BLUE SERIES is a collection of laser tracking

sensors with wide range of applications.

Starting from welding industry and moving to
underwater inspection laser scanners of the
BLUE series can solve your needs.

Blue series
Operation manual

2018-2021 © Metrology LAB

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©2018-2021

SKYBLUE – OPERATIONS
Security and safety................................................................................................................................................ 6

Purpose of the system .......................................................................................................................................... 8

Laser tracker processes......................................................................................................................................... 8

Seam finding and positioning ........................................................................................................................... 8

Seam tracking ................................................................................................................................................... 8

Adaptive welding .............................................................................................................................................. 9

Quality inspection and control ......................................................................................................................... 9

System structure ................................................................................................................................................... 9

Sensor Models .................................................................................................................................................. 9

Measurement sensor (Head) .......................................................................................................................... 11

Controllers ...................................................................................................................................................... 12

HMI Display..................................................................................................................................................... 16

Connecting the system ................................................................................................................................... 17

Sensor connection ...................................................................................................................................... 17

Mounting clamp ..................................................................................................................................... 17

Connecting ............................................................................................................................................. 17

Air connection ........................................................................................................................................ 17

Water connection................................................................................................................................... 18

Cabling ............................................................................................................................................................ 18

Head to Controller ...................................................................................................................................... 18

HMI to Controller........................................................................................................................................ 18

Robot to Controller..................................................................................................................................... 18

Blue system Client............................................................................................................................................... 18

Starting the client ........................................................................................................................................... 18

User Interface ................................................................................................................................................. 19

Parts of visualization screen ........................................................................................................................... 20

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Title bar....................................................................................................................................................... 20

Control buttons .......................................................................................................................................... 21

Display and control ..................................................................................................................................... 21

Measurement Visualization ........................................................................................................................ 23

Object(OBJ)............................................................................................................................................. 23

TPY, TPZ .............................................................................................................................................. 23

TIMESTAMP ........................................................................................................................................ 23

PROJECTION ....................................................................................................................................... 23

MEASUREMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 23

RECOGNITION RESULTS...................................................................................................................... 23

Image ...................................................................................................................................................... 24

Preset parameters ...................................................................................................................................... 25

Presets management ...................................................................................................................................... 26

System ............................................................................................................................................................ 27

Generic section ........................................................................................................................................... 28

Generic robot section ................................................................................................................................. 29

Calibration data ...................................................................................................................................... 30

Filtering................................................................................................................................................... 30

Time interpolation .................................................................................................................................. 30

Correction limits ..................................................................................................................................... 31

Robot Specific Parameters ......................................................................................................................... 31

Robot state diagram ................................................................................................................................... 32

Authority function protection .................................................................................................................... 32

Admin ..................................................................................................................................................... 32

Manager ................................................................................................................................................. 33

User ........................................................................................................................................................ 33

Changing Authority pins ......................................................................................................................... 33

Locking policy ............................................................................................................................................. 34

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Updating of the system .............................................................................................................................. 36

Setting the client manually ......................................................................................................................... 36

Presets ............................................................................................................................................................ 36

Global parameters ...................................................................................................................................... 37

Joint types................................................................................................................................................... 38

Standard parallelogram plates ............................................................................................................... 38

Cut parallelogram plate .......................................................................................................................... 38

Fillet ............................................................................................................................................................ 39

Measurements ....................................................................................................................................... 39

Edge ............................................................................................................................................................ 40

Measurements ....................................................................................................................................... 40

Corner ......................................................................................................................................................... 41

Measurements ....................................................................................................................................... 41

Area ........................................................................................................................................................ 42

But .............................................................................................................................................................. 42

Measurements ....................................................................................................................................... 43

Lap .............................................................................................................................................................. 43

Measurements ....................................................................................................................................... 44

Vgroove ...................................................................................................................................................... 44

Measurements ....................................................................................................................................... 45

Area ........................................................................................................................................................ 45

Hv groove.................................................................................................................................................... 45

Measurements ....................................................................................................................................... 46

Area ........................................................................................................................................................ 47

Sample Workflows. How To? .......................................................................................................................... 47

Start a new welding piece .......................................................................................................................... 47

Select robot type .................................................................................................................................... 47

Switch to Preset screen and create a new preset of the type you are going to weld............................ 48

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Select the preset you just created.......................................................................................................... 49

Adjust image sensor parameters............................................................................................................ 49

Adjust the exposure time and gain .................................................................................................... 50

Adjust the antireflection filter............................................................................................................ 50

Adjust the value for point finder sensitivity....................................................................................... 50

Adjust the line finder sensitivity, min line length, max line gap. ....................................................... 50

Adjust geometric parameters and tolerances........................................................................................ 51

You should have stable tracking point. .................................................................................................. 51

Save the preset (You can do this on any point above to avoid eventual loss of settings) ..................... 51

Scan the object with the robot to verify that the stability over the work piece if it differs from the place
of initial adjustment. .............................................................................................................................. 51

If needed repeat the procedure above to make tracking stable everywhere. ...................................... 51

Save any changes to the preset.............................................................................................................. 51

Start the robot program and: ................................................................................................................. 51

Select the desired preset from the robot or from the UI ....................................................................... 52

Start the measurement from the robot ................................................................................................. 52

Get data from the data array from the PLC and put it to the motion control application for correction.
................................................................................................................................................................ 52

Stop the measurement on the end of the work piece. .......................................................................... 52

Update the controller ................................................................................................................................. 52

Update the client ........................................................................................................................................ 53

Manual update ....................................................................................................................................... 53

The update from the client (Windows and LINUX) ................................................................................ 54

Installing JAVA ........................................................................................................................................ 55

Install ...................................................................................................................................................... 56

Understanding SkyBlue algorithm .................................................................................................................. 56

BLUE system interaction with third party systems ............................................................................................. 58

Robot connectors ........................................................................................................................................... 58

ABB EGM ................................................................................................................................................ 58

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Blue system configuration.................................................................................................................. 58

Using ABB EGM interface ................................................................................................................... 58

ABB RWS................................................................................................................................................. 59

Blue system configuration.................................................................................................................. 59

Using ABB RWS interface ................................................................................................................... 59

ABB Serial SB .......................................................................................................................................... 59

Blue system configuration.................................................................................................................. 59

Using ABB Serial SB ............................................................................................................................ 60

ABB LTAPP(Laser Tracker Application protocol) TCP ............................................................................. 60

Blue system configuration.................................................................................................................. 60

Using ABB LTAPP interface ................................................................................................................. 60

ABB LTAPP(Laser Tracker Application protocol) TCP_S.......................................................................... 61

Blue system configuration.................................................................................................................. 61

ABB LTAPP(Laser Tracker Application protocol) RTP ............................................................................. 61

KUKA KRL Networking protocol.............................................................................................................. 62

Blue system configuration.................................................................................................................. 62

KUKA RSI (Robot Sensor Interface) ........................................................................................................ 62

Blue system configuration.................................................................................................................. 62

YASKAWA SBMOTO ................................................................................................................................ 63

Blue system configuration.................................................................................................................. 63

Beckhoff.................................................................................................................................................. 64

Slave operation .................................................................................................................................. 64

Generic Robot......................................................................................................................................... 66

SkyBlue internal protocol ............................................................................................................................... 66

RestApi – server is listening on port 8080 .................................................................................................. 66

RestApi Extended – server is listening on port 8081 .................................................................................. 66

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SECURITY AND SAFETY

Blue systems are a peripheral low voltage devices and there are quite few concerns of the operation of the
device in terms of operation stuff and environment. Still some notes as usual in industrial equipment has to be
taken into Account.

In below part of the document some special symbols will be used to denote hazardous behavior or potential
damages of the equipment or operational stuff.

Danger Warns that an accident will occur if the instructions are not followed,
resulting in a serious or fatal injury and/or severe damage to the
product. It applies to warnings that apply to danger with, for example,
contact with high voltage electrical units, explosion or fire risk, risk of
poisonous gases, risk of crushing, impact, fall from height, and so on.
Warning Warns that an accident may occur if the instructions are not followed
that can lead to serious injury, possibly fatal, and/or great damage to
the product. It applies to warnings that apply to danger with, for
example, contact with high voltage electrical units, explosion or fire
risk, risk of poisonous gases, risk of crushing, impact, fall from height,
etc.
Electric Warns for electrostatic hazards which could result in severe damage
discharge (ESD) to the product.

ELECTRICAL Warns for electrical hazards which could result in severe personal
SHOCK injury or death.

CAUTION Warns that an accident may occur if the instructions are not followed
that can result in injury and/or damage to the product. It also applies
to warnings of risks that include burns, eye injury, skin injury, hearing
damage, crushing or slipping, tripping, impact, fall from height, etc.
Furthermore, it applies to warnings that include function
requirements when fitting and removing equipment where there is a
risk of damaging the product or causing a breakdown.
LASER Laser radiation source which can injurie eye or skin.
RADIATION

NOTE Describes important facts and conditions.

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TIP/HINT Describes where to find additional information or how to do an

operation in an easier way.

AUTHORIZATION The function requires authorization by respective authorization level.

NEEDED

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PURPOSE OF THE SYSTEM

The Blue Series is a set of different camera systems for measurements and scanning of objects attached to an
industrial robot or a cobot or an underwater robot. The camera delivers measurement data for the observed
objects. Some models are suitable for guiding of the robot in real-time including during welding. Some are
suitable for inspection. Some are used in positioning only.

LASER TRACKER PROCESSES

In the last 30 years a lot of development and progress has been done in laser scanning technologies related to
robot sensors. From expensive, complex, not reliable, and huge devices laser scanners evolved to useful and
important extension of welding robot systems. Laser tracker sensors are operating in front of the welding torch.
This leads to the fact that measurements are done a bit before the welding tool reach the weld point in the
seam. Because of that the time of collection of the data is very important. It has to be propagated to the robot
in a synchronous manner. Some robots accept a parameter called “aging” and based on that and a proper time
calibration procedure it is possible to evaluate the actual position of the correction being sent to the robot. It
is possible as well to make these computations inside the controller of the camera system and the blue series
provide full possibility for coordinate transformation and configurable time interpolation providing the robot
data for specific robot time.

Seam finding and positioning

Before starting a welding process usually robot program has an “approaching” stage where the robot is
programed to approach the target workpiece. During that process it is needed to precisely position the
workpiece in the robot case to achieve proper access to the welded joint. This task usually requires a lot of
work of the operators or customization/parametrization of the robot program for each workpiece. A seam
finding camera can solve this problem easily and provide simple positioning information for the robot. The
process is fast and provides good positioning. It is possible to make a fast offline scan of the workpiece and
introduce some corrections of the points in the program.

Seam tracking
Seam tracking delivers significantly more than seam finding. On one site workpieces are not always precisely
machined and a CAD drawing of a workpiece is not enough for programming the robot. Adapting the program
for each workpiece is of course a very undesirable operation. In addition, during welding the workpiece can be
distorted by the welding heat which causes improper weld or even stop of welding. If this is not monitored by
an operator the workpiece must be scrapped in most of the cases. All these cases can be handled by a seam
tracking camera. The seam trackers deliver fast and accurate information to the robot and influence the core
robot interpolation cycle trough specific protocols provided by robot manufacturers. This way the robot
program is kept simple, and details are adjusted with an intelligent measurement procedure built in the
software of the camera and the robot.

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Adaptive welding
The SEAM TRACKING function provide precise positioning data for the robot TCP, but the welding process may
be affected by other parameters as well. The welding gap depending on it’s size may require adaption of speed,
the voltage or the waive in case of waiving welds. The volume of the seam is as well important for detailed
optimization of the quality of the welds. The mismatch when it occurs because of welding heat may require
stop of the weld and adapting of the fixtures. Modern robots provide built in function to support adaptive
welding. To do so they need from the sensor system to provide adequate measurement information for several
geometric parameters of the seam.

Quality inspection and control

Quality inspection can be done before or after welding. Before welding it can follow the seam and verify the
quality of the plates or record the track in the robot and use it after in the welding case. After welding the
quality inspection is used to make visual qualification of the final job. To use quality inspection and control
functions the option SB Inspection must be purchased.

SYSTEM STRUCTURE
The BLUE systems series consists of Camera sensor, Controller and HMI Device (optional). All parts of the
system are interconnected with Ethernet cables.

For connection sensor-controller only the factory supplied cable must be used.

Sensor Models
There are several types of sensors taking part of the blue series. The different sensors are intended for different
applications. A summary can be seen in the table below

Model Type
Offline Blue
SmartBlue

WideBlue

DeepBlue
LightBlue

6DBlue
SkyBlue

CODE SB LB MB WB DB 6B

Live Welding Applications Y N Y N Y N Y

Adaptive Welding Y N Y N Y N Y

Simulation Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

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Scanning and Positioning Y Y Y Y Y N Y

Offline Education N N N N N Y N

Underwater operation N N N Some Y N N

models

Reprocessing of scans Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Measurement 2.5D 2.5D 2.5D 2.5D 2.5D 2.5D/6D 6D

Other parameters

Air knife Y Y Y N N N Y

Water Cooling Y N Y N N N Y

Laser beam 660nm 660nm 660nm 660nm/ 450nm N/A 660nm

450nm
Line Line Line Cross Line
Line

Process

Seam finding Y Y Y Y Y N Y

Seam tracking during welding Y N Y Y/N N N Y

Adaptive welding Y N Y N N N Y

Quality inspection Y Possible FULL FULL FULL N FULL

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Viewing Ranges

Most of the sensor types are available in different viewing ranges. The table below summarizes the available
viewing ranges:

CODE Stand Off Far end viewing Depth of View Precision Application

Short range 050 20mm 75mm 55mm 0.01mm Precise fine objects

Standard Range 120 110mm 230mm 120mm 0.05mm Regular workpieces of

different kind
Far Range 200 250mm 450mm 200mm 0.1mm Big workpieces,
complicated objects
Wide Blue 0500 500mm 1500mm 1000mm 1mm Far range
Range only for WB type positioning.
Deep Blue Range 0250 250mm 500mm 250mm 0.1mm Underwater
only for DB type inspection

On request custom viewing range can be ordered.

Labeling model codes

MT_VV_MRXX

 MT is the model type as stated in table model types - one of SB, LB,MB,WB,DB,6B
 VV is the version of the design – a two digit number for identification
 MRXX is the viewing range – is the viewing range as specified in Viewing range - CODE

Other technical parameters

Number of measurements per second 90-100 s-1

Exposure time 100µs – 18 ms
Gain 1-12 dB
Dynamic resolution 10bits

Measurement sensor (Head)

Measurement sensor does the actual physical measurements of objects located in the laser plane

LB/SBXX050

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LB/SBXX120 and LB/SBXX250

Measurement sensor is connected to controller to appropriate connection interface (see below controller) with
high quality cable.

Controllers
Controllers are equipped with multiple Ethernet ports. Three of the ports are preconfigured for operations of
the BLUE systems. The ports on the device are labeled accordingly to identify the connections.

SENSOR PORT – connects to sensor with factory provided cable. The port is preconfigured within the network

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ROBOT PORT – connects to robot – the port is 1G port but if the robot does not support 1G the fast Ethernet
(100M) is sufficient for communication of all the supported protocols. The IP network of the robot is configured
on the SYSTEM option of the GUI control client.

HMI PORT – connects to HMI device or user PC for configuring and monitoring of the BLUE device. The IP
network of the HMI device is preconfigure to net: [Link] / [Link] with IP [Link]
IP address [Link] is preserved for the HMI tablet being an option in the system.
IPs [Link] .. [Link] can be used by PCs used as Client consoles simultaneously.

Several hardware versions of the controller with similar functionality are available in the BLUE systems
configuration. For standard operations all of them can support any of the existing BLUE sensors.

The controller type modules are as follows:

CB_01_0050

This model supports legacy low speed sensors operating at 50 fps.

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TO Robot Preset to [Link] TO Sensor

Can be configured from the client Gray or Blue cable

TO HMI (green cable) Debug interface -

net: [Link] / [Link] DHCP
[Link] HMI
[Link].. [Link] ext. PC

Power supply 24V

The interfaces of the controller are dedicated for specific purposes from left to right:

1. HMI display or switch to HMI and external pc.

2. Debug interface intended for servicing, remote access etc. The IP configuration is obtained by DHCP
on the network where the controller is connected.
3. OFF
4. Interface to robot. Preconfigured to [Link]/[Link]. IP configuration can be changed from the
client.
5. Blue systems sensor connection. 5m gray cable CAT7 and 10m blue cable CAT6A are provided.
6. Not used.

Sensor interface is POE enabled and controller is powering the sensor. IP address is factory defined and is not
intended to be changed on the field.

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CB_02_0100

This model supports high speed sensors operating at 100 fps. It is capable to scan objects ate rate of 75-90 fps
It can connect to robots trough Ethernet as well as using RS232/RS422/RS485. The outside look and connector
definitions of CB_02_100 are the same as in CB_02_050

CB_03_0100

The modern controller of BLUE systems it can process 100-120 fps in addition to Ethernet and serial
communications it support a set of opt isolated GPIO which can be connected directly to the robot or other
automation devices.

CB_04_0200

The latest member of the family. It is the most compact and powerful controller in the family with significant
expandability trough mini . It can process 200-250 fps.

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HMI Display
Provide user interface to the controller and parameterization of pattern matching for successful seam tracking.

TO Controller Power supply 24V

Power Supply

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Power supply between 8 and 35 V VDC has to be supplied to controller and HMI display (Head is powered by
the controller). Recommended value – 24V. Sample power supplies for controller and HMI display are provided
in the package.

Connecting the system

SENSOR CONNECTION
The sensor has to be mounted on the robot arm. Different mounting approaches are possible. BLUE systems
provide two standard clamps for mounting on the welding torch. It is possible as well to mount the camera on
the last ARM of the robot.

Mounting clamp
Two clamps are available on request. An universal clamp which
can be moved and around on the torch and the camera can be
placed in different vertical positions and 3DOF clamp which
allows in addition to select the angle between the torch and the
laser beam. A customer mounting option is as well possible. The
main thinks to consider when deciding about mounting:

 Mounting should be done in a way that the camera moving

together with the torch does not conflict with parts of the
workpiece.
 The workpiece should be in the viewing area of the camera in production position
 The laser beam should be at about 50mm behind the torch

Connecting
The sensor is connected to the controller done by factory qualified cable 5-10m long; CAT 7 or CAT6E Ethernet
cable. Shielding on both sides is very important (as per the cited standards). The cables are delivered with the
system. White 5m; Blue/Black 10m. In case the cable has screws for fixing the connector a special isolation is
provided as well. The isolation has to be placed on the screw RJ45 and after connecting to the sensor the screws
has to be screwed tightly. After proper connection of a POE
enabled cable both LEDs on the connector are ON - green and
one of them is blinking to indicate data transfer. Controller
models CB-01-050, CB-02-100, CB-03-100 ports are POE
enabled. CB-04-100 – provide an external POE Injector.

Air connection
Air and water connections are done always after
connecting the cable and securing it!

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The air connection is done with tubes 4 mm external diameter

using the upper two one touch connectors. Both connectors
needs to be filled. If one tube is used for air a Y type tube
should be used. The air should be cleaned from water and oil. The pressure
should regulated in the range 1-3 atmospheres. Use a regulator like e.g. this
shown on the right.

Water connection
Water connection is done using two tubes with external diameter 6mm.
One tube is incoming water and the other is outgoing. The pressure should
be kept between 3-6 atm. The water temperature should be 20 oC. The cooling capacity of 300W should be
enough as cooling is needed to protect the camera from the weld workpiece and not because of internal
heating of the camera. The provided flow should be 2L/min or more.

Always disconnect the water tubes first from the chiller side of the connection to avoid coolant
liquid blow on the camera. Protect you hand and еyes from coolant liquid!

Cabling
HEAD TO CONTROLLER
- done by factory qualified cable 3-10m long; CAT 7 or CAT6E Ethernet cable. Shielding on both sides is very
important (as per the cited standards). The cables are delivered with the system. White 5m; Blue 10m

HMI TO CONTROLLER
- sample cable provided by factory with 3m length; CAT5E + Shield minimum

ROBOT TO CONTROLLER
- RJ45 connector as defined above (not included in the package).

BLUE SYSTEM CLIENT

Starting the client
To start the client from HMI display a link on HMI screen is provided (2). Before starting the client, it is advised
to start a standard Linux virtual keyboard (1).

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On a regular PC, with installed Java, connected with dedicated interface to the controller HMI port you can
start the client by double click of [Link] file.

User Interface
The user interface provide functionality for configuration of the BLUE system and visualization of the
operations. The screen show below may differ from below view due to specific system configuration.

After starting of the client application a language can be selected:

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Since that the application operate on that language. To change the langauge the application should be
restarted. After selecting of the language the main application screen opens.

Title BAR
Preset Selector

General
Navigation

Measurement
Visualization Preset Parameters

Display and
control

Parts of visualization screen

TITLE BAR
Sensor
temperature
Version of controller Current frame No
Sensor model

Version of client Serial number of sensor Locking state

Time stamp of current frame

The title bar contains important information about the current system connected:

cl V: - Software version of client operating on a PC or on industrial touch screen (tablet)

Sensor M: - Sensor model – SB50 is the viewing range 001 is the version

38oC – displays the temperature of the sensor on OfflineBlue the value is 0oC

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SN: - Serial number of the sensor (stored in the sensor). If one connects a sensor to a controller the specific
sensor will be listed here.

Controller V: - Software version of the controller. It shows as well essential status information about the
operation of the system:

xxxxxx[ms] - Timestamp – timestamp of the visualized frame since start of the sensor in milliseconds

fc: (xxxxx) – frame counter of the number of frames since the sensor has been started

Locking state – discussed later in this document

CONTROL BUTTONS
START MEASUREMENT – switches on and off the measurements of the
system. BE CAREFULL THIS SWITCHES ON THE LASER
THERE SHOULD NOT BE ANYBODY IN FRONT OF THE
SENSOR LASER BEAM. The laser is 30 mW optical power
laser, which could be harmful for yeas of operator with
direct exposure.

VIEW – Switches to visualization and parameter adjustment screen

PRESETS – Switches to presets management screen.

SYSTEM – Switches to system configuration update and log collection.

EXIT – closes the client. On close the client switches the measurements
off if they have been switched on by this client (see state diagram and
locking later in the document).

DISPLAY AND CONTROL

The display and control holds different set of functions which depends on the configuration and mode of
operation of the system.

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Segments – when pushed the segments can be seen in Object view panel
as redline with green dots on the end

Points – when pushed points are displayed in Object panel as gray points
and as red points on the image.

Filtered – Shows the results of filtering of the image on the image panel
when pushed. When released the actually collected by the sensor image
is seen.

Lock – the button is used to lock and unlock functions related to camera
operations. (Please refer to Locking policy)

Save Images – starts recording of sequence of images on the client system. Pushing the Save Images on
switches to the image screen and shows on the title bar the number of images being saved. The rate of saving
may be lower than the real processing rate of the Blue system (not all incoming frames are stored). When
enough data is collected the button has to be pushed again and a zip file with the images is produced with time
stamp as aa name containing the desired record. The zip file can be put later to OfflineBlue with Reprocess
button and adjustments of preset can be done offline or sent to support team.

Reprocessing/Production – Switches between reprocessing and live sensor operations. When mode is
reprocessing the Reprocess button is enabled and package for reprocessing can be uploaded to the controller
of the BLUE system. OfflineBlue is always in reprocessing mode so always data can be uploaded. Uploading a
new package removes the old data. Once data is uploaded the switching of the START MEASUREMENT initiate
cycling over the uploaded before data.

Reprocess – reprocess button allows upload of packages for reprocessing. Once package is uploaded the
MEASUREMENT is switched ON and preset 9999999999 contains the original settings being used in the life
system.

Please note it is not possible to modify parameters which affect the physical sensor – EXPOSURE TIME
and GAIN. Changed parameters will be stored in the preset on saving but will not affect the images as
data has been already stored.

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MEASUREMENT VISUALIZATION
Object(OBJ)
The object screen shows the object on which the
camera points. And the different intermediate
processing results. In addition measurement
data and results of recognition are shown.

TPY, TPZ
The green rectangle on the upper left site of
Object area display the coordinates of the
tracking point depicted on the projection as a
red cross with yellow borders. The displayed
numbers are in mm. near to TPY and TPZ
coordinates small numbers are displayed to give
an impression about the stability of the tracking
point. These values are the differences between
two subsequent frames shown on the screen.
For stable tracking point this value would be of
the order of magnitude of 0.02-0.1 mm
depending on the specific camera model (please
refer to the camera models description). Shown here values are send to the robot together with

TIMESTAMP
The timestamp of the respective image is shown on the light blue rectangle in the upper right corner of the
Object area. The timestamp and the difference are measured in milliseconds.

PROJECTION
The projection area shows a black trapeze representing the viewing area of the sensor. The upper side of the
image is the near to the sensor side and the bottom is the far area of viewing. A grid with labels shows the
millimeter distances for better interpretation of the view.

MEASUREMENTS
On the lower part of the Object area the measurements are shown. Up to eight values can be displayed for a
frame. The measurements depends on the used preset (please refer to presets section).

RECOGNITION RESULTS

The lowest yellow area in Object shows information about the tracking results. The message
shows that the recognition went OK and there is no need of additional adjustment of parameters. There is a

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possibility where the recognition did not work. In these cases a red message is shown giving an indication what

is the problem. . The possible conditions are:

- Not enough segments – The number of visible segments is not enough for the specified preset.
- No candidate segment – There is not enough segments with proper angle to the view axe of the sensor.
Try to adjust the absolute viewing angle and it’s tolerance.
- No candidate pair – There is one or more pairs of segments which does not fit to the specified constraints
and there tolerances. Check the angles, the bandings,
- Validation not successful – The validations of parameters are not met. Ususaly these step include all
distances, maximum gap,
minimum length, width,
height etc. Check these kind
of constraints entered in the
preset definition.

Image
The Image tab can be selected by
pressing the tab IMG on top of
Visualization area. The sensor
parameters EXPOSURE TIME,
GAIN and ANTIREFLECTION
FILTER and POINT SENSITIVITY
has to be adjusted. The target is
to get clear image with proper
identification of the RED DOTS
on the expected object. The big
white spots should be excluded
by the filter. The EXPOSURE
TIME, GAIN ANTIREFLECTION
FILTER and POINT SENSITIVITY
can be changed from the grid in
PRESET PARAMETERS Area. The
functions Filtered image and
Points on the DISPLAY AND
CONTROL block are useful in this
operation.

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PRESET PARAMETERS
Preset parameters area contains a preset selector
(on top of the region), GRID with properties names
and values and sketch of the selected preset type
illustrating the meaning of geometric properties for
the specified preset type.

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Presets management
Presets management screen allows creation of presets and removal of not needed presets.

NEW button allows creation of new preset. When created the preset gets number (must be unique in the
system) type and label. When created if number of an existing preset is used the existing preset is overwritten.
Type of the preset can be defined only during preset creation. Label is used to allow the operator easier decide
about the purpose of the preset. The preset type is one of the supported preset types in the system.

DELETE button deletes the selected the selected preset.

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System
The system panel handles functions related to the configuration and maintenance of the system. The panel
contains three area with parameter values and a section with buttons. The values from all sections of the
parameters are stored in the system after pressing the button SET. The first section

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GENERIC SECTION
The generic section contains connection and robot type parameters. The IP and NET mask are used in robots
with IP connection. In the different type of controllers a special port is dedicated for the IP connection. The
port is labeled with label ROBOT.

TO Robot PORT
TO Robot PORT

Model CB_01_050 and CB_02_100 Model CB_03_100

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TO Robot PORT

Model CB_04_100

In case of serial connection the serial port 1 of the system is used.

SER conn

Model CB_01_050, Model CB_02_100

SER conn Model CB_03_100

SER conn

Model CB_04_100

GENERIC ROBOT SECTION

The generic robot section contains parameters
which are common for all robots. Some
specific parameters depends on the used
protocol. Please see the notes on the
description of the specified protocol. The
section is normally locked and can be unlocked with Manager Authorization as the parameters in this section

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may affect the correction results sent to the robot in unexpected way so parameters can be changed only by
experts.

Calibration data
DY[mm], DZ[mm], DX[mm] shift between coordinate system of TCP and SENSOR

DPhI[o], DTheta[o], DPsI[o] – Euler angles between TCP and SENSOR coordinate systems

Coord Transform – the parameter has two possible values SB Coords – the sensor coordinates are delivered to
the robot, To Robot – the above calibration parameters are used for transformation of coordinates of the
sensor to TCP.

Filtering
IIR Y[0..1], IIR Z[0..1] – Simple first order IIR filter is used on output of the data y% n  1    yn   y% n 1 . Here

y% n , y% n 1 are the filtered values yn is the measured data.  is the filter strength. For   0 there is no
filtering for   1 the output is stick to 0. For intermediate values a filtering is done with the characteristics of
IIR. A reasonable value for the rates generated by BLUE systems is 0.1 to 0.3.

PID P, PID I, PID D – defines parameter for PID (proportional–integral–derivative) controller stabilizer (filter).
The controller is operating based on

t de  t 
u  t   Pe  t   I  e   d  D 
0 dt
k
ui  Pei  I  ei  j  D  ei  ei 1 
j 0

Here ui is the correction sent to the robot, ei is the position of the robot TCP. The PID stabilizer can be used
when the robot protocol delivers the robot position to the sensor. For P=1, I=0, D=0 the results send to the
robot are not changed by the PID controller.

Time interpolation
The blue systems are behind trackers i.e. the camera is looking in front of the welding torch and obtained data
at a given moment are important for the robot in a later point in time. When interpolation mode is used SkyBlue
is returning to the robot historical data fitting to time of robot request. If the robot protocol provide
timestamps with robot time in the requests SkyBlue is synchronizing with robot time and returns to the robot
a value corresponding to robot time included in the request. There are two options defined by the
T interpolation Line Interp. and Step Interp. For Step interpolation the nearest to the requested time correction
value is returned. For Line Interpolation a linear correction in the interval surrounding the robot request time

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is calculated end returned as correction. If the robot protocol is not providing times in the requests a value
older than the time of the request by T Shift SB[s] parameter.

Correction limits
Max Cor Y[mm], Max Cor Z[mm] – the maximum allowed correction values in the respective direction. If
measured correction is bigger it is set to the maximum value (respecting the sign) to limit oscillations of robot
reaction due to too big correction.

ROBOT SPECIFIC PARAMETERS

This section contains protocol specific parameters. They concerns mainly the connectivity to the robot.

SkyBlue measurement data which is available for transmission to different robot types is:

[0] – actual measurement status 0 – measurement is off 1 – measurement is on

[1] – actual preset - the number of the preset (joint number) being used by BLUE system.

[2] – time stamp of the frame in ms

[3] – age of the frame in ms. As the processing needs some time after the image has been collected the age
contains that time and can be used on the robot for precise synchronization.

[4] – error code of SkyBlue

– 0 – no error
– 1 – Not enough segments – the expected object has more segments than SkyBlue can see. E.g.
looking for filet but only one segment is found.
– 2 – No candidate segment – The absolute angles do not allow selection of the needed number of
segments.
– 3 – No candidate pair – The relative angles do not fit to the observed object
– 4 – Validation not successful – The distance constraints do not fit. E.g. minimum lengths, maximum
gap etc.
– +100 (e.g. 100, 101, 102, 103, 104) – an attempt to set non existing preset from the robot has
been done. The preset remains the same as before the attempt.

[5] – Tracking point X coordinate in 10microns units (mm * 100). E.g. 1101 is 11.01mm

[6] – Tracking point Y coordinate in 10microns units (mm * 100). E.g. 2101 is 21.01mm

[7]..[14] – Measurement specific to the preset type. The measurements are multiplied by 100 as for the TP.
The angles are presented in radians*100. The distances in mm*100. The areas in mm 2*100. The order of the
measurements is the same as displayed on SkyBlue measurement panel.

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ROBOT CONNECTOR STATE DIAGRAM

Robot controller states are:

IDLE –

MON –

DATA –

MOFF –

CLMON –

CLMOFF –

TBD

AUTHORITY FUNCTION PROTECTION

The BLUE systems support authorization for some functions when they are critical for some reasons. For
example updating the software of the system can be done with Admin level of authorization.

The system supports three levels of authorization, Admin, Manager, User. A higher level can authorize a lower
level. As an example if a USER PIN is requested by the system the MANAGER and the ADMIN pin will pass the
authorization too. When authorization is done the authorization status is remembered for about 5 min in the
client and reentering of the respective pins is not required unless the client is restarted or the 5 min since last
authorization expires.

Admin
The Admin authorization level is the highest protection level in the system. Critical operations in the system
are protected by admin level authority pin.

The factory default for Admin authorization is 999999.

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Manager
Manager authorization level is required for important but still not critical system operations like for example
unlocking the system during lock from the Robot or from another client.

The factory default for manager level of authorization is 555555

User
The user level of control if applied is used in the initial start of the client. If user authorization is required the
user is asked to enter PIN on start of the client. The factory default for user authorization is empty – no
authorization is required.

Changing Authority pins

Modifying the authority pin values can be done from System->Authority Setup

Where after Admin Authorization the following dialogue appears:

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It is possible with this function to modify the PINs of the different levels by entering and re-entering the new
desired pins. The PINS can be up to 6 digits long. It is possible to view what we are typing by pressing the eye
icon on the right site of the dialogue (same as when pins are entered for authorization requests).

The factory settings for User level is “empty” which means no authorization is needed for User level operations.

Please note! If Admin authorization level is left without pins (empty fields) there will be no
Authorization required by the system in no any cases. If Manager level is left “empty” the Manager
Authentication will not be required any more in the system.

LOCKING POLICY
Locking is needed by the system to avoid occasional operations with SkyBlue from the GUI client. If this happens
during robot operations it may affect the operations of the ROBOT. E.g. if the preset is changed during welding
this may destroy the tracking quality. If this occurs the robot will be “blind” for seam tracking. Because of this
when the measurement is started from the robot the other clients are locked. They still show the tracking
information but it is not possible to switch on/off measurement, change preset, change parameters in the
preset, update the controller etc.

In case the operator still wants to change some of the above parameters it can explicitly unlock the client and
make the required modifications. The same behavior applies to multiple GUI clients but they are not prioritized.
The first client locks the system. When the system is locked by a GUI client the robot will lock it if it switches
the measurements ON. The second client connected to the system will be in locked state – can not change
parameters. The second client however can unlock the system and take over for operations. In this case the
first client is locked and cannot make changes on the operations. As the operation of taking over the locking
can be dangerous (e.g. destroy the robot tracking) there is a protection with pin code with manager level of
authority.

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On the user interface the locking state is shown as last section on the title bar

Sensor model Version of controller Current frame No

Version of client Serial number of sensor Time stamp of current frame Locking state

Type of
locker –
client or
robot

Unique ID of Locking ID of locker

the client Status

The system is locked by the active client.

- When second client is started the system is still locked by the first client. The second
client cannot change parameters and states on the screen but can observe results.

If needed the client [2] can unlock the system

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Unlock by pressing
this button

- The client ID is 5 but the robot (ID 6) took over and locked the system. When robot starts
(Including internal robot simulation) it always locks the system. In the client pool the first client locks. When
robot starts it override the client locks and lock the system.

UPDATING OF THE SYSTEM

Update of the controller is done by selection of factory distributed [Link] file. For update of the client a
[Link] file is used (Please use only factory provided update files!)

SETTING THE CLIENT MANUALLY

The client is a java application contained in a single jar file.

To start the client on windows:

1. Java 7 JRE has to be installed

2. Double click on the jar file starts the application or in the cmd console use javaw -jar [Link]

The controller should be connected to the “green” cable connector with the PC. IP addresses should be
conformant to spec above.

Presets
Presets are collection of parameters intended to track specific workpiece. Presets have types and parameters.
There are parameters global for all preset types and parameters specific to the geometry of the type.

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Presets in SkyBlue are designed taking into account the basic welding standards. During welding two plates are
joined with arc welding process. Two types of plates are usually available for welding:

GLOBAL PARAMETERS
In front of all there are some global parameters not related to the specific shape of a joint:

Exposure time[ms] – the sensor can collect light for different time. The supported time range is 0.1ms to 18ms
(to keep the rate of produced frames high enough).

Gain[dB] – in addition to exposure the gain allows making the image lighter. Value can change between 1db
and 15db.

Antireflection Filter – antireflection filter is

Point sensitivity – Controls the collection of points by the algorithm. Range is between 1 and 10. 1 allow more
points 10 reduces the number of points. At 1 a noisy image will give a lot of outliers but a dark image will deliver
points. At 10 the chosen points are reduced and filtering of data takes place.

Line sensitivity – Line sensitivity controls the ease the algorithm produces lines. Value can be changed from 1
to 100. 1- stands for more lines (more noise). 100 heavy filtering of the lines.

Minimum line – minimum length of accepted line. The parameter is a threshold which define which segments
are considered. Segments shorter than this value are removed to filter the noise. Usually set from 0.5mm to 3
mm

Maximum gap – maximum gap between two segments to aggregate them into a single line. If the gap between
two segments is smaller than this value the segments are aggregated into one segment. Please be careful with
this value it should be smaller than expected gaps in BUT or other similar presets. Typical values 0.5m to 1 mm

O - Absolute angle and Absolute angle tolerance – angle of observation of the working pies. Defined below
and on the client as green line.

Minimum plate length – the minimum plate length is used to define what part of the plate has to be visible to
consider the target template found.

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JOINT TYPES
Standard parallelogram plates

The standard plates manufactured in steel factories.

Cut parallelogram plate

To increase the joining area between plates which has to be weld often the place is cut on the joint side.

Other shapes of plates can be used as well but usually weld joints are covered by these two profiles.

These plates can be joined with other plates of the same kind in several different ways:

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FILLET

Two parallelogram plates joined at some angle (usually but not necessarily 90 o). The algorithm is looking for
two segments as shown below.

A - fillet_angle and fillet_angle_tol – angle between plates and tolerance of the angle [deg] the default value is
set to 90[deg] the tolerance default is 45[deg] to be able to catch initially any filet object. It is recommended
to straiten it to 10 [deg] if possible and adjust the value of the angle if needed.

P - fillet_minplate – minimum length of the plates [mm] . The minimum part of the filet plates seen on the left
and on the right side of the filet. Recommended value is 3 mm. A bigger value will require bigger part of the
filet to be seen for getting recognition. A smaller value may lead to catching false positives due to noise.

fillet_track_point A – does not need selection as it is a single option – on the crossing point of the two plates

Measurements
 Angle from camera [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Filet measured angle [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Filet gap [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Left plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot

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 Right plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot

EDGE

Edge is not a typical welding target. It is useful for finding the end of a plate (expecting usually but not
necessarily 90o angle between both segments). As seen below the algorithm is looking for 2 segments.

 A - corner_angle and corner_angle_tol – angle between plates and tolerance of the angle [deg]
 P - corner_minplate – minimum length of the plates [mm]
 corner_track_point A – does not need selection as it is a single option

Measurements
 Angle from camera [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Measured angle [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Left plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Right plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot

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CORNER

Two parallelogram plates joined at some angle in the opposite orientation than fillet (usually but not
necessarily 90o). All four elements of the corner should be visible on the image to obtain a finding.

 A - corner_angle and corner_angle_tol – angle between plates and tolerance of the angle [deg]
 P - corner_minplate – minimum length of the plates [mm]
 T – corner plate thickness and thickness tolerance
corner_track_point A,B,C,D,E

Measurements
 Angle from camera [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Measured angle [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot

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 Gap [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot

 Left plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Right plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Left plate thickness [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Right plate thickness [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot

Area

Area is calculated as a triangle between tracking points B, C, A

BUT

Two parallelogram plates joined one near to the other with some distance between them. The plates are placed
parallel.

 P - butt_minplate – minimum length of plates [mm]

 M-maxmismatch – maximum mismatch of plates [mm]
 A-butt_maxdistortion – maximum distortion angle [deg]

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 W-butt_width – width of the gap between plates [mm]

 but_track_point A, B, C – supported tracking points: end of right plate-A, center between plates - B,
left plate -C

Measurements
The following measurements are calculated with this preset:

 Angle from camera [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot

 Width of but [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Distortion angle [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in ROBOT
 Mismatch [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Left plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Right plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Width of gap [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot

LAP
The LAP is a joint formed between two plates placed as a step.

Two parallelogram plates joined one on top of the other. The plates are placed parallel. Please NOTE all 3
segments shown below should be visible to obtain a tracking.

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 H- lap_stepheight and tolerance – height of lap and tolerance [mm]

 A - lap_bending – Maximal angle between plates [deg]
 P - lap_minplate – minimum length of the plates [mm]
 lap orientation (left/right)
 lap_track_point A,B,C

Special comments: Lap preset is defined with 3 segments. All 3 segments should be visible for that version of
the preset.

Measurements
 Angle from camera [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Step height [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Bending angle [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Upper plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Lower plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot

VGROOVE
V groove is used when two cut plates has to be weld.

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 P - vgroove_minplate – minimum length of horizontal part of plates [mm]

 W - vgroove_width and tol – Width of V as drawn above [mm]
 H - vgroove_height and tol – Height of V as drawn above [mm]
 A - vgroove_bending – Maximum angle of distortion of both plates [deg]
 G - vgroove_maxgap – Maximum gap of V [mm]
 M - vgroove_maxmismatch – Maximum mismatch of both plates [mm]
 vgroove_track_point A, B, C, D, E;
A – left plate cut edge, B – right plate cut edge, C – crossing between cut parts(bottom of V), D –
Middle between A and B, E – centre of A, B, C

Measurements
 Angle from camera [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Bottom gap [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Area [mm2] in GUI; [mm2]*1000 in robot
 Bending of both plates [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot
 Top width [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Height [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Mismatch [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Left plate [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot
 Right plate [mm] in GUI; [mm]*1000 in robot

Area

SkyBlue calculate for V preset a triangular area located between TP. A, B, C

HV GROOVE
HV groove is a joint formed by one cut plate and one parallelogram plate. If the material needed for strong
joint is still not enough special cutting of one or both plates is possible.

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Please note the angle of watching the plate should be selected in a way that all three segments shown below
are seen.

 PH - hvgroove_minplatehorizontal – minimum length of horizontal plate [mm]

 PV - hvgroove_minplatevertical – minimum length of vertical plate [mm]
 W - hvgroove_width and tolerance – Width of the welding groove [mm]
 H - hvgroove_height and tolerance – Height of welding groove [mm]
 A hvgroove_bending – The expected angle between vertical plate and cut plate is 90 0. This parameter
defines the maximum deviation from this angle 00 in the ideal case. [deg]
 G- hvgroove_maxgap – The maximum allowed bottom gap of the object [mm]
 orientation (left/right)
 hvgroove_track_point A, B, C, D, E

Measurements
 Angle from camera [deg] in GUI; [rad]*1000 in robot

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 Bottom gap [mm] in GUI; [mm]*100 in robot

 Area [mm2] in GUI; [mm2]*100 in robot
 Bending angle [deg] in GUI; [rad]*100 in robot
 Width [mm] in GUI; [mm]*100 in robot
 Height [mm] in GUI; [mm]*100 in robot
 Horizontal plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*100 in robot
 Vertical plate length [mm] in GUI; [mm]*100 in robot

Area

Sample Workflows. How To?

START A NEW WELDING PIECE
Select robot type
Robot type is selected in System tab (1) and then chose the Robot Type from the combo box (2). Fill in the
parameters for the specific robot type (3) and press the SET (4) button to store the parameters and robot type.

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Switch to Preset screen and create a new preset of the type you are going to weld
Select preset screen (1) and create appropriate preset(2) for your welding piece.

On the New preset dialogue select Preset number (1) – Sky Blue is proposing automatically a preset number
not used till now. Enter description (used to identify the preset purpose) (2). Select preset type depending on

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the weld piece in use (3) (see above Presets description for supported preset types) . When ready press the OK
button (4).

The newly created preset appears in the preset list.

Select the preset you just created

Adjust image sensor parameters

Point the robot so that the camera see the welding workpiece. Switch to View screen (1), select IMG tab (2)
and start measurement (3).

When measurement is started the image seen by the sensor shows the visible work piece.

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The red points are the points found by the algorithm.

The button Points show and hide the points.

Adjust the exposure time and gain

To adjust, modify first the exposure time. Exposure
time normally reduces noise so higher exposure will
keep the noise low. If exposure time can not provide
sharp enough image the gain can be increased. The
reasonable maximum value for Exposure time is
10ms. Beyond 10 ms exposure time the gain has to be increased to obtain good visibility.

Adjust the antireflection filter

Antireflection filter
removes from the
image areas with
homogeneous
intensity. I.e. white
spots from reflections
or welding. A value of
30px (provided as
default) is a reasonable
value. The actual result
of the filter can be seen on the right image. If points are
seen well do not modify the default. Please note! When
adjusting the antireflection keep in mind that during
welding white spots can appear so the filter will be effective at that time even
if improvement can not be seen during adjustment.

Adjust the value for point finder sensitivity.

The point finder sensitivity can be adjusted from 0 to a value 8-10. When increasing the value less points will
be seen. Select a value which removes as much of noisy points as you can.

Adjust the line finder sensitivity, min line length, max line gap.
The sensitivity is a value which specify how lines are determined. The higher the value the more intensive
production of lines is ongoing. The shorter lines disappear and the longest only remain. This can be seen in red

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on OBJ tab. Reasonable values can considered between 20 and 30 (50 in extreme cases). Min line len is the
minimal length of a line which are accepted by the system. Please note: the values will aggregate lines.

Adjust geometric parameters and tolerances

There is a geometric parameter which is required by all preset types - the camera view angle and it’s tolerance.
The general angle is defined for all preset types based on the angle to the right plates.

The other parameters are angles and distances specific for the defined preset. In all plates the minimum plate
length defines how much of the actual object has to be seen to get the tracking done.

You should have stable tracking point.

A feeling about the stability can be obtained following the changes of the TP (the small numbers on the GUI
after TP value) on a fixed position on the workpiece

Save the preset (You can do this on any point above to avoid eventual loss of
settings)
Once you have reached a stable result on a given point on the workpiece press the save button on

Scan the object with the robot to verify that the stability over the work piece if it
differs from the place of initial adjustment.

If needed repeat the procedure above to make tracking stable everywhere.

Save any changes to the preset.

Start the robot program and:

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Select the desired preset from the robot or from the UI

Start the measurement from the robot

Get data from the data array from the PLC and put it to the motion control
application for correction.

Stop the measurement on the end of the work piece.

UPDATE THE CONTROLLER

To update the controller you need to have a file from the manufacturer of the type skyblue-controller-x.y.z-
[Link] where x.y.z is the version you are updating with. You can update a second time with the same version
without problems.

To update please make your update file accessible from the client (if needed use USB flash).

1. On the client click System (1 on the screen shot below):

2. Select Update Controller (2)

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3. Select the update file (3)

4. Choose Open (4)

In few seconds the update is done. You may restart the client and on the top bar you should see the new
version.

UPDATE THE CLIENT

Manual update
The client is a JAR file (java application). To update the client, you need to replace the old jar file with the new
one. To start the client on Windows with installed java 7 you need to double click on the jar file or make a
shortcut to the jar file and use the shortcut. You can as well use the command “java -jar [Link]”. On Linux
you can start the application from a console on Linux with the command “java -jar [Link]”.

On Debian Linux (the HMI device) you can make a shortcut to the client by creating a file:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=ICY
Exec=java -jar '/home/skyblue/[Link]'
Terminal=false
Type=Application
The client is located in /home/skyblue/[Link]

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The update from the client (Windows and LINUX)

You should have the new client accessible from your file system (just copied on windows or on a flash stick on
the HMI)

Select the folder where you have the new jar sfile:

You should see the jar file in that folder (the screen filters for jar files only).

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Select the jar (4) and press Open (5). The update takes less than 1s. After the update you need to restart the
client and you will see a newer version on the top bar:

As mentioned above SkyBlue controller has several Ethernet connections. To simplify usage the connections
are with predefined fixed IP addresses. The IP address of a computer interface running skyblue client must be
set to an IP in the range

Installing JAVA
To install Java on a windows PC:

Execute [Link] to install for Windows 32. To install for windows 64 use jre-7u80-windows-
[Link]. Follow the instructions on the following screens.

To install Java on Linux PC:

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For Linux choose the appropriate distribution from [Link], [Link] or jre-
[Link], [Link].

For [Link] distributions follow the steps:

Install
The instructions below are for installing version Java 7 Update 80 (7u80).

Note about root access: To install Java in a system-wide location such as /usr/local, you must login
as the root user to gain the necessary permissions. If you do not have root access, install Java in
your home directory or a subdirectory for which you have write permissions.
1. Change to the directory in which you want to install. Type:
cd directory_path_name
For example, to install the software in the /usr/java/ directory, Type:
cd /usr/java/

2. Move the .[Link] archive binary to the current directory.

3. Unpack the tarball and install Java
tar zxvf [Link]

The Java files are installed in a directory called jre1.8.0_73 in the current directory. In this
example, it is installed in the /usr/java/jre1.7.0_80 directory. When the installation has
completed, you will see the word Done.
4. Delete the .[Link] file if you want to save disk space.

Understanding SkyBlue algorithm

The basic procedure in SkyBlue core includes the following steps on each frame produced by the CMOS sensor:

1- Collection of the frame – the image collection is done with fast controller located in the sensor which
collects 10bits/pixel images with real time speed of the sensor. Parameters affecting quality of
collected image (frame) are available in all presets:
 Exposure time[ms] – the sensor can collect light for different time. The supported time range is
0.1ms to 18ms (to keep the rate of produced frames).
 Gain[dB] – in addition to exposure the gain allows making the image lighter. Value can change
between 1db and 15db.
 Antireflection filter [px] – This is a special high-pass filter. It filters the large areas with
homogeneous intensity like e.g. large spots from excessive light reflective surface etc.
The effect of the filter can be checked and adjusted on the image tab using the “Filter” button in
the function area of the client.
2- Point finding – Includes a procedure for extracting points from the visible object (shown in black in
VIEW-OBJ and in RED in VIEW-IMG). Parameters affecting point finding are available in all presets:

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 Point sensitivity – Controls the collection of points by the algorithm. Range is between 1.0 and
10.0 . 1 allow more points 10 reduces the number of points. At 1 a noisy image will give a lot of
outliers but a dark image will deliver points. At 10 the chosen points are reduced and filtering of
data takes place.
3- Line finding – uses a transformation of the points known as HOUGH transform to convert them in
linear segments. The following exposed parameters affect the line finding algorithm:
 Line sensitivity – Line sensitivity controls the ease the algorithm produces lines. Value can be
changed from 1 to 100. 1- stands for more lines (more noise). 100 heavy filtering of the lines.
 Minimum line – minimum length of accepted line.
 Maximum gap – maximum gap between two lines to aggregate them into a single line.
4- Geometric combinations for finding the expected shape – the obtained segments are combined
according to defined geometric parameters in the selected preset. If there is a successful match the
object is “recognized” by SkyBlue and calculations can be done.
5- Calculation of Tracking point and measurements – If a successful match of object happened on
previous stage tracking point and other measurements can be calculated. In each preset tracking point
is defined as one or more options. Measurements depend on the preset type and are useful for
adapting the robot behavior (welding current, stop of welding, quantity of welding material, etc.).
These parameters allow additional improving of welding quality when used. The tracking points are
usually calculated as cross-section of two or more segments. This is done to improve the stability of
the obtained result.

Why are geometric parameters needed to be specified in SkyBlue? During welding sometimes, the work piece
can be bended because of the high temperature or big size etc. In such a case the welding should be stopped.
If a parameter is not fitting to the entered values and tolerances (e.g. bending angle between plates, gap etc.)
SkyBlue will stop to deliver tracking point, which would be a reason to stop the welding and investigate the
issue.

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BLUE SYSTEM INTERACTION WITH THIRD PARTY

SYSTEMS
The main third party systems of concern for SkyBlue are welding robots.

Robot connectors
ABB EGM
Blue system configuration
Abb EGM implements a protocol of ABB.
The EGM is implemented in the path
correction mode. It provides fast and
reliable correction and provide time and
coordinates from the robot to the sensor.
This make possible to use the PID
controller and time interpolation in the
more precise form.

RWS protocol of ABB is used to switch ON

the measurement and select a preset by
reading two variables from RAPID
program (sb_measuer and sb_preset).
Because of this the parameters needed to
this connector include EGM port (defaults
to 6510) used to listen and to send data to the robot and RWS connection definition RWS base url, RWS
username and RWS password. Use of EGM path correction protocol requires the option EGM to be present on
the robot.

Using ABB EGM interface

TBD

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ABB RWS
Blue system configuration
ABB RWS is present in ABB robot systems
RW 6. No need of additional options to be
added. This makes it an useful solution
for delivering measurement data to the
robot. In RWS SkyBlue is operating as
master and is storing measurements in
RAPID variables. Adding a corrector to
RAPID program allow implementation of
path finding or even path tracking with
low rate of correction (the correctors in
RAPID can deliver data every 100ms)

To use RWS the standard connection

parameters have to be defined RWS base
url, RWS username and RWS password.

Using ABB RWS interface

TBD

ABB Serial SB
Blue system configuration
ABB Serial SB is a proprietary serial
protocol implemented in RAPID using a
serial communication. In that protocol
the ROBOT is master and SB is slave. The
protocol provides measurement data on
requests from a RAPID module. The
corrector function is calling SB for
measurement data. The requests
contains robot timestamps. So Time
interpolation function is applicable in the
full form. The protocol can be used in old
ABB robots S4C+ which have only serial
option for connecting to external
sensors. The parameter required for this

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robot connector is the speed of communication. Usually a RS422 or RS485 convertor is added for higher
stability. The port 1 is used for connection to the robot with 8 bits 1 stop bit None parity.

Using ABB Serial SB

TBD

ABB LTAPP(Laser Tracker Application protocol) TCP

Blue system configuration
The LTAPP Protocol of ABB provide a
real-time connection to sensors with
polling rate of 20 corrections per
second. The protocol is used by the
sensor interface of ABB to implement
seam tracking, seam finding and
adaptive welding functions. Using ARC
Sensor option on top the LTAPP provide
a variable based MASTER (ROBOT)
SLAVE (SENSOR) interface. The defined
variables are used for control of the
sensor and retrieving measurement
data. SB connector for LTAPP accept all
calls defined by LTAPP but many of them
are dummy like e.g. switch sensor ON as
SB is always ON and does not need additional initialization. The collected measurements include tracking
points, gap, area, mismatch which are used by the high level functions for tracking finding and adaptive welding
tasks. The TCP in the name of the connector stand for the connection media – Ethernet.

Using ABB LTAPP interface

TBD

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ABB LTAPP(Laser Tracker Application protocol) TCP_S

Blue system configuration
Configuration is the same as in as in ABB LTAPP TCP

LTAPP TCP_S is a single threaded implementation of LTAPP is a simplified – single threaded version of LTAPP
TCP connector.

ABB LTAPP(Laser Tracker Application protocol) RTP

Blue system configuration

Serial implementation of LTAPP

protocol. The parameter which can be
specified is the speed of the
connection. The used port is port1 with
8 bits none parity and one stop bit.

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KUKA KRL Networking protocol

Blue system configuration
KUKA KRL Networking uses
OpenShowVar to access variables in KRL
Program. In this protocol SB is master and
KUKA is slave. SB is storing the measured
data in KRL program. The tracking
information is stored in special system
variables which produces a correction in
the motion.

KUKA RSI (Robot Sensor Interface)

Blue system configuration

From KUKA RSI point of view SB is slave.

RSI is XML based request response. The
requests have timestamps from the
robot and robot coordinates. Which
allow use of time interpolation and PID
stabilizer. The parameter is the port
listening for RSI requests.

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YASKAWA SBMOTO
Blue system configuration
SBMOTO is an motoplus application
developed to connect to YRC1000 and
DX200 robots. The application provide
path correction for Yaskawa and fills in
defined D variables with measurement
data from SB. To use SBMOTO motoplus
applications has to be enabled on the
robot.

The parameters needed for the

configuration of Yaskawa connector
includes YASKAWA IP address and UDP
PORT datavaridx I define the index of the
first variable of D array in which results
are stored. The result set is

D[I] = Measurement status 1 for measurement ON and 0 for measurement OFF.

D[I+1] = Used Preset

D[I+2] = TIMESTAMP of SB [ms]

D[I+3] = AGE [ms]

D[I+4] = ERROR CODE

D[I+5] = TPY 10 units

D[I+6] = TPZ 10 units

D[I+7] = M1 10 units or 0.01 RAD…

D[I+14] = M8 10 units or 0.01 RAD

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Beckhoff

Slave operation
Beckhoff connector can operate as master and slave. For that purpose, SkyBlue contains an internal PLC
simulator. By default (the settings above) measurements and timing information are redirected to the internal
PLC. The internal PLC support the full set of Beckhoff TwinCat 3 protocol. This include subscription for variable
changes and this way SkyBlue may operate as a slave device to ADS compliant system. The PLC simulator is
accessible through the TO ROBOT port on the defined IP ([Link] in the sample) on port 48898.

Two variables are supported controlling SkyBlue:

sbvars.out_sb_track INT32 – when set to 0 measurement is switched to OFF. When set to 1 measurement is
switched ON (the laser is powered and SkyBlue start to deliver measurement results.

sbvars.out_sb_preset INT32 – when set the variable define which preset number to be used.

sbvars.sb_data[15] INT32 – results from camera measurements

[0] – actual measurement status 0 – measurement is off 1 – measurement is on

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[1] – actual preset

[2] – time stamp of the frame in ms

[3] – age of the frame in ms. As the processing needs some time after the image has been collected the age
contains that time and can be used on the robot for precise synchronization.

[4] – error code of SkyBlue

– 0 – no error
– 1 – Not enough segments – the expected object has more segments than SkyBlue can see. E.g.
looking for filet but only one segment is found.
– 2 – No candidate segment – The absolute angles do not allow selection of the needed number of
segments.
– 3 – No candidate pair – The relative angles do not fit to the observed object
– 4 – Validation not successful – The distance constraints do not fit. E.g. minimum lengths, maximum
gap etc.
– +100 (e.g. 100, 101, 102, 103, 104) – an attempt to set non existing preset from the robot has
been done. The preset remains the same as before the attempt.

[5] – Tracking point X coordinate in 10microns units (mm * 100). E.g. 1101 is 11.01mm

[6] – Tracking point Y coordinate in 10microns units (mm * 100). E.g. 2101 is 21.01mm

[7]..[14] – Measurement specific to the preset type. The measurements are multiplied by 100 as for the TP.
The angles are presented in radians*100. The distances in mm*100. The areas in mm 2*100. The order of the
measurements is the same as displayed on SkyBlue measurement panel.

Example to use Beckhoff server (Slave)

From the Beckhoff ADS device you can subscribe for changes of the defined variables. Using Beckhoff API you
can get callback when the variables are changed and retrieve the values in sbvars.sb_data[15] INT32. On the
other side you can use the two skyblue control variables to switch on measurements and select preset use
sbvars.out_sb_track INT32 and sbvars.out_sb_preset INT32. Several demos are available on Beckhoff site on
C++, C#, Java how to implement the subscription (…).

Here we give a Python example how to use Beckhoff Slave mode in an ADS enabled device:

A very well defined and structured library for Python implementation of ADS communication
[Link] You need to install it as described in the page (for LINUX only the
pip install pyads is enough. For windows you need to have Beckhoff software Beckhoff software
Python 3.x and then follow pip install pyads above. Go to
[Link] to verify your installation. Go to

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[Link] to check registration of variable

change etc.

Generic Robot
Generic robot is an interface published and available for end customers. The interface can be implemented in
Python and after being tested on customer side can be integrated by metrology in the main system. This
interface allow support of unsupported robot types with proprietary sensor protocols. To use this option please
contact your local supplier for Programmer documentation on BLUE SYSTEMS interface. The integration of
customer specific protocol is subject of additional contract and NDA agreement.

SkyBlue internal protocol

SkyBlue supports an internal proprietary protocol which can be used to control the sensor. It has two parts –
RestApi for commands and Google Protocol Buffers (GPB) for data exchange.

RESTAPI – SERVER IS LISTENING ON PORT 8080

RESTAPI EXTENDED – SERVER IS LISTENING ON PORT 8081
NOTES
Authorization requirements
FUNCTIONS WITH ADMIN AUTHORIZATION
- Changing Authority pins
- REBOOT SKYBLUE
-

FUNCTIONS WITH MANAGER AUTHORIZATION

- UNLOCK
- RESTART SKYBLUE
- Edit presets (Preset function)
- REPROCESS/PRODUCTION
- SYSTEM

FUNCTIONS WITH USER AUTHORIZATION

The start of the client may be secured by user authorization if a PIN for user is entered in the “Changing
Authority pins” is entered.

- Reset robot ctrl

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