IRC5 Strange delays in Run/Step buttons

    RobotWare 6.12.4008. Options: Integrated Vision, WorldZones, 7th axis (linear rail), EthernetNet/IP Scanner Adapter, CIP Safety, SafeMove Pro. No background tasks.


    This is one I haven't encountered before, even on IRC5s of the same generation and RW version. In Teach mode, any time I used the PP to Routine or PP To Cursor buttons, and often after I've just jumped between screens, it can take more than 10sec (sometimes 20-30!) before the Run or Step Fwd buttons will do anything. This is after squeezing the deadman and getting the drives on.


    And it's not the usual thing with IRC5s where, if you hit Go too soon after squeezing the deadman, the IRC throws a safety error. No, I'm getting no errors at all. Just... nothing. Hit Run or Step, and... nothing happens. Keep hitting them, nothing happens. I've also run into some situations where it seems like the Run button won't work at all, but after I run several steps using Step Fwd, the Run button will work again. There's something rather random about it, but the most consistent thing I've seen is that, after a screen change, I need a long time (10-30sec) before the Step or Run buttons will work. It's consistent whether I PP-to a line of I/O, a comment, or a Move command.


    This does not seem to effect the screen menu buttons or the user-defined buttons -- they all work instantly. So I don't think it's an issue of the IRC or pendant getting "hung" on something.


    It's weird, and slowing me down, although it's not stopping me. Anyone ever seen behavior like this?

    Have you tried resetting the pendant? Since about RW 6.05 I have seen bugs, peculiarities with the pendant. After weeks or so, the top left button for selecting other windows(and pretty much the touch screen) is frozen and requires a TP reset. Also, the button to select linear/reorient seem laggy, and even if they do show changed, will operate in the previous mode if you try to jog too soon. For a much longer time, the jogging decides to stop by itself, even though you did not let up on the joystick.

    Quote from Lemster68

    Have you tried resetting the pendant?

    How does one do that?

    Quote from Lemster68

    Since about RW 6.05 I have seen bugs, peculiarities with the pendant. After weeks or so, the top left button for selecting other windows(and pretty much the touch screen) is frozen and requires a TP reset.

    I'm having no issues with the screen buttons, aside from the typical "moving barberpole" sometimes when switching between screens. My really peculiar problem seems to be limited to the Run/Step buttons.

    Quote from Lemster68

    For a much longer time, the jogging decides to stop by itself, even though you did not let up on the joystick.

    I am having that once in a while, but not a lot.

    Quote from Lemster68

    There is a small recess in the middle back of the pendant. Use the tip of the stylus to press in the recess for a moment until you see it begin to reset.

    I'm not risking messing anything up if I do that, am I? This is the only robot in this entire facility I'm currently at, so there's no handy way to swap pendants if I break something.

    So, I was putting off resetting the pendant, because I'm a big chicken. But the problem with the Run button felt like it was slowly getting worse over time, so I finally badgered the owner into borrowing a spare pendant from another facility. This pendant had no issues, so I know the problem is specific to the original pendant. So, having a backup pendant in hand, I then tried following ABB's instructions for resetting the pendant firmware on the "bad" pendant.


    According to the document I received from ABB, holding the Reset button for 3sec should give me a "white screen", after which holding down '1' and Stop together for 10sec should get me a menu where I can select "reset firmware." But it doesn't work -- every attempt I made to press-and-hold the Reset button resulted in either nothing at all, or in an instant reboot the moment I pressed Reset -- it didn't make any difference if I held it, or just momentarily poked it.


    I tried holding '1' and Stop during the reboot, just to see if that did anything. It did, but nothing expected -- instead, it seemed to get the pendant stuck in some sort of boot loop for 3-5 repeats, before it finally went back to the normal display.


    None of this actually fixed the original issue with the Run button. I'm increasingly of the opinion that this pendant just needs to go back to ABB for warranty replacement.

    Quote from Lemster68

    See here:

    Thread
    Flex pendant error
    application taf.exe encountered a serious error and must shut down.

    Hello everyone, I have this error on my flexpendant. Could it be that giving it a firmware reset does not work?
    Nicolas Romero

    Hm! So, looks like I should try holding down "1" while doing a cold boot.


    I may have to wait a week, though -- we're starting a buy-off test run as I type this.

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