Anyone here programmed a 6 axis robot ?

Milacron · Feb 6, 2005

My son asked me today how one programs a robot for complex pick and place moves or painting functions and it occured to me I don't really know. I can see 3 axis would be simple enough, but programming the motions for painting or complex welding shapes requiring 5 or 6 axis I can only guess.

I know they have "teach" functions, but how do you actually "teach" it ?

WILLEO6709 · Feb 6, 2005

depends on the brand of robot. Mst of them have you set points in the path in an APT type of programming language. weld settings, etc. are programmmed as separate itmes once the points are picked. I have programmed abb robots years ago, but the newer fanucs look sweet.

pi · Feb 7, 2005

i have programmed 5 and 6 axis welding robots.
all you did was position it and then store the position and tell it what action to perform. piece of cake.

Milacron · Feb 7, 2005

all you did was position it

By "position it" do you mean things like the distance from weld tip to part and start and end points were "eyeballed", with this info entered in and then travel speed and final position were perhaps fine tuned after some trial runs ?

pi · Feb 7, 2005

Milacron · Feb 8, 2005

Only thing I still don't get is how you manually control 6 axis to perform the teach modes...seems like it would be like controlling two or three Etch-a-Sketches at once ! :confused:

pi · Feb 10, 2005

it is just like moving your arm and hand. once you see it done you'll say DUH

MarshSt · Feb 10, 2005

On the ABBs we have you don't control all 6 independently at the same time. Pick the "axis" you want, say reach or rotate, and tweak it around with the joystick. We place a contact tip in the end of the weld gun and place it where you want it in the weld joint in a few places and tell the robot to connect the dots with the app move commands. It does require some tweaking once you set it in motion, move speed, weld parameters etc. Like the others said a lot of "teach" points. Just like a video game almost.
Steve

tjay · Feb 12, 2005

We have 6 fanuc robodrills and we're wanting to implement a small robot for lights out....only problem we have fairly small lot runs (25 ~ 200)
lot runs. Are robots feasable for somehthing like this? Can robots be programmed offline?
Everyone I talk to says no...not for that many pcs.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
tjay

toolsrul · Feb 12, 2005

They usually have a teach pendant you use for position, movement, etc. If you need repeat accuracy for loading & unloading, for example, you'll need to get into the logic files & program for that specific move or function & the control points would be the same going in as coming out. Would be quite difficult to program something like that off line & expect any type of accuracy to load & unload parts on a fixture or gage if you can't see what is going on. Off line would get you close but no cigar.

Milacron · Feb 12, 2005

tjay, would you be wanting to use a simple gantry type loader/unloader as used with plastic injection machines or a full blown "arm" type robot ?

pi · Feb 13, 2005

waste of time tjay

tjay · Feb 15, 2005

pi,

Why do you say it is a waste of time? They don't work?

We're trying to find some way of getting a few free hours in the evenings. I don't really feel like we have enough work to start a full time 2nd shift.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Tjay

pi · Feb 15, 2005

the amount of time it takes to setup robots would not be advantageous for your small lot sizes.

reefcruiser · Feb 22, 2005

I was just reading this and am curious... other than the teach mode, is there a way to program the robot to move like a mill?

WILLEO6709 · Feb 22, 2005

I think there is a software to do " cam for robots" but always needs touched up at the machine.

Tonytn36 · May 21, 2011

Old thread I know.......but........

Small lot sizes are very doable on 6-axis robots. I have 6 set up in exactly this type of very small lot situation. Thing is, you need to re-think how you program it. It needs to be macro programmed with fixed, hard reference points. You "shift" (offset) the robot from the reference points based on part dimensions. Takes some programming time initially to get it all worked out for the variety of parts you may run, but in the end you only need to give the robot a few dimensions in an operator screen and it'll do all the math. Almost all of our robots are programmed this way. The only bots that aren't are either vision driven, in a rigidly fixed operation, or are sensor-input driven.

You don't do this with the "easy-teach" block type programming, you have to use the advanced language programming functions of the robot controller.

Winterfalke · May 21, 2011

I have worked with robots where you could go into the program and adjust the locations by changing the data in each individual block, I believe it was either an older Asea or a GMF. I have also worked on robots programmed for machining parts to several thousandths tolerance, and I believe they were all programmed using CAM software. Both of these were in multi-million dollar factory lines, so the software was probably either custom, or horrendously expensive. But, a cnc mill is nothing more than a purpose built robot, so I find it hard to believe no one has adapted a robot controller to run off an open source cad/cam package. People build their own cnc routers all the time, you are really only looking at a few more degrees of movement. Can you do it cheaply and quickly? Maybe one or the other, not both.

Heavey Metal · May 21, 2011

although i know nothing about programing robots i do know how to weld the wrists back together when they are programed improperly. i do quite a bit of work for a pottery in town that basicly runs lights out 24/7. the maintence hands routenly tweek the bots with there i phones. they started out with allkind of software to write code. and plenty of "consultents". howeaver they never realy got this operation to work and work right until the hands learned how to fingerdinc code right there at the bot and none of the teach etc. helped.to me it is amazing what these kids can do nowdays. it is just like running a mill it never works to its potential until someone near it learns to wright and tweek code. at this pottery there are no operators only maintence hands and a few people in shipping.

tekla019 · Jun 28, 2011

Self-programming 6-axis robot

Just came across this piece of bleepin' ingenuity:

self-programming robot for structural steel fabrication

Now you don't have to program the robot. Load in a drawing of the part it's suposed to make and it programs itself !

Anyone here programmed a 6 axis robot ?

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