DCS with a Robot Mounted on a Rail

    I have an upcoming project that I have a Robot mounted on a Rail which will have DCS. My problem isn't DCS or the additional axis, it's the combination of both together that I have not ran into before. When I was playing with it in Roboguide, I saw that the CPC zones moved with the Robot when it moved on the Rail. That motion is going to be Group 2. Does any one have a good way of handling that? Makes it tough to do an overall cell boundary if it moves. I have a good idea of how I would want to handle individual smaller zones, a JPC for the Rail tied to the CPC with Safe I/O Connect. Unless is there a way to actually have DCS take the additional axis into account? An option I need to add? Or am I just overlooking something?

    You need to have the rail setup added an extended axis to G1, and not as a second group. When setup that way, the DCS kinematics will be correct, and your CPC zone will stay stationary.

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    I was wondering if that was the way to go. Now my difficulty is getting that Rail Unit transitioned into Group 1 on the same controller in Roboguide since the real Robot is months away. It seems Roboguide likes additional motion groups more as that how the Robot creation wizard has them added. Or as a separate controller. Any suggestions there?

    The RoboGuide help file has pretty extensive tutorial on how to setup a extended axis in the help file.


    Search for "Configuring a virtual robot for an aux axis system".


    Also, if you installed the example workcells when you installed roboguide, there is a rail setup in there.

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    I didn't have an issue getting the Rail set up in Roboguide. But what I've come to find out, the order how you do it, especially when making it an integrated axis, matters. You have to create a robot & get that extended axis on there when you create it. Going back & re-serializing it does not work so well when trying to get it onto Group 1. Then DCS zones do not move with the robot. Thanks for the help.

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