Industrial SCADA & Real-Time Controller Monitor

Real-time telemetry and online controller bridge for KUKA KRC2, KRC4, and KRC5 systems.

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Overview

The Industrial SCADA Live Monitor (krl.connectKukaRobot, krl.openLiveBridge) establishes a direct, high-frequency Ethernet connection between VS Code and physical KUKA robot controllers running KSS 5.x through 8.7+ and iiQKA 9.x.

It brings shop-floor telemetry, 6-axis joint torque feedback, Cartesian TCP tracking, a 4096-pin I/O matrix, and live SmartPAD alarms with multilingual subtitles directly into your engineering workspace.

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Architecture & Communication Protocols

The SCADA monitor uses a resilient dual-driver communication architecture:

1. WCF OnlineServices: Native encrypted Windows service running on KRC4/KRC5 smartHMI platforms. Provides authenticated access to system status, controller option packages, and filesystem archives.
2. KUKAVARPROXY (Port 7000): Ultra-low-latency variable bridge delivering high-frequency cyclical polling for real-time kinematics and I/O channels.
3. CrossComm (WinGate Port 49000): Legacy cross-communication driver for KRC2 and early KRC4 controllers.

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|                VS Code Engineering Workstation              |
|        (KUKA KRL Extension + Embedded SCADA Dashboard)      |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
                              |
                     Industrial Ethernet
                    (TCP/IP, OT Subnet)
                              |
                              v
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 KUKA Physical Controller                    |
|  +--------------------+  +--------------------------------+ |
|  | WCF OnlineServices |  |  KUKAVARPROXY (Port 7000)      | |
|  +--------------------+  +--------------------------------+ |
|  | SmartPAD Alarms    |  |  $AXIS_ACT, $POS_ACT, $TORQMON | |
|  | Option Packages    |  |  $IN[1..4096], $OUT[1..4096]   | |
|  +--------------------+  +--------------------------------+ |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

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Core Capabilities

1. Real-Time 6-Axis Telemetry Gauges

• Live Joint Tracking: Real-time readout of $AXIS_ACT and $AXIS_MOT for axes A1 through A6.
• Torque Load & Velocity Bars: Dynamic load bars displaying current motor torques against $TORQMON limits, highlighting mechanical stress points before axis overloads occur.
• Axis Limit Indicators: Color-coded proximity warnings when joints approach physical soft limits ($SOFTP_END, $SOFTN_END).

2. Cartesian TCP Position & Coordinate Frames

• Current TCP Readout: Real-time position tracking ($POS_ACT) with X, Y, Z millimeter coordinates and Euler orientation angles A, B, C.
• Active Frame Status: Displays currently loaded $TOOL (Tool Number and dimensions) and $BASE (Workpiece coordinate reference).

3. Dynamic Digital & Analog I/O Matrix

• 4096-Pin Discrete Grid: Multi-bank visual grid for $IN[1..4096] and $OUT[1..4096] channels.
• Internal Flags & Timers: Live inspection of $FLAG[1..1024] and $TIMER[1..64].
• Pulse Animations: Visual glow animations on state transitions to trace PLC handshake timing during production cycles.

4. SmartPAD Alarm Stream & Multilingual Translation Subtitles

• Live Message Timeline: Real-time stream of controller events, status messages, and emergency stops.
• Automatic Severity Tagging: Instant categorisation into Error, Warning, Dialog, and Status notices.
• Multilingual Subtitles (KSS_LOOKUP): Eliminates language barriers during international commissioning. If the physical controller displays messages in German or Turkish, the extension displays authentic English and Russian translations beneath the raw message code (e.g. KSS00203, KSS01442, KSS01123).

5. Hot Controller Backup over Ethernet

• Zero Downtime Archiving: Download complete, clean .zip controller backup archives directly over Ethernet.
• Non-Blocking Operation: The backup is generated and streamed without halting robot motion or interrupting automated production lines.

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Commands & Keybindings

Command	Identifier	Description
KUKA KRL: Connect to KUKA Robot	krl.connectKukaRobot	Open live Ethernet connection modal
KUKA KRL: Open SCADA Live Dashboard	krl.openLiveBridge	Launch real-time telemetry dashboard
KUKA KRL: Download Controller Backup	krl.downloadLiveBackup	Stream hot .zip backup from controller