The VKRC Archive Diff, Fanuc Archive Diff and ABB Archive Diff (interlocks, see ABB) plugins check, after Compare, the changes of the interlocks and technology points between the two archives of a robot (VW standard KS22..KS26 and the old TPVW standard).
The check reads only the program text of both archives - no 3D cell, no simulation - and takes typically 0.1 - 0.7 s per robot, so it can be used on a laptop at the line before and after a program change.
It is enabled with the option Check interlocks (requests, Makro20, releases, station interlocks) and technology points in the settings of the plugin (on by default). The results are shown in the tab Interlocks & tech points.

Video
A short video on YouTube (English and German) shows the check step by step: removed requests and releases, shortened interlock zones, moved points inside a zone, weld and glue points and the Fanuc programs.


 

What is compared

Category	Content	Error (red)	Warning (yellow)
Interlock	collision requests A81..A96, activation with Makro20, releases / locks A41..A56 - also inside makros (e.g. Makro45, Makro46, Makro50, Makro57, Makro71); Fanuc A[..] / DO[..]	request, activation or release removed	moved to another point (distance in mm / deg), Fanuc XYZWPR ↔ JOINT, other UF / UT or tool / base, other activated requests, conditional call changed
Zone	path between request (lock) and release of each collision	zone shorter - taken later or released earlier (path length before / after)	points inside the zone moved over the tolerance, inserted, JOINT / frame changed
Station	station interlocks A57..A80 (old standard A49..A64)	removed	moved
Tech	process points (EZSP, KL, BZ, MS ... identified by the spot number or the comment above the point), glue paths KLIN / KCIR / KPTP, process makros 80-89, 180-187, 210-214; information commands (SafeRobot, Koll_Ueb ...) only as information	process point removed, process makro no longer called in the point	moved, added, spot number or parameters changed
Rule	check of the new archive: Makro20 later than the request or missing, request without Makro20, E41..E56 missing or unused in the online condition (FB PSPS / TC_ONLINE), manual A4x=AUS, not released at the end of the Folge, lock without waiting for the release input	marked [new] (introduced by the change), [existing] (already in the old archive) or [resolved]

The point tolerances are the ones set for the robot type (VKRC / Fanuc settings - distance and angle delta).
Consecutive findings of the same kind are merged (e.g. KLIN P12 .. P18, 7 points removed).




Working with the results

The filter shows all findings, errors and warnings or errors only. Hide rule findings existing before the changes hides the problems which were already in the old archive.
Double click on a row opens the program in the editor at the point / command of the finding.
The report can be exported to HTML, CSV (UTF-8, ';' separated) and XLSX (summary sheet and one sheet per robot).
Example of an exported HTML report (open in a new window):



ABB (VWKS Basis RAPID)

ABB Archive Diff checks the interlocks of the VW standard for ABB controllers (option Check interlocks (AnfVerriegelung / FrgVerriegelung) in the settings of the plugin, on by default, tab Interlocks & tech points). The programs are read from RAPID/TASK1/PROGMOD/*.mod of both backups: every PROC is a program (Folge12 = Folge, other procedures = subprograms), every motion instruction (MoveL, MoveJ, MoveC, MoveAbsJ, MovePTP, MoveLIN, MoveABS ...) is a point, the robtargets of the module give the positions (quaternion converted to A, B, C).

Program	Meaning	Shown as
AnfVerriegelung ROB01, AnfVerriegelung ROB01\V2:=ROB02	request of the interlock(s); the instruction waits for the release and sets the drive condition itself (no separate activation like Makro20, no online condition in the program)	AnfVerriegelung ROB01
FrgVerriegelung ROB01	release of the interlock	FrgVerriegelung ROB01
IF ... AnfVerriegelung ROB01;	conditional request	conditional
FrgVerriegelung FrgInit, RobInit	initialisation – not compared	–

Own system modules of a project with other names (e.g. VerrAnf Frg01 / VerrFrg Frg01) are read in the same way.

Compared: requests and releases removed / moved / added, zones shorter (released earlier, requested later), positions of the points inside a zone; rule: interlocks not released at the end of the Folge. Partner robots are taken from the text of the instruction (\Info:="Warte auf Verriegelung 1 - 110015R01 < 110025R01") and from the comments (!Verriegelung mit 75R1 ... Anfang).

In the VW standard (VWKS Basis, VWKS_BASE.SYS) AnfVerriegelung sets the request output (A81..A96), waits for the acknowledgement and the release (E81..E96 / diSPS_FrgRob01..16) and adds the release input to the drive condition (FB_Monitor \Add); FrgVerriegelung releases the interlock and removes the input from the drive condition (FB_Monitor \Del). Several interlocks can be requested at once (\V2 ... \V5).

Technology points (ABB): ABB programs have no typical technology points - the process is done by calls of procedures. The check of the technology points for ABB is being worked on and will be adapted to the requirements of the customer later; at present only the interlocks are checked.

ABB: check of the system modules

In ABB controllers the interlock instructions are procedures of a system module (standard VWKS_BASE.SYS, in some projects an own module in SYSMOD), not commands of the controller. Whether the robot really stops when the release of the partner is lost depends on this module: for every interlock the request has to wait for the release input (WaitDI diSPS_FrgRob01, high / WaitUntil) and add it to the drive condition (standard: FB_Monitor idROB\Add,fbROB, project modules: APPL_FB_PSPS idVWKS\Add,[["diSPS_FrgRob01",1]]). Without the drive condition the robot waits for the release only once, before the motion – if the PLC takes the release back during the motion (the partner robot enters the zone), the robot does not stop. The programs look correct, the error is invisible in the module comparison.

Therefore the check reads all system modules of the backup and reports for every interlock procedure:

• does not add the release input to the drive condition – APPL_FB_PSPS ... \Add / FB_Monitor ... \Add missing (older version of the module) or commented out,
• APPL_FB_PSPS commented out – the line exists but is switched off (e.g. during commissioning),
• does not wait for the release input – WaitDI diSPS_FrgRob.. missing.

The messages are written to the message window when the archives are compared, e.g. The prefix names the backup: A: the first (before), B: the second (after), A, B: the same finding in both backups – a problem that existed before the change. The same prefixes are used by VKRC and Fanuc Archive Diff for the messages of the check.

Example: in 13 backups of one line (2016) one robot had the drive condition of interlock 5 commented out, three robots used a module without drive condition for all 16 interlocks and one robot a service module that neither waits for the release nor sets the drive condition.

Limits

The check has no information about the position of the robots in the cell - it cannot say whether a changed path really collides. It shows where the interlock logic or the path inside an interlock zone was changed, so these places can be checked in the cell. The signal ranges follow the VW standard; other numbering is not recognised.