Adding External Axis to UP6 / XRC Robot

    it is worth pointing out that on the list of motors from the xrc control (shown above) there is yaskawa part number SGMG -13AWA-YR*


    this motor is not one with the typical motoman connectors on it. it has a 15 pin JRC connector, and a 7 pin or so connector / also mil spec style. the first one (15 or so pin) is the encoder output. the other is 4 wires for the motor, and 2 more for a brake. yaskawa also makes this model with no brake so it would be a 4 pin connector in that case.


    having had a look at the sgmg servo datasheet, there is no pin for serial comms to the encoder. its just standard encoder output. a+ a-, b+ b-, and so on. nothing to where the xrc control could poll it about the configuration / motor type.


    it is also worth noting that this servo motor has exactly the same current and voltage requirements as my 'non yaskawa' linear motors made by anorad / with renishaw encoder of my choosing.


    seems to me that i can hook up that motor and it should work as its in the list of motors from the robot.


    also seems to me that i can just hook up another motor with the same specs and pinout, and it should just work too.

    Quote from mflux_gamblej

    not in plain language. i continued to get more and more documents and info from motoman, and from this forum the more i kept asking.


    a longer winded version is to say that i don't understand all of the withholding of information. is that how people behave at your workplace? no one would ever get anything done.


    it's understandable if motoman support doesn't freely give out details for a few reasons, mainly safety from my perspective, but also for company nonsense reasons. if there's IP to protect, that's why you patent things. there's hardly a trade secret in how you communicate data around a robot, anyone who cares to work it out will. I can understand also about paid for option parameters not being shared (without paying that is). its clear that motoman must have tried to sue various websites, people, whoever over that situation, hence the gag order on this forum - fine. but it is not fine that machine control parameters are secret - that is ridiculous. i have fanuc machines, fadal machines, takisawa machines, all documentation and parameters are shared freely so you can just get your damn job done.


    i post on forums with the opposite intention of spirit. i need some info or advice, and in return i try to share as much information about how something works or how i had success on my project as i can. i don't withhold information, or say i told you so after watching someone go thru learning what i already know. seems backwards to me. if you know better about the topic, just explain it fully, or expain it up to the point where you don't know more and say that.


    for anyone playing along on installing an external axis for more than personal entertainment reasons, i will post about my base axis and how it all went. its going to work one way or the next. I did purchase a ballscrew and yaskawa servo (the one mentioned above), and may also buy the sgmgh version that does use serial 'dat' lines instead of straight encoder signals.


    i will also be hooking up my linear motor setup prior to gutting it and putting that ballscrew on - because its the same sh* as the sgmg motor shown above. i'll be pretty bummed out about motoman, and some people on this forum if that setup works - to the extent that i won't be looking at motoman for future robotics projects. in the mean time, i'm willing to spend my money to get that linear motor or otherwise setup to work, and will be happy to share (here at least) what happened.


    this is probably a good time to thank the guys who started / operate the robot forum; i have had good experiences on other forums in the past for different topics. Maybe you'll get some adverts money off my posts. so far i don't remember if i learned anything that i used to setup my robot from here yet though. maybe ironically the motoman manuals have been the main source of good information.

    Thank you so much, even after all the hate to pursue an answer. No one appreciates people like you. Your drive until you get results is outstanding. But like the lightbulb, they never notice the 999th attempt. I just recently purchased a UP20 and I picked up a servo table for it. I’m not that smart but I’m learning and just being able to read your attempt, successful or not has been an eye opener for me. It’s a shame people gave you so much hate because they don’t understand how humans should be. Humans are the smartest thing on the planet because we can learn from each other. Young humans don’t have to re-invent the wheel for themselves, they can start their lives on the shoulders of giants.

    I haven’t done it but if the parameters are set correctly I’m sure it should work, the complete parameter list is out there now motoman doesn’t seem to really care about their IP for the xrc now due to its age. I didn’t hack the system In any way I simply took the external axis board,realized that the encoder pinout for the external axis board is the same as the wrca board, made up a cable and connected the motor to the amp and converter I had And initialized the system with the external axis, the system is surprisingly forgiving on converter /amplifier/ motor combos. You need Yaskawa mode to do this obviously, which I out of respect for motoman will not share here, but it’s not hard to find now.

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