I have a Kawasaki FS10E Robot with D30 Controller I purchased from a factory. I powered up the control box and the pendant boots up, when I push the motor power button it doesn't come on. I am assuming the robot was connected to several external e-stop buttons one on a cage and another outside the cage because it has a wiring schematic stating so. It also has an external box which has a router etc, and had alot of cat5 cable that were connected to something but are now cut. Is there someone who could help me start the process of troubleshooting this. I am new to robots so please bare with me. Thanks for any help!
Kawasaki FS10E Robot arm Motor Power issue
- triumpster
- Thread is Unresolved
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panic mode
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Welcome to the forum..........
Most US spec systems require the trigger button (deadmans) to be held in first before motor power should be pressed.
But if the external safety chain is not connected, motor power will never come on anyway.
Personally when dealing with second user systems where the decommissioning team have been lazy and just cut all external field wiring ( ing hate that when they do that), then I remove it all back to bare controller.
In your case (D30).
You will need to study the external IO manual for the safety circuits (external emergency stop) and then insert jumpers into the correct terminal locations.
When correct, you should be able to energise the robot motors and be in a position to jog it around, assuming the zeroing data has not been lost and functionally the hardware is operating and not faulty.
The attached manual should assist in configuring the safety circuits.
Familiarize yourself with this manual and the components described etc (1KP board mainly).
Look at A-36, this shows the standard shipping jumper configurations for a standalone controller.
A-36 is the standard standalone controller 1KP jumpers which allow for motion to immediately be achieved not just in teach mode, but in repeat mode too.
Cautionary Notes:
- Make sure you are conversant with dual channel circuitry or get a qualified electrician to wire it.
- Check Teach pendant and Operator Panel emergency stops are working first.
- Check 1KP jumpers are correctly positioned (this is also in the attached manual).
- Teach mode (speeds up to 250mms) and repeat mode speeds (full speeds) can be achieved.
- Make sure the robot is securely mounted.
- Make sure there is some control measure for the working environment.
- Not only in teach mode (speeds up to 250mms), but repeat mode speeds (full speeds).
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Thank you very much I used the manual you supplied and found the two external E-stop wires connected to the board. I jumped those together, and now the motor power turned on, and I was able to move the robot for the first time. I noticed on the pendant it says Fault active press to reset, and there are many faults present, for example: EWAB part at stop, EWAB pallet at seperator, etc., like 4 pages of them. Is that something I can remove by using software on the pendant to disable those, or would I need to jump wires on the inside of the controller for a new program to run? This robot was removed from a factory that made pistons for automobiles, so I am sure it had many different external switches or sensors to give it a signal to move. Again thanks very much for your help!!
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Glad to hear you've managed to get her moving, proves the main hardware is operational.
Always a good sign for a 2nd user system where the history is cloudy........
Kawasaki has many types of errors/warning, some prevent motion, some interrupt motion some are just visual warnings.
From what you've described about the errors and the previous application, they sound like process related errors.
As this is from a previous application, chances are it is bloated full of the previous process programs etc and it would be bad advice for me to tell you to to wipe the controller of all data.....not unless you want to, but are in a position where you can make a full backup first (this would be my advice).
Let me know if you can make a full backup of you want to go down that route.
However as an intermediate step.
If they are happening and you are still able to jog the robot, it is possible that a background task is running and could just be stopped (but it may start again on a power cycle).
So first thing to check:
- Have a look on the teach pendant screen very top for a window that is headed as PC.
- Is there any program(s) name here with an asterisk.
If any are there and have asterisks by them, they will also have a number in front of them too.
This is the PC Task area (background programs).
The asterisk indicates that particular PC Task(s) is running.
So I would turn them off by:
- Going to Aux 0810.
- Selecting PCABORT and entering the PC Program no to abort.
This will stop them and see if this stops them from appearing
If after a power cycle (I suspect they will) the programs start again, it is more than likely the AUTOSTART SYSTEM SWITCH(ES) are set.
If this is the case:
- Go to Aux 0502 (SYSTEM SWITCH)
- Untick any switch that says AUTOSTART.PC (You will have AUTOSTART.PC => AUTOSTART5.PC
This will stop them from starting on power up.
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I will definitely give that a try and see what happens i guess I just need to study the pendant and try to familiarize myself to it. I have a cnc machine shop where I make automotive tools and am hoping I can use it to weld. I should have it bolted down and ready to use later this week, I have it powered up at a friends shop at the moment I had to purchase a phase converter and transformer it should be there middle of the week. You’re such a great help it’s hard to find anyone in my area that knows anything about them I am very familiar with cnc machines etc but not robotics. I’ll let you know if that helps!
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That's the thing really with 2nd user systems.
If you are going to re-purpose it into a similar application, then there could be some use of the existing programs etc to learn from or even modify for use.
Personally, like with the cut wiring, I would get it back to a complete clean system:
- All external field wiring removed.
- All user data removed (backed up to stored file on a PCMCIA card or PC before being removed).
This way you're not fire fighting with previous programs etc on your way to re-purposing it.
I'm assuming this is an arc welding application your referring to, as the FS10E were a very common model for D controllers for arc welding.
If it is then you will probably already have the relevant hardware and software installed and configured for arc welding.
So removing the old field wiring and just removing the user data would give you a clean medium to build on without removing any of the important configuration data.
I would recommend you look into going online with a PC at some point, to obtain file saves and loading data to the controller, some applications can found here and I recommend KRTerm to start out with:
You can also obtain a PCMCIA card and use the teach pendant, save and load that way to if the PCMCIA card reader is installed (it usually was standard for Dxx controllers).
If you are looking at wiping it, it would be better to create a backup first and if you are unsure about how to do this, then let us know.
Let us know if you need anything further........Enjoy............
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Hey I got the robot wired up in my shop I can now power it up and move it around in teach mode. I made a small easy program and when I try to go to repeat mode and push motor power it doesn't come on. Any ideas on why it would not work in repeat mode? I have the pendant turned to teach off and control panel to repeat still no motor power on controller. I do have two AutoStart programs in the pc section I did go in as you instructed and turned off the Aux 0810 and Aux0502 and the asterisks are now gone. However they still show in the pc area as program 1 and 2. Should I completely delete them or would they have anything to do with the motor not turning on in repeat mode? Thanks
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Ok found an external Hold on the 1kp Board crossed it over and it seems to be working now on a very small simple program so maybe I am making progress.
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Perfect................
Just be careful though as appreciate that robot carries some speed and bang, so if you haven't got any safety barriers with any sort of active safety fence circuit then make sure your not in reach of the robot when operating it in repeat just in case.
The PC Programs still showing without asterisks is fine.
They will not have any impact on anything you do at present as they are not running.
If you do want to delete them, that would be up to you.
But as you are in a good position, I would look into ways of making a full backup either by PC or PCMCIA.
Then you can delete whatever you like and still have the ability to reload/extract information from the backups if required.
Nice....
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Hey, Is there a way I can program the robot with a PC? Is there a software I can download? I am trying to teach the robot arm to go around circles smooth for welding. For example weld around a 1" diameter circle slow and steady when I program it manually it jerks as it moves to each location or can you give me some tips on that Thanks! I am a complete newb thanks for all info you have provided.
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The following links contain several flavours of terminal editors which can be used to go online to the controller using a PC and create programs, modify existing programs, make file saves, load file data etc:
Programming the robot can be accomplished with BLOCK teaching or by AS language and these are covered in your controllers respective Operations and AS language Manuals.
it jerks as it moves to each location or can you give me some tips on that
You need to describe this a little better as there are many reasons this could be attributed to and just saying it 'jerks' sits in the same area as taking your car to the garage and the mechanic asking you 'So what seems to be the problem' and you replying with 'it doesn't work'.
Details, details, details........
- if you are using a 2nd user robot, there could be mechanical backlash within gear box assemblies.
- left over settings from the previous usage could be a factor.
- does it happen during teach mode and repeat modes.
- provide example of the program code.
- is the tcp and weight set correctly.
- is the jerkiness down to the fact that it is weaving.
- accuracy settings.
- accel and decel settings.
- cp switch status.
- notch filter switch status.
- maybe worth considering a complete 'software clean out and re-initialization'.
These are to name but a few..............
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I am attempting to make the robot try to do some welding on a 1-inch circle. I wanted to practice trying to program, so I attached an ink pen to the robot to pretend to be the welding tip. I brought it down to just above the circle and recorded my position I then went about 1/4" and recorded another movement, continuing this same pattern around the circle. However, once I run the program, it moves from point to point in a straight line. I want to be able to program it to go around the circle in one nice, clean movement. The jerking I was referring to was from the arm going from point to point instead of in a circle. Any quick tips on how to correct that problem Thanks so much!!
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Any quick tips on how to correct that problem
It's not a case of quick tips or indeed a problem.
It's a case of studying the Arc Weld Operations manual or Arc Weld AS language manual for suitable command to use.
Kawasaki has dedicated commands to create a circular path using the circle interpolation commands which require 3 points to teach an arc or just 4 points for a circle.
Standard motion commands are:
- CIR1 and CIR2 in BLOCK
- C1MOVE and C2MOVE in AS
If you are actually going to use dedicated welding commands and using AS language then they will be a form of:
LWS
C1WC
C1WC
C1WC
C2WE
All depends on your program, as the robot may actually be doing what you are asking it to do, instead of you using the correct types of commands to create a smooth circular path.
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Post your program code if you're not sure and we can take a look over it?
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Do you have the Arc weld operations manual? Thanks
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See attached........
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Ok so here is where I am at, after reading some of the arc manual I don’t think I have the welding card in my controller. I just want to use a mig welder and maybe also some tig welding on parts that do not need filler. I need a signal to start and stop the weld. Can I use OX1 or any of the ox slots for my signal to the welder? My robot just has a clamp that I can turn off and on. If there is a way to tap into the clamp signal would work also. I tried to program OX1 into my program on a couple lines but nothing is happening on any of the relays. Should they click or light up?
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Ok so here is where I am at, after reading some of the arc manual I don’t think I have the welding card in my controller.
What makes you say that and what welding card are you referring to?
Open the controller door, take a good photo and post it and I can tell you what you have.
IO will only operate if there is an electrical connection and is usually controlled from a 1GW or 1HW board - 32 digital input and 32 digital output board with 2 analogue output channels.
In standard arc weld cells, this board is usually mounted (piggy backed) to a 1GN board (dedicated welding interface board).
Clamp signal is a term only directed to it's use.
- Opening and closing a physical clamp used to grip parts.
- Just uses raw signals like OX9 and and OX10, but could be changed to any standard IO numbering..
You hooked a PC up and made a file save yet?
- I suggest to do that and the read the file save (it's just a text file you can read in notepad).
- See how some of your existing programs have been written, this may help with your understanding.
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Here is a couple pics thanks
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So left to right inside your card rack are the following boards:
- 1KP => Power sequence board which controls/permissions for energizing the robot (safety etc).
- 1KB => Servo Board which controls the power block (amplifiers to drive the motors).
- 1KA => CPU Board which is the processor part, memory and battery backup.
- 1FS => Central IO controller intended for connection to an Allen Bradley PLC (very common for US Spec).
- 1GW x2 => Digital IO boards each board has 32 inputs and 32 outputs for field peripherals.
When 1FS board is used, the standard IO allocation is as per the image:
As you can see from the above image you have:
- CPU IO exchange between controller and 1FS board
- PLC IO exchange between PLC and 1FS board - Is there an Allen Bradley PLC installed anywhere?
- 1GW boards IO exchange between field and 1FS board.
- Welder IO exchange between weld power source and 1FS board.
So in effect the 1FS board is an IO controller interface with:
- Dedicated IO to the field (1GW boards).
- Dedicated IO to the PLC.
- Dedicated IO to the weld power source.
1FS board operates by a program called .PROGRAM spg().
This program is a PC Task and should be executing asynchronously and is probably one of the PC Tasks you have stopped executing at start up.
Start this program up again and see if you get action on your IO with your OX1 etc......
Please hook a PC up to the controller and make a backup.
Look for the program spg as this will clearly reveal the flow of how the IO has been configured.
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