Difference between Simulation language and Robot language.

[maridawson]

Hello,
         I may sound absurd. Pardon me.  .
                I am new to industrial robots and I an studying my degree on Industrial robots.

My question is what is the difference between a Robot language and the simulation language. How would you simulate an environment/workcell and download the same, see the effects? where is a Robot language coming into picture when you simulate?

For an example what is the difference between Kuka - SIM and KRL.

Thanks in advance.

[TygerDawg]

Not absurd, just vague.  I'll make a guess as to an answer given my experience using such things.

A robot language is a front end interface for the user to program logic & motion commands.  These program commands are linked to a kinematic model, motion planner module, I/O handler, & various other program modules to drive the arm links at commanded speeds, do signal I/O, bump & crash into things, throw kinematic hissy fits, transfer data, and various other activities in the real world.

A "true" simulator (not an "animator") does all of that, except the output manifestation is virtual, as in on the personal computer.  In this way, one can watch the motion, simulate I/O signals to other virtual cell equipment, and generate reasonably accurate cycle times, and do it all without having a live robot on the shop floor.

[SkyeFire]

In addition, there are more generic "Simulators" that have their own language for internal use (generally b/c they're designed to simulate multiple robot brands, and unique devices within the workspace, like active tooling), but can "export" motion patterns created in this internal language into brand-specific robot code that can in turn be "imported" into the actual robots. 
Sometimes this process takes place in layers, using multiple software tools created by different parties.  For example, many CAD/CAM systems can output GCode, which is the "generic" industry-standard language for CNC milling machines.  But then a program like RobotMaster can convert that generic GCode into robot-specific code, like KRL for running on KUKA robots.

[TylerRobertson]

I would separate it into Emulators vs. Simulators.  One actually drives from the true code, whereas the other gives a representation and then converts.

SkyeFire is right on the money - although to be specific, Robotmaster doesn't convert gCode - the post-processor works from the Mastercam intermediate XYZIJK format (NCI code) and post-processes directly to the robotic code.

that being said then we have converters for generic NC and APT-language import...