10.1 Introduction to this chapter

This chapter mainly introduces various communication settings of the xCore control system, including system IO, registers, bus devices, and end-effector.

10.2 System IO

System IO is divided into two types: system input and system output. The external controller can send various commands to the xCore control system through system input, such as power-on of the motor, start-up of the program, and emergency stop reset. The xCore system can also use system output to send robot status to the outside world, such as power on/off status and operating status.

10.2.1 System input

On the HMI main interface, click "Communication" → "System IO" to enter the system IO settings interface, and click the "System Input" tab to enter the system input configuration interface, as shown in the following figure:

The system inputs supported by the xCore control system are as follows:

System Input	Trigger Method	Remarks
Motor on	Posedge/Negedge
Motor off	Posedge/Negedge
Start program	Posedge/Negedge	After triggering the function code, if the teach pendant displays the alarm "Program not synchronized to controller, startup failed", synchronize the program and retrigger the function code.
Program pause	Posedge/Negedge
Program pause 1	Posedge/Negedge	This function serves the same purpose as the "Pause Program" function
Switch auto	Posedge/Negedge	It is effective in manual mode
Switch manual	Posedge/Negedge
Auto and power	Posedge	It is effective in manual mode and switches to automatic mode and power on. The robot does not respond to the command when it is in power-on mode.
PP to main	Posedge
Motor on & run	Posedge	Power on, pptomain, and running in order. After triggering the function code, if the teach pendant displays the alarm "Program not synchronized to controller, startup failed", synchronize the program and retrigger the function code.
Motor on & continue	Posedge	Power on and running in order. After triggering the function code, if the teach pendant displays the alarm "Program not synchronized to controller, startup failed", synchronize the program and retrigger the function code.
Pause & motor off	Posedge	Pause, wait for the robot to stop, and power off
Enter the reduced mode	Posedge/Negedge	Collaborative robot only
Exit the reduced mode	Posedge/Negedge	Collaborative robot only
Open drag	Posedge/Negedge	Collaborative robot only. It is required to enable Drag mode on the interface
Close drag	Posedge/Negedge	Collaborative robot only. It is required to enable Drag mode on the interface
Emergency reset	Posedge
Clear alarm	Posedge
Emergency & clear alarm	Posedge

Note:

• All system inputs are pulse-triggered. To ensure that the xCore system receives external commands correctly, please ensure that the pulse width of the external input is not less than 300 milliseconds.

• There is a corresponding relationship between the functions that support the triggering of the posedge and negedge (power on, power off, manual mode, automatic mode, start program, pause program, enter collaboration mode, exit collaboration mode, startDrag, and stopDrag) to ensure safety, for example, the functions of "power on" and "power off" are corresponding. If DI1 is selected for "power on", DI1 cannot be used for functions other than "power off".

• Most system input function is only valid in Automatic mode, and the signal from the system input in manual mode will be ignored.

• It is not allowed to start the program through any ways when the register equipped with the pause function or system IO has not been reset.

• The “Pause Program” and “Pause Program 1” functions serve the same purpose. Either function will pause the program upon triggering from any signal path.

10.2.2 System output

On the HMI main interface, click "Communication" → "System IO" to enter the system IO settings interface, and click the "System Output" tab to enter the system output configuration interface, as shown in the following figure:

The system outputs supported by the xCore system are as follows:

System Output	Valid Output	Invalid Output	Remarks
Motor state	Motor power-on	Motor power-off
Running state	Program running	Program not running
Moving state	Moving	Stationary	Only detect the robot’s motion status when detecting motion commands and Jog in the RL program. (Note: In identification, dragging, force control, and drag playback, even if the robot is in motion, the output is still stationary.)
Operate mode	Switch auto	Manual mode/Wait mode
EStop state	EStop state	Non emergency stop	The output of this state is affected by the "Emergency Stop Trigger Level Type" setting. When it is set to high level, the output is valid when triggering a soft emergency stop, and invalid when not triggered; when it is set to low level, the output is invalid when triggering a soft emergency stop, and valid when not triggered.
Collision opening	Open	Close	Cobots only
Collision detection	Triggered	Not triggered	Cobots only
Collision alarm	Collision detection alarm triggered	Alarm reset	Cobots only
Reduced mode state	Reduced mode triggered	Reduced mode not triggered	Cobots only
Alarm state	Alarm state	No alarm
Servo encoder low battery	Low voltage alarm	Normal voltage	Maintenance due date of the battery included
Grease replacement alarm	Grease replacement required	No grease replacement required	Industrial robot only
Routine maintenance alarm	Routine maintenance required	No routine maintenance required	Industrial robot only
Home state	Robot joints at Home	Robot joints not at Home
Heart beat	Heart beat		Click "Settings −> Controller Settings" and set the heartbeat cycle
Robot startup finish	The robot controller finishes the power-on	The robot controller does not finish the power-on
Safety door	Safety gate opened	Safety gate closed
Program reset	Program reset	Program not reset
External estop state	External estop state	Non-external estop state	The safeboard adopts a mini board, and the firmware version is not less than 1.0.8.7
Handheld estop state	Handheld estop state	Non-handheld estop state	The safeboard adopts a mini board, and the firmware version is not less than 1.0.8.7
PPTOMAIN execution state	The current program is executing pptomain	The current program is not executing pptomain
Soft E-stop trigger state	Soft E-stop trigger state	Soft E-stop not triggered
On planned path	Robot’s current position is on the planned path	Robot’s current position is not on the planned path	Refer to register function code "sta_on_path" for detailed usage
Near planned path	Robot’s current position is near the planned path	Robot’s current position is not near the planned path	Refer to register function code "sta_near_path" for detailed usage
Drag status	Drag switch enabled	Drag switch disabled	Not available for industrial robots
Status of drag button 1	Drag button 1 pressed	Drag button 1 not pressed	Not available for industrial robots
Status of drag button 2	Drag button 2 pressed	Drag button 2 not pressed	Not available for industrial robots and SR robots. For CR robots equipped with only one drag button, after pressing the drag button, the status outputs of both drag button 1 and drag button 2 are 1.

Note:

• The system output status is valid in both manual and automatic modes. However, for safety and availability considerations, these signals are only to be used when the xCore is in Automatic Mode.

• After an IO point is bound to the system IO, it cannot be forced to output or simulate input operations.

• All other system output signals are active at a high level except the "Operating Mode" signal.

• For the signal "Operating Mode", the output is at a high level in Automatic mode and low in Manual mode.