Posts by EliCobot

Interference Zone Configuration

The interference area is a function that prevents the interference between the robot and other robots or perpheral device. The interference area types are cubic interference area and joint interference area.

There are 16 total interference zones that can be configured. The output signals of the interference area 1 to 16 are using virtual registers from M440 to M455 respectively. If the TCP moves into a designated area configured with cubic interference area, or a joint enters a certain range configured with joint interference area, the corresponding M register will go HIGH. If the robot have left the interference zone the signal will return to LOW. If the interference status needs to be shared with an external device, the simplest way is mapping the corresponding M register to a Y register by the PLC program, and wire the corresponding output port on the I/O board to the desired external device. Using Modbus protocol to communicate the robot with the desired device is also an option.

Cubic Interference Zone

The Cubic Interference Zone is relative to the base coordinate system. (Cartesian coordinate system using the base as origin.) The system determines whether the TCP is inside or outside this area, and output the signal for status. (ON for inside, OFF for outside.)

There are two ways to set cubic interference areas:

• • Configuration by Vertex (corner to corner)

1. 1. 1. Select Preparation -> User config.
      2. Set "Type" to "Cube" and "Mode" to "Vertex".
      3. Choose "Vertex 1", move the robot to the position of vertex 1 the cube and click "Position 1" in the sub-menu.
      4. Choose "Vertex 2", move the robot to the position of vertex 2 the cube and click "Position 2" in the sub-menu.
      5. Click "Save" in the sub-menu bar, and the target cubic interference area will be set.

• • Configuration by Center Point

1. 1. 1. Select Preparation -> User config.
      2. Set "Type" to "Cube" and "Mode" to "Center".
      3. Choose "Center point", Move the TCP to the center point of the cubic area and click "Position 1" in the sub-menu.
      4. Enter the length, width, and height of the cube.
      5. Click "Save" in the sub-menu bar, and the target cubic interference area will be set.

When the robot is inside of the cube, the mapped M signal will state 1, for example, we using the second zone, M441 will be 1 when robot is inside.

Joint Interference Zone

The joint interference area is a function that determines whether the current angle of each joint axis lies in a specified range. If any of the axis angle is less than the configured minimum or bigger than the configured maximum value, the corresponding M register to this interference number will output the status. (ON for inside, OFF for outside.)

1. Select Preparation -> User coordinate.
2. Set "Type" to "Joint". Select the desire axis number.
3. Select "Min", move the joint to the minimum joint angle and click "Set Point 1".
4. Select "Max", move the joint to the minimum joint angle and click "Set Point 2".
5. Record the points be pressing "Set" in the sub-menu area.

P.S. Ignore the XYZ, RxRyRz settings when using Joint Interference Zone.