I am looking for a way to use the system clock to monitor downtime. My robot is attached to a Robodrill with a high speed spindle. If the machine is not running for an extended amount of time, I would like the robot to tell the Robodrill to run a warm-up program when the operator restarts the machine. How do I pull system clock information into my teach pendent programs?
R30iA, M16iB, Handling Tool 7.30/09 
We have a couple of routers with a similar function built-in. I'll try to check how it works (we got the machines second-hand) - or if it's hidden inside a Karel routine.
$MOR_GRP.$MOVE_CNT --> Return time in ms the robot moved since last controller power up or reset was made
$MOR_GRP.$MV_ST_RESET --> Reset $MOR_GRP.$MOVE_CNT and $MOR_GRP.$STILL_CNT timers to zero
$MOR_GRP.$STILL_CNT --> Return time in ms the robot stayed still since last controller power up or reset was made
$MOR_GRP.$MOVE_CNT + $MOR_GRP.$STILL_CNT = total time in ms since last controller power up or last reset
$MOR_GRP.$ROB_MOVE --> Will indicate when the robot moved.
I would monitor the downtime of the robot ($MOR_GRP.$STILL_CNT) from the last robot movement ($MOR_GRP.$ROB_MOVE), if the time exceed a certain value, then the robot would tell the Robodrill to run the warm-up program.
STILL_CNT + MOVE_CNT were super useful to me! BG programs can't use waits, or timers, and the system clock doesn't even have seconds. But this worked great for allowing me to create a delay in a background program 
