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Adding Network Nodes to a Flair System

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When adding a new axis box — such as a Quad Box, Octo Box, UltiBox, or Uniboard turntable — to a Flair system, a set of configuration steps is required before Flair can see and load the device. This guide covers editing flair.ini, using Network Setups to find and configure the new board, setting and burning IP addresses, and assigning axes.

When you actually need this procedure: a network device bought as part of a package with your robot system normally arrives pre-configured and works right out of the box. You only need to add it as a network node yourself if it was purchased separately, added later, or is a spare/replacement board — for example, adding a small turntable to a system some time after the original rig was delivered.

Definitions:

  • Quad Box — four-axis box with a Quad card; drives stepper or servo motors (also used in Milo systems and early Bolt track drives)
  • Octo Box — modified Quad Board capable of driving eight stepper systems
  • UltiBox — six-axis servo controller/driver; runs a complete servo head in an Ultihead — with a special adapter cable it can also drive up to three stepper motors
  • Uniboard — single stepper controller; typically in a turntable or other model mover
  • BTL — the firmware file Flair loads onto a network board so it can communicate with it. Different device types need different .btl files — loading the wrong one for a board is a common reason a new node fails to come online correctly.

Two devices cannot share one IP address

Flair cannot connect to a device if another device on the same network already has that IP address — neither will connect properly until one of them is changed. This is the most common reason a second unit of the same device type (e.g. a second small turntable, which ships with the same default IP as the first) refuses to come online. See "Changing IP addresses" below.

The Flair network uses INtime, not Windows. In plain language, this means that the board may be correctly plugged into the robot network even though it does not appear in the normal Windows network screen.

Which Ethernet switch to use

Plug the new box into the same Ethernet switch already used by the RT14, UltiBox, OctoBox, turntable, or other Flair-controlled equipment. Do not use the computer's ordinary office/internet Ethernet socket or an EtherCAT socket. If the switch has no spare socket, do not unplug existing robot equipment; ask the system technician how the network should be expanded.

Step 1 — Connect and power the new board

Follow the existing robot-network cables to identify the Flair equipment switch. Plug one end of a standard Ethernet cable into a spare socket on that switch and the other end into the new board's Ethernet socket. Then power on the board. The board must be connected and powered before Flair can find it.

Flair 7 Alternative — Adding a Node from the Network Icon

Flair 7

Flair 7 also lets you add a node entirely from the GUI, without manually editing flair.ini first. Steps 2–7 below cover the same underlying configuration via the older route; use whichever is available on your system.

  1. Click the Ethernet icon in the top-right corner of the Flair toolbar — it lists all current network nodes and their connection status.
  2. Click Find All to discover boards on the network (same purpose as Step 5's Find button below).
  3. Select the new board and click Add Node.
  4. Choose the correct node type — Network Board for a Quad/Octo/Uniboard-type device (not a Rick or Link board).
  5. Enter/confirm the board's IP address and select the correct BTL for the device type.
  6. Click Save, Apply.
  7. Flair will ask whether to reload the engine — choose Yes.
  8. Flair will then ask whether to hot boot. This reloads every other board on the system, not just the new one — choose No unless you specifically need every board reloaded; it is not required just to bring in one new node.

After this, the new node will typically show a status of Not Required until it is assigned to an axis — this is expected and simply means the board is connected but not yet in use. See Step 8 below for how to assign it.

Step 2 — Edit flair.ini — increase NetworkBoards count

Open flair.ini and find the *NetworkBoards: line. Increase the count by 1:

*NetworkBoards:    3

(If there were previously 2 boards, change it to 3, and so on.)

Step 3 — Edit flair.ini — add NodeProgram entry

Add a new *NodeProgramN: line for the new board, where N is the next number in sequence. The value is the .btl firmware filename for the board type. All .btl files are stored in the Btls folder.

Example — adding a Uniboard turntable to a system with a Quad Board and UltiBox:

*NodeProgram1:    Quad6Ether_II.btl
*NodeProgram2:    Ulti6Ether_III.btl
*NodeProgram3:    Uni6Ether_II.btl

When Flair boots, it will attempt to load all boards listed in flair.ini. It will report a warning if a board is not found — this is normal and does not affect the rest of the network.

Step 4 — Open Network Setups

Go to Setups > Network Setups. The first tab is the Connection Tab.

The top line shows the InTime root network address:

Intime    192.168.1.10

Below that are all currently known nodes, starting with the RT14:

RT      192.168.1.234
Node 1  192.168.1.236
Node 2  192.168.1.237

Step 5 — Use Find to discover the new board

Click the Find button. Flair broadcasts a discovery signal to all boards on the network and reports their IP addresses.

If the new board does not appear

  • Confirm it is connected and powered.
  • If another board has the same IP address as the new one, Find will not be able to distinguish them. Temporarily unplug the other boards to isolate the new one.
  • If boards still do not appear, try power-cycling the ethernet hub/switch. "Dumb" hubs have some memory and may need a reboot to discover new devices.

Step 6 — Set the IP address for the new node

If the turntable or new board has its IP written on a label on the side, type it into the Node 3 (or appropriate) field:

Node 3    192.168.1.240

If the IP is not known, use the Find button output to determine it. If the IP conflicts with an existing board, see the IP address change procedure below.

Step 7 — Load the board

With the correct IP entered, click Load. If the IP is correct, there are no conflicts, and the correct .btl software name is in flair.ini, the board will load. Save and Apply settings so Flair loads the board automatically on next boot.

If the software is wrong or does not load correctly, go to the Software Tab in Network Setups. Click Select to open the Btls folder and choose the correct .btl file, then click Reload. Update flair.ini with the correct software name so it persists.

Changing IP addresses

If the new board has the same IP as an existing board on the system, you must change one of them. You cannot load two boards with identical IPs simultaneously.

Procedure:

  1. Disconnect the conflicting existing boards from the network.
  2. With only the new board connected, use Find to confirm its current IP.
  3. Enter that IP in the appropriate Node field in Network Setups.
  4. Load the board.
  5. Change the IP to a new, unused address using the Set IP button.
  6. Press Burn IP to store the new address permanently in the board. This means the address will remain after power is switched off.
  7. Label the board with its new IP address.
  8. Reconnect the other boards.

Some versions combine this into one button

On some Flair 7 systems the IP change is done with a single combined Set and Burn IP button instead of separate Set IP / Burn IP steps — functionally the same result (new IP entered, then written permanently to the board), just fewer clicks. Use whichever your version shows.

Reserved IP — avoid 192.168.1.236

The address 192.168.1.236 is the bootloader address. Never assign this as a working IP. It can create conflicts in the network switch. See Reserved IP Addresses for all reserved addresses.

If the device doesn't reconnect after an IP change

Try, in order: restart Flair; use the Load button to reload the node manually; or power-cycle the device itself. One of these typically resolves a node that shows the new IP but stays disconnected.

Step 8 — Assign axes to the new node

After the board loads successfully, go to the Status heading in Network Setups:

  • Connected — the board is connected and assigned to at least one axis.
  • Unassigned (shown as Not Required in the Flair 7 node list) — the board is connected but no axes have been assigned to it yet. You must assign axes to this node in the Flair axis setup screen.

Status blob colours (bottom right of Flair screen):

Colour Meaning
Red Not connected to that node
Blue Connected but not assigned to any axis
Green Connected and in use by an axis

If there is no free axis row to assign the node to: go to System > Configuration, find the Axes count, and increase it by one (Flair shows a fixed number of visible axis rows even though it supports many more — the rest stay hidden until the count is raised). Save and Apply, then close and reopen Flair (choose No to hot booting if asked) — the additional axis row will now be available.

Configuring the new axis: the axis needs correct scaling, limits, and motor type before it will run properly. If MRMC has supplied a configuration text file for the device, use Import in the axis setup screen to load it in one step, rather than entering scaling/limits/motor type by hand — the axis name will update automatically to the name stored in that file. If you don't have a config file, request one from MRMC or set up your turntable or model mover axes per the Flair Axis Setup tutorial video.

Linking the axis to the node: in the axis's network settings, set the Network field to the node number the board was added as, and the Port to the correct port on that board — a Uniboard has only one port, so it is always Port 1; a Quad or Octo Board has multiple ports, so pick the one the device is physically wired to. Save and Apply, then activate the axis and confirm it moves correctly.

The list of IP addresses and loaded boards is also stored in network.ini.

YouTube 38 - Adding a Network Node in Flair Flair 7

▶ 01:12 — Adding a network node ▶ 02:02 — What is a BTL? ▶ 03:50 — "Not Required" — what it means ▶ 04:10 — Increasing the Axes count to reveal a free axis row ▶ 05:22 — Importing axis configuration and linking the axis to its network node/port ▶ 07:30 — Changing the IP address on a device ▶ 09:22 — Other troubleshooting if a device won't reconnect

Source: Adding another Node or Network Board to a Flair system — talk.mrmoco.com