into either the USB port in the black door on the controller (UD1:) or the USB port on the right side of the teach pendant (UT1:)
3. Restart the robot and load the Boot Monitor:
   1. Cycle power to the controller
   2. As soon as the robot starts to power back up, hold F1 and F5 on the teach pendant to enter the Boot Monitor menu
4. Type 4 and press ENTER to go to the Controller backup/restore menu
5. On the Controller backup/restore menu, type 3 and press ENTER to select Restore Controller Images
6. Type the appropriate number to select your device (UD1: or UT1:) and press ENTER
7. Type the appropriate number to select the directory in which your IMG backups are stored, or type 0 for the next listing of directories or -1 for the previous listing of directories, and press ENTER
8. Once you are in the appropriate directory, type 1 for OK (Current Directory) and press ENTER
9. Make sure the FROM and SRAM images are the appropriate size (64Mb and 2Mb respectively for the controller model I was using). If everything looks good, type 1 and press ENTER
10. The restore process will begin. Once initiated, the Fanuc image restore process takes about 5 minutes
11. When the restore is complete, you will be prompted with “Press ENTER to return >”. Press ENTER
12. Type 1 for Configuration menu and press ENTER
13. Once the Configuration menu loads, type 2 for Cold start and press ENTER
14. After the robot restarts, check for mastering errors. Correct any errors
15. Validate that robot program positions have not changed. Reteach positions as necessary

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I hope this helps!

I hope this is helpful for you. For more automation content, plug in your email address below and I’ll let you know whenever I have something new for you. Thanks for reading and happy robot programming!

If you drive a car, it makes little difference what brand it is: all cars are driven the same way. The same applies to computers. If you have a Windows PC, the user interface won’t be affected by your computer hardware. This is definitely not the case for industrial robots.

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The way you program an industrial robot strongly depends on the robot brand. You might think that a robot program looks like C++ or Visual Basic. The truth is that some robots are still programmed in assembler-like languages.

Because of the complexity of using an industrial robot, robot integrators and most manufacturers try to limit themselves to a single robot brand. Unfortunately, industrial robot manufacturers don’t offer completely equivalent product ranges, and their offers evolve constantly. Stäubli, for example, is one of the few manufacturers that offer robots suitable for humid environments, while FANUC is the only one to offer a medium-payload collaborative robot. Furthermore, a number of businesses work with calls for tenders. As a result, sometimes manufacturers end up with robots of different brands.

The reason why robot-programming languages evolve slowly is probably due to the fact that industrial robots are extremely reliable and durable. Thus, robot manufacturers have to offer backward compatibility. Selling spare parts and additional options is probably as lucrative as selling new robots. For this reason, robot manufacturers probably won’t change the fundamentals of their programming languages. For example, ABB is stuck with using quaternions on the user level to represent orientation, even though a quaternion is as intuitive as using binary code instead of ASCII. Rather than changing quaternions to Euler angles, like every other robot manufacturer, ABB simply added functions that convert from one orientation representation to the other. Most robot programming languages probably looked great a decade or two ago, but nowadays, engineers are used to modern programming languages like Java, C#, and Python.

FANUC, one of the leading four robot manufacturers, provides not one but two different programming languages: Teach Pendant (or TP) and KAREL. TP programs are binary files that can be edited through the robot’s teach pendant buttons (or touch screen for newer robots). TP files can also be compiled/decompiled from an LS file (human-readable ASCII file). TP programs offer a limited assembler-like functionality. Alternatively, with FANUC, you can program your own algorithms using a PC and KAREL (programming language based on Pascal), but KAREL does not allow you to do robot movements nor edit the program from the controller’s teach pendant.

You can purchase ROBOGUIDE off-line programming and simulation software to off-line program FANUC robots. However, if you don’t have ROBOGUIDE’s WinOLPC, you won’t be able to use LS programs unless you also have the option “ASCII Upload” in your FANUC robot controller, a paid software upgrade required for each robot. You also need ROBOGUIDE to edit and create KAREL programs.

Motoman robots are programmed using the INFORM programming language (JBI files). INFORM looks similar to FANUC’s TP. The program variables are registers shared among all programs. However, Motoman also offers MotoCom for all their robots: a well-documented library that allows you to program the robot using C++, C# or Visual Basic (on Windows).

Programming of ABB robots is simpler, and based on the RAPID programming language, which is somewhat similar to Visual Basic. Furthermore, ABB provides RobotStudio, offering on-line programming and an excellent RAPID program editor for free, as well as an easy file transfer through a network connection between a PC and the robot. Optionally, you can purchase the 3D simulator and off-line programming tools.

KUKA robots require SRC programs written in the KRL programming language, usually edited using the free OrangeEdit editor unless you have the KUKA simulator Sim Pro. It is interesting to note that Kuka’s KRC4 controller is a Windows based computer and the teach pendant is a remote desktop of that computer. It is unpractical to modify programs from the teach pendant as the touch screen feels slow. One notable exception, however, is KUKA’s collaborative robot, LBR iiwa, which uses KUKA’s Sunrise controller and is programmed in Java.

We’ll stop here, because there are dozens of other robot manufacturers from all over the world. Some brands do not have offline programming software, such as Universal Robots: the user must program UR robots through the robot’s touch pendant interface (which is highly intuitive, but also very limited) or using an ASCII editor and their UR Script language (based on Python). Other robot manufacturers focus their efforts on having plugins for CAD software, like Mitsubishi who offers MelfaWorks for SolidWorks.

The fact that nobody has taken a step towards unifying the way robots are programmed is very disappointing. G-code was introduced in the 50s, shortly after Numerical Control, and most CNC controllers currently use it. No such common programming language exists for industrial robots.

Several companies offer powerful robot off-line programming (OLP) tools that support multiple robot brands, and each software tool has its advantages and disadvantages. However, most of these tools are also relatively expensive. There are also free tools like Gazebo (generally used with ROS), but they require expert programming skills and are targeted to robotics in general, making them less practical for simulation and off-line programming of industrial robots.

This is why we created RoboDK: an affordable simulator for industrial robots that provides an intuitive way to program industrial robots. The simulator supports a wide variety of applications, such as pick and place, painting or robot milling. Optimization tools are provided to automatically convert CAM programs to robot programs. RoboDK is a spin-off from the CoRo laboratory, one of the largest robotics labs in Canada, where it was tested on all major industrial robot brands.

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RoboDK’s library has more than 300 robots from 30 different robot manufacturers and we look forward to continue adding support for new robot brands. Any robot manufacturer is welcome to include their robots in RoboDK’s library, providing an open interface to be able to do off-line programming and online programming as well. Off-line programming is achieved by defining the robot’s brand post processor. The online programming is achieved by developing a robot driver that works as a bridge between the simulator and the robot. Then, it is possible to easily run robot programs step by step, retrieve the robot position or move to a specific position with a robot. This video shows an example of online programming with an UR10:

What makes RoboDK unique is that you can program any robot using Python and the RoboDK API. Python offers an immense library of tools for programming (for example, to convert SVG images to XY coordinates that can be followed by robots). You can then use object oriented programming with Python and RoboDK’s API and have code snippets like this one:

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The above script will move the robot to a specific target through an approach position. Many other examples are available in our library (with and without Python).

There is no doubt that one day, a robot programmer will have the choice to program any robot brand using a universal programming language such as Python. Robot programmers as well as companies prefer this option as they do not depend on brand-specific tools. Kudos to Mecademic, another spin-off of CoRo, who offers the first industrial robot arm that can be controlled with any modern programming language, but this robot too requires the use of a few proprietary commands.

RoboDK has been downloaded more than 30,000 times since we launched it in January 2015. RoboDK has also attracted universities as a tool for learning industrial robotics (you can display DH frames, for example) as well as new robot manufacturers all over the world. We also welcome integrators to develop their technology using RoboDK’s API. The advantage is that they can develop their technology with one robot brand and deploy it with any other robot brand.

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RoboDK can be tried for free and will remain free for educational purposes. We also believe that RoboDK is the most affordable off-line robot programming solution currently available.