PhotoRobot Network Setup

PhotoRobot is a network device. Cameras, robots, lights, and the Control Unit all talk to each other and to PhotoRobot Cloud over the network. Most “the system doesn’t work” incidents trace back to networking — a wrong subnet, a closed port, a flaky Wi-Fi link. This module gives you the baseline to set up correctly and to diagnose fast.

1. The standard delivery — preconfigured router

In standard practice, a PhotoRobot installation arrives with a preconfigured router. This router:

• Hosts a small internal network (subnet) that satisfies all PhotoRobot communication requirements.
• Connects to the customer’s main network on the WAN side.
• Carries the computer, studio lights (on a dedicated Wi-Fi to avoid customer Wi-Fi interference), all robots, and laser boxes on its LAN side.

For most customers this is the right answer: the customer’s IT only needs to provide internet uplink to the router. No firewall rules, no DHCP changes on the customer LAN, no special setup. PhotoRobot’s authority commissions the router during installation.

The rest of this module is for cases where the standard delivery doesn’t fit — typically when the customer’s IT department requires independent setup, or the customer doesn’t have / can’t use preconfigured equipment. If your installation uses the preconfigured router, you still need this module’s content to diagnose issues, even if you don’t configure from scratch.

2. PhotoRobot as a network device

From the network’s perspective, each PhotoRobot installation has two modules:

1. PhotoRobot Equipment — Control Unit(s), camera(s), light(s), robot(s)
2. Router — connects the equipment to the local network

Each PhotoRobot device has both a mechanical part and a Control Unit. The Control Unit is either:

• A separate 19" rack-mount unit, or
• Built directly into the machine body (Compact machine versions, Case 850, C850 / C1300, Cube Compact, Frame)

The Control Unit hosts a small built-in HTTP server, accessible from the local network. PhotoRobot _Controls (CAPP) software finds Control Units on the network, connects to them, sends commands, retrieves diagnostic info.

Control Unit generations

Generations share the same network protocols (with one exception in port directions for very old G4/G5 — see Section 5). For Academy purposes assume G6 / G7 unless you specifically encounter older.

3. Physical connection — Ethernet over Wi-Fi

Always prefer wired Ethernet over Wi-Fi for PhotoRobot Control Units. Wi-Fi causes:

• Frequent disconnects, especially under load (a 36-frame sequence is real load)
• Timeout-related dropouts that force operator to reconnect
• Higher latency that affects synchronization between cameras + lights + robot motion

Each Control Unit needs an Ethernet cable to the router. The cable runs to one of the router’s LAN ports. UTP Cat 5e or better, length per device location.

Note on lights: lights connect to a dedicated Wi-Fi (the preconfigured router’s secondary Wi-Fi SSID). Lights don’t need wired connection — they tolerate Wi-Fi well because their network traffic is minimal (occasional control commands, no image data). The dedicated Wi-Fi keeps light commands off the customer’s regular Wi-Fi where they’d contend with other traffic.

Computer: also UTP cable preferred. The control computer running CAPP should be on the same subnet as the Control Units. Wi-Fi is acceptable for the computer if cable run isn’t practical, but consider the same disconnect risks.

4. Subnet layout

All PhotoRobot Control Units and the control computer must be on the same network subnet. This is mandatory.

The “PhotoRobotNet” subnet (informal name for the dedicated PhotoRobot LAN) typically:

• Has its own DHCP server (in the preconfigured router)
• Uses a private IP range (e.g., 10.1.2.0/24 or 192.168.1.0/24)
• Allows UDP broadcast on ports 6666, 67, 53 (used by Control Unit discovery)
• Is isolated from the customer’s main LAN by the router (NAT)

Why one subnet: the PhotoRobot Locator app and CAPP’s built-in unit search both rely on UDP broadcast to find Control Units. UDP broadcasts don’t cross subnet boundaries. If the computer is on subnet A and Control Units on subnet B, discovery fails — even if routing between A and B is otherwise correct.

Dynamic vs static IPs: PhotoRobot prefers DHCP-assigned dynamic IPs. Fixed IP addresses are not generally recommended — they require manual configuration on each Control Unit’s web interface and create maintenance work. If your IT requires fixed IPs (some corporate networks do), contact PhotoRobot Support for guidance.

5. Ports & protocols (the IT department checklist)

If you’re configuring from scratch (no preconfigured router) or auditing an existing setup against customer IT requirements, here are the network rules to open.

5.1. Local PhotoRobot subnet — Control Unit communication

5.2. Internet access — required services

5.3. Required server access

The local PhotoRobot subnet must be able to reach these destinations on the internet:

• *.photorobot.com — PhotoRobot Cloud services (project sync, image upload, etc.)
• as-unirobot.azurewebsites.net — Activation server for PhotoRobot units, callhome service function

Whitelist these specifically if your customer’s IT runs a strict outbound filter.

5.4. Minimum bandwidth

PhotoRobot recommends 20/20 Mbps minimum internet speed for Cloud and Hybrid subscription tiers. Local-only (no cloud upload) installations have lower bandwidth needs but still benefit from a stable connection for activation and updates.

6. Diagnostic tools

Your toolkit for “is this Control Unit reachable” questions.

6.1. CAPP’s built-in unit locator

Preferred since recent CAPP versions: open the local version of CAPP → Settings → Robots / Control units. The menu shows all discovered units with:

• Name (Control Unit identifier)
• Network (subnet and IP)
• Unit (model)
• Version (firmware)
• Discovered (timestamp)
• Identify (clicking opens the Control Unit’s diagnostic web page in browser; the LED on the actual physical Control Unit blinks green for visual identification)

Green dot to the left of the name = unit is online. Gray dot = not reachable.

6.2. PhotoRobot Locator app (mobile + desktop)

• iPhone / iPad: PhotoRobot Locator on iTunes
• Windows desktop: frfind.exe for Windows
• macOS desktop: frfind for macOS
• Android: discontinued (use iOS or desktop locator instead)

Module B04 Locator app covers the mobile / desktop tool in operational depth. For this module, know that it exists as your second diagnostic tool when CAPP itself isn’t running or available.

6.3. ping

Standard OS ping. Once you know a Control Unit’s IP (via locator), you can verify reachability:

ping 10.1.2.42

If ping fails but locator shows the unit, the unit is on a different subnet, or your computer isn’t on the same subnet, or ICMP is blocked. Cross-check with ipconfig (Windows) / ifconfig (macOS) to confirm your computer’s subnet.

6.4. Diagnosis principle — duplicate IP is not necessarily failure

Network anomalies in PhotoRobot installations don’t always mean failure. Examples:

• Two Control Units with the same IP — sometimes happens during reconfiguration. Locator will show both, but only one will respond. Resolution: power-cycle one, let DHCP reassign.
• Locator finds a Control Unit but CAPP doesn’t — usually means CAPP’s discovery cache is stale. Restart CAPP, then refresh the locator menu.
• Unit was visible yesterday, not today — first thing to check is cable. Pull-and-reinsert at both ends, observe link LED on the Control Unit’s RJ45 port.

7. Computer / OS requirements

CAPP runs cross-platform on macOS and Windows. Linux is not supported (was discontinued 2016).

7.1. Operating system compatibility

CAPP currently runs on:

• macOS: Big Sur (11), Monterey (12), Ventura (13), Sonoma (14), Sequoia (15), Tahoe (26)
• Windows: Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 11

7.2. Recommended hardware

For both macOS and Windows:

• RAM: 16 GB minimum, more recommended for high-volume work
• GPU: Dedicated GPU with 4 GB memory (Apple Silicon M1+ acceptable; Windows integrated graphics not recommended)
• Monitor: 1920×1080 or higher
• Storage: 500 GB SSD or higher
• USB: USB 3.0; number of ports = number of cameras you connect + 1 (the +1 is for the network dongle if you don’t have built-in Ethernet, or for occasional peripherals)
• Windows CPU: Intel 64-bit, 2.3 GHz+, i5 or higher architecture, DDR4 2133 MHz+ memory

Underspecified computer is the most common “everything is slow” complaint in studios. Match the spec at install time — upgrading later is expensive (or impossible if it’s a Mac).

8. Special situations — restricted / no internet

PhotoRobot is designed to function with internet. If your customer’s environment cannot provide internet (air-gapped industrial setting, classified site, etc.), contact PhotoRobot Support directly. There are options:

• Local-only operation (no cloud upload, no activation refresh) — works for limited time
• Periodic batch upload (connect to internet weekly for sync) — covers most non-realtime needs
• Custom activation server (enterprise-grade) — for permanent air-gapped use

This is not a do-it-yourself area. The activation server (as-unirobot.azurewebsites.net) must be reachable for unit activation and license renewal. Without periodic activation contact, units enter limited-functionality mode.

9. The “first thing to check” list when network breaks

The order in which experienced operators / specialists triage network issues:

1. Link LEDs. Are the RJ45 LEDs on the Control Unit and the router blinking? No light = cable / connector failure.
2. Same subnet? Run ipconfig / ifconfig on the computer. Compare its subnet to the Control Unit’s known IP. Different subnet = locator won’t find unit.
3. DHCP active? Is the router’s DHCP server running? Power-cycle the router if uncertain.
4. Firewall on the computer. Local Windows Defender / macOS firewall may block UDP broadcast to 6666 — required for discovery.
5. Customer-network firewall. If your subnet connects to customer LAN, customer firewall may block outbound TCP 443 to *.photorobot.com. Test with curl https://account.photorobot.com from the computer.
6. DNS. If ping account.photorobot.com resolves but ping 8.8.8.8 doesn’t (or vice versa), DNS / connectivity is broken at a different layer.
7. Restart CAPP and reconnect. Sometimes simplest fix.

If steps 1-7 don’t resolve, escalate to PhotoRobot Support with the diagnostic output (CAPP locator screenshot, ipconfig output, ping results).

10. For full reference

This module is a brief operational summary plus the IT department’s checklist. The canonical, always-up-to-date references on photorobot.com are:

• PhotoRobot Networking Prerequisites & Configuration — full networking reference with detailed port/protocol tables per Control Unit generation, subnet topology diagrams, troubleshooting flowcharts.
• System Requirements for PhotoRobot — computer specifications by OS, required services / ports, server access list, recommended internet speed, networking dependencies summary.

When a customer’s IT asks for the “PhotoRobot network requirements document”, point them at these two URLs. They are the authoritative source — Academy text is summary only.

Module check

When you’re ready, take the module knowledge check for this module. It’s not graded for certification — it’s for you and your instructor to identify any gaps before moving on.

→ Take the module check  ·  5 questions, immediate feedback