Hi, new to the forum and fairly new to Kawasaki robots.
I have an RS080N and E-controller and I need help figuring out how to modify a program.
Short story:
I need to have an input from the PLC activate a subtraction or addition to the Z axis position data in a program step. I know what I want to do in the HMI and PLC, but I do not know how to structure the program and the position data to be manipulated by the PLC.
Long story:
The robot in question has a part holding jig on end of arm which it takes to a stand alone spot welder. The jig holds two or more small parts and the spot welder welds them together. The spot welder has cap tips, lower tip is stationary, upper tip clamps down to perform weld. The robot brings part into spot welder and positions against lower tip, then the upper tip clamps down and weld is performed.
Problem: the cap tips must be "dressed" periodically, which changes the dimension of the tip, and thus requires re-teaching of the weld position.
What I want to do is have the machine operator measure the "new" lower tip before installation and enter the measurement into the HMI. Based on this data, I want the robot to automatically adjust the Z axis data for the weld position. This weld position is currently a "JMove" step in the work program for what ever part is being run. This machine runs 6 different parts, thus 6 different work programs would need to have the weld position modified to accommodate what ever tip is installed. I know there is supposed to be a way to assign bits in the robot I/O to reflect the value of a register in PLC, aside from that, I have no idea how to structure the robot program to take the bit data and adjust the z axis data of the weld position accordingly.
Kawasaki tech support has said they can send me an example program to show me how to do this, but thus far not they have not followed through and going on two months now. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks
Jerry