There are several ways to control a Robot from SA. The following sections will cover the various methods.
The SA Teach Pendant allows for Robot control from SA instead of the physical teach pendant. The SA Teach Pendant allows for individual actuator inputs, Cartesian moves and graphical input.
Actuator Movement. Select the actuator to move and either enter the value or use the slider to increase / decrease the value. Select the Drive button to apply the movement to the Robot Controller.
Cartesian Movement. Here the TCP can be moved in Cartesian space about either the Tool, Base or World frame. Simply slide the respective sliders and then click the Drive button to apply the movement to the Robot Controller.
Graphical Movement. Allows the user to graphically move the Robot and then apply the movement to Robot Controller by clicking the Drive button.
Command Machine. The Drive button sends over the specified movement in either Joint space or Cartesian space.
Auto Drive. Automatically sends movement to the Robot Controller when values change.
The Move to Frame commands allow robot movements to be calculated from the selection of Coordinate Frames in SA. When used, the user will be prompted to select a frame. From here, the robot will be moved to the selected position either in controller kinematics or SA Kinematics.
The SA Measurement Plan scripting language also includes several commands for controlling Robots. As the above section describes Move to Frame, similar commands are available in MP. MP is a great tool for automating data acquisition and robot movement.
Move Robot/Machine to Frame
Move Robot/Machine to Named Destination
Set Robot/Machine Parameter
Compute Robot/Machine Adjusted Goal Frame
Collecting data for a Robot calibration only takes a few steps. Two scenarios exist: Collecting joint sets from a live robot or importing joint sets.
Ensure that SA and the Robot are connected via the SA Robot Driver.
Add a new calibration by right-clicking Calibrations and select Add Calibration.
Right-click the newly added calibration and select Trap Measurements from an Instrument.
Now the calibration set is ready to receive measurements and joint sets. As a measurement is received a corresponding joint set is recorded. Simply move the Robot to various poses and record measurements.