External Robot Control

The purpose of our application is to facilitate the programming and optimize the execution of complex trajectories for industrial manipulators. In addition, it ensure the maximum control on the robot trajectory, since it avoids the use path approximations typical of the standard robot programs. The application can also be used to control external axis.

The software is based on the “external control module”, which is included in almost every robot controller. Such component allows the robot to be moved based on inputs received by external PCs, PLCs, sensors etc. Our tool offers all the functionalities to simply connect to the robot, upload the input trajectory and launch the execution of the task.

Thanks to a very lean and intuitive HMI, using our application it is possible to start a robot task with few and rapid settings. The complex trajectories that can be easily generated with our software further enhance the versatility and the performances of your robot.

The most common method to program robot paths is the teaching method. The teaching method consists in the operator to jog the robot through the workspace and save the points of the path with the teach pendant. Such approach is particularly worthful when the path is composed by only few targets.

When the path is more complex and a higher number of targets are requested, an offline programming software would be a better strategy to proceed with. In fact, they allow to automatically generate paths around the objects to process, even though they are composed by lots of targets.

In case the path to be covered is very complex and a huge number of targets would be necessary to compose it, a standard robot program with a sequence of  movement commands regarding targets very near one to each other would drastically decrease the speed and the performance of the robot, independently to the method used to program it.

To overcome these limitations, we propose a solution that takes advantage of the “external control module”. Using this module, it is not necessary for the robot to read a lenghty sequence of motion commands, overloading the CPU of the robot and compromising the performances. In fact, the trajectory would be elaborated by our application, which then sends a stream of setpoints to the external control module in real time. Adopting such approach, the overload of the robot CPU is prevented. Moreover, it allows to define very complex trajectories for the robot, generated directly on your PC and without the necessity of creating long and complex robot programs.

The application allows to generate the robot path starting from:

• • a list of motion instructions;
  • custom-defined trajectories;
  • G-CODE file (using our G-CODE translator module).

Our solution is particularly suitable for industrial applications such as additive manufacturing (e.g., WAAM) or machining (e.g., milling, finishing, etc.), thanks to the maximum control offered on the trajectory.