Hey all,
I'm new here. We have an R2000iA/125L with Rj3ib Controller. Currently we're using HandlingTool 6.4 NA and are looking at possibly buying PalletTool instead for our palletizing application. We have many box types but only two infeeds and two pallets, no mixed loads. It's currently wired up for sensors to detect when the pallet is present, etc, and has the standard 9 button user station with buttons to reset faults and safeties, start, etc.
I'm having some difficulties with RoboGuide, which we are evaluating currently, and was hoping to ask you.. if you know the answer to one or more questions, I'd be super appreciative of a response.
Q1: It appears that for PalletTool you can only upload the setup in PalletPro to the robot via Ethernet or Serial. Is there no way to download it to a PCMCIA card, which is useful for dropping in programs in HandlingTool? It appears the 'programs' that run the simulated PalletTool are not like the regular programs that i'd create on the TP for HandlingTool (and don't save when you select "SAVE ALL PROGRAMS", but would instead override the robot with a set 'cell' rather than me executing a program from the SELECT menu. In fact with this configuration, I'm not even sure where i would 'start' the robot since it doesn't tell me the program name executed for the sample cell.
Q2: Is there an easy way to trace through the program that underlies PalletPro to find where it has the positions? I need to insert a neutral home in between the infeed retreat and placement of a box, and on the return, as there are obstructions in the cell that otherwise the software is just ignoring (robot turns pink when collision occurs but it does not reroute around the obstruction, which is an internal light fence meant to allow the robot to operate one of the two conveyor lines while the other is being plucked with a pallet jack (drops the external light fence, picks up in the internal one - but it's right between where the pickup position of the conveyor and the pallet it would place on.)
Q3: In your experience, would I just be better off using HandlingTool and making patterns and inputting the box sizes to load to the patterns via math (i.e. a 2x2 layer would drop one off at the centerpoint of the pallet +1/2X, +1/2Y, next box would be -1/2X, +1/2Y, etc?