Greetings
We are using a R-2000iA/165F, with HandlingPro software ver6.4, that was manufactured in 2002, to cut holes in pipe and cut them to length. We have mounted a plasma torch on the tool head at a 45 degree angle from the plane of J6. The robot is mounted on a platform and J1 is a rotation. We are simply utilizing the robot's ability to move from point A to B, etc. and I/O to activate the torch and pipe table rotation. At the start of each program, the robot cuts the bolt holes at one end, then moves to the middle and cuts a hole, and then moves further down for a cutoff. We have hundreds of different parts at various lengths. To create a new part program, we copy a program and subtract from the Y-axis value (of mid hole and cutoff) to increase length. We accomplish this programming offline with OLPC Pro.
In the program libraries I write, the thru holes work every time as they are basically constant. However, the mid-hole and cutoff sometimes go wonky. At a certain point the wrist will spin and we have to stop the robot and re-teach that position. I understand this to be the result of a "Gimbal Lock".
My question: is there any way to prevent this in the offline programming? As we have so many programs already written, we don't want to change the torch position. Nonetheless, what specific changes would be needed to the torch position for future projects with a similar, re-purposed robot?
Thanks!