Cubic-S Select Monitor Area with Robot on Rail

    Hello. My team and I are currently working on a cell with multiple MX350 robots with E controllers. Some of these robots are on a rail unit and interact within multiple operator load zones that need safety integrated via light curtains and monitored areas. What we're finding though is that there's no way to track the robot's position on the rail unit (currently set up as J7) in Cubic-S. So for example if we create a select monitor area in front of the robot and then slide the robot down the rail three meters, Cubic-S still thinks the robot is in front of the operator load zone.

    The only thing we can think of trying is monitoring the joint value of the rail and then disabling the monitor areas once the robot is at a certain point of the rail, but this is not ideal as those zones will technically become "unsafe", and there are multiple positions on the rail the robot can reach into the zone, so we would need to make that zone larger than needed to account for that. The cleanest solution would would be to have the ability of Cubic S to track the robot's rail position.

    We've had a couple of use reading through the manuals trying to find anything, and so far we're stumped. Does anyone here have any experience with this? Thank you.

    The good news is that it is possible for Cubic S to work with a robot on a rail.

    It's been 6 years since the first time I set one up. I reached out to Kawasaki directly. I had to load a newer version of software and load a file with high-level system switches in the ROBOTDATA that Kawasaki sent me.

    I don't remember having to go through the same process on a more recent one a couple of years ago. So it could be that the original one had an issue in the software and subsequent robots now work automatically once you configure JT7 correctly as linear rail with base interpolation.

    The system switches were related to setting up the length of the rail and the direction the rail runs relative to robot base coordinate and enabling the external axis to be part of Cubic S.

    Word of warning don't play around with high-level system switches as you can brick the robot.

    So it sounds to me like it's possible that there is a software issue with the MX350 robots and your best bet is to contact Kawasaki.

    Same here regarding touching Cubic-S in anger, but I concur with ShAdOwDrAgOnS

    Except for the constant monitoring areas, all other areas are tied to the physical robot (including the rail) as default so that means these areas are not world related but robot related and therefore will move in conjunction with the rail position.

    Now I haven't tested it, but according to a more recent manual (and this may also depend on current AS firmware of your robot(s)) on whether this is available, have a look at the following extract as this seems to infer that this is what you need to do and reinforces what ShAdOwDrAgOnS has eluded to regarding the rail - and that would be according to the below just turning on the linear axis cooperation option located in level 3 Aux function 2002 for your external axis parameter configuration.

    Let us know if this resolves it, would be good to know for future......:top:

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