Hello All,
I have just acquired a Motoman UPJ robot, JRC controller, and teach pendant. This robot, controller, and pendant are so much like the Denso units (they probably are), I thought best to ask my questions in this forum as well.
I guess I got lucky with this robot because it has less than 1000 power on hours, and less than 70 operational hours. The controller is matched to the robot, and it is dated 2003, so I guess both are about 12 years old.
Before receiving the robot, I downloaded as much documentation, both Motoman and Denso, that I could find. Denso no longer supports the robot, and Motoman will stop this year. The documentation seems like a "cut" from Denso, and a "paste" to Motoman. Denso representatives have told me that there is some differences between Denso and Motoman versions of the robot, primarily in the firmware of the controller.
1. Considering that age, and the operational hours, what, if any, maintenance should I perform on the robot? Check belt tension, grease the harmonic drives, etc? There does not appear to be any leaks, and aside from the scuffs of 12 years storage, it looks pretty clean. (the paint is still sealing the cover screws) The J2 axis is a littl noisy when under minor load, and the J6 axis is just noisy. If you were bringing a very lightly used UPJ out of 12 years storage, what would you do?
2. I have checked the 3 backup batteries, and their output is around 3.5 volts. The date for the last replacement was in October of 2012, but I find that hard to believe. I know the batteries are supposed to output 3.6 volts, so is it time for replacement anyway? I have considered wiring up my own backup batteries, seeing that the encoder data is probably screwed up anyway. See next question.
3. It seems that at some point, either the batteries were disconnected or encoder data was lost. As at initial power on, I was met with several errors. Through trial and error, I was able to resolve the errors. First by downloading an Arm Manager file from a PC running WinCapsII to the controller. Then by reseting the encoder data. Then moving the arm manually to the CalSet/Reference/Home position and performing a CalSet on all axis. In the Denso documentation, a CalSet position is with an axis against a hard stop. Yet in the Motoman documentation, a CalSet position is about midrange of motion. The UPJ has little arrow stickers applied and I used them for the CalSet postion. Was this correct to do? Also, is it true that the CalSet, Reference, and Home positions are all one in the same?
4. Printed on the JRC controller are the Absolute Data values for the encoders. When the robot is at the CalSet/Reference/Home position (arrow stickers lined up) the absolute data on the pendant is no where near what is printed on the controller. Resetting the encoder reference positions to 0 degrees yields absolute data values still different than the controller. If I enter the controller's absolute data values into the teach pendant, they take. But the reference position is now off. (though the robot has not moved from its CalSet/Reference/Home position.) Reseting the reference position or CalSetting, results in the Absolute Data values changing again. Am I doing this correctly? If I were to move the robot to this new reference position, it would overrun the J3 axis.
5. I can move the robot in Joint mode. But in X-Y mode, movement yields errors. Such as singularity point and command speed limit errors. Speed was at 2%. I admitt that I don't fully understand the math going on for x-y mode, but these errors seem suspect that my previous attempts at Calsetting and encoder resetting, etc, were bad or wrong.
6. With all that needs to be resolved, a firmware upgrade at this time is probably unwise. Nevertheless, is there a firmware upgrade available for when these problems are solved? Currently, the versions are:
ROM version: 1.836
Main module: 1.836
Comm module: 1.606
Interpreter mdl: 1.606
Tool path module: 1.908
Servo module: 2.82E
Pendant module: 1.907
Pendant : 1.62
I would guess that upgrading with Denso firmware would be equivalent to suicide.
7. The robot boilerplate has model YR-UPJ3-B00. The pendant indicates the robot model to be UP3-B00 A. In WinCapsII Ver 1.9, selecting the robot to be a UP3-B00A, yields no errors. I guess these are all the same, correct? If I select a UPJ3-F00, I get wrong robot errors. I just noticed that I am using a Denso version of WinCaps. Is that a problem?
I guess that is all for now. Many thanks for your assistance.