Fusion 360 -> Fanuc System R-J3iB

Hello all,

First, I apologize for an ignorant question. I have spent literal days looking at options and I need some external input.

I have an ArcMate 100iB with System R-J3iB controller that was donated to our school (used). I and our robotics club are attempting to set up this robot for 3D printing and drawing onto flat surfaces in various orientations; essentially, we intend to teach a plane to the robot, give it a starting point and let it run from there. This is for demonstration purposes only.

We understand that this is not the intended purpose of this robot, that the outcome will be coarse and that it is not really a functional use of the equipment. The robot is heavily used and may not boot tomorrow for all we know.

I have done a controller backup onto a CF card, and the following is in the "BACKDATE.DT" file:

16/03/07 16:02:48

Version: V6.3140      06/19/2003

1A05B-2400-ARTL
1A05B-2400-H521
1A05B-2400-ACLK
1A05B-2400-H770
1A05B-2400-TXBT
1A05B-2400-BBOX
1A05B-2400-SYTG
1A05B-2400-DTAQ
1A05B-2400-DMCM
1A05B-2400-DMCH
1A05B-2400-J675
1A05B-2400-J664
1A05B-2400-TOMA
1A05B-2400-J633
1A05B-2400-HSCD
1A05B-2400-J669
1A05B-2400-TGRD
1A05B-2400-J536
1A05B-2400-FRIP
Z

My first hope was to create a custom post-processor for Fusion 360 which would generate a compatible .LS file, but sadly this robot does not have the ASCII upload option.
Since we are a club, the school does not allow us to accept educational software licenses such as for RoboDK or RoboGuide, so parsing the .LS into a .TP is not an option.

I considered creating a Karel program to store a database of points and feedrates that would be loaded onto the controller, then place them into the appropriate .TP file. The necessary Karel options are not enabled

Socket messaging is not an option either apparently.
-Is there any way with the options above to request over TCP/IP or RS232 that the robot move to a dynamic XYZ position with a specific feedrate? Essentially we would be dripfeeding positions at this point, but it would be an option.

-Is there a way to configure the robot such that it applies XYZ offsets in a taught plane based on I/O pulses? I can use external hardware to toggle inputs on the controller to get it to move where we need it to go.

Again I apologize for the silly questions. I just hate for this robot to end up in scrap because it's too big for a classroom and doesn't have the options we need for the club. Thank you in advance for any help!

Quote from jmd2777

Hey fungus. I don't know if those codes in the backdate.dt correspond to the installed options. It would be helpful if we could see what is installed on that robot. I normally do this by going to Menu->Status->Version ID. Then click the NEXT button and find the ORDER FI button (F2 or F3). This screen will show the code and the name of the option.

As you are realizing, the software options define the capability of robot.

Hi JMD, I thought the list of options seemed short compared to the list I saw under Version ID (if this is the same thing, it's slightly different on my controller: Menu>Next>Status>Version ID>F3[config])

The list is quite long, so I had hoped to pull it in automatically.
Some of the zeros (0) and o's (O) may be crossed, it's hard to tell the difference.

1 ArcTool (N.A.) ARTL

2 English Dictionary H521

3 Alarm Cause/Remedy DIAG

4 Analog I/O H550

5 Arc EQ Program Select J676

6 Arc SoftPart AWSP

7 Background Editing J616

8 Control Reliable J547

9 Controller Backup J632

10 Cycle Time Priority J523

11 Enhanced Rob Serv Req ORSR

12 Enhanced User Frame J604

13 Ext. DIO Config EIOC

14 Floppy Connection J516

15 General Weld Eq Lib AWMG

16 Group Mask Exchange MASK

17 Host Communications HOCO

18 Hour Meter J513

19 I/O Interconnect 2 J542

20 Incr Instruction J510

21 KAREL Run-Time Env J539

22 Kernel + Basic S/W H510

23 Lincoln Weld Eq Lib AWML

24 MACROs, Skip/Offset J503

25 Mirror Shift J506

26 Mode Switch MDSW

27 Multi-Tasking J600

28 Online Help HELP

29 Position Registers J514

30 Print Function J507

31 Program Num Selection J515

32 Program Adjust J517

33 Program Shift J505

34 RDM Robot Discovery FRDM

35 Robot Service Request SRSR

36 Robot Servo Code H930

37 Shift Library SHLB

38 Shift and Mirror Lib SMLB

39 TCP Auto Set J520

40 TCP/IP Interface HTCP

41 TMILIB Interface TMIL

42 TP Menu Accounting TPAC

43 TPTX TPTX

44 Tool Offset J509

45 User Frame UFRM

46 Weaving J504

47 Web Server HTTP

48 Weld I/O Inst WIOI

49 iPendant CGTP

50 iPendant Setup IPGS

51 M-6iB/ARCMate100iB H770

52 ArcLink I/O ACLK

53 BumpBox BBOX

54 Data Monitor J675

55 Error Recovery J664

56 MH Collision Guard HSCD

57 Payload Ident. J669

58 TorchGuard TGRD

59 TorchMate TOMA

60 Touch Sensing J536

61 iPendant Controls FRIP

62 Collision Guard J633

63 Cycle Time Opt. CTOP

64 Data Acquisition DTAQ

65 Data Monitor Chart DMCH

66 Data Monitor Common DMCM

67 ETX for TM and BBOX TXBT

68 Motherboard Driver MOBO

69 System Trigger SYTG

Again, thanks everyone.

Quote from Nation

I would say give Fanuc a call and see if they can generate a PAC for ASCII Upload. Hopefully you still have the original install media for the robot.

I believe it was free on that era of controller, and Fanuc tends to hand out options like candy on educational machines.

Unfortunately no manuals or install media came with the robot. I only have a backup because I made it myself!

rf103 states in this post that R632 may not be required for KAREL program upload.

We do have J539 (KAREL Run-Time Env). Does anyone else have experience with this? I could potentially try just a "hello world" program to see if it works.

It looks like you have to download RoboGuide just to compile KAREL programs though. Geeze.

Quote from Nation

On that era of controller, you can enable Karel by going into the system variables and turning $Karel_enb to true. As for compiling teach pendant or Karel programs, attached is pretty much an abandon ware version of the compiler. It can also compile .tp programs.

Maketp.exe will compile .ls programs to .tp. PrintTP will do the opposite. Ktrans.exe will compile .kl to .pc. Use -? on them in a command prompt to see what they need for arguments. You may also need to run them in a dosbox. I haven't used them in years. You may need to run setrobot.exe to setup your robot first for the compilers.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. This is absolutely fantastic. I'm going to give this a try this evening and see if it will work. I can't thank you enough!!!

Just a quick update: I have had zero trouble going from .TP to .LS or from .LS to .TP on Windows 10 native cmd.exe.
I have not tried Ktrans yet, but to be honest if I can just convert ASCII to .TP and execute them, it's a small post-processing step for what we're trying to do.
Nation, I can't thank you enough for the help. Are the files you shared with me to be guarded, or can they be shared with others as they need help?

Quote from Nation

Also, attached is my post for an ABB. Hopefully it will help you out a bit.

Fanuc code is a bit different. You will have to store the XYZWPR pos and paste it at the end of your .ls file.

John Saunders made a video on configuring a post that was very helpful in making this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OWT-O4oN8E

Thank you for your example ABB post! I've modified both the LinuxCNC lathe post and the generic FANUC mill post in the past, Autodesk made a nice choice with using JavaScript for their posts. It's similar enough to C++ that I can monkey my way through it.

PDL, thanks for the tip. It sounds like if I run across a newer robot than the ones on this older tool set, I'll still have a workaround.

It may be a hot minute, but once I get a post processor going I'll try to throw the whole tool chain on GitHub for anyone else who treads this path.

Grrr. Fanuc won't even sell me a manual. This is absurd.

Can anyone give me some pinout hints on the I/O? The card is an A16B-2201-0472, so 40DI / 40DO.

I get them wanting to protect their copyrighted material, but come on... I'm trying to get one the legitimate way

Here's what I'm seeing from what I can glean online:

CRM2A:

CRM2B:

Does the above make sense for this I/O card?

Quote from Skooter

I web searched both 'Fanuc CRM2A' and 'Fanuc CRM2B' and came up with the info.

Copy that, I'll try searching that way. Thank you.

Another silly question: pins 49/50 (+24E) are 24V out for input switches, and 17/18 are 0V for the same purpose (depending on the setting of the ICOM2 jumper which selects sinking or sourcing inputs).
It is recommended to use an external 24V power supply for outputs (the outputs only sink), with a common connection of COMB1-B5 (external power supply negative goes to COMB1-B5). Each output is rated to sink 200mA.
I am using an external optoisolator board to buffer the outputs, so the current on each of the digital outs (2 are used currently) is more like 15mA each, 30mA total worst-case.

Would it be acceptable to jumper 0V (17-18) to COMB1-5(37,42,47,23,28), and use the +24E output (49-50) for the high side of the optoisolator inputs?
Other than creating too high a current draw on the internal 24V supply, I cannot see how this could harm anything. It just keeps me from having to add a 24V PSU for these tiny outputs.
Jumpering 0V-COMB1-5 may create a short ground loop, so I'll read with an ohm-meter to see if they are internally connected already.

Thanks!