Abstract: A spare robot controller for replacing any one of a plurality of initial robot controllers configured to control operation of respective industrial robots includes a key storage storing a plurality of shared keys and a secure storage. The spare robot controller is configured to decrypt, using one of the shared keys, an encrypted backup copy of the initial robot controller to be replaced, and to store resulting data in the secure storage. In embodiments, the is configured to extract data from the secure storage during operation and to encrypt the extracted data, using a selected one of the shared keys, for storage as a backup copy in a backup storage available to all of the initial robot controllers.

Abstract: A robot controller configured to control operation of a robot includes: a memory, which is configured to store a system configuration including at least user-defined project data and project-independent software; and a processor operable to execute the system configuration in accordance with a currently selected project. The robot controller is configured to: obtain a backup copy including user-defined project data and project-independent software; obtain restore input indicating a portion of the user-defined project data and project-independent software in the backup copy; and perform a partial restore of the backup copy, wherein only the indicated portion is loaded into the memory of the robot controller.

Abstract: An area of robotic control, and in particular to managing a system configuration of a robot controller. According to a first aspect, the disclosure relates to a method for managing a system configuration of a robot controller configured to control operation of a robot. The method includes capturing S1 a snapshot of the robot controller, the snapshot including a current system configuration of the robot controller and storing S2 the captured snapshot in the backup archive. The method further includes generating S3, on the display representing one or more snapshots stored in the backup archive presented in chronological order and upon receiving S4, from the input device, user input selecting one of the displayed elements, retrieving S5, from the backup archive information corresponding to the snapshot represented by the selected element, and providing S6 the retrieved system configuration. The method also relates to a corresponding control system.

Abstract: A control system is disclosed for controlling the movements of a plurality of mechanical units. The control system includes a plurality of independent control units, each including one or more control programs having instructions for controlling movements of at least one mechanical unit, and software for executing the control programs, wherein each control unit is configured to be put into any of a plurality of different states independent of states of remaining control units. A single server unit contains the plurality of independent control units, the server including memory for storing the control programs and the software for executing the control programs, a processor having at least one core, communication hardware for communicating with a network, and a resource-distributing unit adapted to distribute real and virtual hardware resources of the server unit to the control units, such that the control units share the real and virtual hardware resources of the server unit.