Supported Protocols

CONNECT speaks one protocol per interface, and several interfaces can run side by side in one gateway. This page lists what each one needs and what is worth knowing before the first connection attempt.

All supported interfaces

Twenty-seven interface types ship in the current build — the same list the Add Interface dialog offers. FMU co-simulation is offered there too and has its own page: FMU.

Interface type	Target system	Address	Signals found by
MQTT Broker	Any MQTT broker; Siemens process image; flat JSON (SEW MOVI-C)	Topic	Browse, tag-table or symbol-table import
OPC UA	Any OPC UA server	NodeId	Browse
Siemens S7	S7-300/400/1200/1500, PLCSIM Advanced over S7comm	DB1.DBX0.0	Manual, or browse a TIA .sdf symbol table
Siemens PLCSIM Advanced (native API)	PLCSIM Advanced on this machine or on another PC, through the Siemens simulation API	Tag name	Browse
Beckhoff TwinCAT ADS	TwinCAT 2 and 3, CX, soft-PLC	Symbol	Browse
Modbus TCP Client	Drives, sensors, Modbus gateways	HR40001	Manual
Modbus TCP Server	A PLC or SCADA connecting to CONNECT	HR0	Manual
EtherNet/IP	Allen-Bradley ControlLogix, CompactLogix, Micro800, Omron	Tag	Browse
B&R PVI (ANSL/INA2000)	B&R controllers and ArSim, through the B&R PVI installation on this PC	gCounter, Prog1:localCnt, stData.Speed	Browse
Mitsubishi MELSEC (MC 3E)	MELSEC iQ-R, Q, L and iQ-F over MC protocol (SLMP 3E binary)	D100, M0, D200:float	Manual, or browse a GX Works3 CSV export
UDP (binary telegram)	A PLC, SCADA system or your own tool exchanging fixed binary telegrams	0:BOOL, 4:INT, 8:REAL	Manual, or browse a CSV symbol table
Bosch Rexroth ctrlX	ctrlX CORE through the bridge snap	Node path	Browse
Bosch Rexroth ctrlX (Data Layer)	ctrlX CORE natively, no snap needed	Node path	Browse
Keba Kemro X	Keba controllers	Variable	Browse
WebSocket Realtime (realvirtual v2)	realvirtual for Unity, another CONNECT or the ctrlX bridge — CONNECT as server or client	Signal name	Browse (the signals the peer offers)
Festo AX (PLCnext)	Festo AX, Phoenix Contact PLCnext	Variable	Browse
FANUC (RoboGuide / Robot-IF)	FANUC controller or RoboGuide	do4, di1	Manual
Denso (b-CAP / WinCaps VRC)	Denso RC8/RC9, WinCaps VRC	IO104, P10, axis1	Manual
KUKA OfficeLite (Y200 TCP)	KUKA OfficeLite through the OC_Assistant_OfficeLite Y200 server	in1, out1, axis1	Manual
KUKA iiQKA / RSI (UDP)	KUKA iiQKA VRC or a KUKA controller with RSI Ethernet	digin1, digout1, axis1	Manual
Universal Robots (RTDE)	URSim or a UR controller	do0, di0, axis1	Manual
igus ReBeL (CRI)	igus robot control (iRC) and its simulation	axis1, dout20, cmd:movejoint	Manual
RoboDK (API)	A running RoboDK station	axis1, param:PartCount, prog:run	Manual
Wandelbots NOVA	A Wandelbots NOVA cell	axis1, io:<name>, prog:run	Browse (controller IOs)
ABB RobotStudio (SIMIT SHM)	RobotStudio on the same PC	Signal name	Manual
Shared Memory (SIMIT)	SIMIT or a Unity consumer on the same PC	Signal name	Manual
WINMOD Y200 (Shared Memory)	WINMOD on the same PC	MB13.6, MI100, MF106	Manual, or browse a WINMOD signal list

Browse means the controller can be asked what it offers, so signals are selected rather than typed. For S7, Mitsubishi, UDP and WINMOD the browse reads a symbol file named in the interface settings instead of asking the controller. Manual means the protocol has no browse mechanism and addresses are entered — validated against the same parser the interface uses at connect time.

Windows only: Festo AX, FANUC, Denso, ABB RobotStudio, Shared Memory (SIMIT), WINMOD Y200, B&R PVI and the native PLCSIM Advanced interface. The Linux build — for example CONNECT on a ctrlX CORE — does not offer them.

Supported value types are Boolean, integer and floating point throughout, plus text where the protocol carries it. The per-protocol sections below name the exact data types each one accepts.

OPC UA

Parameter	Example
Endpoint	opc.tcp://192.168.1.20:4840

Addresses are node ids as the server publishes them, for example ns=2;s=Motor1.Speed. The address space can be browsed, so signals are usually selected rather than typed.

Siemens S7

Parameter	Example
IP address	192.168.1.50
Rack / Slot	0 / 1
Connection timeout	10000 ms (default)
Symbol table	C:\Projects\Line1\Tags.sdf (optional)

Addresses are absolute, DB-style: DB1.DBX0.0 for a bit, DB1.DBW2 for a word, DB1.DBD4 for a real. Values are read big-endian, once per update cycle.

With a symbol table set — a TIA Portal .sdf export on the gateway PC — Browse lists its symbols with address, type and a direction derived from the area (I/E is written by the viewer; Q/A, M and data blocks are read), so signals can be selected instead of typed. Without it, signals are entered manually.

On the PLC side the CPU must allow PUT/GET communication access — the same setting any third-party S7 client needs — and the addressed data blocks must have optimized block access disabled, because S7 communication cannot address optimized blocks by absolute offset.

PLCSIM Advanced

There are two ways to reach a Siemens PLCSIM Advanced instance from CONNECT. Neither of them needs a coupler process or a shared-memory bridge.

Native API — recommended

Interface type Siemens PLCSIM Advanced (native API). CONNECT drives the official Siemens simulation API in its own process and attaches to a registered instance by name.

Parameter	Example
Instance name	PLCSimInstance
Update cycle	10 ms
Remote address	192.168.1.80:50000 (optional)

Signals are addressed by their symbolic tag name (Motor1_Start, "Data_block_1".Speed), and Browse lists the instance’s tags with their direction already derived from the memory area — %I is written by the viewer, %Q, %M and data blocks are read from it. Optional filters narrow a browse to HMI-visible tags, to named data blocks, or by regular expression.

This route has none of the restrictions of the S7comm route below: no absolute addresses, no PUT/GET, no optimized block access to disable, and Softbus works — the instance needs no virtual Ethernet adapter. CONNECT also notices a TIA software download while running and rebuilds its tag bindings instead of reading addresses that have moved.

Which tags are loaded. PLCSIM Advanced keeps its tag list to 500 000 entries, and every array and structure element counts — asking for every data block of a large (safety) project overruns it. CONNECT therefore loads the process image and the markers plus exactly the data blocks it needs: the ones named in Data Block Filter, and the ones your configured signal addresses point at (an address of the form "Data_block_1".Speed names its block; an unquoted DB1.Speed does not and stays unbound). A Browse has no signals to work from, so it lists data block tags only for the blocks you name in the filter.

If the list still overruns the limit, CONNECT retries that one browse with HMI-visible tags only and reports it as tagListFallback in GET /status and in the gateway log, next to the requested scope and filter. Your Browse HMI-visible tags only setting is never changed by this — the next connect tries the full list again. A signal whose tag was missing while the fallback was active stays unbound with a tag not found issue until you restart the interface.

Requirements. PLCSIM Advanced V4 to V7 must be installed on the machine CONNECT runs on, and the instance must already be registered and running — CONNECT attaches, it never creates or downloads an instance. CONNECT does not ship the Siemens API: it loads the one your installation provides, so your own PLCSIM Advanced license applies. This interface is Windows only and is not offered by the Linux build. If PLCSIM Advanced is not installed, the interface shows exactly that in its status and makes no connection attempt.

An instance on another PC. Set Remote address to host[:port] of that PC’s PLCSIM Advanced Runtime Manager (IPv4 address or host name, default port 50000); empty means the instance runs on the CONNECT machine. The remote PC must allow remote connections in its PLCSIM Advanced Control Panel, and PLCSIM Advanced must still be installed on the CONNECT machine, because the API is loaded from there. A malformed address is shown as a configuration error and not retried.

Not supported in this version. SyncPoint lock-step co-simulation and 64-bit integer tags (LInt, LWord) — those are reported as a signal issue rather than truncated silently.

Over S7comm

Interface type Siemens S7, pointed at the instance. Use this when PLCSIM Advanced is not installed on the CONNECT host, or when CONNECT runs on Linux.

In the PLCSIM Advanced instance settings, switch the network adapter from Softbus to PLCSIM Virtual Eth. Adapter, then enable PUT/GET in the simulated CPU’s protection settings. After that the instance is addressed exactly like a real S7-1500 — same IP, rack and slot. Softbus is not supported: only the virtual Ethernet adapter speaks TCP/IP, addresses must be absolute, and the addressed data blocks must have optimized block access disabled.

MQTT

Parameter	Example
Broker URL	mqtt://192.168.1.30:1883

An MQTT interface handles each topic in one of three modes, and one interface may mix them.

Single mode

The topic payload is one scalar value for one signal — the simplest form and the one manual signal creation produces. Values written by the viewer are published back to the topic.

Process image mode

The topic payload is a raw byte array, typically a Siemens process image. A tag table unpacks it into many named signals:

• Addresses use the Siemens notation %I3.1 (bit), %IW13 (word), %IB, %ID, %M, %Q. The offset is a byte offset into the payload.
• Types are decoded big-endian: Bool, Byte, Word, Int, DWord, DInt, Real.
• Only the bytes that actually changed are turned into signal updates; the first message after every reconnect resends everything.

Tag tables are imported in the browser from a Siemens tag export and pushed to the gateway.

Json mode (SEW MOVI-C)

The topic payload is one flat JSON object holding the whole process image of that topic — {"ControlWord1": 6, "SpeedSetpoint": 2048, "DriveEnable": true}. There are no addresses: the signal name is the JSON key. This is the format a SEW MOVI-C station publishes through the Codesys MQTT libraries, and the same format the SEW interface in realvirtual for Unity uses, so an existing SEW simulation can be moved to the browser unchanged.

A station uses two topics, one per direction:

Topic	Signals	Behaviour
Receive topic, e.g. SEW/SimOUT	PLC outputs	The station publishes; the gateway decodes and updates the signals.
Publish topic, e.g. SEW/SimIN	PLC inputs	The gateway publishes the complete object cyclically (default every 100 ms, adjustable per topic).

The quickest way to set this up is the catalog row SEW MOVI-C (MQTT Json) in Add Interface. It is a signal interface, the browser counterpart of the SEW SimInterface in realvirtual for Unity: it exchanges the process image of a SEW MOVI-C controller (inputs, outputs, positions, any signal the controller publishes) over MQTT. It is not tied to a drive type and has nothing to do with the MOVILINK drive behavior. The row creates an MQTT interface with both topics already configured (SEW/SimOUT receiving, SEW/SimIN publishing every 100 ms as WString) and no signals yet; import the controller’s symbol table on that interface to fill them. Under the hood it is the same MQTT interface as the plain MQTT Broker row, so everything described here applies to both.

Two settings are specific to this mode:

• Encoding — Utf8, WString (Codesys WSTRING, that is UTF-16LE without a byte order mark) or Auto. Auto is the default and detects the encoding per message; set it explicitly when the station’s format is known.
• Publish interval — cycle time of the outbound object in milliseconds, limited to 20…60000 ms.

Direction matters here: only signals marked as PLC outputs are read from an incoming message, so the gateway’s own cyclic publish can never overwrite a command the viewer just issued. Writing back also needs Allow Web → PLC writes on the interface. Signal lists are imported in the browser from a SEW symbol table (Name;Type;Direction), which creates both topics with the right directions and encodings in one step.

Per topic the gateway reports how many messages arrived, how many were rejected, how many publish cycles were skipped and which encoding was detected — visible in the interface status.

TwinCAT ADS

Parameter	Example
AMS Net Id	5.78.123.1.1.1
ADS port	851
Mode	SumCommand (default), OnChange, Cyclic

Signals are addressed by ADS symbol name (MAIN.bStart) and typed by a Beckhoff primitive: BOOL, BYTE, WORD, DWORD, SINT, USINT, INT, UINT, DINT, UDINT, REAL, LREAL.

TwinCAT does not have to be installed on the gateway PC — CONNECT starts an embedded ADS router when none is present, and steps aside when a real TwinCAT installation already owns the port.

An AMS route is still required on the PLC. This is an ADS protocol requirement: in the target PLC’s route configuration, add a route back to the gateway PC’s IP address and the configured Net Id.

Discovery reads the PLC’s symbol table and derives the direction from the I/O image — symbols on the physical input image become PLCInput (realvirtual supplies them), symbols on the output image become PLCOutput. That is the correct orientation for virtual commissioning.

Modbus TCP client

Parameter	Example
Host / Port	192.168.1.60 / 502
Unit id	1
Word order	ABCD, CDAB, BADC, DCBA
Connection timeout	10000 ms (default) — bounds the connect and every read and write

Addresses name one of the four standard tables plus an offset, with an optional bit suffix:

Prefix	Table	Writable
HR	Holding register	yes
IR	Input register	no
C	Coil	yes
DI	Discrete input	no

Both notations are accepted: classic five-digit Modicon (HR40001 = offset 0, C00013 = offset 12) and the modern short form (HR0, C12). HR40010.3 addresses bit 3 of a holding register.

Caution

Word order is the classic Modbus integration bug. Types spanning two registers — INT, UINT, FLOAT — have no protocol-level negotiation, so a wrong word order produces a different, plausible-looking value rather than an error. Set it explicitly per device.

Modbus RTU is reserved in the configuration but not yet implemented.

Modbus TCP server

CONNECT listens as a Modbus slave and an external PLC, HMI or SCADA system connects to it as the master. The address model is the same as the client. Note that the direction meaning mirrors: what a client may only read, a server must be able to write.

EtherNet/IP

Parameter	Example
Gateway	10.10.10.10
Path	1,0 (backplane, slot 0) — leave empty for Micro800
PLC type	ControlLogix, PLC-5, SLC 500, Logix PCCC, Micro800, MicroLogix, Omron
Timeout	5000 ms (default) — applies to every tag

Addresses are tag names exactly as they appear in RSLogix or Studio 5000 — MAIN.bStart for a controller-scope tag, Program:MainProgram.MyTag for a program-scope tag. The supported scalar types are BOOL, SINT, INT, DINT and REAL; arrays and UDTs are out of scope.

Discovery reads the controller’s built-in tag list.

Note

CIP communication modules limit how many sessions they accept, commonly between 8 and 32. Keep the signal count per interface reasonable and avoid pointing several gateways at the same module, or real HMI and SCADA clients can be locked out.

B&R PVI

Parameter	Example
Connection	ANSL (default) or INA2000
Host / Port	192.168.0.10 / empty = PVI default (ANSL 11169)
Timeout	1500 ms (ANSL)
User / Password	optional ANSL login (Automation Runtime A4.61 and newer)
Refresh	100 ms per variable
CPU poll	2 s
Source / destination station	1 / 2 (INA2000 only)

Couples B&R controllers — Automation Runtime on a real CPU or ArSim — through B&R’s own PVI. Variables are read and written by name, so nothing has to be released in the PLC project, unlike OPC UA. Use ANSL for Automation Runtime 4.08 and newer and for ArSim; INA2000 is available for older CPUs but has not yet been verified against real hardware.

Addresses take four forms, each followed by structure members and array elements as needed:

Address	Meaning
gCounter	global variable
Prog1:localCnt	task-local variable of task Prog1
Mod1::gSpeed	global variable of an application module
Mod1::Prog1:cnt	task-local variable inside an application module
stData.Speed, arr[3], Prog1:st.arr[2].x	a structure member or array element

Every signal is a single value: structures and arrays are never one signal, address the member or element you need. BOOL becomes a Boolean, the integer types an integer (a value beyond 32 bits shows as a signal issue instead of being wrapped), REAL and LREAL a float, STRING and WSTRING text, TIME an integer in milliseconds. Date and time values are read as text.

Browse lists the tasks and variables with their types and expands structures and arrays into single signals — up to Max browse variables (default 5000) and 1000 elements per array. Discovered signals arrive as PLC outputs (read); switch a signal to PLCInput to write it. Each interface also publishes the CPU state as <interface>.cpu.state (0 Run, 1 Service, 2 Stop, 256 offline) and <interface>.cpu.running; the PVI licence state is shown in the interface status.

Writing needs Allow web to PLC. CONNECT writes exactly the addressed member or element — never a whole structure — and only when the viewer changes a value. Nothing is written when the interface connects or reconnects, so the PLC keeps its own values; a change made while write access is off is discarded and not sent later.

Caution

Requirements. B&R PVI must be installed on the machine CONNECT runs on, with the PVI Manager service running; this interface is Windows only and needs the 64-bit PVI. CONNECT does not ship the B&R files — it uses your own PVI installation. Without a PVI runtime licence on that PC, PVI runs as a 2-hour trial and then stops answering; restarting the PVI Manager service starts another trial. B&R industrial PCs need no licence. ANSL uses TCP port 11169 on the controller — allow it in any firewall in between. Without PVI on the PC the interface shows exactly that in its status and makes no connection attempt.

Mitsubishi MELSEC

Parameter	Example
Host / Port	192.168.3.39 / 5001
Connection timeout	5000 ms (default)
CSV file	C:\Projects\Line1\DeviceComments.csv (optional)

CONNECT talks MC protocol (SLMP) 3E binary over TCP — set up a matching open port in the PLC’s Ethernet configuration. Addresses are a device plus a number with an optional value type: M0, X1F, Y10, D100, D200:float, D300:int32, W1A0, T5. Supported devices are X Y M S SM D W R SD T C; X, Y and W are numbered hexadecimal, as in GX Works3, the others decimal. Word devices are 16-bit integers by default; :int32 and :float use two consecutive words, low word first. T and C read the current value.

The direction comes from the signal type: a PLCInput is written to the PLC, a PLCOutput is read. SM and SD are never written. Reads are combined into as few batch requests as the protocol limits allow, and writes send only changed values — registers between two written signals are never touched.

An error code returned by the PLC — for example a device outside the configured range — appears as a signal issue while the connection stays up. With a CSV file set, Browse lists the devices of a GX Works3 device-comment export, with filters per device type.

UDP

Parameter	Example
Local port	11001 (listens on all network adapters by default)
Remote host / port	127.0.0.1 / 11000
Byte order	little-endian (default) or big-endian
Symbol table	C:\Projects\Line1\udp-symbols.csv (optional)

UDP exchanges one fixed binary telegram per direction. Each signal names its byte offset and type: 0:BOOL (1 byte), 4:INT (32-bit integer) or 8:REAL (32-bit float). The direction comes from the signal type — PLCInput signals form the telegram CONNECT sends every update cycle, PLCOutput signals are read from the telegram it receives. The telegram length is the end of the last field.

A received datagram that is shorter than the configured fields keeps the uncovered values and reports a signal issue instead of being dropped. UDP has no connection: the interface shows Connected once its port is bound, whether or not the partner is sending. With a symbol table (Name;Type;Direction, separator configurable) Browse lists its signals with the offsets already computed.

Bosch Rexroth ctrlX

There are two ways to reach a ctrlX CORE, and they are chosen by interface type.

Data Layer (native)

CONNECT authenticates against the ctrlX identity manager and uses the Data Layer API directly. Nothing has to be installed on the device.

Parameter	Example
Address / Port	192.168.1.30 / 443
User / Password	device credentials

Addresses are Data Layer node paths, for example plc/app/Application/sym/MAIN.fSpeed. TLS validation is on by default; accept an untrusted certificate only for a device you deliberately trust with its factory certificate.

Bridge tunnel

The alternative routes through the ctrlx-rv-bridge snap running on the device. This requires a double deployment: the snap on the ctrlX CORE plus the interface here. Without the snap the interface reports exactly that. An optional bridge publish interval (ms) is sent to the bridge on connect; left empty, the bridge keeps its own setting.

Both modes use the same node paths, so an interface can be moved from one to the other.

Keba

Parameter	Example
Host	192.168.1.100
User / Password	controller credentials
Output / input topic	realvirtual_outputs / realvirtual_inputs
Connection timeout	10 s (default)

Addresses are fully qualified Keba variable names (PLC.app.Speed). Values arrive as pushes over the variable service; writes go out by variable name. Discovery browses the variable tree from configurable root paths and can infer the direction from name patterns. The input topic collects the variables realvirtual writes, as in realvirtual for Unity; leave it empty to create none. A login that does not answer within the connection timeout shows as an error and is retried with the normal reconnect delay.

WebSocket Realtime

Parameter	Example
Mode	Server (default) or client
Server: bind address / port	127.0.0.1 / 8080
Client: address / port / path	192.168.1.40 / 8080 / empty
API key	required before the server accepts other machines

The realvirtual WebSocket protocol v2 — the one the WebSocket Realtime interface of realvirtual for Unity and the ctrlX bridge speak. As server, CONNECT listens on its own port, separate from the gateway port; as client, it connects to a Unity scene or another server and subscribes to its signals. Signals are addressed by the name used on the wire, which may differ from the local signal name. Browse asks the connected peer for its signal list and turns the peer’s inputs into outputs here and vice versa; name patterns can preset the direction.

Caution

The server listens on loopback by default. To accept other machines, set a bind address and an API key — without a key, a non-loopback bind is refused as a configuration error. Browser pages may connect only from origins listed in Allowed origins. Oversized messages close the connection. A port that is already in use is a configuration error that is shown and not retried until the interface is saved again. TLS is available in client mode (wss://) only.

Festo AX / PLCnext

Parameter	Example
Host / Port	192.168.1.10 / 41100
User / Password	controller credentials
Connection timeout	10 s (default)
Validate certificate	on (default)

Addresses are GDS variable paths, for example Arp.Plc.Eclr/MainInstance.bStart. Subscription is used when the controller accepts it, with polling as the fallback. Validate certificate only matters for an encrypted connection; switch it off only for a test PLCnext with a self-signed certificate.

Caution

One Festo interface per gateway. The underlying service manager allows a single connection per process; a second Festo interface fails immediately with that reason. Connect a second PLCnext over its OPC UA server instead.

FANUC

Parameter	Example
Address / Port	127.0.0.1 / 60008
Axis count	6

Addresses are FANUC signal names — a prefix plus a number, such as do4, di1, ui1, ao2. The prefix decides the direction: robot outputs (do, uo, ro, sdo, ao, wo) are read by realvirtual, robot inputs (di, ui, ri, sdi, ai, wi) are written by it.

With an axis count set, the robot’s joint positions are published additionally as <interface>.axis1 … axisN.

A RoboGuide cell with several robots uses one port per robot, incrementing from 60008.

Denso

Parameter	Example
Host	127.0.0.1
Controller type	RC8 or RC9
WinCaps project	C:\Projects\Cell1\Cell1.WPJ

Addresses are VRC variable symbols: IO<n> for a Boolean, I<n> integer, F<n> float, S<n> string. Joint positions are published as <interface>.axis1 … axisN; an address axis<n> binds a joint under a signal name of your own instead. A virtual controller connection needs the WinCaps project file on the gateway PC.

A position variable P<n> becomes six signals <name>.x, .y, .z (mm) and .rx, .ry, .rz (degrees) plus <name> holding the robot figure, where <name> is the signal’s name. As a PLCOutput it is read; as a PLCInput it is written as one position with the figure the controller reported — and, like every write, only with write access.

KUKA OfficeLite

Parameter	Example
Host / Port	127.0.0.1 / 54600
Max digital signals	10 (up to 8192)
Axis count	6

Couples to KUKA OfficeLite through the OC_Assistant_OfficeLite Y200 server. Addresses follow KUKA’s numbering: in1 is $IN[1] (written by realvirtual), out1 is $OUT[1] (read), axis1 … axis6 are the joints in degrees. Joint positions are also published as <interface>.axis1 … axisN. Bits above Max digital signals are not exchanged and show as a signal issue.

Not to be confused with WINMOD Y200, which is a shared memory on the same PC.

KUKA iiQKA / RSI

Parameter	Example
Listen address / RSI port	0.0.0.0 / 49152
Cycle	4 ms (4, 8 or 12)
Axis count	6 (up to 12)
Digital / analog channels	8 / 0

CONNECT is the UDP server of an RSI Ethernet context: the KUKA iiQKA VRC or controller sends a packet every cycle and CONNECT answers each one at once, echoing its IPOC. Until the first packet arrives the interface shows Connecting; when packets stop for ten receive timeouts in a row it reconnects. Addresses: digin<n> and anain<n> are written by realvirtual, digout<n> and anaout<n> are read, axis<n> are the joints (actual or set-point positions, selectable). Joint positions are also published as <interface>.axis1 … axisN.

Universal Robots

Parameter	Example
Host	192.168.0.4
RTDE / secondary port	30004 / 30001
Output frequency	20 Hz

Joint positions, digital outputs and robot state are read over RTDE; joints are converted to degrees and also published as <interface>.axis1 … axis6. Addresses: do0 … do7 and cdo0 … cdo7 (digital and configurable outputs, read), di0 … di7 and cdi0 … cdi7 (inputs, written), axis1 … axis6, status and runtime. IO numbering is zero-based, as on the teach pendant. Inputs are set with a short URScript program on the secondary port, sent only when a value changes.

igus ReBeL

Parameter	Example
Host / Port	127.0.0.1 / 3921
Axis count	6 (up to 9)
Speed (override)	100 %

Connects to the igus robot control (iRC) or its simulation over the CRI protocol. Addresses: axis<n> (joints in degrees, also published as <interface>.axis1 …), dout<n> (digital output bit, read), gsig<n> (global signal, written), cmd:override and cmd:active (override and enable, written).

cmd:movejoint and cmd:movecart start a move on a rising edge to the set-point signals <interface>.setpoint.axis1 … or <interface>.setpoint.x … rz (cartesian, in robot base coordinates); progress comes back as <interface>.move.busy, .done and .error. A move requested while another one runs is rejected, and a trigger that stays on across a reconnect starts exactly one move. Override and enable on connect are sent only with write access.

RoboDK

Parameter	Example
Host / Port	localhost / 20500
Robot name	empty = first robot of the station
Program name	MainProgram (optional)

Talks to a running RoboDK through its API — CONNECT never starts RoboDK or opens a station by itself, and your RoboDK licence must allow API access. Addresses: axis<n> (joint values in RoboDK’s units, also published as <interface>.axis1 …), param:<name> (a station parameter, read every 500 ms or written on change depending on the signal direction), sim:speed (simulation speed), and prog:run, prog:stop, prog:loop to control the named program. Program feedback comes back as <interface>.prog.busy, .done and .error. Switching RoboDK to simulation mode and setting its speed on connect happen only with write access.

Wandelbots NOVA

Parameter	Example
Server	http://192.168.1.90
Cell / motion group	cell / 1@fanuccrx10ial
Token, or user and password	NOVA credentials

Joint positions arrive over the NOVA state stream (converted to degrees, also published as <interface>.axis1 …) and controller IOs over the IO stream. Addresses: axis<n>, io:<name> (Boolean, integer or float IO) and prog:run, prog:stop, prog:loop, which run the Wandelscript program template from the interface settings. A run that exceeds the program timeout (default 300 s) is stopped and reported in <interface>.prog.error. Browse lists the controller’s IOs. The token and password are not shown again after saving.

Moves and program starts on igus, RoboDK and NOVA need Allow web to PLC, react to a rising edge only and are never repeated after a reconnect.

ABB RobotStudio

CONNECT publishes a SIMIT-layout shared memory that RobotStudio’s SIMIT connection attaches to. Windows shared memory means RobotStudio and the gateway must run on the same PC — the usual RobotStudio virtual commissioning setup.

Addresses are the signal names RobotStudio shows in its SIMIT signal list. Joint values named Joint* arrive in radians and are exposed in degrees.

Shared memory (SIMIT)

The same mechanism for any SIMIT-compatible consumer, including a Unity SharedMemoryInterface, with the full SIMIT type palette: Bool, Byte, Word, Int, DWord, DInt, Real.

Set the global namespace option when the gateway runs as a Windows service while the consumer runs in an interactive session. Signal names must be ASCII.

WINMOD Y200

Parameter	Example
Shared memory name	Y200
Mutex timeout	1000 ms
Keep-alive	0 s = off
Signal list	C:\Projects\Line1\winmod-signals.txt (optional)

Couples to WINMOD through its Y200 shared memory. WINMOD creates the memory and CONNECT attaches to it — so WINMOD and the gateway must run on the same Windows PC, and the interface shows an error until WINMOD has started. Addresses are positions in the Y200 memory: MB13.6 (bit), MB7 (byte), MI100 (16-bit integer), MD102 (32-bit integer), MF106 (real). The direction comes from the signal type. Real outputs whose name starts with Joint are converted from radians to degrees.

With a keep-alive set, an interface whose WINMOD has stopped updating its cycle counter for that many seconds reports an error and attaches again. A WINMOD signal list can be browsed, but it carries PLC addresses (%E 0.0), not Y200 positions — complete each imported signal with its MB/MI/MD/MF address.

See also

• Configuring interfaces — signals, direction and write access
• Troubleshooting — connection and signal problems