Patent ID: 7904205

Claim:
A method of opening a network in a manufacturing system, the system including a plurality of robots, a plurality of robot controllers individually controlling the robots and two different networks connecting the robot controllers with each other, the method comprising: opening a first network to said plurality of robot controllers, by setting, in each of said plurality of robot controllers and in accordance with an operation program of each said robot controller, conditions required for opening said first network, wherein said conditions include addresses and are based on the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP); designating, on a control-network setting screen, an address range in said first network for robot controllers to which a second network is to be opened and which are selected from among said plurality of robot controllers; determining and setting, in accordance with an address allocation rule, addresses in said second network for said selected robot controllers which are addressed in said first network within the designated address range; restarting network processing tasks included in operation programs of said selected robot controllers which are addressed in said first network within the designated address range; and after (i) said first network has been opened, (ii) said addresses in said second network have been set for said selected robot controllers, and (iii) said restarting has been completed, opening said second network to said selected robot controllers which are addressed in said first network within the designated address range.