DCS Setup

    If you have the DCS manual, read it.


    If you have RoboGuide, it makes it much easier to set up the zones. You can import a CAD file of your work cell then create and drag the zone boundaries and test them, then export to your robot and test in the real world.


    The two main components of DCS are Joint Position Check (JPC) and Cartesian Position check (CPC). JPC is basically a safety rated axis limit where you set the min and max degrees. CPC you can create box or polygon shaped zones. With CPC you create a zone and choose a safe side, inside or outside, then you choose what has to stay in/out of the zone. You can create a model of your EOAT using boxes, spheres and cylinder elements and use the built in model of the robot arm.


    For example, on my last project I used a CPC box zone, safe side in (diagonal in) on the inside of the cell fence plus a buffer distance, and must have the robot and EOAT stay inside that box so it cannot crash into the fence. Then I created a CPC, safe side out (diagonal out), box shaped zone around a conveyor. The EOAT is allowed to come close enough to the conveyor to touch the parts, but not accidentally crash into the conveyor, which is just for machine safeguarding.


    You can also monitor robot speed and safe inputs.


    One thing to keep in mind when creating zones, is that there is a limited amount of complexity that you can have to keep the processing time fast. It will automatically calculate this and warn you if you go over. JPC takes very little processing time, CPC sphere and cylinder elements take a small amount, CPC Box and polygon shapes take a larger amount. I had 4-5 box elements, several cylinder and sphere elements, and a couple JPC limits and used up around half of the available processing time allowed. It probably won't be an issue, but if it is, try replacing box elements with spheres or cylinders or try replacing CPC checks with a JPC check.

    ESIELI


    Tells us what are you using with the zones.


    This could be very simple, let say, define a box around the robot, so the robot can not move outside of it to what HawkME describes


    Do you have v8.3 or 8.4 ? These versions have beautiful 3d pictures of your dcs on your TP

    Retired but still helping

    Thanks guys,


    I actually have not even seen the robot yet. It's a new job and I know DCS is included on one of my first projects. I helped them choose the options on a R-30iB during my interview.


    The main goal is just to prevent the robot from ever hitting a guard and damaging it. At this point I don't know if we really need to limit positions and speeds while someone is inside the cell or something, so for now I can only assume we just want to guard the barriers.


    I do have the manual and I have been looking it over. Just wanted tips and a brief overview as posted above.



    Thanks again.




    Will DCS prevent the robot from hitting itself also?

    Will DCS prevent the robot from hitting itself also?


    Of course, to make it simple, Imagine your cell has fencing (1 inch mesh) and the dimensions are 10' 6.5" by 12' 6.5" by 6' tall.
    Your DCS will be "a virtual cell" that fits inside the real one, with these dimensions or smaller 10' by 12', the height you can make it at least 6 fit tall


    This was a very simple example

    Retired but still helping

    Quote from Nation

    No. Not by default anyway. You could create a bunch of interlocked JPC checks, but that would be pretty cumbersome.



    So what is the difference between JPC and the regular soft limits? Just one is safety rated?


    Also, after you make up the zones in Roboguide, how do you transfer it to the robot?

    Quote from ESIELI


    So what is the difference between JPC and the regular soft limits? Just one is safety rated?


    JPCs are safety rated, whereas soft stops are not. JPCs can also be muted by a safety input, or by anything accessible in the DCS portion of the robot.


    For example, if you had a two station welding robot with a station at -90 degrees on J1 and another at 90 degrees on J1, you could make two 'no-go' zones that are only muted when the operator has cleared the lightscreen. You would setup one zone for -10 deg to -180 deg on J1, and only mute it when the lightscreen for that station is cleared, and then make another one for 10 deg to 180 deg on J1 for the other station. Robot home would be at 0 degrees. Using DCS in this manner eliminates the need for an additional lightscreen per station (or cam switches on J1) which would be needed to stop the robot if it attempts to enter the station in question while the operator is loading/unloading a part.


    Normally when I do this, I set it up so the zone is also muted when the robot is in T1 mode, to make recoveries easier.


    Quote from ESIELI


    Also, after you make up the zones in Roboguide, how do you transfer it to the robot?



    Export dcsioc.sv (if using safety IO) and dcspos.sv from roboguide and load them into the robot at controlled start.

    Check out the Fanuc position converter I wrote here! Now open source!

    Check out my example Fanuc Ethernet/IP Explicit Messaging program here!

    Quote from Fabian Munoz


    WOW !!!!


    I misread the question about DCS. Somehow in my mind I was reading "will the robot hit the fence ?" My apologizes for my answer.


    Fabian


    Hi
    My company getting (1*2 days-Plant buyout) 120ib/rj3ib robot, How can i check if it has DCS option (i don't have manuals) Can some one write me the procedure
    :merci:

    Hi Fabian
    We received 3 units, i powered them up and check Menu-System but none of them showing DCS ... So it mean non have the option installed? or do you think i need to enable it from setting?
    Thank you for the help :smiling_face:

    Hi,
    I am comparing two separate robot projects in Roboguide. On one of them I have 7 Cartesian position check DCS zones, all Diagonal Out. My process time factor is 1038 (over the allowed 1000). On the second project I have 12 Cartesian position check DCS zones, all Diagonal Out as well, but only using 446 process time factor. My question is, how is this time factor actually calculated? I have been comparing these two projects for a while now and do not see any differences in the DCS zone setups.


    I have read that the process time factor of Box is much greater than Point or Line-segment, but when I am using Cartesian Position check, I do not see the option to change this shape. All I see is the option to choose the Mode (Diagonals, Lines, Ornt Fix).


    I would like the ability to reduce my process time factor on the first project. I noticed that changing the size of the CPC zone does not affect the process time factor.


    Thank you

    Your DCS tooling definition also greatly affects the process factor time. If your tool representation is a box, it will be much higher than a sphere or a line.


    Also if you are using a safety communication package (such as ProfiSafe) that automatically add 400 to the process time right off the bat.

    Check out the Fanuc position converter I wrote here! Now open source!

    Check out my example Fanuc Ethernet/IP Explicit Messaging program here!

    Nation,
    Thank you for the advice. I was using a Box in my User Model, and did not think this would affect the process time of my CPC. I disabled this box, and it dropped my process time from 1038 to 258. Thanks again.

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