Can you run a robot controller without a physical robot hooked up?

YellowOneKenobi · May 10th 2023

Is it possible to run a robot controller without a physical robot hooked up? I would like to be able to have non-motion programs run with the cabinet in auto without an actual robot connected to the controller. Is this possible? I've tried setting $SCR_GRP[1].$AXISORDER = 0 but roboguide did not like that at all.

PnsStarter · May 10th 2023

Hi YellowOneKenobi,

yes this is possible!

In europe it's called "Office-Controller" .

15 years ago we hooked up a controller (Rj3iB) to do exact what you're looking for.

I'll check my documents and hopefully I can help you.

Or in between another one will help you.

And please don't change Sysvars you don't know what they do at a real/actual controller...

In RG it's not a problem

YellowOneKenobi · May 10th 2023

Was this a paid option, or did you adjust things on the controller? Essentially I just want to use the robot controller for vision purposes.

PnsStarter · May 10th 2023

So YellowOneKenobi,

change these Sysvars:

$MCR_GRP[1].$MACHINELOCK= true -- same as MENU-TestCycle-GroupMotion DISABLE

undocumented:

$SCR.$STARTUP_CND = 12 --this works but how? startup condition?, Bit_Mask?,

CyclePower

---

Best Regards

PnsStarter

PnsStarter · May 10th 2023

Quote

Essentially I just want to use the robot controller for vision purposes.

You are also able to connect a GigE Camera to Roboguide.

The advantage of a RobotController is that everything is running with original hardware.

Calculations, Performance etc.

YellowOneKenobi · May 10th 2023

So I can confirm this works on Handling Tool 8.4, however there are some caveats.

First I did change the $MCR_GRP[1].$MACHINELOCK variable but it doesn't seem to matter. After reboot this variable was set to enabled anyhow. I also tested it without changing it all all and it behaved the same way.

After changing the $SCR.$STARTUP_CND = 12 the robot was able to start up without any errors and run in full auto executing TP programs. It seems acceptable to have motion commands in the programs, but the program will just hang at a motion command, not that you would run it like that anyhow.

After power cycling in this mode the actual positions for the missing robot seems to be randomly populated, they were not the same as before even with the robot still connected. I can confirm that when going back to using the robot it did pop back in with the correct values, so I did not have to remaster anything when going back and forth.

The last, but biggest issue at least for me, is that the $SCR.$STARTUP_CND variable is automatically reset anytime you go to a controlled start. You can reboot all you want with cold starts and it stays in the correct mode, but if you go to a controlled start you must set the variable again before going back to a cold start. Otherwise it will start back up in a normal mode and be looking for a robot to be connected.

Maybe there is a way to force it to start or stay at 12 but since this variable is so mysterious I'm not holding my breath.

PnsStarter · May 11th 2023

Hi YellowOneKenobi,

sorry I wrote it a bit unorganized..

Maybe use an autostart prog:
(Cold start auto execution/ConfigMenu)

Code

/PROG  AUTORUN
/ATTR
TCD:  STACK_SIZE    = 0,
      TASK_PRIORITY    = 50,
      TIME_SLICE    = 0,
      BUSY_LAMP_OFF    = 0,
      ABORT_REQUEST    = 0,
      PAUSE_REQUEST    = 7;
DEFAULT_GROUP    = *,*,*,*,*;
CONTROL_CODE    = 00000000 00000000;
/MN
   1:  R[1]=1    ;
   3:  $SCR.$STARTUP_CND=12 ;
   4:  R[1]=2    ;
   5:  WAIT   5.00(sec) ;
   6:  R[1]=3    ;
   7:  $MCR_GRP[1].$MACHINELOCK=1 ;
  10:  R[1]=4    ;
/POS
/END

Display More

Best regards

YellowOneKenobi · May 11th 2023

So this sort of works!

Code

/MN
1:  !DISABLE ROBOT ARM ;
2:  $SCR.$STARTUP_CND=12 ;
/POS
/END

After booting from a controlled start this will not run soon enough in the boot cycle to take effect. So a second power cycle is required for it to set the variable to the new value.

Jerry_Robot · Jun 12th 2023

Quote from PnsStarter
Code
   3:  $SCR.$STARTUP_CND=12 ;
Best regards

Hello YellowOneKenobi, pnsstarter,

Not related to this article, but I could not turn my real CRX servo on.

I found that the variable is set to12 in my robot:

$SCR.$STARTUP_CND=12

Maybe this is the reason that mutes the motors.

What is the default value?

I want to make it normal again.

robotrollcall2 · Jun 13th 2023

There is zero need to set this $SCR variable you are making this all up.

You do need to set the machine lock variable or test cycle as other have mentioned. It WILL set back to on at power cycle so simply write a cold start program to turn it back off at startup.

That's all you need to do.

Jerry_Robot · Jun 13th 2023

Quote from robotrollcall2

There is zero need to set this $SCR variable you are making this all up.

You do need to set the machine lock variable or test cycle as other have mentioned. It WILL set back to on at power cycle so simply write a cold start program to turn it back off at startup.

That's all you need to do.

Thank you! I had already set it to zero.

Can you run a robot controller without a physical robot hooked up?

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