ABB Robot Communication SDK for Python

🤖 Talk to ABB robots from Python

UnderAutomation.ABB is a fully managed SDK that talks to ABB industrial robot controllers over Robot Web Services (RWS). The same code runs on IRC5 (RobotWare 6) and on OmniCore (RobotWare 7). Nothing is installed on the controller. No RobotStudio, no PC SDK, no ABB runtime.

Use it to read and write RAPID variables, control I/O, read positions, jog the robot, manage programs, files and backups, and follow the state of the controller, from a normal Python application.

It works with real controllers and with the virtual controllers of RobotStudio.

🔗 More information: https://underautomation.com/abb

🔗 Also available in 🟦 .NET

⭐ Star this repo if it is useful to you 👁️ Watch it to follow new releases

🚀 TL;DR

• ✔️ No RobotStudio, no PC SDK - RWS is part of a standard controller system
• 🧾 RAPID variables and programs - read and write variables, persistents and constants, start and stop tasks, move the program pointer, load and save modules
• ⚡ Inputs / Outputs - list, read and write digital, analog and group signals, pulse, invert or simulate a signal, browse I/O devices and networks
• 📐 Position and kinematics - read the current robtarget and jointtarget, convert between Cartesian pose and joint values, jog the robot
• 🎛️ Controller and state - identity, options, operation mode, controller state, speed ratio, clock, language and network
• 💾 Backup and restore - create a full backup, check it, restore it
• 📂 File system - browse the controller file system, download and upload files, create, copy, rename and delete files and directories
• 📜 Event log - read the event log by domain, in the language you ask, and clear it
• 🔋 System and energy - system product list, options and energy counters
• 🔑 Mastership - request and release the edit and motion mastership
• 🔍 Discovery - find the ABB controllers of the local network and the virtual controllers of this machine, no license or known address needed
• 🔁 One API for both controller generations - IRC5 (RWS 1.0) and OmniCore (RWS 2.0), only one connection parameter changes

🛠 Installation & Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7 or higher
• An ABB robot controller, or a virtual controller in RobotStudio

Step 1 - Create a virtual environment

We recommend a virtual environment to keep your project dependencies isolated.

# Create a project folder
mkdir my-abb-project
cd my-abb-project

# Create a virtual environment
python -m venv venv

# Activate it
# On Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate
# On macOS/Linux:
source venv/bin/activate

You should see (venv) in your terminal prompt.

Step 2 - Install the SDK

The SDK is published on PyPI:

pip install UnderAutomation.ABB

All dependencies (including pythonnet) are installed automatically.

On Linux, also install the .NET runtime and set PYTHONNET_RUNTIME to coreclr:

sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-runtime-8.0
export PYTHONNET_RUNTIME=coreclr

Alternative: install from source

git clone https://github.com/underautomation/ABB.py.git
cd ABB.py
pip install -e .

Step 3 - Connect to your controller

Create a Python file (for example main.py):

from underautomation.abb.abb_controller import AbbController

# The SDK runs in trial mode for 30 days. Register your key to remove the trial limit.
# If you get a license exception, ask a trial key at https://underautomation.com/license
# AbbController.register_license("Your Company", "your-license-key")

robot = AbbController()

# Connect (replace with your controller IP address)
robot.connect("192.168.125.1")

identity = robot.rws.controller.get_identity()
print(identity.name)

robot.disconnect()

Run it:

python main.py

Choose the controller generation

The default is OmniCore (RWS 2.0). For an IRC5 controller, set the version to RwsVersion.Irc5_V1_0. The rest of your code does not change.

from underautomation.abb.abb_controller import AbbController
from underautomation.abb.connection_parameters import ConnectionParameters
from underautomation.abb.rws.rws_version import RwsVersion

params = ConnectionParameters("192.168.125.1")
params.rws.username = "Default User"
params.rws.password = "robotics"
params.rws.use_https = True                        # OmniCore is reached over HTTPS
params.rws.version = RwsVersion.OmniCore_V2_0      # or RwsVersion.Irc5_V1_0 for IRC5

robot = AbbController()
robot.connect(params)

Without the licensed controller class

RwsClient is a standalone RWS client you can use without the AbbController licensing layer:

from underautomation.abb.rws.rws_client import RwsClient
from underautomation.abb.rws.rws_version import RwsVersion

client = RwsClient()
client.connect("192.168.125.1", useHttps=True, version=RwsVersion.OmniCore_V2_0)
print(client.controller.get_identity().name)

🔑 Licensing

The SDK works out of the box for 30 days (trial period), no registration needed.

After the trial, you can:

• Buy a license at underautomation.com/order
• Get a new trial period immediately by email at underautomation.com/license

To register a license in code:

from underautomation.abb.abb_controller import AbbController

license_info = AbbController.register_license("your-licensee", "your-license-key")
print(license_info)

📌 Features

Everything is reached through robot.rws, grouped by service: controller, io, rapid, motion_system, panel, system, file, elog, mastership.

🧾 RAPID variables and programs

from underautomation.abb.rws.data.mastership_domain import MastershipDomain

# Read a RAPID symbol, the value comes back the way RAPID writes it
reg1 = robot.rws.rapid.get_symbol_value("RAPID/T_ROB1/user/reg1")
print(reg1.value)

# Write a symbol (needs the edit mastership in automatic mode)
robot.rws.mastership.request(MastershipDomain.Edit)
robot.rws.rapid.set_symbol_value("RAPID/T_ROB1/user/reg1", "42")
robot.rws.mastership.release(MastershipDomain.Edit)

# Start and stop the program
robot.rws.rapid.start()
robot.rws.rapid.stop()

# Load a program, list tasks, follow the execution state
robot.rws.rapid.load_program("T_ROB1", "HOME:/myprogram.pgf")
tasks = robot.rws.rapid.get_tasks()
state = robot.rws.rapid.get_execution_state()

⚡ Inputs / Outputs

# List every signal
signals = robot.rws.io.get_signals()

# Read one signal
di1 = robot.rws.io.get_signal("EtherNetIP", "d652", "DI_01")
print(di1.logical_value)

# Write, pulse or invert an output
robot.rws.io.set_signal_value("EtherNetIP", "d652", "DO_01", 1)
robot.rws.io.pulse_signal("EtherNetIP", "d652", "DO_01", 1, pulses=3)
robot.rws.io.invert_signal("EtherNetIP", "d652", "DO_01", 1)

# Simulate a signal so a value can be forced without hardware
robot.rws.io.set_signal_state("EtherNetIP", "d652", "DI_01", simulated=True)

📐 Position and kinematics

from underautomation.abb.common.robot_joints import RobotJoints

# Current Cartesian and joint position of a task
rob_target = robot.rws.rapid.get_rob_target("T_ROB1")
joint_target = robot.rws.rapid.get_joint_target("T_ROB1")

print(f"X={rob_target.x} Y={rob_target.y} Z={rob_target.z}")
print(f"J1={joint_target.robot_axes.axis1} J2={joint_target.robot_axes.axis2}")

# Jog the robot
robot.rws.motion_system.set_jogging_mechanical_unit("ROB_1")
robot.rws.motion_system.jog(RobotJoints(5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0), 0)

🔍 Discover controllers

# Finds the controllers of the local network and the virtual controllers of this machine.
# No connection is opened and no license is needed.
found = AbbController.discover()

for controller in found:
    print(f"{controller.system_name} at {controller.address}:{controller.port}")

# to_connection_parameters carries the address, the port, the scheme and the RWS version found
robot = AbbController()
robot.connect(found[0].to_connection_parameters())

🎛️ Controller and state

from datetime import datetime

identity = robot.rws.controller.get_identity()
info = robot.rws.controller.get_info()

mode = robot.rws.panel.get_operation_mode()
state = robot.rws.panel.get_controller_state()
speed_ratio = robot.rws.panel.get_speed_ratio()

robot.rws.panel.set_speed_ratio(50)
robot.rws.controller.set_clock(datetime.now())

has_option = robot.rws.controller.has_option("RobotWare-OS")

💾 Backup and restore

robot.rws.controller.create_backup("HOME:/backups/2026-01-15")

check = robot.rws.controller.check_restore("HOME:/backups/2026-01-15")
if check.is_accepted:
    robot.rws.controller.restore_backup("HOME:/backups/2026-01-15")

📂 File system

listing = robot.rws.file.list_directory("HOME:/")
for d in listing.directories:
    print(d.name)
for f in listing.files:
    print(f"{f.name} ({f.size} bytes)")

robot.rws.file.upload_file_from_path("HOME:/myprogram.mod", r"C:\rapid\myprogram.mod")
robot.rws.file.get_file_to_destination("HOME:/myprogram.mod", r"C:\backup\myprogram.mod")
robot.rws.file.delete_file("HOME:/old.mod")

📜 Event log

messages = robot.rws.elog.get_messages(domain=0, language="en")
for m in messages:
    print(f"{m.timestamp} {m.title}")

robot.rws.elog.clear_all_messages()

🔑 Mastership

from underautomation.abb.rws.data.mastership_domain import MastershipDomain

robot.rws.mastership.request(MastershipDomain.Motion)
# ... jog or move the robot ...
robot.rws.mastership.release(MastershipDomain.Motion)

📂 Examples

The repository ships a set of ready to run examples in the examples/ folder, one subfolder per RWS service.

How the Examples Work

Run an example directly

The first time you run an example, it asks for the controller address, the RWS credentials and the protocol version. The answers are saved in robot_config.json, so they are only typed once. Press Enter to accept the value between brackets.

python examples/system/system_info.py

Or browse the examples with the launcher

python examples/launcher.py

The launcher discovers the examples on its own and runs the one you pick in the same process, so a breakpoint set in an example file is hit:

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║                                SELECT A CATEGORY                               ║
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║                                                                                ║
║  🤖   1. CONTROLLER   (3 examples)                                             ║
║         Controller - identity, clock, options, backups                         ║
║                                                                                ║
║  📜   2. ELOG         (1 example)                                              ║
║         Event log - read and filter controller messages                        ║
║                                                                                ║
║  📂   3. FILE         (2 examples)                                             ║
║         File system - browse, download and upload files                        ║
║                                                                                ║
║  ⚡   4. IO           (4 examples)                                             ║
║         I/O system - networks, devices, read and write signals                 ║
║                                                                                ║
║  🔑   5. LICENSE      (1 example)                                              ║
║         License management - activation & status                               ║
║                                                                                ║
║  🔒   6. MASTERSHIP   (1 example)                                              ║
║         Mastership - request and release the write access                      ║
║                                                                                ║
║  🦾   7. MOTION       (3 examples)                                             ║
║         Motion system - mechanical units, positions, kinematics                ║
║                                                                                ║
║  🚦   8. PANEL        (2 examples)                                             ║
║         Control panel - controller state, operation mode, speed ratio          ║
║                                                                                ║
║  🧾   9. RAPID        (5 examples)                                             ║
║         RAPID - tasks, modules, symbols, program execution                     ║
║                                                                                ║
║  🧩  10. SYSTEM       (1 example)                                              ║
║         System - RobotWare version, options, products, energy                  ║
║                                                                                ║
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  Enter category number [0-10]:

📋 Complete Example List

🔑 License

🤖 Controller

🧩 System

🚦 Panel

⚡ I/O

🧾 RAPID

🦾 Motion

📂 File

📜 Event Log

🔒 Mastership

Notes on the examples

• An example that only reads is safe on any controller. The ones that write ask before each change and put the original value back.
• A virtual controller does not implement every resource of a real one. When it answers 404, the example prints the reason and carries on.
• A controller refuses a write when the mode selector is on manual and the FlexPendant keeps the ownership. The example prints the 403 answer instead of stopping.
• On an OmniCore controller the certificate is signed by the controller itself. examples/__init__.py relaxes the .NET runtime for it before connecting, see allow_self_signed_certificates().

🔁 IRC5 and OmniCore, one API

ABB controllers expose Robot Web Services in two versions. This SDK covers both. The same code runs on an old IRC5 and on a new OmniCore. Only the connection parameters change.

HTTP or HTTPS is a separate setting (use_https), independent of the controller generation.

🔍 Compatibility

The controller needs no ABB option. Robot Web Services is part of a standard system.

📢 Contributing

We welcome your feedback and contributions.

• Report issues via GitHub Issues
• Submit pull requests with enhancements
• Suggest features and improvements

📜 License

⚠️ This SDK requires a commercial license.

• 🆓 30-day free trial included out of the box
• 🔄 Get a new trial immediately at underautomation.com/license
• 🛒 Buy a license at underautomation.com/abb
• 📄 EULA: underautomation.com/abb/eula

📬 Need Help?

• 📖 Documentation: underautomation.com/abb/documentation
• 🐍 Python Get Started Guide: underautomation.com/abb/documentation/get-started-python
• 📦 PyPI Package: pypi.org/project/UnderAutomation.ABB
• 📩 Contact Us: underautomation.com/contact