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Pairing Tecnomatix Process Simulate provided by Siemens with RTR’s RapidPlan will provide users the ability to generate collision-free paths generated by RapidPlan that can be simulated and recorded in Process Simulate and later deployed to the robots on the shop floor. This further eases customers' pain points when deploying industrial robots by enhancing productivity and maximizing the benefits of robotics with the click of a button.
Deploying Realtime Robotics for Tecnomatix Process Simulate
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Windows 11 Installation
2402 EAP
RTR’s RapidPlan software is built for a Linux operating system environment, and specifically Ubuntu version 2022.04LTS04 LTS. Running on a Windows system requires Windows 11 with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) running a distribution of Ubuntu 20.04LTS.
To WSL2 with Windows 11, you can run the following command with administrator privileges from your Windows terminal:
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22.04 LTS.
Installing RapidPlan on Windows 11
Installing WSL on Windows 11
To install WSL2 on Windows 11, search the Microsoft store for “Windows Subsystem for Linux”. The app is provided by Microsoft. Once downloaded, you can view the list of available distributions by opening a Windows terminal as administrator and typing wsl --list --online. You should see Ubuntu-22.04 as one of the options.
To install the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS distribution, run the following command with administrator privileges from your Windows terminal:
wsl --install -d Ubuntu-22.04
WSL uses Hyper-V virtualization technology which must be enabled on your Win11 machine. Open the “Turn Windows Features On and Off” dialog and enable “Hyper-V”.
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After enabling, you will be prompted to restart your machine.
Installing RapidPlan on WSL
To install RapidPlan software, execute RTR WSL Install.bat file provided with your installation. To verify RapidPlan is running, execute the RTR WSL Launch.bat script. The script will automatically launch your internet browser to open the RapidPlan local web server. Google Chrome is the recommended browser.
In addition to browser and OS requirements, RTR recommends following hardware requirements to run the RapidPlan plugin with Process Simulate 23072402 EAP:
Intel CPU with 8 cores / 16 logical processors, or more
Workstation-class Nvidia RTX or newer GPU with 4GB graphics memory, or more
64GB RAM for a typical work cell project. 128GB RAM is recommended for large work cells(with up to 16 robots)
1TB SSD
For more details on installation, please refer to the README.txt provided with the Realtime Robotics plugin for Tecnomatix Process Simulate 23072402 EAP.
Installing RapidPlan on Ubuntu 22.04
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To install RTR’s RapidPlan software in your Linux environment, you can cd into the directory containing the downloaded RapidPlan package and run the following command from the terminal:
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For more details on installation, please refer to the README.txt provided with the Realtime Robotics plugin for Tecnomatix Process Simulate 23072402 EAP.
Best practices
This section contains recommendations, tips, and best practices when using the Realtime Robotics integration in Tecnomatix Process Simulate provided by Siemens
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Please refer to the RapidPlan Control Layout section of the RapidPlan User Reference Manual for more information on how to navigate the interface and use its functions: RapidPlan 2.4 5 Control Panel Layout
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Part of RTR’s deadlock avoidance mechanism is the use of Alternate Location. This is achieved by enabling the option via the control panel and selecting the appropriate location with the advice of an Application Engineer.
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Known Limitations
Weld guns with joint dependencies that have no limits is not supported.
There are some limitations on joint dependencies, such as those used in the kinematics of a weld gun. A list on unsupported functions can be found in the Appendix.
There are cases when PS can report collision while RTR may not have any collisions. Refer to FAQ for resolution.
Communication between Process Simulate and Realtime is one-way (i.e. moving the robot from Process Simulate will reflect in Realtime Control webapp, but not the other way around).
Setting the working frame of the study >500m may have a negative impact on the motion planning results and can result in planning getting stuck. Advise to add a working frame close to the cell.
Robots with 7-axis is not supported with the RP plugin.
Exporting fails from Process Simulate for studies involving appearances/objects without geometries.
For limitations on the Process Simulate side, please refer to the Tecnomatix Process Simulate 2307 2402 EAP documentation.
Licensing
The license for RapidPlan will be included as part of the licensing package you purchased from Siemens which treats RapidPlan as a plug-in. This can be in the form of a license file or server license.
Please refer to the Siemens document for licensing information: [SIEMENS LINK PROVIDED HERE]
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FAQs
How does RTR ensure that the motion created is accurate to the real robot’s path?
If RTR is controlling the robot at runtime, we command it at a fine interpolation interval and monitor its progress. PS verifies if TCP path recordings that RTR generates are the same as RCS module path.
Does RTR reorder the weld sequence in order to either improve inter collisions or cycle time?
Order of weld sequence is defined by user through PS. RTR doesn't know or operate this order/sequence anyhow. What RTR does is it finds the shortest path between targets in the sequence that is given by PS. We do not currently optimize the weld sequence however the user can quickly iterate over different sequences and observe the effect on cycle time.
How fast is the process of “auto creating” via’s?
It depends on many factors: how many targets needs to be connected, what complexity of the targets (are they in tight location? are they close to obstacles? etc.), CAD objects size, hardware capabilities, etc.
When doing the path creation does RTR adjust the robot rounding?
We don't currently support smoothing in PS. If RTR is used at runtime, a smoothing value can be specified and controller will make sure the motion is still collision-free.
Does RTR generate interlock report in Process Simulate?
Not currently but is in the roadmap. Contact your sales representative for more information.
We need to re-export after every little change in the cell, does RTR plan to address this?
We are working on the implementation of incremental export function which will avoid long waiting time when making major changes
PS reports collision but RTR does not report collision. What to do in such a situation?
This could happen because of wireframe entities. You can do so within Process Simulate by removing the check for “Ignore wireframe entities” box under Options>Collision
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This section provides an overview of certain Realtime Robotics’ RapidPlan terminologies you may need to be familiar with while using RapidPlan software with Tecnomatix Process Simulate 23072402 EAP. For more Realtime-specific terms, please refer to our Glossary section of the User Manual: Glossary of RapidPlan Create 2.4 5 and Realtime Controller Terms
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