SICK CoLa-B (Command Language Binary)
Table of contents
- Overview
- Protocol Stacks
- Cola-B Dataframe
- Cola-A Dataframe
- Knwon Command Type/Command
- Telegram Example
- Client / Server Script
- Reference
Overview
SICK CoLa (Command Language) refers to the family of communication protocols developed by SICK AG for interacting with their industrial sensors, such as LiDAR scanners, safety laser scanners, vision systems, and other detection devices. It operates as part of the SOPAS (SICK Open Protocol for Automation Systems) ecosystem, enabling configuration, parameter access (reading/writing), status monitoring, command execution, and data streaming (e.g., scan or measurement data) over TCP/IP connections. Devices commonly use dedicated ports: CoLa-A on 2111 and CoLa-B on 2112, with newer variants like CoLa-2 on 2122 for enhanced features including better security. CoLa supports event-driven communication and is widely integrated with SICK’s SOPAS ET configuration software, which includes terminal tools for testing and debugging telegrams.
The main variants are CoLa-A (ASCII/text-based, human-readable for easy manual interaction and debugging) and CoLa-B (binary format for compact, efficient transmission suited to high-performance or data-intensive tasks). Many SICK devices support one, the other, or both, allowing flexibility based on application needs—CoLa-A simplifies development and troubleshooting, while CoLa-B reduces overhead for faster or bandwidth-constrained scenarios. Newer devices increasingly adopt CoLa-2 (an evolved protocol) for improved capabilities, though CoLa-A and CoLa-B remain broadly deployed in industrial automation for their reliability, compatibility, and mature support across sensor families.
Protocol Stacks
------------------------------------
| Sensor/Host Application | <= Client (e.g., PLC, PC, SOPAS ET software)
|------------------------------------|
| CoLa-B Telegrams | <= Binary command/data framing (SOPAS commands)
|------------------------------------|
| TCP | <= Reliable, connection-oriented transport
|------------------------------------|
| TCP/IP |
------------------------------------
Cola-B Dataframe
technical_information_ml20_en_im0059796.pdf#page=8&zoom=100
Request Frame
Response Frame
checksum = XOR all bytes 9 to 13
Cola-A Dataframe
telegram_listing_nav210_en_im0084703.pdf#page=5&zoom=100,97,700
There has to be a space in between the command and the parameters and also in between each parameter.
In HEX the command start with 02 and ends with 03. The spaces are marked as 20. Single numbers that are converted to ASCII always get a 3 in front.
below two are the hex and ascii format equivalent
<STX>sMN SetAccessMode 3 F4724744<ETX>
02 73 4D 4E 20 53 65 74 41 63 63 65 73 73 4D 6F 64 65 20 33 20 46 34 37 32 34 37 34 34 03
Knwon Command Type/Command
| Description | Value ASCII | Value Hex | Request/Response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read by name | sRN | 73 52 4E | request |
| Write by name | sWN | 73 57 4E | request |
| Method | sMN | 73 4D 4E | request |
| Read by name | sRA | 73 52 41 | response |
| Method | sAN | 73 41 4E | response |
Telegram Example
CoLa-B (DeviceIdent)
Read Variable: 02 02 02 02 00 00 00 05 73 52 49 00 00 68 ········sRI··h
Read Variable Response: 02 02 02 02 00 00 00 12 73 52 41 00 00 00 04 4D ········sRA····M
4C 32 30 00 05 31 2E 31 31 30 4D L20··1.110M
CoLa-A (DeviceIdent)
Read Variable: 02 02 02 02 00 00 00 0f 73 52 4E 20 44 65 76 69 .......-sRN Devi
63 65 49 64 65 6E 25
Read Variable Response: 02 02 02 02 00 00 00 2d 73 52 41 20 44 65 76 69 .......-sRA Devi
63 65 49 64 65 6e 74 20 00 0f 54 72 69 53 70 65 ceIdent ..TriSpe
63 74 6f 72 20 31 30 36 30 00 0a 34 2e 33 2e 31 ctor 1060..4.3.1
2e 32 34 32 52 55 .242RU
Client / Server Script
Reconstruct from TCP payload. For instance
0000 02 02 02 02 00 00 00 2d 73 52 41 20 44 65 76 69 .......-sRA Devi
0010 63 65 49 64 65 6e 74 20 00 0f 54 72 69 53 70 65 ceIdent ..TriSpe
0020 63 74 6f 72 20 31 30 36 30 00 0a 34 2e 33 2e 31 ctor 1060..4.3.1
0030 2e 32 34 32 52 55 .242RU
The scripts below extract TCP payload, save to “payloads.hex”, iterate through to next line on each every responde.
tshark -r sick_cola-b_evaluated.pcap -Y "tcp.srcport == 2112" -T fields -e tcp.payload > payloads.hex
PORT=2112
FILE=payloads.hex
while read line; do
echo "Serving: $line"
echo -n "$line" | xxd -r -p | nc -l $PORT
done < "$FILE"
while echo -n "0202020200000005735249000068" | xxd -r -p | nc -w 2 10.119.24.84 2112 | xxd -p; do :; done