MultipackParser C++

C++ Qt6 rewrite of the MultipackParser application - a bridge connecting Multipack palette optimization software with Universal Robots (UR10/UR20) palletizing systems.

Features

• Native Performance: C++17 with Qt6 for optimized performance on ARM64 (Raspberry Pi)
• XML-RPC Server: Serves palette data to robot controllers on port 8080
• Robot Communication: Dashboard server integration for status monitoring
• SQLite Database: Stores and manages palette configurations
• 3D Visualization: Package position visualization (VTK optional)
• Safety System: Scanner monitoring with audio warnings
• USB Support: Hot-plug detection for palette file loading

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Qt6 (6.2+): Core, Widgets, Network, Sql, Multimedia
• CMake 3.20+
• C++17 compatible compiler
• SQLite3

Build for Linux with Docker

Linux x86_64 / amd64

docker build -f Dockerfile -t multipack-parser-linux-amd64 --build-arg CMAKE_BUILD_JOBS=8 .
docker create --name multipack-linux-amd64 multipack-parser-linux-amd64
mkdir -p output/multipack-parser-linux-amd64
docker cp multipack-linux-amd64:/app/build/bin/multipack-parser output/multipack-parser-linux-amd64/
docker rm -f multipack-linux-amd64

Output: output/multipack-parser-linux-amd64/multipack-parser

Linux ARM64 / Raspberry Pi

The recommended way to build for Raspberry Pi from any platform:

# macOS/Linux
./docker-build.sh

# Windows (equivalent to docker-build.sh)
docker-build.bat
docker-build.bat --portable   # Also create single-file launcher (.run)
# Or: build.bat --arm64

Output: output/multipack-parser-arm64.tar.gz (includes Qt libraries)

Portable single-file: output/multipack-parser-arm64-portable.run (use docker-build.bat --portable or GitHub Actions)

Native Build (Development)

# macOS/Linux
./build.sh
./build.sh --debug --run
./build.sh --portable

# Windows
build.bat
build.bat --debug --run

Manual Build

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(nproc)
./bin/multipack-parser

Command Line Options

Option	Description
--version, -V	Display version information
--verbose, -v	Enable debug logging
--license	Show license information
--no-virtual-keyboard	Disable on-screen keyboard

Build script option:

• ./build.sh --portable creates a single-file Linux launcher (build/bin/multipack-parser-portable-<arch>.run)

Project Structure

MultipackParser/
├── CMakeLists.txt              # Build configuration
├── build.sh / build.bat        # Native build scripts
├── Dockerfile                  # Linux x86_64 Docker build
├── docker-build.sh             # ARM64 cross-compilation (macOS/Linux)
├── docker-build.bat            # ARM64 cross-compilation (Windows)
├── Dockerfile.arm64            # ARM64 build container
├── src/                        # Source files
│   ├── main.cpp                # Entry point
│   ├── core/                   # Application core & state
│   ├── ui/                     # User interface
│   ├── database/               # SQLite operations
│   ├── network/                # XML-RPC server
│   ├── robot/                  # Robot communication
│   ├── audio/                  # Audio playback & safety
│   ├── message/                # Status messaging
│   ├── config/                 # Settings management
│   ├── system/                 # USB, updates, file ops
│   └── utils/                  # String/socket utilities
├── include/multipack/          # Header files
├── ui/                         # Qt Designer UI files
└── resources/                  # Icons, audio files

Configuration

Settings stored in settings.json:

{
  "info": {
    "version": "2.0.0-beta",
    "UR_Model": "UR10"
  },
  "robot": {
    "ip": "192.168.0.1"
  },
  "server": {
    "port": 8080
  }
}

Dependencies Installation

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install qt6-base-dev qt6-multimedia-dev qt6-tools-dev \
                 cmake build-essential libsqlite3-dev

# Optional: VTK for 3D visualization
sudo apt install libvtk9-qt-dev

macOS (Homebrew)

brew install qt@6 cmake sqlite

Windows

Install Qt6 from qt.io and add to PATH.

Robot Communication

The application communicates with Universal Robots via:

• XML-RPC Server (port 8080): Serves palette data, package positions, layer info
• Dashboard Server (port 29999): Monitors robot status, program state, safety

XML-RPC Boot Contract

On HMI boot the XML-RPC server auto-starts on 0.0.0.0:8080. The robot should connect to http://192.168.0.10:8080/RPC2 on the eth0 robot subnet. The eth0 address is only a reachability target; it is not an application readiness signal.

Robots must poll get_status() or UR_GetStatus() and treat operational RPCs as valid only when the returned ready field is true. Before a palette is loaded, operational RPCs return an XML-RPC fault instead of default or partial palette data. Setup/status methods such as UR_SetFileName, UR_ReadDataFromUsbStick, get_status, and get_available_functions remain available before readiness.

Supported Robots

Model	Features
UR10	Single palette, basic scanner
UR20	Dual palettes, advanced scanner monitoring

Technical Notes

• Qt Version: Targets Qt 6.2+ (Ubuntu 22.04 compatible)
• Thread Safety: Uses Qt signals/slots for cross-thread UI updates
• Password Encryption: SHA256 with random salt (Python-compatible format)
• Database: Normalized SQLite schema with cascading foreign keys

Documentation

• Building Guide
• Architecture
• Migration from Python

License

Proprietary - Szaidel Cosmetic GmbH