• For details on the ACE software, look in the ACE User’s Guide. This is accessible from your Programs menu under “Omron/ACE 3.8” after the product is installed.
  • For details on the ACE API, see the ACE Reference Guide. This is accessible from your Programs menu under “Omron/ACE 3.8” after the product is installed.

System Requirements

  • Windows operating system running Windows 7, SP1; Windows 8.1; or Windows 10 and later.
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 .NET Framework 4.6.1 will be installed automatically, if required. This will require a valid network connection to the internet.
  • DirectX 11 compatible graphics card.
  • The SmartController must run a minimum V+ version depending on the type of controller.

Controller Type/Minimum V+ Version

SmartController CS and SmartController CX - V+ 16.3B5 or above / V+ 17.1 D3 or above is recommended

SmartController EX / eV+ 2.1 B8 or above

The controller should also have a CompactFlash card containing up-to-date utility software.

  • Ethernet communication between the PC and the controller. See the ACE User’s Guide for details on establishing communication to the controller.

Uninstalling Previous Versions and Upgrade installation

If you have a previous version of the ACE software installed on your computer, you will be prompted to uninstall the previous ACE version.

When upgrading from version 3.3 or earlier, you should uninstall the Basler pylon and HexSight software packages before installing the 3.3 series. There are issues with the HexSight and Basler pylon setup projects that interfere with the ability to upgrade reliably from a previous version.

Installation Instructions

An installation dialog should automatically open when the installation media is loaded.  If that does not happen, you can access the installation media contents from a Windows Explorer window, and double click on the file autorun.exe. Click the “Install ACE” hyperlink to start the installer.

The installation will be performed in two distinct phases. The first phase checks for prerequisites on your PC. The second phase installs the ACE software on the computer.

In the first phase, the installer checks for the following prerequisites:

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1
  • Basler pylon
  • Sentinel Protection Installer
  • OPC Redistributables

If these required packages are not on the computer, these packages will be installed. If the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 is missing, the installer will attempt to download the files from the internet. If the computer does not have internet connectivity, you will need to manually download and install the Microsoft .NET Frameworks 4.6.1 from the Microsoft download site.

Usage Considerations

  • Controllers must be set to auto-boot when rebooting from ACE; otherwise the connect attempt will fail.
  • If other programs are running in the V+ controller while ACE is running, certain operations (such as configuring FireWire or rebooting the controller) will fail.
  • Do not run the DC_SETUP or SPEC utility programs while ACE is running. They may delete variables required by ACE for proper operation.
  • Not all functions work properly if the hardware front-panel keyswitch for the controller is set to Manual mode.
  • When the ACE software connects to a controller, it will use a certain number of V+ tasks. It will use two tasks for general system functions and an additional task for each robot configured on the controller. In applications using the PackXpert module, the process manager will allocate additional tasks based on the specific process configuration.

The following network ports are used by the ACE software:

For the PC:

  • UDP port 69: TFTP file transfer
  • UDP ports 1993: Controller scan
  • UDP 1994 and 1996: Startup communications
  • TCP port 43434: Remote connections to ACE
  • TCP port 43436: Remote vision server
  • UDP port 1990: ACE Sight V+ communications

For the controller

  • UDP port 1992: Controller scan
  • UDP ports 1994-1997: ActiveV
  • TCP port 1999: AdeptWindows
  • TCP port 43234: ACE communication

eV+ Release Notes

The release notes associated with eV+ are located on the eV+ file system at the DISK>D:\Adept\ReadMe.rtf. The readme for the emulator shipped with the ACE software program can also be viewed in the ACE installed program directory under eV+\System\Adept\ReadMe.rtf.

Compatibility Notes

Please reference the ACE Compatibility Guide for details about changes affecting migration from older versions of ACE to newer versions of ACE.

Recent Changes

Version 3.8.3.108

  • Correct issue with handling errors in AnyFedeer communication sequences.
  • Update eV+ emulator version.

Version 3.8.3.107

  • Correct issue of Color Matching selection and image scaling after zoom disabled.

Version 3.8.3.106

  • Correct issue of not be able to read the Robot Secondary Encoder.
  • Correct issue of Color Matching Filter decrements values when close.
  • Correct issue with shutting down of a PackXpert application when it is in an error condition.

Version 3.8.3.105

  • Minor changes to the way tasks are launched in the V+ server.
  • Correct issue with resource allocation and tracking in 3D display.
  • Correct issue with Spanish language translation of default application sample folder names.
  • Correct issue with display of contrast threshold editor in the locator vision tool.
  • Correct issue with the DataMapper attempting to communicate with a controller before a connection is established when a workspace is loading.

Version 3.8.3.104

  • Add robot power indicator property.

Version 3.8.3.103

  • Fix Ace lockup when doing refinement camera automatic arm mounted calibration issue
  • Fix System Startup object editor error when removing/adding controller
  • Fix issue with mapping mid-range cobra encoder types.

Version 3.8.3.101

  • Enable edit button in V+ editor context menu.
  • Fix issue with selecting custom PackXpert robot-to-belt camera vision tool.

Version 3.8.3.100

  • Incremental production build