Quaternion calculations

Use the reltool function for your drop position. It already features the roll pitch yaw which you are wanting. As for why they use quaternions, I don't know.

Quaternions are much more computationally efficient than Euler angles and avoid some problems that arise when describing a rotation with Eulers. However, they are unitless, they only describe a given orientation. You can't "rotate by X quaternions", which is why all offset functions still accept Euler angles to build a new set of quaternions.

If you want to understand them more, I would recommend reading the section on the orient data type in the RAPID Instructions, Functions, and Data Types reference manual, which describes how quaternions are calculated. There are also several examples of quaternions being used for spatial rotation, like this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternio…patial_rotation

Quote from Jleon89

does Reltool redefine the position data? if for example i use MoveL Reltool (Drop_point, 0, 0, 50), v100, fine, tool1; it will stop 50mm above the drop point but Drop_point will still be stored at the original position, correct?

That is correct. RelTool won't modify the data stored in your position. Keep in mind: RelTool is an offset relative to the active tool frame.

If you wanted to, Reltool can manipulate a position. For example, p10 := Reltool(p20,0,0,50);

But I understand that this is not what you want to do, it is just for informational purposes.

Yes, offset is in the workobject coordinate system. But it will not allow for the orientation change that you requested. However, those two function can be used together or in succession.

example:

p20:= Offset(pDrop, 0, 0, 25);

p30:= RelTool(p20,0,0,0\Rz:=10);

OR p20:=Offset(Reltool(pDrop,0,0,0\Rz:=10);

OR p20:=RelTool(Offset(pDrop,0,0,5)\Rx:=0\Ry:=0\Rz:=10);

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Offs is relative to the work object. You can use Offs, RelTool or a combination of both.

Quote from Jleon89

1. Why does ABB use this, what is the benefit of using this Quaternion system vs simple pitch, roll, yaw coordinates? I understand how to calculate it, it just seems like an unnecessary extra step and very difficult if not impossible to go the other way.

Euler angles make you do three separate turns (one for each axis). Quaternions combine it into a single, smooth turn around a specific direction, which keeps things simple and fast, especially for computers.

orientation an positional data of a robot target are stored independantly and can be changed as such. a searched (like searchL or seachC) or a camera pos value... or updated target declared as a variable or persistant can have its orientation changed with the following:

(heres the declared data)

CONST robtarget mydropositionROTZ30:=[[211.75,662.28,351.74],[0.060461,-0.374626,-0.872132,-0.308844],[-1,0,0,0],[0.0476658,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09]];

PERS robtarget mydropposition:=[[228,732,272],[0.003551,0.034379,-0.946917,-0.319617],[-1,0,-1,0],[0.0456902,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09]];

CONST pose ROTZ30:=[[0,0,0],[0,0,0.707107,-0.707107]];

CONST orient orient1 := [1, 0, 0, 0];

You can set the rotation value from another robot target like this:

mydropposition.rot:=mydropositionROTZ30.rot;

or Alternately you can record or calculate a pose value and update it like this:

mydropposition.rot:=ROTZ30.rot;

or you can record or calculate just the orientation (quaternion) like this:

mydropposition.rot:=orient1;

as they said above there is an instruction to convert euler angles into quaterions

VAR num anglex;
VAR num angley;
VAR num anglez;
VAR pose mydroppose;
.
mydroppose.rot := OrientZYX(anglez, angley, anglex)

if you were somehow measuring those rotations or just wanted to input them from a table or something like that.

anyway good luck

Why not create customized code for your customer?

I put together an instructions for you. This was done quickly, so I haven't syntax-tested it, and there might be minor errors. Good luck with your project!

MODULE myModule
  CONST robtarget rPos1:=[[1,2,3],[1,0,0,0],[1,0,0,0],[9E+09,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09,9E+09]];

  PROC MyCustomL(robtarget ToPoint, num X, num Y, num Z, num Yaw, num Pitch, num Roll, speeddata Speed, zonedata Zone, PERS tooldata Tool\ PERS wobjdata Wobj)
    MoveL [ToPoint.trans+[X,Y,Z],OrientZYX(Roll+EulerZYX(\Z,ToPoint.rot),Pitch+EulerZYX(\Y,ToPoint.rot),Yaw+EulerZYX(\X,ToPoint.rot)),ToPoint.robconf,ToPoint.extax], Speed, Fine, Tool \Wobj?Wobj;
  ENDPROC

  PROC UseMyCustomL()
    ! Go to original position
    MyCustomL rPos1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, v100, fine, tool0;
    ! Displace X 50mm and change roll to 90 degrees
    MyCustomL rPos1, 50, 0, 0, 0, 0, 90, v100, fine, tool0;
    ! Lets go wild and change all coordinates and angles
    MyCustomL rPos1, 100, -30, 55, 5, 10, 15, v100, fine, tool0;
  ENDPROC
ENDMODULE