2. Overview#

The following figure shows the main elements of the MecaPortal web interface. These are:

  • The menu bar

  • The code editor panel

  • The jogging panel

  • The 3D view panel

  • The log panel

  • You can show/hide each of the four panels from the button ../_images/panels.svg, in the menu bar.

Overview of the MecaPortal

Figure 1 Overview of the MecaPortal#

2.1. The menu bar#

From left to right, the menu bar features

  • The configuration menu button, ../_images/burger.svg

  • The panels show/hide menu button, ../_images/panels.svg

  • The show/hide tooltips button, ../_images/help.svg

  • The robot name surrounded by state bars (see Table 1)

  • The connection state selector, ../_images/disconnected.svg (disconnect) or ../_images/monitoring.svg (monitoring) or ../_images/control.svg (control)

  • The robot state selector, ../_images/deactivate.svg (deactivate) or ../_images/activate.svg (activate) or ../_images/home.svg (home)

  • The recovery mode button, ../_images/recovery.svg

  • The simulation mode button, ../_images/sim-mode.svg

  • The end-of-arm tooling state icon, ../_images/EOAT.svg

Note

Until you get to know the MecaPortal, we recommend that you activate the tooltips using the button ../_images/help.svg, in the menu bar. Most tooltips are disabled by default.

Table 1 The robot state bars in the MecaPortal#

Visual state

Explanation

Gray, solid

The robot is deactivated.

Yellow, solid

The robot is activated but not homed, or is in recovery mode but not moving.

Yellow, blinking

The robot is in recovery mode and executing motion commands.

Green, solid

The robot is homed.

Green, blinking

The robot is homed and executing motion commands.

Blue, solid

The robot motion is paused.

Red, blinking

The robot is in error mode.

2.1.1. The connection and robot state selectors#

Normally, once the web user interface is loaded, you have not only established an HTTP connection with the robot, but also activated the socket messaging which is the only communication channel between the web interface and the robot. By default, the web interface connects to the robot in monitoring mode only (as seen in Connection state button). To control the robot click on the ../_images/monitoring.svg icon and select ../_images/control.svg. If the robot is in error when you connect to the robot, the connection state button will show a red blinking ../_images/warning.svg icon. You can still press that button and select to only monitor or control the robot. The monitoring option can be used to see in real-time the motion of the robot when another client (e.g., another MecaPortal, a Python program, or a PROFINET application running on a PLC) is controlling the actual robot.