D3x Controller basic configuration setup for repurpose

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

First of all I would be grateful, if someone points me to more reading materials on the robot and controller.

Check the Manuals board for information on D Controller there is plenty of information:

Manuals, Software and Tools for Kawasaki Robots - Robotforum - Support and discussion community for industrial robots and cobots (robot-forum.com)

1. Check incoming supplies are available at the secondary side of the isolator.

2. Check MCBS on left hand side inside controller are correct position. Specifically F3.

3. Check all connections to MC Unit are secured by removing them and reinserting and hearing audible click. Fan power is usually supplied via 1KQ board relay on MC Unit.

4. Check supply is available to AVR on X201.

5. Check 1KP board X9 connector is in place and 24 V is being supplied to pins 1 and 2 - I suspect this is where your problem is **.
** you can remove wires to pins 1 and 2 on 1KP X9 and insert jumper to pins 3 and 4 and try **

6. If you have spare 1KP board, replace.

7. If you have spare AVR, replace.

8. If you have spare MC Unit, replace.

Reference your image and configuration, it appears you are using remote power to power on/off controller by supplying 24Vdc to 1KP board on pins 1 and 2. Without this supply the controller will not power up even if all supplies are in place. Basically 1KP board starts up AVR to provide logic power by either supplying 24Vdc to pins 1 and 2 and no jumper between pins 3 and 4, or by not supplying 24Vdc to pins 1 and 2 and making jumper between pins 3 and 4 instead. As long as MCB's in place and correct supply voltages available at transformer and at AVR, then 1KP controls AVR power up.

1. When was this last powered up?
2. What condition was it in when last used?
3. What have you done to try and fix this prior to posting here?
4. When was CPU battery last replaced?
5. Have you got a recent backup?
6. Have you got the original data sheets?

Looks like either:
1. CPU board may have failed or software corruption.
2. CPU battery may have become exhausted and/or software corruption.

Really not a very wise move buying a 2nd user industrial robot (that is no longer supported by the OEM); that is assumed working (which it clearly isn't); no supporting documentation and no experience with it.

Who knows what other problems may be uncovered on your journey.

Well from the get go, consider yourself on a steep learning curve and the forum is not a place full of 'free support and training', you are purely reliant on members free time and generosity in order to assist you.

Getting the negatives out of the way, where you are standing right now:
- CPU battery and Encoder Batteries will need replacing before robot is likely to move.
- System setup data is lost.
- User data is lost.
- Without a basic configuration setup in the controller, the system is inoperable.
- This is assuming there are no other hardware issues.
- As you never saw this operating........You could just be left with as a show piece.

Assuming this can brought to life, without ANY battery backups installed, any setting or zeroing will need to be repeated each time you power it up.

1. Replace the batteries in the CPU and Encoders
2. Carry out a hardware initialization.
3. Setup the controller in a minimal configuration to prove the hardware and functionality.

Until you are in a position to replace the batteries, we can at least try and bring her back to life by carrying out a hardware initialization and see if we can get her to bootup, if this doesn't work then it is likely firmware will need to be reinstalled which should be written on a label on the inside of the door. This firmware may or may not be still available.

So let's try a hardware initialization and see if she boots.
- Please read and carry out the attached procedure exactly as described.
- Do not do anything else other than what is described.
- Report back your findings with full details of errors and supporting images of teach pendant.

*** disclaimer ***
Anyone downloading the attached and decide to use it, do so at your own risk.

Your thread is very well presented, wish other members would do the same.......
- Full explanations inclusive of some history and details required.
- Supporting images.
- Initial results are exactly as expected.
- No encoder battery alarm - it may be that this still has some life left in it.

With your permission, I would like to to turn your thread into a 'sticky' and rename at some point to turn it into a re-purposing thread of rebuilding a 2nd user D Controller to a basic state of operation and therefore progress with this thread in stages?

There is a lot of information I can identify and explain from your details and images applicable for newcomers to Kawasaki systems, but would create a much larger post than this already is becoming, so I'll miss out this for now and progress this for the next stage.

Just be warned until you have a CPU battery, any changes you make are likely to be lost when you power off the controller for long periods (>1hr) which may mean you having to carry out hardware initializations each time you come to it.

I would advise at some point as you are new to Kawasaki is to get yourself familiar with file saves and file loads either by using a PCMCIA card and the teach pendant or via a laptop using a terminal editor application.
These are available for download here and would recommend installing KRTerm to start with as this is easier to use from a newcomers perspective.
Just make sure you have the correct applicable cable for RS232 or Ethernet connections.
Kawasaki Online Terminal Editors - Manuals, Software and Tools for Kawasaki Robots - Robotforum - Support and discussion community for industrial robots and cobots (robot-forum.com)

Let's set the 1KP into a default state of supply so that it enables 'things' to happen unrestricted.
Wire up your X7, X8 and X9 to reflect the following taken from the external IO manual (also attached).

This default configuration will allow you to move the robot in teach and repeat modes.

*** Warning ***
You should really have the robot fixed in place to avoid it tipping over before moving.
In repeat mode, you will have bypassed safety fence monitoring.
Resulting in no safe guarding for the environment and full operational speeds available.
In teach mode, this is limited to 250mm/s maximum speeds as per regulations.

When you have done this, can you test the emergency stop button on either operational panel and teach pendant and see the emergency stop icon on the teach pendant in the top right hand corner change state to reflect the status of the emergency stop circuit.

Error D2023 usually results in the simple fact no robot model has been set and therefore cannot load this data, usually caused by the hardware initialization.
So let's confirm this error by the following:

1. Press the close button on the error window to minimise the window.

2. Press the menu hard key and select Aux functions.
- Navigate to Aux Function 804 to display current robot details.
- No robot details should be available.
- Details are usually stored in Arm ID board and compared at power up in usual operation.
- As hardware initialization is carried out - Arm ID function is disabled.
- I shall cover Arm ID later when you have CPU battery installed (Please let me know when).

So let's use the built in keyboard to set the robot model and see what she shows us next.

1. Get your rating plate details from the robot.
- Identify the robot model (ZX130L-xxxxx) and Serial no.

2. Navigate to the teach pendant keyboard by pressing menu hard key and selecting keyboard.

3. Type in ZROBOT and press enter (upper or lower case entries are not critical).
- Find the robot type and type in the relevant value and press enter.
- Find the exact variant and type in the relevant variant value and press enter.
- It will next show no. of axes to be 6, type 6 in again and press enter.
- Type in the serial no. from the rating plate (this is not critical, but may as well make it correct).

4. Reboot the controller as directed.

5. After reboot if you could take image of teach pendant errors (and post results), you can then press reset button many times until all clearable errors are removed and left with only repeatable error(s).

6. Navigate to Aux function 0804 again and confirm robot model and serial no is set.

If you can get to this point and post your results that would be great.

*** At this point you really need to have the CPU battery installed ***

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

Sure, let's do a guide.
Let me know if you need any pictures for illustration or screenshots from the TP.

It won't be a guide as each scenario differs.
Just keep posting the way you are posting as we go through the various stages.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

I have received new controller battery today, that screams "I'm fake", when I compare it side-by-side with the original one. I had to solder the connection cable from the old one.

If it was ordered via Kawasaki directly it would arrive with the connection cable already attached. The official (usual for D Controller) single or dual battery now is an ER17/50 which is 3.6V @2750mAh, so your battery is very much usable, just be mindful it is of lower capacity though and will not last as long.

Regarding ZROBOT entry, it only accepts numeric entries, and serial no. entry is just the actual number of the serial no. Kawasaki always have additional characters for the serial no. on the rating plate but all they reference to is the numeric 1-4 digits but like I mentioned this is not critical and you could change it at anytime if you like.

Quote from kwakisaki

So let's use the built in keyboard to set the robot model and see what she shows us next.

This is all I wanted you to do for this stage, not a big deal though, as she has shown us a repeatable error which could be difficult and/or expensive to resolve.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

After that it was showing "system data checksum error" and "encoder data abnormal" error.

This is exactly what I was expecting to see to lead you into the next stage of clearing down these last remaining errors.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

I was able to get rid of "System data checksum" only after making one more initialization, this time system data only, from the the Menu -> System

I never mentioned doing anything else.
Carrying out procedures and settings you have no knowledge about is not the correct way, especially as you are learning and new to Kawasaki.

This is not how you clear the check sum error, that function resets many configuration settings and clears out any user programs and user data and should only be used in certain circumstances, not this circumstance.

In this case it's not a big deal as the controller is pretty much empty anyway, but if you had already set it up and programmed it for an application, by carrying out that procedure without a previous backup to load in, you will inadvertently wiped the controller of user data and reset some configuration settings. Resulting in

Error 0903:
Clearing the check sum error is done by using Aux Func 0803 (have a look at it).
By setting this would allow you to just reset the check sum error there and then by making the setting and pressing reset.

Error D1030:
Encoder data abnormal error has appeared as now a model has been introduced, the actual encoder data has been re-read in and differs from what the values were when it was last powered down - This is the meaning of the error, so that during a powered off state, if any joints would have moved by way of brake failure or someone forcing a joint to move, next time it was powered on would result in this error warning you it has moved whilst it was powered off.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

I guess now it needs to be calibrated, to what actual robot joint positions are.

Not necessarily as you have a repeatable error.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

As soon as I press the yellow "deadman switch", it goes into "Brake line error"

This error needs resolving as it's reporting the error for a reason.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

However, I believe, everything is ok with the break line, it is just the data.
Because I can actually move the robot (tried J6, J5 to be safe).
System can be tricked, if I hold "deadman switch" and press "error reset", it would allow to jog.

Just because it can move, does not mean everything is ok.
It is clearly not as you have a repeatable error.
It will not just vanish, errors are there for a reason and must be understood why and resolved and not finding/using methods ('tricking the system') you have found to circumvent the error in eagerness to get it moving.

As your controller is 2nd user, this is exactly the reason why you should see it live in operation before purchasing it as not only do we need to troubleshoot this, if there is a faulty hardware component, this could be costly not withstanding the fact that spare parts may be difficult or impossible to source as it's no longer supported by the OEM and you will then have to rely on....Yes, 2nd user parts which may or may not have any warranty or guarantee to be working.

Have you managed to look into creating a file save, file load yet?

So there are 2 directions to take now.
1. Limp along 'tricking the system and zeroing the robot and creating a full file save.
2. Analyse the error to find the cause and see if it can be fixed without any spare parts.

Option 1.
- See attached procedure for simple mechanical re-zero of the robot.

Option 2.
- What type of controller it is from the rating plate on the controller.
- Part number of the 1KP board - requires removing as part number is on rear of board.
- Part number of the MC Unit and 1KQ board and if and what coloured spot is attached.
- I require a full file save of the controller.

Below is an image of the controller and circled are the relevant areas:
- Red circle 1KP.
- Blue circle MC Unit and part number should be on the front with a possible coloured spot.
- 1KQ (the side of one of the 1KQ board connectors is the part number).

Perfect post, exactly what I need.....

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

Out of curiosity: What is the maximum CF card size D series controllers accept?

Anything from 8Mb upto 256Mb I think from memory and yes formatted as FAT/FAT16.
So I think your 256Mb should work.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

Let's go with option 2, for educational purposes.

Nice, it's good fun troubleshooting brake line errors especially in this situation.
Let's have a look at the troubleshooting manual and see what's there for D1512.

Everything here is hardware related - Power source, boards and harnessing:
- I wonder if Kawasaki has included replacement procedures in the troubleshooting manual.
- Yes they have but wait a minute, I have no access to any spare parts anyway....
- You cannot really troubleshoot the hardware then except for harness checking.
- Could a piece of hardware failed or harness failed at the same point as a flat battery.
- Not impossible, but you would be having a really bad day for this to happen.
- You could check the harnessing just for clarity, but really we need a megger for that.
- You could check the source voltage to 1KQ and output brake voltage from 1KQ just for clarity.

Let us have a look at just what 'we' have done in order to get her to bootup:
- She was working fine prior to the battery going flat (we are assuming this).
- We have carried out a hardware initialization.
- Clearing the previous system, configuration and user settings resulting in an empty controller.
- All we have done is manually entered the robot model.
- She is sitting happy until we request the robot to move and then this error appears.
- You have 'tricked' the system and seen motion so the brakes appear to work.
- Is it in the realms of possibility 'we' have introduced this problem and it is not hardware?
- Something we could prove or eliminate in 5mins if only we had a previous backup.....

So:
- We have no spares to prove or eliminate hardware issues except for harness checking.
- We have no backup from a last known working configuration.

There really is one route to further explore with the resources you have available:
- The high probability some additional system settings are required.

Now just to provide reasoning of why I requested the part numbers of the 1KP, MC Unit, 1KQ board and the firmware on the door and the firmware currently installed (Aux Func 0804).

What end users are not aware of is there are several versions of 1KP, MC Unit and 1KQ boards which need to be compatible with each other coupled with specific firmware ranges.
Any mismatch of these, will produce brake line errors.

In an as supplied working system, any brake line error would in fact be relative to the guidelines stipulated in the troubleshooting manual and not system settings.

As you are in possession of a 2nd user system and you did not 'see' this live, I wanted this information to verify your hardware is compatible and coupled with the current installed firmware so I can rule out incompatibility issues.

There is a specific setting that is related to your hardware configuration and I am sure this is not enabled during the initialization and needs to be set via a file load.
For me to verify this, I really need a file save.
I will then change this and send it back to you to load in.
This setting should address the current hurdle and then we can see what she shows us next.

CF card compatibility is such a thorn for Kawasaki Controllers and also the formatting function is not the best either.

I've never had ANY success playing around with partitions etc but have had success with San Disk 256Mb straight out of the packet and thought you may be ok (irrespective of what is written in the operations manual).
I think it should be raw without partitions from memory.

A file save is a file save whether you use CF or KRTerm and contains the same information, so there is no difference what medium you use.

As your controller has ethernet port on it, I would advise you to use KRTerm going forward and get that connected, you will find this a lot better for file saves, plus you can use it for online editing and control of the robot.
ie ZROBOT and all the AS commands can be input directly from the editor.

Look into Aux Func 0812 to set the IP address of the robot and then download and install the KRTerm application from the link in post #2 and follow the simple setup guide but make sure if you connect peer to peer, you use an ethernet crossover cable.

Forgot to add when you make a file save via KRTerm, you will get a file.as which can be opened, edited using any text editor like notepad etc.

In order to attach it to a post here, you will need to change the file extension to .txt

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

32Mb CF card works out of the box

Good, good......What manufacturer was it?

Thanks for the backup.
That backup could be used to restore the controller to this state after a hardware initialization, however it is not complete yet as we are experiencing this issue, but once we have:
- Resolved this error.
- Mechanically re-zero the arm.
- Set the ArmID.
Then a final file save can be made and the controller should be ready to go from a basic setup which you could restore it to at any time you wish......So not much more to go.

Referencing the backup though.
This young lady is pushing back, what I was expecting to see in the backup is not included.

I am based in the UK and EU spec (D42) and North America spec (D32) differs in several ways.
So this may be a long process as we step through.
The positive note though, KRI (Kawasaki USA) are very approachable and may well be able to supply a default configuration file for your controller, this would be the last resort for you to do if she continues resisting our advances......but let's see how we progress.

So the attached file is your file which I have modifed.
Now even though it is a .txt extension, the controller will load it in no problem.
So download it, copy it over to your CF card:
- Insert the CF card into the controller.
- Navigate to Aux Func 0202.
- Cursor to Load and press select.
- Cursor to ALL Data and press select.
- (Lower left corner) Press File tab (this will then read the CF card contents and display them).
- Cursor to the edtblve1.txt file and press select.
- File name will now be populated for load, then press RETURN (not select).
- File load should now commence.

During the load, the controller will keep making prompts waiting for your input.
As this is the same file, always input your response in the affirmative.
This means ALL prompts you should accept, allow, force.
Once completed, reboot the controller and see if she's happy again without errors.

If she is, then what you will need to do to move the robot in teach mode is:
- Teach mode.
- Run/Hold switch to Run.
- Teach lock to ON.
- Press and hold the deadmans (middle position first).
- Press motor power on ONLY after the deadmans is engaged.
- Motors will energise and brakes will release.

At this point, does the brake line error appear, or is it error free?
- Report back your results.

In addition, what you will have carried out at this point is a nominal full file save and full file load procedure using CF from the teach pendant.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

CF card is some noname chinese manufacturer called "Onefavor", available from Amazon.

Good to know.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

I, honestly, think any CF would work, as far as it is <= 128Mb and has raw FAT16 filesystem, without partitions.

Possible for sure, but I have had success with up to 256Mb in that respect and also using SD cards (in adapters) which lie within that range too.
Earlier controllers (C controller) were very selective on brand but they did improve this on D and D+ controllers but still were not 100% compatible with any CF card on the market.
D controllers have standard memory of only 1Mb (expandable to 4Mb) and D+ controllers have 4Mb.
Most controllers when purposed into an application, very rarely would you need a CF card >4Mb to store a single snapshot of the complete system.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

Robot is happy now.
Now when I depress "deadman" switch - I see large orange square with "MOTOR ON" appearin the right top corner of TP screen.
Then I can turn on the motors, I hear brakes being released.

Perfect.........
She's finally accepting our advances...
This is the nominal way North American Spec controller teach mode procedures operate.
Other regional controllers like D2x, D4x do not have that specific order restriction in place.

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

Thank you for help with the controller config!
I see what you have changed, but I would imagine it requires deep deep understanding of controller internals to know that

Exactly, so this is why previous backups become very important.
Especially when it comes to newcomers and 2nd user purchased systems.
Very important to see it working live, but also take a backup or request a backup to be taken.
So that in the event of CPU failure, you are in a position it can be restored to it's last state, without requiring deep deep understanding of the controller internals.

If the above had been done, then simply all you would have needed to do as soon as you received the system in a very literal order of getting her up and running:
- Mount and secure the robot.
- Connect the arm to controller.
- Connect the teach pendant to controller.
- Remove any previous 1KP wiring and set the default jumpers.
- Keeping in mind the status of these safety interlocks will allow motion at full speed.
- Electrically connect supply to the controller, if it boots excellent, if it's got a dead battery then.
- Replace battery.
- Hardware Initialize it.
- Load in the previous backup.
- Clear joint abnormality error and check sum error.
- Ready to go.

The system will be fully operational in it's last known configuration and you would have ALL the correct settings (not just basic settings as we are doing here) but a literal snapshot including the previous robot model and zeroing and possible previous user data such as programs etc.
Ready to go within a few minutes.

** You could test the above out, when we have her finally configured and made a backup **

Quote from ArcadeMachinist

So, I guess, it is zeroing time?

Yes, she is eagerly awaiting to stretch her joints so that you can test all the joints in all directions and check the software limits (each joint working envelope) are correct and no errors occur whilst you are doing this.
- If any brake line errors occur, then the relative joint will be displayed.
- If this happens, then it is possible that brake line harness in the robot maybe damaged.
- In old robots, you can appreciate harness failure can occur.
- So if you can achieve the above error free.
- Robot hardware is golden and a basic configuration and software is 99.9% complete.
- Then she'll be waiting for you to start taking her round the dance floor.

Use post #10 and do exactly as directed and post back your results (if any issues) and also make a file save and compare the differences:
- ZZERO values.
- SAVEMR values.
- These values are the zeroing data and zeroing offsets generated by carrying out the zeroing.

Please could you post that file save as the final part will be to enable the ArmID function, which I will explain in my next post depending on your results.

Good job............