Kuka Robot Network Configuration

This article will guide you through connecting your Kuka robot to your Windows PC. This is a prerequisite to establishing a connection between Lensmaster and your robot.

Setting up your network

Network Interface Options

There are multiple ways of connecting your robot to your PC:

Option 1: Directly using a crossover ethernet cable.
Option 2: Via a network switch.
Option 3: Through your studio's existing network (consult with your network administrator).
Important Note.
We strongly discourage connecting the robot to a network with internet access or high bandwidth traffic (Video steaming, Accessing network storage, etc.) to avoid introducing additional latency into the system.

Setting up the Network Configuration

On the Kuka SmartPad

Make sure that no program is selected.
Login as Administrator or Expert.
Navigate to Main Menu | Startup | Network Configuration.
Hit Advanced in the bottom right corner.
Select the virtual5 (KLI) interface and put the below-mentioned parameters.
- Address Type: Fixed IP Address - IP Address: 172.31.1.147 (or any IP Address on the same subnet) - Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0 - Standard Gateway: 172.31.1.147 (Same as IP Address) - Windows Interface: Yes
At the bottom of your pendant screen click on “Add Interface”. A new interface called “Virtual6” should show up.
Select the virtual6 interface and put the below-mentioned parameters.
- Address Type: Mixed IP Address - IP Address: 192.168.2.147 (or any IP Address on the same subnet) - Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 - Windows Interface: No
Hit save to apply the new network settings
Navigate to Main Menu | Shutdown.
Make sure that the Reload Files checkbox is checked.
Hit Cold-Reboot to reboot the robot and reload the networking configuration.

On your Windows PC

Navigate to Control Panel | Network and Sharing Center | Change Adapter Settings.
Right-click on the network adapter you wish to use (Usually Ethernet) and click on properties.
Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 TCP/IPv4 to open the network configuration dialog.
Select “Use the following IP address” and fill in the below-mentioned parameters:
- IP address: 172.31.1.150 (or any IP Address on the same subnent) - Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0 - Standard gateway: 172.31.1.147 (or whatever IP Address you set for the robot)
DNS settings can be left blank as this network isn’t usually connected to the internet.
Click on advanced and then add a new IP address with the below parameters:
- IP address: 192.168.2.150 (or any IP Address on the same subnent) - Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Dismiss all dialogs by clicking ok until you are out of all the network setting windows to save your settings.

Verifying the connection

Pinging the robot

Open the windows command prompt on your PC.
To test the connection with KLI, type in the following command and hit enter:
ping 172.31.1.147
Similarly, you can also use the below command to test your connection to RSI:
ping 192.168.2.147
If you get an output reading "Reply from 172.31.1.147: bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=64" then you have successfully set up a network connection to your Kuka robot.
Otherwise, double-check you have correctly completed all the steps in this article. If the connection keeps failing, please contact your network administrator to validate the setup for you.

Last modified: 29 March 2025