Interface Panel Digital Switch?

    I'm working on a c series and was wondering if I could use a digital switch on the Interface panel to set speed for certain movements in my program?

    For ex. if I had variable x in my program could I assign x to the speed of one specific move?
    The reason for wanting to do this is so I don't have to go in and edit my program for 2 moves every time I change dies.

    BTW I have been using Block step but I'm just now trying to figure out how to use AS.

    Hi Lantz

    I do not believe any element of a BLOCK instruction can be substituted with a variable.
    Only way of adjusting this is by way of altering the Speed No. on the BLOCK Step (Speed 0-9) or using the Aux Functions to alter what the Speed value (0-9) equates to.
    You can mix BLOCK and AS, usually BLOCK is used for the motion/positions and then AS for synchronising signals and logic operations.

    AS allows more flexibility as it allows use of variables.
    Which in turn will allow you to:

    SPEED fast MM/S
    JMOVE #p2
    SPEED slow MM/S
    JMOVE #p2

    'slow' and 'fast' variable values can therefore be adjusted without editing.
    Depending on your application, usually depends on whether BLOCK or AS is more favourable.

    - Is your application on a Press line?
    Simple Applications I have come across have natively been in BLOCK as it is less training/product operational knowledge and therefore allows for employees to use/modify due to it's simplicity.

    Converting to AS would definitely allow for more flexibility.....but may require further training for the operators......then of course, you may also have a 'Company Standard' which may be BLOCK driven...

    If you need any assistance with AS, then drop a post.....

    I want to control a sprayer for a DCM on the end of my robot arm, the problem is I need to be able to set up 4 zones (adjustable) and spray at different rates (speeds) across the die. And it needs to be able to be adjusted easily without having to edit the program.

    Right now I'm leaning towards building the sprayer on an actuator on the end of the arm and controlling in as a separate subsystem. That way the robot only needs to communicate via DI/O and the zones and rates can easily be adjusted via a touch panel.

    Any other ideas or suggestions are welcome, and thanks for your reply.

    Hi Lantz

    Is the spray to be constant or adjustable in terms of flow?

    Without knowing too much about the application, maybe worthwhile looking into workspaces and using dedicated signals to trigger speed changes......eg.

    1. Setup Dedicated Workspaces (zones) within the Controller and assign dedicated outputs/internal signals.

    Use BITS command and read in status of workspace signals and allocate variable speed values for zone.

    AS Code example.

    spray.spd = (BITS 2001,2); Reads in status of signals 2002,2001 and assigns BCD equivalent to spray.spd variable (real values 0 - 3)
    CASE spray.spd OF
    VALUE 0:; Workspace 1
    speed 300 mm/s
    VALUE 1:; Workspace 2
    Speed 250 mm/s
    VALUE 2:; Workspace 3
    Speed 500 mm/s
    VALUE 3:; Workspace 4
    Speed 750mm/s
    END

    The flow rate is constant. The speed and the work spaces (zones) need to be adjustable.

    The numbers for the positional data to establish the zones and the numbers for the speed need to be input via the interface panel on the controller? or an external touch panel.

    So I need to:
    1. Create digital switches on the interface panel to adjust the numbers and assign each switch to a signal (which is done in the setup?) and use the signal numbers to control the zones and speeds in the program?
    or
    2. Feed in analog signals from an external touch panel? and use those signal numbers in the program.

    Am I thinking along the right lines here or am I missing something?

    Silly me....I forgot to ask, you mentioned C Series Controller.....what series manipulator is connected?

    No such things as

    Quote from Lantz

    Am I thinking along the right lines here or am I missing something?

    Regarding placing buttons on the Robot Touch Screen to use to input speed values and adjust positional data, then yes, this can be done locally without any external peripherals required - so yes, you are thinking along the right lines and the way to go would be AS, as you can alter X,Y,Z,O,A,T components of any transform (location) aswell as speeds, accuracies.
    What needs to be done is implemented and controlled correctly.....especially when adjusting location data...
    However.....I do not want to make a process more complicated than it needs to be, so I have more questions unfortunately....

    1. How are you with Kawasaki Robots, AS Language and also Cartesian Co-ordinate systems?.....learner, intermediate, veteran?
    2. Have you got the AS Language Manual and have you come across/used/familiar with - relative positions, frames or compound transformations?
    - (ie.......LMOVE a+b or JMOVE table+mat+plate or POINT fr_zone1 = FRAME(orig1,x1,y1,orig1) -
    3. Do you require to alter TCP orientation within these zones, or are you basically 'raster scanning' ie if you were spraying a flat surface?
    4. Do you know about PC tasks - Background tasks within the Controller?

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