I’ve always looked at moving the tool, not the part, but now I need to move the part, not the tool.
We have 2 applications where the client needs to the UR to pick up a part and move it around the fixed tool.
One will cut a part to shape and the shapes can vary so the operator needs to load the right program to run a batch of the shapes required from a variety of different shapes they use.
The other is inserting parts into holes (top and bottom need to insert together) so the robot needs to move the part to position to the fixed machine. Again, the operator will select the required part from multiple parts they use.
I’m hoping to be able to load all CAD drawings that has the referenced shape (for the first cell) and has the referenced hole positions (for the second cell) and then the robot can select the required part design to run through the process.
Any ideas on software available to achieve this, to store multiple cad designs, call upon the required design and control the UR accordingly?
You will need an external software for this task. RoboDK is one example.
It has a plugin for Solidworks and Fusion (maybe others too) and allows pulling CAD geometry directly into a robot path planning tool.
This can’t be achieved using the RTCP URcap? I’m just trying to play with this for the first time and it has the option of a fixed tool and the robot moving the part according to the uploaded waypath. I don’t want to be asking for another $4k on the budget!
That looks like it offers loading of GCODE which can help, but you still need some CAM software to generate that code for you.
I often find that the solution you want is not the best solution. Sometimes simpler is better.
I would setup a TCP for the center of gripper (or a reference point that is easy for a CAD designer to identify). Then use a recipe lookup (I used a BCG for the part number input). Inside the recipe lookup, load X,Y and Z offsets from the designer.
I have a system with this running and it’s simple and easy to train sups, maintenance and engineers on.
Thank you Richard, can you provide a little more detail on this? I’ve not heard of this approach before. How does the XYZ offsets get programmed into the CAD file for the robot to read that data?