ABB Robot (RWS) — VS Code Extension

Monitor and control ABB IRC5 robots directly from VS Code via the Robot Web Services (RWS 1.0) HTTP API — no FlexPendant required for most operations.

Compatibility: ABB IRC5 controllers with RobotWare 6.x only.
Not compatible with OmniCore / RobotWare 7.x / RWS 2.0.

Features

Controller Status

Live motor state, operation mode, RAPID execution state
Speed ratio — click to change (AUTO mode only)
Collision detection state (requires Collision Detection option)
All RAPID tasks with active/stopped state
RobotWare version and controller name
Read controller clock (UTC)
Restart controller — Restart / P-Start / I-Start / B-Start modes

Motion

Joint positions J1–J6 updated every second (degrees)
TCP position — Cartesian X/Y/Z (mm) and quaternion orientation
Robot configuration flags (shoulder / elbow / wrist)

RAPID Control

Start / Stop RAPID
PP to Main (reset program pointer)
Set execution cycle — Once / Forever / As Is
Motors On / Off (requires AUTO mode)
Set speed ratio 0–100%

Program Management

List loaded modules per task
Load program from file — full sequence: unload old modules → upload .mod → load → PP to Main
Download module from controller to disk

RAPID Variables & Symbols

Read any RAPID variable (task / module / symbol)
Write any RAPID variable with RAPID-syntax values
Read symbol properties — type, dimensions, storage class
Search symbols — filter by type (var / per / con / fun / prc) — results open in editor
Get active UI instruction (detect when RAPID is waiting for operator input)

I/O Signals

All signals loaded automatically on connect, refreshed every 5 seconds
Grouped by type: Digital Inputs, Digital Outputs, Analog Inputs, Analog Outputs, Group Inputs, Group Outputs
Click any Digital Output to toggle it (0 ↔ 1) instantly
Inline write button on all output signals (DO / AO / GO)
Manual refresh button

Event Log

Live event log from the controller (domain 0 — up to 1000 entries)
Severity icons: info / warning / error
Expandable entries with description, causes, consequences, and actions
Clear event log (with confirmation)

Controller File Browser

Browse $HOME directory on the controller
Download any file to disk
Delete files (with confirmation)
Create directories

Quick Start

Open the ABB Robot panel in the Activity Bar (robot arm icon on the left)
Click the gear icon → Configure Connection → enter IP, username, password
Click Connect

The status bar at the bottom shows live motor state and RAPID execution state. All panels update automatically.

Connection Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`abbRobot.host`	`192.168.125.1`	Controller IP address or hostname
`abbRobot.username`	`Default User`	RWS username
`abbRobot.password`	`robotics`	RWS password
`abbRobot.refreshInterval`	`1000`	Status polling interval (ms)

Commands

All commands are available via Ctrl+Shift+P → type ABB Robot:

Command	Description
ABB Robot: Connect	Connect to the configured controller
ABB Robot: Disconnect	Disconnect
ABB Robot: Configure Connection…	Set host, username, password
ABB Robot: Refresh	Force immediate status refresh
ABB Robot: Start RAPID	Start program execution
ABB Robot: Stop RAPID	Stop program execution
ABB Robot: PP to Main	Reset program pointer to main
ABB Robot: Set Execution Cycle…	Once / Forever / As Is
ABB Robot: Motors On	Enable motors (AUTO mode only)
ABB Robot: Motors Off	Disable motors
ABB Robot: Set Speed Ratio…	Set override speed 0–100%
ABB Robot: Load Program from File…	Upload and load a `.mod` file
ABB Robot: Download Module to File	Save a controller module to disk
ABB Robot: Read RAPID Variable…	Read any RAPID variable
ABB Robot: Write RAPID Variable…	Write any RAPID variable
ABB Robot: Read RAPID Symbol Properties…	Introspect a symbol
ABB Robot: Search RAPID Symbols…	Search by type in a task
ABB Robot: Get Active UI Instruction	Check if RAPID is waiting for input
ABB Robot: Refresh I/O Signals	Reload all signal values
ABB Robot: Write Signal Value…	Write a DO / AO / GO signal
ABB Robot: Refresh Event Log	Reload event log
ABB Robot: Clear Event Log	Clear all domain 0 messages
ABB Robot: Refresh File Browser	Reload $HOME directory
ABB Robot: Download File from Controller	Download a file to disk
ABB Robot: Delete File from Controller	Delete a file
ABB Robot: Create Directory on Controller	Create a new directory
ABB Robot: Read Controller Clock	Show current UTC time
ABB Robot: Restart Controller…	Restart with mode selection

Loading a RAPID Program

Connect to the controller (must be in AUTO mode, RAPID stopped)
In the Program panel → click the upload icon (Load Program from File…)
Select a .mod file
The extension automatically:
- Unloads all non-system modules from the task
- Uploads the file to $HOME/ on the controller
- Loads it into the first active task (T_ROB1)
- Moves the program pointer to Main

The module must have a PROC main() for PP to Main to succeed. If not, the module is still loaded and a warning is shown.

I/O Signals Panel

The I/O Signals panel shows all configured signals grouped by type:

Digital Inputs (DI) — read-only, shown with filled/empty circle icon
Digital Outputs (DO) — click to toggle 0↔1, inline write button
Analog Inputs (AI) — read-only, shows current value
Analog Outputs (AO) — inline write button with numeric input
Group Inputs (GI) — read-only
Group Outputs (GO) — inline write button

Signals refresh automatically every 5 seconds. Use the Refresh button in the panel title bar for immediate update.

Requirements

ABB IRC5 controller with RobotWare 6.x
RWS 1.0 enabled on the controller (PC Interface option)
Network connectivity to the controller
RWS user with appropriate privileges (Default User is sufficient for most operations)

Session Management

The IRC5 controller allows a maximum of 70 concurrent RWS sessions. The extension automatically persists the session cookie across reloads so it always reuses the same session slot — avoiding the 503 errors that occur when the limit is exhausted.

The session cookie is stored at ~/.abb-rws-session.

ABB Robots (RWS)

Meraj Safari