Robot Connectivity
We connect industrial robots to the data layer to monitor status, production and alerts in real time, reading the information the robot controller already generates without touching the programming or safety of the cell.
Industrial robot data integration: what it covers
Robot connectivity, as Captia Connect delivers it, is data integration only: we extract the states, cycles, alarms and counters that installed robots already generate and publish them into the plant data layer. We do not install robots, design cells or modify robot programs; the work happens on the data interfaces each manufacturer exposes on its controller (FANUC, KUKA, ABB and Yaskawa communication options, real-time interfaces on collaborative robots), or via OPC UA and MQTT gateways where available. When an older robot offers no usable interface, the signals it exchanges with the cell PLC are the usual alternative, covered by our PLC connectivity service.
Readings become a continuous, normalised flow with plant context, typically published through an MQTT broker under a unified namespace, so any authorised system consumes robot data without coupling to the robot brand. The two main use cases are OEE for robotic cells, calculated on real states and cycle counters instead of end-of-shift estimates, and production traceability, linking each batch to the cells that processed it. A project starts with an inventory of robots and interfaces, defines a common data model, deploys connectors and validates the data with the plant team, leaving a live data source running as part of Captia Connect.
How it connects to the system
Connect enables data flow to AI and Energy and supports execution that Service digitises in the business layer.
Other solutions
- Edge Ingestion
We capture data at the edge of the operation, where it is generated, without depending on central connectivity. We deploy edge ingestion software on plant equipment that reads signals locally, holds them through network outages and forwards them once the connection is restored.
- PLC Connectivity
We connect PLCs from any manufacturer and protocol to the Captia unified data layer, making control-layer information reliably available to the rest of your systems, from process historians to dashboards, without altering the control programs.
- OT/IT Integration
We build the bridge between the operational world (OT) and the information systems world (IT): a data layer that reads plant information and delivers it to business systems, with an architecture designed not to interfere with production.
Frequently asked questions
- Does robot connectivity include installing or programming the robot?
- No. This service works on robots that are already installed and producing. We handle the data layer: extracting states, cycles, alarms and counters from the controller and publishing them into the plant data layer. Physical integration of robot cells, path programming and installation safety are out of scope.
- What data can be extracted from an industrial robot?
- It depends on the manufacturer and controller model, but in general you can read the operating state (auto, manual, stop, fault), cycle and part counters, active alarms and their history, cycle times and program signals. That base is enough to calculate indicators such as OEE and to build production traceability by reference or batch.
- Do we need to stop production to connect robot data?
- Data is read through the interfaces the manufacturer exposes on the controller, without touching the robot program. The exact planning is defined per project, but the goal is always for data capture not to interfere with the production cycle or require changes to the cell logic.
- Does it work with robots from different manufacturers in the same plant?
- Yes, and that is the usual case. Each manufacturer exposes its data through a different interface, so the work consists of normalising all those sources to a common model before publishing them into the data layer. OEE, alarms and counters are then queried the same way regardless of the robot brand.