A system and a method for providing safe remote access to a robot controller

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and a method for providing safe remote access to a plurality of robot controllers positioned at a local site for a person positioned on a remote site. The system comprises a plurality of robot controllers (1), each capable of receiving credentials and including a authentication component (6) for authentication of the credentials, and an authorization component (7) for handling authorization for access to the robot controller based on the result of the authentication, a remote computer (2) located at a remote site and capable of communicating with the robot controllers and having an interface capable of receiving credentials and configured to send the credentials to the robot controllers, a server component (8) capable of communicating with the robot controllers, and an identifying component (10); positioned at the local site configured to receive proof of local access to one or more of the robot controllers and to send information on the local access to the server component. The server component is configured to authorize access to the robot controllers based on information on local access received from the identifying component, and the authorization component of the robot controller is configured to allow the remote computer access to the robot controllers when credentials have been authenticated and when access has been authorized by the server component.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a person at a remote location with secure remote access to a plurality of robot controllers at a local location. Background technique [0002] Industrial robots include a robot controller for controlling the motion of the robot, and often also a portable programming unit, usually denoted a teach pendant unit, designed for programming and monitoring the operation of the robot. The robot controller can control motion and I / O signals, and can create and edit internal configurations and programs that affect the operation of the robot while programming and during production operations. These capabilities are divided into functions with assigned permissions for each set. For example, I / O functions have permissions to read signals, write signals, and create or delete signals. Similarly, the programming function has a set of permissions for reading, writing, updating and deleting programs, am...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

If the system contains a large number of robots, it can be cumbersome to deal with the large number of passwords required to access the controller

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