Shutdown gracefully while in EXT

    Hello,


    I have a KRC5 Micro controller and a KR R600 arm, KSS 8.7.2 KS V8.7.390.

    Disclaimer: I have this robot in a small cell(s) that will be installed to local customers that will not have any clue on how a robot works.


    I'm trying to make this cell to start, run and stop with the bare minimum assistance of the operator (which I assure you has not intention to know/study how to operate the robot). I've successfully managed to make the robot run in EXT mode. Now I have the problem of "shutting down gracefully" the cell in order to avoid problems with mastering and/or other problems related to an abrupt power loss. The controller is in a remote zone that is not accessible to the operator and therefore the soft power button is not reachable. If the controller loses power I will get an error that translates to English to something like KSS 26152 Conf: Error: power supply failure (KSP300) (1). Cause: Drive. This error cannot be ack'd in EXT mode, so therefore an intervention of the operator on the pendant is required.

    So I have a couple of question:

    1) How can I shut down the controller remotely without the use of the pendant? I have the opportunity to use a KRL Ethernet connection and one digital IO signal if necessary.

    2) What are the risks of shutting down the robot by "losing power"? This should not happen frequently, but I have no control on what the customer does with this cell. The controller has an accumulator Akkupack installed.


    Thank you for your support.

    like every other KRC before it, KRC5 requires batteries connected. the only difference with KRC5 is that they are external rather than inside KRC (that is the Akkupack).


    purpose for batteries is to work as UPS - provide temporary power to key components while robot is powering down. with batteries in working order, power loss is not an issue but ... this is one thing that is very commonly neglected...


    i have seen plenty of times that on a new systems batteries are not connected and on older batteries are dead for long time. people tend to ignore messages because "well it seem to run now... cannot be that bad... maybe i will check it later..."


    without good batteries, RDC state is not saved (mastering loss on powerup) and HSS/SSD will start accumulating corrupted files until something vital is corrupt and system no longer works. then one better have mastering tool, USB recovery stick and good image of the system collected when everything was ok.


    for cells working in EXT without human interaction (at least without knowledgeable operator) i find it is important to make a good home recovery program so that robot can safely return to home position from anywhere and and situation on its own. i recommend making this program run slower and use collision detection (just in case we do pull on or bump into something).


    1) read pinned topic: READ FIRST...

    2) if you have an issue with robot, post question in the correct forum section... do NOT contact me directly

    3) read 1 and 2

    Like 1

    Off the top of my head, the only "remote shutdown" I'm aware of is the System Powerdown signal included in the SafeOperation option package. And IIRC, that signal is only available with network SafeOp, not the hardwired SafeOp.


    It's odd that you're getting that error message -- I haven't done a lot with KRC5s, but I don't recall having that error occur when we cycled power. You may need to check the AccuPack.


    As far as remotely acknowledging errors in EXT mode, there's a file located under C:\KRC\Config\User\Common, named krcextconfmsg.xml. I used it in the past to make a particular error clearable by the remote $CONF_MESS signal in EXT mode. It requires the numeric code of the error, like so:

    The "empty" version of the file (missing the Message Number line) is present in my KRC5 backups, so I assume it still works the same way. Note: using this to allow remote acknowledge of things like collision errors or safety faults is a bad idea.

    Hello,


    sorry for the delay, I was really busy. Thank you all for your answers! I've managed to solve the problem with the mains power failure by adding the required line in krcextconfmsg.xml. Thank you SkyeFire .


    Unfortunately I don't have SafeOp, so I think I don't have any choice but to shut down the supply. I've checked the behavior on another identical cell with the same robot+controller combo, but the error is identical.


    Now I'm thinking about what can happen in the future (e.g. a new message that I've never encountered and that needs to be manually ack'd) and how to solve it remotely (if possible). In fact a lot of this machines will be installed around the world. Maybe RemoteSupportView? Or VirtualRemotePendant? Or maybe there are other ways that I don't know of? I know that I'm a little off-topic, but I didn't want to open a new thread just for this. Your guide is really appreciated.


    Kind regards,

    M

    Quote from SkyeFire

    Off the top of my head, the only "remote shutdown" I'm aware of is the System Powerdown signal included in the SafeOperation option package. And IIRC, that signal is only available with network SafeOp, not the hardwired SafeOp.


    Hello SkyeFire,


    Could you please provide more information about how I can access additional resources on remotely shut down the robot? Is there any documentation about it?


    I have a robot equipped with the SafeOperation KOP, and I'm wondering if it's feasible to shut down it by utilizing an IO or using a signal from the PLC?

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