DCS To prevent Robt To Robot Crash

    Hey guys,


    I have an application with two lr mates equipped with dcs, but no interference check of any kind. These robots are working very close together and sort of in a line following each other. In most applications I was able to setup req to enter zones to keep them from high fiving. However in this application that may result is many many zones. Especially because this machine has multiple plates going in and out with different parts. I am just looking on some advice on how to approach this. If zones are my only options I know what to do. But I am not sure if there are capabilities in DCS to keep the robots from hitting each other in a more dynamic way then generic world zones. What do you guys think?


    Thanks,
    Kevin

    Fanuc sells an option called "Intelligent Interference Check" that uses the DCS model of the arms+tooling to stop the robots if they get too close to each other. You can also set it up where one robot will wait until the other robot is clear, and resume motion.


    You need to dedicate port 2 on the robot controllers to this function, and it should be its own network, with nothing but the robots on it.

    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 Nation


    Fanuc sells an option called "Intelligent Interference Check" that uses the DCS model of the arms+tooling to stop the robots if they get too close to each other. You can also set it up where one robot will wait until the other robot is clear, and resume motion.


    You need to dedicate port 2 on the robot controllers to this function, and it should be its own network, with nothing but the robots on it.


    So I tried to get them to buy this option and they wouldn't. So I am stuck without it.

    If you were able to transmit the Cartesian position from one robot to the other, then you might be able to approximate an intelligent system (at least around the End Effector) with a couple of background logic programs. You could have each robot constantly checking the current Cartesian position of itself and the other robot, comparing them, and if they were within a certain distance of each other, then send a signal to DCS on each to stop them. You could send Cartesian Coordinates via Explicit Message into Registers, or via Group Inputs, although that may be harder. Since it is robot/robot interference, it just needs to work, it does not have to be safety rated, so using a regular PLC or Background Logic should be okay.

    Quote from kevilay


    So I tried to get them to buy this option and they wouldn't. So I am stuck without it.


    This is like hiring a race car mechanic to work on your expensive race car and then handing him a box full of harbor freight tools.


    How much does this option run? One crash and this option would probably pay for itself in down time and repairs.


    As far as solutions without it, you could define a set of non-stop zones in DCS, then transmit the states of the zones to the other robot by monitoring the $DCSS_PSTAT variable.


    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 Nation

    This is like hiring a race car mechanic to work on your expensive race car and then handing him a box full of harbor freight tools.


    How much does this option run? One crash and this option would probably pay for itself in down time and repairs.


    As far as solutions without it, you could define a set of non-stop zones in DCS, then transmit the states of the zones to the other robot by monitoring the $DCSS_PSTAT variable.


    I find your analogy very funny, because i work on race cars and just purchased a harbor freight floor jack. They actually work quite well. However I do totally agree with you. But they said no.

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